Hildegard to the Abbot
1S8 The Letters of Hildegard of Bingcn 191r Hildegard to the Abbot Before 1173 A letter of general exhortation.
Your mind is like a snow cloud, which rises above an airy cloud in which the sun radiates, and sometimes it is like a windy cloud that brings storms. The snow cloud is the weariness of an unstable mind. The airy cloud, however, indicates unsullied knowledge acquired with the patience of faith. But the windy cloud brings the disturbance of great distress found in unquiet minds.
Now, learn that the snow cloud is full of air that is neither cold nor hot: wholesome herbs cannot grow from it. The pure air, on the other hand, bestows dew, stable temperature, and rain: vegetation and flowers grow from it. But the windy cloud is full of northern air: from it, all viridity withers, and flowers fall.
Now flee these things, and remain steadfast in the pure air, and, in the kind of life unfamiliar to you, be mindful of your Creator [cf. Eccles 12.1], and do not flee from Him, because one does not know God by seeing Him. Your spirit was redolent of that life—your spirit which was designated "soul" because it came forth from the soul. For the soul assigns and approves works as good or evil, and the spirit is a powerful mill for those works.1 *
Raise up a building of good works so that whenever the compass of your soul is idle, it may find that building. For if it does not find it, it will collapse.
Therefore, stay vigilant before the shadow of your death approaches. The fiery Holy Spirit will lend you His aid in this.
Note 1. Some distinction is being made here between "spirit" (spiritus) and "soul" (anima), but the point is quite obscure. See endnote for Latin text