Visionary, mystic, poet, musician, naturalist, healer, theologian-the Rhineland nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a Renaissance woman long before there was a Renaissance. This is the first book in English to offer a representative selection of writings from all of her amazing range of work.

Hildegard wrote many volumes on subjects from mystical vision to sexuality, from theology to natural medicine-in letters, treatises, poetry, and songs-all in an age when few women wrote more than an occasional letter. She was a woman of extraordinary influence whose work not only surpassed that of her male contemporaries in its range, but also outshone them in visionary beauty and intellectual power. This collection includes a brief biography of Hildegard, and selections from the following works:

• Scivias (literally, "know the ways"), the record of Hildegard's visions and her commentary on them
• The Book of Life's Merits, visionary work
• The Book of Divine Works, a work of cosmology and anthropology
• Natural History, a record of plants, animals, and minerals, translated here into English for the first time
• Causes and Cures, a compendium of her writing on natural medicine
• Symphonia, her songs and poetry
• Biographical works
• Selected letters