The Force That Infuses Life’s Vitality
A Manifesto for Humanity: Reawakening Viriditas in the Age of Crisis
I write this article to honour Hildegard of Bingen, born 1098, West Franconia [Germany] — died September 17, 1179. Long before Alexander von Humboldt invented modern nature with his recognition that “in this great chain of causes and effects, no single fact can be considered in isolation.” Before John Muir insisted that “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe,” Hildegard places at the centre of her cosmology the notion of viriditas, from the Latin for “green” — a greening life-force pervading the world, mirrored in the virtues that enrich the soul.
As we launch into 2025, I’m struck by the eerie resonance between our contemporary ecological crisis and the prophetic insights of a woman who lived a millennium ago. Hildegard of Bingen, a polymath who defied her time, saw a universe brimming with viriditas. The greening force that infuses life with vitality. Her visionary work, particularly her writings on the interconnectedness of the natural world and human responsibility, speaks to us with haunting relevance. Her warnings about the consequences of severing our connection to the viridian life force feel prophetic when viewed against today’s climate upheaval, biodiversity collapse, and a societal malaise born of disconnection from nature. As I write this article, Los Angeles, CA, is caught in a firestorm on a scale that has never been experienced in the United States.
We think memory cannot see into nor through events of history. Such thinking is a convenient forgetting — the past infuses everything present.
As someone who has spent decades contemplating humanity’s relationship with the Earth, I find Hildegard’s notion of viriditas a poetic roadmap for healing. Her insistence that we are co-creators with the divine in nurturing and protecting creation mirrors the central themes I’ve explored in my writing: our ethical obligation to preserve the Earth, the need to redefine prosperity, and the urgency of environmental stewardship.
The Greening Force: A Timeless Call for Interconnection
Hildegard understood that the world’s vitality depends on our ability to integrate reason, intuition, science, and spirituality. In her cosmology, viriditas was not just the greening of plants but the flourishing of virtues within the human soul. She believed that when humanity forsakes these virtues, the Earth itself falters.
This echoes the arguments I presented in my article “Redefining Prosperity: The Imperative of a World Beyond GDP” — that our obsession with economic growth at all costs has systematically undervalued the true wealth of ecological and human systems. GDP-centric models of progress have driven us into an extractive relationship with nature, prioritising short-term gain over long-term harmony. Hildegard’s plea for integrating rational knowledge with the “inner eye” reminds us that true prosperity emerges from alignment with nature’s rhythms, not its exploitation.
The Natural World as Divinity
In her visions, Hildegard described a world where humans and nature are deeply entwined, with our survival hinging on this sacred relationship. This perspective aligns with the central thesis of my article, “What if the Natural World is Our Divinity?” In that piece, I argued that humanity’s achievements are not testaments to superiority but reflections of our interconnectedness with ecosystems that sustain us.
Recent microbiome research — revealing the profound ways our internal ecosystems influence cognition and behaviour — validates Hildegard’s philosophy. As gut microbes shape our well-being, the natural world is our foundation and muse. Recognising this is not merely an ecological necessity but a spiritual imperative. Hildegard’s worldview, where holiness and wholeness are one, challenges us to reframe our relationship with the Earth. If we accept that the natural world is divine, desecrating it is nothing less than sacrilege.
Prophetic Warnings: A Climate Crisis Foretold
My article “What We’ve Done is Unforgivable” captured my deep frustration with humanity’s repeated failures to act on the warnings of scientists and activists. Reading Hildegard’s prophecies, I am struck by how accurately she anticipated the consequences of our disconnection from nature’s greening power. She foresaw climatic disruptions, describing paradoxical warmth in winter and unseasonable chills in summer as signs of a world out of balance. Her words serve as a cautionary tale and a call to urgent action: we must reconnect with the greening power of virtues now or risk further unravelling the delicate web of life.
“Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all. One thing we know, there is only one God; no man, be he red man or white man, can be apart. We are brothers, after all.” words of Chief Seattle, 1852
Today, we know the science behind these disruptions — greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and industrial pollution — but we often lack the moral clarity Hildegard embodied. She believed that “our thinking affects our greening power,” a profound assertion that aligns with my belief that sustainability requires technological solutions and, significantly, a transformation of human values and behaviours.
