Quotation
Last reviewed:
“I am the supreme and fiery force who kindles every spark of life.”
Hildegard of Bingen · Christian mysticism · Medieval · c. 1163–1174; modern English of the Latin
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading hears a cosmic voice, not Hildegard describing her personality. The Living Light says it is the supreme fiery force that kindles every living spark. A competing reading reduces the line to a nature lyric, a fondness for energy, and loses the theological claim that life is lit from outside. The sentence opens vision 1 of the Liber Divinorum Operum, a later work than Scivias. Campbell's English is the translation followed for the opening clause, and the badge records that the longer Latin sentence is richer than this line. It is not the 1141 declaration, which is a first-person report of a light through her brain. Here the 'I' is the voice in the vision. The feather proverb remains a doubtful compression. This sentence has a book and a vision.
Did Hildegard of Bingen really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. The opening of the first vision of the Book of Divine Works, where the Living Light speaks. English versions differ in the following clauses. This sentence follows Campbell's translation of the opening claim. It is not the feather proverb and not the Scivias declaration.
Where it comes from
Liber Divinorum Operum, vision 1, the voice of the Living Light, in the translation tradition of Nathaniel M. Campbell
Approximate date: c. 1163–1174; modern English of the Latin.
How to use it
A calendar that prints the line beside a photograph of a bonfire has chosen a mood. The vision's speaker is claiming to be the source of living fire, which is a doctrine. If the sentence is used, the speaker should not silently become Hildegard herself. She is reporting a voice. That distinction is the difference between a vision narrative and a slogan.
A mindset reading
Ask who the 'I' is before you borrow it. In this vision it is not the author in her ordinary voice. The habit prevents a reported speech from being filed as a personal motto. The declaration in Scivias is the place where she does speak as herself, and it is a different card.
Understand the philosophy
Vision 1 of the Book of Divine Works begins with this claim by the Living Light. The key phrase is the fiery force that kindles life. Campbell's translation is the English tradition used for the opening. The Scivias declaration is twenty years earlier and is a separate card. The feather sentence stays Questionable. The rest of the vision is an interpreted picture, not a stock of further one-line quotations.
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FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading hears a cosmic voice, not Hildegard describing her personality. The Living Light says it is the supreme fiery force that kindles every living spark. A competing reading reduces the line to a nature lyric, a fondness for energy, and loses the theological claim that life is lit from outside. The sentence opens vision 1 of the Liber Divinorum Operum, a later work than Scivias. Campbell's English is the translation followed for the opening clause, and the badge records that the longer Latin sentence is richer than this line. It is not the 1141 declaration, which is a first-person report of a light through her brain. Here the 'I' is the voice in the vision. The feather proverb remains a doubtful compression. This sentence has a book and a vision.
Did Hildegard of Bingen really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. The opening of the first vision of the Book of Divine Works, where the Living Light speaks. English versions differ in the following clauses. This sentence follows Campbell's translation of the opening claim. It is not the feather proverb and not the Scivias declaration.
Which work is it in?
Liber Divinorum Operum, vision 1, the voice of the Living Light, in the translation tradition of Nathaniel M. Campbell Approximate date: c. 1163–1174; modern English of the Latin.