Physica by Hildegard von Bingen
pp. 137-156 Liber IV : Stones
p. |
4: |
mineral |
time |
trait |
138 |
:1 |
emerald smaragdus |
"sunrise" |
[p. 139] with "broad beans"; cure where "someone is being eaten by worms" {cf. stellar Wormwood (Apok. of Ioan. 8:11)} |
139 |
:2 |
jacinth jacinctus |
1st h. of day |
[p. 140] with "rye"; "make the sign of the cross" over one's heart |
140 |
:3 |
onyx onychinus |
3rd h. of day |
[p. 141] with "hens' eggs"; against pestilence in cattle |
141 |
:4 |
beryl beryllus |
3rd h. to midd. |
hold it in one's hand |
" |
:5 |
sardonyx sardonix |
6th to 9th h. |
[p. 142] furnisheth strength to the 5 senses; as setting of ring on finger |
142 |
:6 |
sapphire sapphirus |
"after noontime" |
[p. 143] a fool ought lick it in order to "receive good understanding"; suspend it from one's neck in leathern sack in order to cause wicked spirit to fall from glory {cf. He^lel/Lucifer "fallen from heaven"} |
144 |
:7 |
sard sardius |
after midd. in autumn |
in hat on top of head; cure jaundice; assist childbirth (open door and open gates) |
" |
:8 |
topaz topazius |
just before 9th h. |
[p. 145] with "oat" and "violets" to cure leprosy; as angels "look at God in a mirror" |
146 |
:9 |
chrysolite chrysolithus |
9th h. of day |
fortifieth offspring of animal at birth; place this stone over one's heart |
" |
:10 |
jasper jaspis |
after 9th h. |
[p. 147] "thunder and lightning appear in dreams"; "the ancient serpent stretches out toward ... the infant as it emerges from its mother's vulva ... trying to ensnare the child as well as the mother." (cf. Apok. of Ioan. 12:4) |
147 |
:11 |
prasine prasius |
"eventide" |
with "rye" over one's umbilicus" |
" |
:12 |
chalcedony calcedonius |
"past eventide" |
[p. 148] to become "able to speak firmly to people" |
148 |
:13 |
chrysoprase chrysoprasus |
moon "not yet full" |
treat epilepsy |
149 |
:14 |
carbuncle carbunculus |
"eclipse of the moon" |
"resuscitate that which had died" |
" |
:15 |
amethyst amethystus |
solar halo |
[p. 150] cure a spider-bite |
150 |
:16 |
agate achates |
[p. 151] waning moon |
obstruct nocturnal house-thieves (burglars) |
151 |
:17 |
diamond adamas |
|
[p. 152] cure jaundice |
152 |
:18 |
magnet magnet |
|
dispelleth phantasms |
153 |
:19 |
ligure ligurius |
|
from lynx; with milk relieveth difficult urination |
" |
:20 |
crystal crystallus |
|
[p. 154] cure scrofula |
154 |
:21 |
pearl margarita |
|
alleviate fever; cure headache |
" |
:22 |
mother-of-pearl berlin |
|
|
[Physica 4:1] http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Revelation-8-11/
[Physica 4:7] Atop head to open gates and to open doors : "Lift up your heads O! ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors." (Thilli^m 24:7)
[Physica 4:10] Apokalupsis of Ioannes 12:4 "the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." http://biblehub.com/revelation/12-4.htm The context is B-Re>s^it 21 : the woman is Hagar and the child is Yis^ma<e>l. They were supernaturally rescued because she "addressed her supplications to the idols of her youth." (Louis Ginzberg : Legends of the Bible. p. 123) The man-child's "rod of iron" (Apok. of Ioan. 12:5) is comparable with the "bars of iron" (>iyo^b 40:18) which are the gristles of Bhemo^t; while the "seven crowns" (Apok. of Ioan. 12:3) of the dragon are comparable with the "seven circles" of the Ophite cosmology. ("L&B -- Among the Gnostics" http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9841-leviathan-and-behemoth#anchor6 ). An association of "lightning ... in dreams" with Liwyatan of devouring "jaws" (Legends of the Bible. p. 14) may be paralleled by infant An~janeya's being struck in his "jaw" by a "lightning bolt" when he sought to devour the sun (Alanna Kaivalya & Arjuna van der Kooij : Myths of the Asanas. Mandala Publ, San Rafael (CA), 2010. p. 78) -- the brilliancy of the sun being perhaps comparable with the luminance of the Liwyatan's pelt, such that "the whole world will be illuminated by its brightness" ("L&B -- In the Messianic Times" http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9841-leviathan-and-behemoth#anchor3 ).
