Beyond Epiphany: Reading the wise (Wo)men journey inwardly with Hildegard of Bingen.

Do you feel like Christmas has not come for you this season?In her homilies the medieval Abbess Hildegard of Bingen invites us to translate the Epiphany story into the soul’s journey towards new life.

Jan 05, 2023

“Wise Women also came” by Jan Richardson (purchased download from https://janrichardsonimages.com)

I read a letter by a friend yesterday who wrote that there was no Christmas for them this season with all the heartbreak going on in their family.

And like him, my dear fellow traveler, you might have been busy with being sick, or caring for sick ones, or bidding farewell to loved ones, or heartsick for this aching world.

Surprised by forced solitude, family heartache, or urgent matters which needed attention in these in-between-days between the years, your Christmas might have been different than expected.

But are you sure you have not arrived at Christmas yet?

May be you have not arrived at the festivities that culture has engrained in you or the family feasts or the usual rituals we look forward to?

Still.* Perhaps Christmas came to you this season in the sacred moment when you stood at the death bed of a loved one? Or Christmas came to you this season when you cared for your ailing mother? Or perhaps Christmas might have come for you this season when you held a child? Or of all things, cared about your own health and healing?

And as many households this year were, ours also was riven by witnessing the Holy Land in rubbles, and by becoming sick ourselves. So we walked slower than usual, holding our hearts and each other more than usual, celebrating little moments more than usual — and slept more than usual!

When our little sick one kept me awake these last nights I gazed upon her gazing back to me: Only Divine Wisdom could have come up with the story of Divine birth. No braggadocio. No display of worldly power. Just a mother, father and child on their journey together through time, earthly, embodied, interdependent, incarnate.

Reading the Wise (Wo)men journey inwardly, with Hildegard of Bingen.

In her Christmas homilies the medieval Abbess Hildegard of Bingen1 invites us to translate the Epiphany story (when the three kings arrive at the manger, and mad King Herod fears the “newborn king” might get all the attention…, Matthew 2,1-12) into the soul’s journey towards new life. Without questioning the historic validity of the story, Hildegard invites us here to read the text almost like a dream or fairytale, in order to unpack the rich symbolism it holds (we have looked at her Christmas allegories before here and here). The three kings, says Hildegard (and I now translate freely and into modern language), symbolize the well-educated, cosmopolitan mind, filled with all sorts of worldly wisdom and knowledge. But then a star in the East arises, just where the sun awakens, like a guide from beyond, pulling them on a journey towards their "heart's knowledge."

Following the promise of this star led them away from all the cherished stars they held before, even away from their own stardom. This star "which went before them in upright perception and wisdom," led them to "God's grace" swaddled in the clothes of an innocent child. They found Divine gifts in this little child, gifts which would frighten rulers and threaten their worldly powers. Their heart's knowledge enabled them to see the Divine gifts and to follow the star. When they found the "new king," surprised by the sight of a newborn peasant baby, they rejoiced in the wisdom of the Divine knowledge. "Their souls tasted heavenly things."

Though arriving in Bethlehem at the scene of the birth, the three seekers also arrive in that innermost “chamber,”… “where the sinner lets go of sins and holiness arises,” as Hildegard has it in her allegorical language. Overcome by that very moment they open their heart and offer their innermost riches (again in my own words): gold, the beginning of Divine knowledge, frankincense, the becoming transparent to our shortcomings, myrrh, the deepening of the self.

Dear fellow traveler, let me try a modern interpretation here coming from Hildegard’s dense (and difficult…) read:

The Journey of the three kings - our inner pilgrimage

Hildegard helps us to see that we have, all along, already been traveling with the wise (wo)men on their journey. This is the journey of the heart cradling hope we have walked on these 12 days of Christmas, to the place where Divine wisdom dwells, away from what we considered urgent and important and towards the living light, who wants to dwell in us. It is a journey from “dead” knowledge to “living” knowledge, when the eternal spirit becomes alive in the human heart.

The little child - birthing hope and grace

So who is the new king? A little tender child, symbol for peaceful innocence (or as the German theologian Paul Tillich has it: “dreaming innocence”) cradled by Mary, mother of all wisdom. There is no doubt in Hildegard’s reading that this child is to be born in each of us, the spark of hope and peace, guarded by wisdom, kindled by eternity. The eternal word dwelling among us.

This inner child is not childish, but offers childlike innocence, as when Jesus calls us to become childlike. This may be what Kierkegaard called the second immediacy, an innocence one re-kindles only after having grown out of initial childhood.2 The child becomes the “savior” / healer, when it becomes the inborn child, birthing grace and hope into the pilgrim’s heart.

The evil king Herod - the shadow self’s deceptions

But wait. I guess what you want to say. You know exactly who that evil king Herod has been in our days who plays nice to the faithful just to trick them into worshipping him instead of the Divine child. We know exactly who that proud man looks like, killing the innocent children of the land. Well, I am sure the story translates just as well into our public sphere today.

But this is not where Hildegard’s interpretation is leading us. Hildegard works in the long monastic tradition of inner movements, in the same way we today think of working with dreams: all the figures in our dream belong to our inner workings and are part of our own inner self.

So, sorry to say, Herod is also within us. We might understand him as the shadow or false self, the deceptive part of the ego who does not want to let go of its own importance, silencing any Divine spark calling to us from the deeper self.

To Bethlehem - our heart’s heart

The King’s journey to Bethlehem (some say it was rather a women’s journey, let’s save that for tomorrow!) becomes the interior pilgrimage to our heart’s heart, shedding all excess baggage and ballast, and revealing our innermost being. It is here where we find our true / deeper self, not as something waiting to be picked up but as our heart’s maturing on the way.

Thus, our 12 Days of Christmas journey does not come in pre-packed wisdom bits and pieces, but instead becomes a laborious gathering up, walking, and deepening every year anew, guided by a star from beyond…

“Reclaiming Joy”, finally

Hasn’t that been the subtitle for this season’s journey? Don’t we all need to rekindle joy in a time which seems so hopeless for many? Friends, here is the good news: We are all Bethlehem. We are all vessels of the Almighty. We are all Mary. We are all, each of us, full of the presence of God. We are all the womb able to deliver the good news into our time. We are all, also, the wise (wo)men on the way. At Christmas and beyond.

And may
Divine grace and
hope
be born in us and
dwell in us
anew

Amen

And may Christmas still, today, find you where you are, Almut with C & H