These exquisitely rendered medieval illustrations were rich with symbolic imagery and meaning. She was a scientist, poet, painter, healer, musician, playwright, prophet, preacher and social critic. To read her Book of Divine Works is to encounter a reuniting of science, religion, and creativity. Saint Hildegard and Saint Joan are two examples of many individuals throughout history who came to be known as mystics, those who encountered the Divine through visions, voices, and other ecstatic experiences. Taken one more step, consider the word mystery.
Mystery seems to be an accompaniment to mysticism.
Revelation seems to be the common denominator of reported mystical experiences. It is important to stress that whatever the nature and intensity of an experience of the Light, it always evolves into religious experience. In this mystical place, the gateway between heaven and earth, revelations are gifted, sometimes through the voices of angels, sometimes through symbolic visions. Perhaps the inexplicable occurs during an early morning walk. A deer emerges from the fog, antlers glistening, stately and silent.