Hildegard medicine

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The term Hildegard medicine was introduced in 1970 by the doctor Gottfried Hertzka , who refers to the writings of St. Hildegard von Bingen . The spread of Hildegard medicine is concentrated in the German-speaking area, especially Austria and Germany .

In a Forsa survey from 2003, 3 percent of the Germans surveyed said they used Hildegard medicine. It is assigned to traditional European medicine (TEM) and is also used in some health resorts .

Hildegard von Bingen: Liber divinorum operum : Man and the four elements - fire, air, water, globe (from outside to inside)

Historical basis

The works attributed to Hildegard on which Hertzka used as a basis are called Causae et curae ( causes and treatments ) and Physica . The original title of the Physica was Liber subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum , that is, book of the subtleties of the different natures of creatures . Hildegard von Bingen states that there are visionaries, d. H. To have presented divinely inspired insights.

It describes the development of the disease in accordance with the ancient concept of juice dyscrasia :

"If the aforementioned juices keep the right order and the right measure in a person [...], then he is at rest and in physical health. But if they have put themselves in opposition to each other, then they make him [...] invalid and sick. "

- Hildegard von Bingen : causes and treatment of diseases

The four constitutional juices, which in Hildegard's work have different names than in the humoral pathology common from antiquity to modern times , correspond to the four elements with which humans are inextricably linked.

“[…] Provide the elements that hold the whole world together, as well as the context for the human body. They distribute their expansion and their duties in man in such a way that he is always kept going by them, just as the elements are spread and work throughout the rest of the world. Fire, air, water and earth are in man, and from these he consists. "

- Hildegard von Bingen : causes and treatment of diseases

authenticity

Since the original manuscripts have not survived and the texts came to us in the form of copies of the third generation (13th to 15th centuries), the prevailing view is that Physica and Causae et curae in their present form do not come entirely from Hildegard . Hertzka, on the other hand, claims that the text is largely unadulterated .

The medical theorist Heinrich Schipperges saw in his edition of the Causae and curae the astrological chapter as well as individual obvious additions and repetitions as spurious and left them out. Schipperges continues: “It must not be concluded from this that long stretches or the entire text is spurious. We have enough evidence for Hildegard's authorship from internal and external criteria. "The medical historian Klaus-Dietrich Fischer is also of the opinion that" one should not (should, add.) Deny the authenticity of the natural history and medical works ascribed to Hildegard Hildegard's way of thinking and her linguistic style are so peculiar that there can be no reasonable doubt about the connection with the visionary works and the statements on anthropology, nature and the cosmos that have been handed down there. "This is also represented by a French publication:" [...] la manière et la matière du traité sont hildegardiennes dans leur grande majorité ”. (German: […] the type and subject matter of the work are predominantly Hildegardian .)

Historians also do not attribute the writings to the so-called vision writings , which are divinely inspired, but rather describe them as natural and medicinal everyday and empirical knowledge of the Middle Ages . "The complexity of the textual history of these two works [...] found no reception in the works on 'Hildegard Medicine', but rather shows 'how questionable the textual basis of the medical and natural history work that has been handed down under Hildegard's name is' (I. Müller, 1998). As a state of research, it can be stated that the texts 'Physica' and 'Causae et curae' are among the non-visionary writings that were subject to various changes in their text reception. "

Methods of Hildegard medicine

This includes herbal medicine, dietary rules, elimination procedures and gemstone therapy .

The treatment according to Hildegard von Bingen, as it is represented by Hertzka and Strehlow , is based on

  • Regulations on a moderate and balanced diet. Hildegard emphasized herbs and spices, as well as spelled , celery , sweet chestnuts and fennel . Hildegard: "Spelled is the best grain, and it is warm and fat and strong, and it is milder than other types of grain, and it gives those who eat it real meat and blood, and it makes people happy of the human."
  • Use of numerous herbal medicines, minerals, but also precious stones, sometimes taking the moon phase into account
  • Elimination procedures such as bloodletting and cupping , fasting , sweat baths.
  • Regular alternation between rest and activity.
  • Spiritual purification through love and hope, music, prayer and meditation .

In nutritional therapy, spelled is primarily used as a universal food and medicine. The spelled owes its general renaissance, its appearance in many health food stores and its therapeutic use for chronic diseases of civilization not least to the "Hildegard movement".

criticism

General

The mystic researcher Josef Sudbrack calls for a differentiated view of the audio-visionary events in Hildegard. He criticizes the fact that Hildegard's words are made into a timely testimony of truth of such an indisputable quality that theology does not even recognize the words of the New Testament . On the other hand, he notes that serious research is strangely reluctant to give the visionary proper space in Hildegard's writings .

"The authority of this Hildegard medicine is based on the assumption or assumption that the medical writings of Hildegard that have come down to us are divine revelation, i.e. God's medical message for suffering humanity (whereby to the Christian God, especially those worshiped by Catholics, is intended). The numerous healings observed proved this assumption to be correct; even in the more theoretical area of physiology and pathology astonishing knowledge is presented, which our current scientific point of view z. T. correspond, z. T. went beyond them. Hildegard does not make this claim herself. "

The medical historian Irmgard Müller, who published on Hildegard's natural and medicinal writings, describes the so-called Hildegard medicine as not authentic and not based on writings attributed to Hildegard. It should therefore actually be called “Hertzka Medicine”. It is a "therapeutic construct of profit-conscious market strategists". The medical historian Heinrich Schipperges had previously talked about the so-called Hildegard medicine: "However, the attempts to bring a thoroughly justified naturopathic medicine under the name of 'Hildegard medicine' into medical practice and the pharmacy sector lack any scientific basis."

