From above his shoulders the Man was higher than the clouds in the bright ether.
From below his shoulders down to his thighs he was beneath the clouds in another white cloud.
From his thighs to his knees he was in the earthly air.
From his knees to the calves of his legs he is in the earth.
And from his calves to the soles of his feet the Man is in the waters of the abyss in such a way that he also stands above the abyss.
Who hath measured the height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss?
The Man had turned towards the East, so that he looked both East and South.
Now his face shone with such splendor that you cold not perfectly see it.
Now his face shone with such splendor that you cold not perfectly see it.
The radiant cloud was at his mouth in the likeness of a trumpet.
And then the Man blew a breath, it sent out three winds.
But the wind bearing the cloud of fire remains before the Man's face.
The other two winds descend with their clouds to his chest, and there they expand their breath outwards.
But the wind that stays before the Man's face extends its cloud from the East to the South.
In the cloud of fire are myriads of fiery beings, and they are all one life in one will and one conjunction.
And in their presence a writing tablet is laid out, filled with feathers; the tablet soars in the precepts of God when the precepts bear it aloft. And the knowledge of God had inscribed hidden mysteries upon it, on which the myriads of beings gazed with unified zeal.
And when the angels have studies what is written, the divine virtue comes upon them and like a single mighty trumpet they sound forth in harmony with all varieties of music.
And when the angels have studies what is written, the divine virtue comes upon them and like a single mighty trumpet they sound forth in harmony with all varieties of music.
(Från "The voice of heaven", som är ett kapitel ur första volymen av Hildegard von Bingens "The book of life's merits". Nej, hon skrev inte på engelska. Hon skrev på latin. Sluta käbbla.)
Hildegard von Bingen levde mellan 1098 och 1179 och var en fantastisk tonsättare som fick gudomlig inspiration till både musik och skrifter. Hon hade en massa visioner som hon såg som meddelanden från Gud och som det var hennes uppgift att kanalisera genom vacker musik och poetiska texter. Hon var en av de kvinnliga mystikerna, en grupp som inte egentligen var en grupp, för de hade ingen kontakt med varandra (som jag uppfattat det) men de levde ungefär samtidigt. Hildegard von Bingen höll sig på sitt kloster och hade en massa visioner och skapade en massa fantastisk musik, som ingen utanför klostret hörde förrän på 1900-talet. Kvinnor på medeltiden var - you guessed it - utestängda från all utbildning, men just detta gjorde att Hildegards visioner fick en annan status än andra lärda teologers tankar om Gud, de kvinnliga mystikerna sågs som mer rena på något sätt, och Hildegard var väldigt respekterad inom kyrkan. Lyssna på denna playlist som jag knåpat ihop med musik av Hildegard von Bingen, och bada i hennes mystiska ljus. Det gör jag och jag älskar det.