Causes and Remedies

When a man builds a house, he makes a door, windows, and a chimney, so that he can enter and exit through the door to fetch what is needed, so that he can receive light through the windows, and so that, when he lights a fire, the smoke exits through the chimney, so that the house is not blackened by smoke.

In the same way, the soul that is installed in the body as in a house sends and receives thoughts as if through a door, observes them as if through windows, and directs their forces towards the brain—just as when a fire is lit, the smoke goes up the chimney—so that the brain can sort them by examining them.

Thoughts are the primary causes of the knowledge of good and evil and the organizers of all things, and they are called thoughts. For thoughts are the primary causes of goodness, wisdom, foolishness, and other similar weaknesses, just as evil thoughts come from the heart: this is the door of the soul's house.

And that is why a path extends from the heart towards the elements with which man realizes what he thinks. And the forces of thoughts rise to the brain, and the brain gathers them, for the brain is the moist principle of the whole body, just as dew moistens all things.

And when certain bad or fetid humors develop in man, they send a harmful vapor towards the brain.

There are no diseases, Hildegard emphatically reminds us, but sick people, and these people are integrated into a universe which, just as it contributes to their misfortune, must also play a part in their healing; they must be treated in their entirety, body and soul, and, even if nature can and should come to their aid, it is very often in their own wisdom, moderation, and self-control that they will find the strength to support the healing process.