The historian Axel Helmstädter also takes a critical view : “Hertzka and Strehlow are pursuing a highly commercialized approach, suggesting that Hildegard's medical recommendations are of divine origin. However, this cannot be true, since the medical texts that Hildegard has compiled are not based on her visionary experiences like her religious treatises. The 'Hildegard medicine' in the 21st century represents a typical example of current alternative medicine. The methods are mostly based on historical approaches that are able to impress the public. "

Criticism from a medical point of view

There are no independent empirical studies on the effects of Hildegard medicine. The treatment methods inevitably stem from the thinking and knowledge of the Middle Ages; many views on health and disease are medically outdated. It is also not possible to simply transfer the contemporary terms she used for diseases and remedies to the present day. The recommended medicinal plants cannot always be identified with certainty; the quantities given are often very imprecise. There is no scientifically recognized evidence of the benefits of elimination procedures . Fasting cures are not suitable for everyone and should only be done under medical supervision.

In a statement from Promed club against unfair practices in health states: "The the term, Hildegard medicine 'collected medical procedures that are based on medieval and mystical ideas, are not suitable for diseases improvements beyond an effect placebo to achieve . Undefined preparations are assigned this term and are sold profitably overpriced. [...] Self-therapy based on the basic ideas of 'Hildegard Medicine' is urgently not recommended in the case of complaints of a more serious nature. "

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Germans trust alternative medicine . Stern online article (from January 7, 2004), published in the print medium of the same name in issue 3/2004
  2. ↑ Compare Latin causa
  3. ↑ Laurence Moulinier. Le manuscrit perdu à Strasbourg. Enquête sur l'œvre scientifique de Hildegarde . (= Série Histoire Ancienne et Médiévale, vol. 35). Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris 1995, pp. 51-54
  4. ↑ In the introduction to her work Liber vitae meritorum (Book of Life Earnings ) Hildegard states: “It was the first year after this face had given me the following writings to explain: 'The subtleties of the different natures of creatures ...' ". Hildegard von Bingen. Man in responsibility. The book of life earnings (Liber vitae meritorum) . Translated by Heinrich Schipperges. Otto Müller, Salzburg 1972 (2nd edition 1985), p. 27.
  5. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen. Causes and treatment of diseases = (Causae et curae) . Translated by Hugo Schulz . With a foreword by Ferd. Sour break . Haug, Heidelberg 1955 (4th edition. 1983), p. 94.
  6. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen. Causes and treatment of diseases = (Causae et curae) . Translated by Hugo Schulz. With e. Preface by Ferd. Sour break. Haug, Heidelberg 1955 (4th edition. 1983), p. 83.
  7. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen: Medicine. The book of the cause and nature and the healing of diseases . Translated by Heinrich Schipperges. 3. Edition. Otto Müller, Salzburg 1957, p. 40.
  8. ↑ Gottfried Hertzka: This is how God heals. The medicine of St. Hildegard von Bingen as a new natural healing method . Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1970 (15th edition 1990, p. 34)
  9. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen: Medicine. The book of the cause and nature and the healing of diseases. Translated by Heinrich Schipperges. 3. Edition. Otto Müller, Salzburg 1957, p. 42.
  10. ^ A b Klaus-Dietrich Fischer: Man and medicine with Hildegard von Bingen. In: Ärzteblatt Rheinland-Pfalz. March 1998 edition, pp. 101-104, ISSN  0001-9488 .
  11. ↑ Laurence Moulinier (ed.): Beate Hildegardis Cause et cure. Academy, Berlin 2003, p. LXIV.
  12. ↑ Irmgard Oepen: Lexicon of Para sciences. 1999, article Hildegard medicine.
  13. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke: about the medicine of Hildegard von Bingens and the "Hildegard medicine".
  14. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen: Healing Power of Nature. ›Physica‹. The book of the inner being of the various natures of creatures. Trans. V. Marie-Louise Portmann. Ed. from the Basel Hildegard Society. Pattloch, Augsburg 1991, p. 45.
  15. ↑ Josef Sudbrack. Hildegard von Bingen. See the cosmic wholeness . Echter, Würzburg 1995, p. 11f., ISBN 3-429-01696-7 .
  16. ^ Klaus-Dietrich Fischer: Man and medicine with Hildegard von Bingen. In: Moguntia medica. Medical Mainz. From the Middle Ages to the 20th century. ed. by Franz Dumont u. a. Wiesbaden 2002, pp. 23-35.
  17. ↑ Irmgard Müller: How authentic is Hildegard medicine? On the reception of Hildegard von Bingen's Liber simplicis medicinae in Codex Bernensis 525. In: Hildegard von Bingen. Prophetess through the ages. Hrg.v. Edeltraut Forster u. the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard, Eibingen. Freiburg, Basel, Vienna 1997, pp. 420-430
  18. ↑ Charlotte Kerner: How can you give remedies without doing your virtue? In: Berliner Zeitung . July 15, 1998, accessed June 8, 2015 .
  19. ^ Heinrich Schipperges †: Hildegard von Bingen. In: Werner E. Gerabek et al. (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , pp. 594 f .; here: p. 595.
  20. ↑ Original quote: “Hertzka and Strehlow follow a highly commercialized attempt while suggesting that the medical recommendations made by Hildegard are of divine origin. This, however, cannot be true as the medical texts compiled by Hildegard are not relying on her visionary experiences as do their religious treatises. Hildegard-Medicine ”in the 21st century represents a typical example of current Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The methods most often rely on historical attempts which are able to impress the general public. " Axel Helmstädter: The Healing System of Hildegard of Bingen ( Memento of the original from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / aamh.az
  21. ↑ opinion of Promed ( Archive Link of 2013).
  22. ^ Zähringer pharmacy - source of Hildegard medicine , accessed May 18, 2020

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