Hildegard's Healing Plants: From Her Medieval C... Apr 2026

She gathered a handful of the purple spikes, explaining how the scent could "curb the many evils" of a heavy heart. They moved to the fennel, which Hildegard insisted made a person "happy and gave them good flesh." She wasn't just treating the body; she was tuning an instrument.

Her fingers, stained with berry ink, traced the jagged edge of a nettle leaf. While other healers feared its sting, Hildegard saw a fire that could wake a sluggish spirit. She took a young novice, Ricardis, into the abbey gardens at dawn. Hildegard's Healing Plants: From Her Medieval C...

"The lungs are like a forest," she told the frightened man. "Sometimes the mist settles too thickly. This plant brings the sun." She gathered a handful of the purple spikes,