Hildegard of Bingen explains the fundamental connections of a healthy human life and describes the constitution of the body as well as the causes and treatment options for various diseases. The poet, polymath, and healer provides insight into the folk medicine of the High Middle Ages and offers this collection as a timeless compendium of ancient healing arts. Fire, air, water, and earth are within humans; they are what we are made of. From fire, we have warmth; from air, breath; from water, blood; and from earth, flesh. Similarly, we derive sight from fire, hearing from air, movement from water, and uprightness from earth.