Hildegard von Bingen's Physica Quotes

“Nevertheless, if someone has an empty brain—and because of this is vexed by insanity, and is delerious—take the whole grains of wheat and cook them in water. Remove these cooked grains from the water, and place them around his whole head, tying a cloth over them. His brain will be reinvigorated by their vital fluid, and he may recover his health and strength. Do this until he returns to his right mind. If”
― Hildegard of Bingen, Hildegard von Bingen's Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and Healing

“But one whose face has hard and rough skin, made harsh from the wind, should cook barley in water and, having strained that water through a cloth, should bathe his face gently with the moderately warm water. The skin will become soft and smooth, and will have a beautiful color. If a person’s head has an ailment, it should be washed frequently in this water, and it will be healed. V.”
― Hildegard of Bingen, Hildegard von Bingen's Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and Healing

“God bound the world with four elements, inseparable from one another, as the world could not subsist if one were separated.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“For someone suffering from a migraine, let them take aloe and twice as much myrrh, grind these into the finest powder, then take fine flour, add poppy oil, and make a dough, like leaven.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“For the juice of mallow dissolves melancholy,”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“let them take mallow and twice as much sage, pound them into juice in a mortar, and sprinkle them lightly”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“Eating excessively fatty meats or blood-rich foods leads to infirmity, as their slippery moisture prevents proper digestion”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“When deeply sad, eat sufficiently of suitable foods to be refreshed, as sadness weighs heavily.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“A person eating in winter’s cold should choose a tempered place, neither too hot nor too cold, and eat tempered foods, neither too hot nor too cold, to maintain health.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“A person eating very hot foods in winter’s extreme cold, when internally cold, easily attracts and stirs melancholy.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“When the sleeping body is in proper balance, so that its marrow warms it rightly and it has no storm of vices or contrary behaviors, it often sees true things, for the soul’s knowledge is then at rest, like the moon emitting its splendor clearly in a night without clouds or storms.”
― Hildegard von Bingen, Causae et Curae: An English Translation of Causes and Cures

“Plants which are sown by human labor, and spring up and grow gradually, are like domestic animals which are nourished with care in the home. By the labor with which they are planted and cultivated, they throw off the acidity and bitterness of their moisture.”
― Hildegard of Bingen, Hildegard von Bingen's Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and Healing