[Physica 4:22] /Berl-/ may be English /BURL/ 'knot of a tree' where a limb was lopped, as in pruning by god Priepos, whose beast is the ass (to make an ass of one's self = laughing-stock, hence /BURLesque/). With the pruning-hook of Priepos, cf. the sacred scimitar said by some Nus.ayri to represent to sun; the sun containing mother-of-pearl "abalone shell" according to the Hopi (Margot Edmonds & Ella Clark : Voices of the Winds. 1989. p. 75).
the 12 foundations of Hierosolume Nea (Apok. of Ioan. 21:19-20)
Apok. of Ioan. 21: |
fndn. |
mineral |
Physica 4: |
:19 |
1st |
jasper |
:10 |
|
2nd |
sapphire |
:6 |
|
3rd |
chalcedony |
:12 |
|
4th |
emerald |
:1 |
:20 |
5th |
sardonyx |
:5 |
|
6th |
sardius |
:7 |
|
7th |
chrysolite |
:9 |
|
8th |
beryl |
:4 |
|
9th |
topaz |
:8 |
|
10th |
chrysoprasus |
:13 |
|
11th |
jacinth |
:2 |
|
12th |
amethyst |
:15 |
{not included in these 12 are 4:3, :11, :14}
pp. 205-227 Liber VII -- Beasts
p. |
7: |
beast |
trait |
206 |
:1 |
elephant elephans |
by smelling odor of the "water of paradise ... it seeks to mingle in coitus" |
" |
:2 |
camel camelus |
hath in its 3 humps strength of lion, panther, and horse, and in residue of its body "the nature of an ass" |
207 |
:3 |
lion leo |
lioness at parturition abandoneth her cubs until lion roareth over them in order to "waken the cubs" |
208 |
:4 |
bear ursus |
[p. 209] it is lascivious that "a male bear run to a woman, a female bear to a man -- and mix with them in coitus" |
210 |
:5 |
unicorn unicornus |
"could be captured by girls"; "has beneath its horn something ... as if ... a mirror" |
211 |
:6 |
tigre tigris |
"the nature of an ibex"; "pustules come out of it, like gum, which ... have a sweet odor" {civet?} |
" |
:7 |
panther panthera |
"it freely imitates all animals" |
" |
:8 |
horse equus |
"has ... a great strength that it does not know it has" |
212 |
:9 |
ass asinus |
"its nature nears that of the human." |
213 |
:10 |
deer cervus |
at onset of its old age it rejuvenateth itself by inducing a "basilisk" to crawl through its body into mouth out from anus |
" |
:11 |
roe-deer rech |
[p. 214] "add ... the oil from the fruit of an elm, or beech tree, ... the oil from the elm is better than rue" |
214 |
:12 |
ibex steynbock |
"From its horn, make a knife handle. Always keep this with you" |
" |
:13 |
bison wisant |
"has the habits of a deer" |
" |
:14 |
ox bos |
"Where there is an ox, airy spirits do not make enmity for a human being" |
215 |
:15 |
sheep ovis |
"they carry no pride ... . Whence, God gave Adam sheepskin clothing." |
" |
:16 |
goat hircus |
[p. 216] "The she-goat has the same nature as the male, except the male is stronger." |
216 |
:17 |
pig porcus |
"it has wolflike habits, since it tears other animals apart; ... it willingly lives with humans, just as a dog does." |
" |
:18 |
hare lepus |
"the female sometimes emits something ... like an intestine, from near her umbilicus" |
217 |
:19 |
wolf lupus |