Micro-Heroism: The Daily Acts of Stewardship
In my article “We Love This Earth as the Newborn Loves Its Mother’s Heartbeat,” I reflected on the power of micro-heroism — small, everyday actions that contribute to the greater good. These actions can be as simple as reducing waste, advocating for policy change, or reconnecting with the natural world. Hildegard’s emphasis on integrating the rational and intuitive within us resonates deeply here. She saw humanity as fragile vessels capable of great deeds aligned with the soul’s virtues.
The modern climate crisis often feels overwhelming, but Hildegard’s faith in human volition — our ability to choose the green vitality of good deeds over the drought of indolence — reminds us that change begins at the individual level. Whether reducing waste, advocating for policy change, or simply reconnecting with the natural world, each act of stewardship contributes to collective healing.
A New Manifesto: Co-Creation with Nature
We won’t move forward by taking a few gigantic steps; we’ll take several billion small ones. Hildegard’s vision offers a profound lesson for our times: we are not merely inhabitants of Earth but co-creators of its future.
This is the beating heart of Hildegard’s viriditas: the insistence that the stewardship of Earth’s life-force is our moral obligation to the universe and spiritual duty to our souls. And this can only be so — the words holy and whole share a Latin root; if an ecological conscience is a way of seeing the world whole, it is a way of seeing its holiness and our holiness — not above it, but nested within it.
Rachel Carson knew this when, eight centuries later, picking up Hildegard’s torch to catalyse the modern environmental movement, she observed that “there is in us a deeply seated response to the natural universe, which is part of our humanity,” that the task now before humanity is “to prove its maturity and its mastery — not of nature, but of itself.” Hildegard gave us the original model of poetic ecology.
This idea combines with the themes I’ve explored throughout my writing, particularly the need to redefine human progress in harmony with the planet. Just as Hildegard believed that “the soul is the green life-force of the flesh,” I believe that humanity’s survival depends on nurturing the vitality of our inner and outer ecosystems. Our bodies and the natural systems that sustain our bodies.
Moving forward requires a radical rethinking of our collective values and actions. Prosperity must be redefined, moving beyond GDP-centric metrics to encompass ecological health, societal well-being, and human fulfilment. Our actions must embrace micro-heroism, fostering a culture of daily stewardship where small, intentional acts lead to systemic change.
We need to recognise nature’s divinity, shifting our worldview to see the natural world not as a resource but as a sacred partner in our survival. We must integrate rationality and intuition, honouring the scientific knowledge that guides us and the intuitive wisdom that connects us deeply to the Earth.
Though centuries old, Hildegard’s teachings feel startlingly urgent today. She reminds us that Earth stewardship is a practical and spiritual necessity. We must embrace the interconnectedness she eloquently described to heal the planet and ourselves. The task before us is immense, but as Hildegard’s life demonstrates, even the smallest actions, guided by virtue and vision, can shape the course of history.
In one of her visions, collected in the wonderful translation Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works: With Letters and Songs (public library), she paints a menacing picture of a world in which we have grown disconnected from the greening life-force of our souls. Seven centuries before Eunice Newton Foote discovered greenhouse gasses, and an epoch before we had any sense of climate change or our hand in it, Hildegard foretold:
“Then the greening power of the virtues faded away, and all justice entered upon a period of decline. As a result, the greening power of life on Earth was reduced in every seed because the upper region of the air was altered in a way contrary to its first destiny. Summer now became subject to a contradictory chill, while winter often experienced a paradoxical warmth. There occurred on Earth times of drought and dampness… As a result, many people asserted that the Last Day was near at hand.”
Speaking to us from a thousand years ago, Hildegard is an inspiration to awaken our greening power and become co-creators of a future that honours the Earth and our shared humanity.
If you feel inspired, let’s begin.
About the author: Greg Twemlow, Founder of XperientialAI©. Read more of my 300+ articles at: https://gregtwemlow.medium.com/
Greg Twemlow: Sharing what I’ve learned from my career of 35 years as a citizen of the world, parent, corporate executive, entrepreneur, and CEO of XperientialAI, focused on experiential learning for maximum impact with AI. Contact Greg: greg@xperiential.ai
