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Hildegard of Bingen from The Vita

Since my infancy, however, when I was not yet strong in my bones and nerves and veins, I have always seen this vision in my soul, even till now, when I am more than seventy years old. … in this vision my spirit mounts upwards into the height of the firmament and into changing air and dilates itself among different nations, even though they are in far off regions and places remote from me. And because I see these things in such a manner, for this reason I also behold them in changing forms of clouds and other created things. But I hear them not with my physical ears, nor with my heart’s thoughts, nor do I perceive them by bringing any of my five senses to bear – but only in my soul, my physical eyes open, so that I never suffer their failing in loss of consciousness; no, I see these things wakefully day and night. And I am constantly oppressed by illnesses and so enmeshed in intense pains that they threaten to bring on my death