I was looking for the translated works of Hildegard. This book is not that. This is pictures drawn by Hildegard with commentary by Matthew Fox. He quotes Hildegard, but also many other sources. It was informative about Hildegard, what was happening and how this affected art, religion, and philosophy.
If you want a book about Hildegard this is a good place to start. If you want a book by Hildegard this is not a book for you.

Fox explains the nuances of St. Hildegard's illustrations in an accessible way. I enjoy how he links her worldview to our current issues such as resource exploitation, injustice and over focus on fall/redemption theology. The book is a great primer for starting to investigate and learn about St. Hildegard. My favorite painting is the one that appears on the cover. It is a fantastic image with the blue image of a compassionate Christ, circled by the firey cords of the Holy Spirit, inside the circle of Father God. The mandala is one I will use and find comfort in.

This was one of the few books I could find about Hildegard von Bingen’s Illuminations in English. She’s a fascinating person and I wanted to dig more into this particular area of her creations. This book only gets 3 stars because it’s dense and contains a lot of terminology and concepts that are specific to Fox’s creation spirituality and Christian mysticism. The author spends about half of time talking about general aspects of mysticism and the other half actually explaining what’s going on in the art. I wish there was more explanation of the illuminations themselves.

Hildegard of Bingen - extraordinary woman, visionary. This book was way above my paygrade! Very hard for me to comprehend and wore me out chapter by chapter - it took me a long time to read but I was very drawn to it and did not give up. It's one of those I'll definitely read again and again through the years. Two big thumbs up!

Kindle version lacks illustrations

Kindle version misrepresented. No color plates. Commentary by Fox not worth the read, would rather read original text. Kindle version not worth the money.

Pretty fuckin pagan for being so Christian. She affirms sexual love for its own sake, eternal becoming, Nature; she condemns entrenched unjust institutional power; she sometimes calls God She; she says we hear divinity in music. Love her.

"Be not lax in celebrating. Be not lazy in the festive service of God. Be ablaze with enthusiasm. Let us be an alive, burning offering before the altar of God!"

Completely unfaithful to the source material and a terrible translation and analysis of Saint Hildegard's theology. (It's not just me who's saying that, the scholarly consensus is that Fox is an academically dishonest translator)

Good "full scale" color reproductions of the medieval illuminations though.

An excellent book and an amazing woman who lived over 900 years ago but is so relevant today with our division and lack of care for creation. Read Matthew Fox’s interpretation of her mandalas and learn her thoughts on compassion, good works and justice as well as her love of the earth.

Very interesting. This book has given me a hunger for more of St. Hildegard's writings.

Only problem with this book is that Fox keeps trying to insinuate that Hildegard was some sort of pagan. But that doesn't really jive with her having grown up in a Catholic convent, becoming the abbess of said convent, being canonized a saint in the Church, and being given the title of Doctor of the Church. They don't give those titles out willy-nilly.

But I still give it a 3/5, because I enjoyed reading most of it.

5 stars for the picture quality. Truly a great book to have on hand when studying the illuminations describing her visions. 2 for the content which is rather too "New Age" in themes and explanations.

Horrible commentary. Do not reccomend.

im obsessed with her