[Hildegard von Bingen: physician--mystic--poet]

Out of the multifaceted visionary writing of St. Hildegard from Bingen (1098-1179) three aspects are selected and commented on: 1. The cosmologically oriented art of healing showing man in its original state (constitutio) its actual condition (destitutio) and the expected healthy final state (restitutio); 2. An universal vision oriented on mystic enligthment proposing the individual as creation (opus Dei), as partner (opus alterum per alterium) and as worker on nature (opus cum creatura); 3. The esthetic dimension of universal and human perception as expressed by Hildegards songs (carmina) which culminate in hymns on the "celestrial Jerusalem". We should consider, that these aspects--beyond their historic roots--indicate ways for healing and salvation of the integral individual.