Causae et Curae ("Causes and Cures")

Eleonor Botoman on Pearfat's Sister Hildegard

Pearfat: Sister Hildegard

(Pearfat, Surrender To Chance)

From Ellie: “I composed this as a kind of poetic collaged assemblage from Hildegard of Bingen’s own translated writings. I reworked her language, capturing the tone and rhythm and style of her prophetic writings.”

Tell the mysteries, as I speak them through you in my mystical vision. Do not be afraid. Nevertheless, you are touched by my light. Like gold purified in the furnace, gleam brighter than before. Paradise flourishes in the delights of all spices exuded from the earth. I am the divine substance of life. O Hildegard, the heavens shine red as they sound forth your praise. I have seen great wonders, unstable in my nature. A bright layer of air created of symphonic blood to secure salvation. I have trouble with this visionary gift. Consuming my heart like fire. This world was created through the sweet power of green vigor. May your flesh ripen like honey. Pay attention to the scriptures. Know good and evil just as the angels have.

I am filled with mystical inspiration. When I look towards the rising sun, I see an inextinguishable life. Sparks flew towards a small clump of muddy earth. It offered up a brilliant white flower. Smell its fragrance. Heaven and earth shone forth in the fullness of perfection, but shadows spread across the air. Stars appeared in the darkness, radiating a marvellous clarity. Light-filled to the utmost heights of immeasurable glory, you emerge wondrously in great fragrance. Earthly creature! God is without beginning or end.

This human being contains the likeness of heaven and earth within her. Fruitfulness and animals. You see in your vision the glow of love without the stain or weight of sin. One cannot exist without the impermanent breath of air in her inner organs. The dust of humanity that lives through eternity. This is the basic material of creation, illuminated by heavenly sweetness. A most sacred moisture, inhale the knowledge of wisdom and break through the darkness of the world. You investigate the secrets of God. Incarnate violently in the glory of maidenhood.

O death, I will be the bite of your destruction. I tell you this in the smoke of aromatic spices on the high mountain. Again, I heard the living light speaking to me, the most precious pearl fashioned from the soil of the earth and inspired with the breath of life. It has moist greeness so that it will not fall apart and disintegrate, and palpable strength of red-burning fire so that it can be warmed and strengthened in its durable illumination of the hearts of the faithful.

Composed of sound, force, and breath, the sense of life is within you, striving towards perfection. May the sweetest fragrance be In the embrace of your heart. Then you will live in eternity. O wondrous marvel, give forth mystical truths. The lamb’s innocent blood has flowed. The ancient serpent’s throat has been choked with a necklace of pearls. Your nose is like a mountain of incense. Do not reject these secrets of God. You will bear the glory of the dawn.

What hand can anoint my wounds with oil? I took up my wings and flew. Put on the armor of light, glorious crown-bearer. I became softer than the air as if I was inside the fragrance of all fragrances. O nobel vessel, I have been swallowed up by the terrible sweetness of sins. Aromatic herbs bring forth their powerful fragrance so that you will live.

I am composed not by my own reason but by heavenly disposition. The perfumers perform their frequent duties like angels to attain the blessed state. You pour out the moisture of devotion and the warmth of the Holy Spirit. I speak these things not from me, but from the serene light. A flower among thorns. Made in a wonderful manner from the clay of the earth and living in the strength of God. You are the bright matter. What glorious pleasures take shape within you.

Give me the beauty of this world. I am in the air and dew, in the heavens, the earth, the abyss. Blessed are they who can discern heavenly matters. The saints still labor in the work of the flesh. Watch over your garden, which the divine gift has planted. Take care that its aromatic plants do not dry up. Cut away the rotten parts. Remember me, your Hildegard, so that your happiness will not fade. Be well in your soul and strong in your certainty.

𓇢𓆸 Suggested pairing: the music of Hildegard von Bingen

Eleanor Botoman is an art critic, poet & museum worker living in Brooklyn. When not experimenting with perfumery, you can find them curating multimedia wonders for their newsletter, Screenshot Reliquary.