The inspiration for St. Hildegard’s vision of the Cosmic Egg came from an encounter with what she described as the Living Light. The following description is an excerpt from her vision:

“After this I saw a vast instrument, round and shadowed, in the shape of an egg, small at the top, large in the middle and narrowed at the bottom; outside it, surrounding its circumference, there was bright fire with, as it were, a shadowy zone under it. And in that fire there was a globe of sparkling flame so great that the whole instrument was illuminated by it, over which three little torches were arranged in such a way that by their fire they held up the globe lest it fall… There were scattered many bright spheres, into which the white globe from time to time poured itself out and emitted its brightness, and then moved back under the globe of red fire and renewed its flames from it… And beneath that ether I saw water air with a white zone beneath it, which diffused itself here and there and imparted moisture to the whole instrument. And when it suddenly contracted it sent forth sudden rain with great noise, and when it gently spread out it gave a pleasant and softly falling rain. But from it too came a blast with its whirlwinds, which spread itself throughout the aforementioned instrument.  And in the midst of these elements was a sandy globe of great magnitude, which these elements had so surrounded that it could not waver in any direction.  But as these elements and these blasts contended with each other, by their strength they made it move a little…” (93-94)

The shape of an egg is a feminine image of creation and this vision communicates that all life came forth from a cosmic womb. Scholar, Dr. Amanda Dillon (professor at Trinity College in Ireland) recognized in 2022 that this vision of the cosmic egg has many similarities to several images from the James Webb Telescope. Hildegard, and those who assisted her in creating visual art to accompany the written visions, captured in the 12th century a cosmic image that would not be visible through a telescope until the 21st century!

St. Hildegard was a visionary. She received glimpses into the nature of reality, including the diverse relationships between heaven and earth. While she was privately educated in a Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg, she repeatedly claimed that her visions came directly from the Living Light and not from her own learning and knowledge. The similarities between the 12th century drawing of the Cosmic Egg and the 2022 image from the James Webb Telescope confirms St. Hildegard’s claim that the mysteries of the universe were being revealed to her through her encounters with the Living Light!

On a side note (a fun-fact), for St. Hildegard’s Feast Day in Eibingen, Germany, the presiding bishop wore a chasuble (priestly vestment) in 2024 with a large cosmic egg embroidered on the back of it.