"The airy spirits ... are often delighted by it, and accompany it. ... . When a wolf first sees a person, the airy spirits accompanying it weaken the person's powers" |
" |
:20 |
hound canis |
[p. 218] "The dog sometimes has a foreboding of happy or sad events to come in the future or already present." |
218 |
:21 |
fox vulpus |
"It has ... the ways of a panther and ... the understanding of a lion." |
219 |
:22 |
beaver biber |
"it has air from water in it. ... Its hair grows from water". |
" |
:23 |
otter otther |
"has a clean nature" |
" |
:24 |
monkey simea |
"it watches a person and what he does. ... Because it is similar to a human, it has monthly cycles" |
" |
:25 |
meerkat merkacza |
"has a certain poison in it, ... which it spits" |
220 |
:26 |
cat cattus |
"it licks toads ... . From their moisture the cat ... is refreshed. Otherwise it would be unable to live ... . ... When it carries its young within [gestation], its heat stirs up lust in a person" |
" |
:27 |
lynx luchs |
"Since it follows its own will, its eyes shine like the night's stars." |
[Physica 7:27] "Translator's note : Here "ligure" refers to ... the lynx's urine. See Ligure ... on p. 153 [3:19]." {"According to an observation by Humboldt (Kosmos), certain South American Indian tribes call the meteors "urine of the stars."" (http://www.naderlibrary.com/lit.jungpsychologyunconscous.2.7.htm#sthash.4kWlT6le.dpuf ) According to certain tropical-forest South American Indians "meteors are "stars' urine."" (Waldo Frank : Birth of a World. Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston, 1951. https://archive.org/stream/birthofaworld006686mbp/birthofaworld006686mbp_djvu.txt )}
{As for the statement that by means of the power of the "its own will, its eyes shine like the night's stars" : cf. the European folk-lore motif of a wish made upon a star; and the motif of stars figured as as the night's eyen.}
animal-sequences (Tamil, Aiguptos, Aztec A&ACS, p. 173)
Physica 7 |
Tamil |
Hellenistic Aiguptos |
Aztec |
Chinese (ChMM, p. 249) |
17 pig porcus |
|
7 pig |
|
|
hare lepus |
|
|
8 rabbit |
|
wolf lupus |
|
|
|
|
hound canis |
19 bitch |
|
10 hound |
|
fox vulpus |
|
|
|
3 fox |
beaver biber |
|
|
|
5 beaver |
otter otther |
|
|
|
|
monkey simea |
20 monkey |
15 baboon |
11 monkey |
|
meerkat ("HMZ", p. 44) merkacza |
21 civet |
|
|
|
cat cattus |
|
16. cat |
|
|
27 lynx luchs |
22-3 lioness & lion |
17 lion |
14 ocelot |
9 tigre |
A&ACS = A. Hugh Moran & David H. Kelley : The Alphabet and the Ancient Calendar Signs. 2nd edn, 1970.
ChMM = Michel Strickmann (ed. by Bernard Faure) : Chinese Magical Medicine. Stanford U Pr, 2002.
"HMZ" = Kenneth F. Kitchell & Irven M. Resnick : "Hildegard as a Medieval "Zoologist"". In :- Maud Burnett McInerney (ed.) : Hildegard of Bingen: A Book of Essays. GARLAND MEDIEVAL CASEBOOKS, vol. 20. 1998. http://books.google.com/books?id=tel_AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq= pp. 25-52.
Hildegard (transl from the Latin by Priscilla Throop) : Physica. Healing Arts Pr (a division of Inner Traditions Internat), Rochester (VT), 1998.