VISIO QUARTA, cap. XVI
The Head as Mirror of the Firmament
Hildegard draws a cosmic analogy between the roundness and equal measure of the human head and the structure of the firmament, then likens the soul's breathing in and out of elemental powers to the sun's emission and retraction of its rays.
Yet in the roundness of the human head the roundness of the firmament is also displayed, and in the straight and equal measure of that same head the straight and equal measure of the firmament is shown — because the same head has a straight measure everywhere, so that the firmament too is established by an equal measure, to the end that it can have a straight circuit on every side, and that no part of it may overstep another part in an unjust way. For God shaped the human being according to the firmament and strengthened that person's strength with the powers of the elements, and reinforced the inner parts of the human being with their powers, so that a person draws those powers in by breathing and sends them out — just as the sun that illuminates the world spreads its rays from itself and then draws them back again.
The Soul's Roundness in Sin and Sorrow
The soul's roundness and equal measure signify its oscillation between delight in sin and grief over sin, revealing the fierce inner struggle between body and soul.
In this way, too, the roundness and equal measure of the human head signify that the soul operates in sins according to the will of the flesh, and then again, in sighs, that same soul restores itself to justice. And so in this there is equal measure: just as it took delight in wrongdoing, so it also afflicts itself in pain for those same wrongs, and it does this through shame. The soul indeed stands in shame and takes no delight in sins, but through the pull of the flesh it acts along with the flesh — because when a person has lived in sins to the point of weariness with them, the soul, overcome many times by shame, is called back from them. And just as the soul is also bound by nature through the flesh, so too, as long as body and soul live together, they together carry on a fierce struggle — since the very place where the flesh delights in sin is where the soul grieves.
Demonic Confusion and the Knowledge of Good and Evil
The demons are confounded by the repentance they themselves refuse, while the soul's roundness is further displayed in the mutual opposition and testing of the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil.
And from this there is great confusion among the evil spirits, because they have never been able to wipe away repentance from the souls of the just — since, in their own fall, because of the great hatred they bear against God, they never once repent of what they have done. For in these ways the soul displays roundness and equal measure within itself, because the knowledge of good is opposed to the knowledge of evil, and the knowledge of evil resists the knowledge of good. For one is tested by the other.
The Moon of the Soul in Light and Eclipse
The soul's knowledge of good is compared to the full moon when it overcomes the flesh, and to an eclipsed moon when it is overcome.
But the knowledge of good is like the full moon when, by acting well, it overcomes the flesh; when it is itself overcome, then it is like the moon that is in eclipse, whose circle appears shadowed.
Three Circles of the Firmament in the Head
The three upper circles of the firmament are mapped onto three equal measures of the human head, and this correspondence is extended to the powers of the soul.
Because in the human head, through three equal divisions of measurement—namely from the crown of the head down to the throat—the three upper circles of the firmament are marked off with two intervals between them, and the density of those same circles is mapped onto the circumference of the head by an equal division, and in this way these things are also fitted to the powers of the soul through signification.
Read the original Latin
Sed et in rotunditate capitis hominis rotunditas firmamenti ostenditur, et in recta aequalique mensura ejusdem capitis, recta et aequalis mensura firmamenti demonstratur, quia idem caput rectam mensuram ubique habet, ut etiam firmamentum aequali mensura constitutum est, quatenus ex omni parte rectum circuitum habere possit, et ne ulla pars ejus partem alteram injusto modo excedat. Deus enim hominem secundum firmamentum plasmavit, et fortitudinem illius cum viribus elementorum confortavit, viresque ipsorum interiora hominis consolidavit, ita ut homo illas spirando inducat et emittat, velut sol qui mundum illuminat radios suos de se expandit, iterumque ad se retrahit. Sic etiam rotunditas et aequalitas capitis hominis designant quoniam anima secundum voluntatem carnis operatur in peccatis, et iterum in suspiriis eadem anima ad justitiam se reparat; unde et in hoc aequalitas est, quia sicut in delictis delectata est, ita et pro illis dolendo se affligit, et hoc per verecundiam habet. Anima quippe in verecundia stat, nec in peccatis delectatur, sed per gustum carnis illa cum carne operatur, quia cum homo in peccatis usque ad taedium illorum vixerit, per verecundiam animae multoties superata, ab illis revocatur; quemadmodum etiam anima per naturam carnis vincitur, et ideo etiam quandiu corpus et anima simul vivunt, tandiu fortem conflictum simul habent, quoniam unde caro in peccatis delectatur, inde anima dolet. Et ex hoc malignis spiritibus magna confusio est, quia ipsi in animabus justorum poenitentiam nunquam delere potuerunt, cum ipsi in casu suo propter magnum odium quod contra Deum habent, nunquam poenitendo considerent quid fecerint. In his enim modis anima rotunditatem et aequalitatem in se ostendit, quoniam scientia boni scientiae mali repugnat, et scientia mali scientiae boni resistit. Nam alia ab alia probatur. Sed scientia boni ut plena luna est, quando bene operando carnem superat; cum autem ipsa superatur, tunc est ut luna quae in defectu est, cujus circulus umbrosus videtur.
Quia in capite hominis per tres aequalium distinctiones mensurarum, scilicet a vertice usque ad guttur superiores firmamenti tres circuli cum duobus sibi interpositis deputentur, et qualiter eorumdem circulorum densitas in circuitu capitis aequali divisione assignetur, et quomodo haec etiam viribus animae per significationem coaptentur.
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