In 1970, the author and physician Gottfried Hertzka published a book with the title „The Way God Heals. The Medicine of the Saint Hildegard of Bingen as a New Naturopathic Treatment“ (So heilt Gott. Die Medizin der heiligen Hildegard von Bingen als neues Naturheilverfahren) and so established the so called „Hildegard Medicine“. As sources for his knowledge, Hertzka quotes works associated with Hildegard, Causae et Curae and Physica. Up to this point, numerous books on the „Hildegard Medicine“ had been published, which talked about topics such as herbal medicine, nutrition, baths, fasting, compresses, cupping or Gemstone Therapy. By referring to the prophet of the Rupertsberg who, according to Hertzka, received her knowledge from some „kind of heavenly television“, these books are, so to speak, furnished with a divine seal of approval.

The criticism in this method of healing does not primarily refer to its effectiveness, but to the very free handling of historical sources from which the „Hildegard Medicine“ is supposed to receive its divine (and thus unquestionable) authority. It is particularly problematic that authors such as Hertzka or Wighard Strehlow state that they took the recipes and methods directly from Hildegard’s writings, although a majority is based on gathered experience from their practical activity and is then described under Hildegard’s name. In order to adapt the preserved texts to the present time, some were omitted and other parts were added, because details about amounts are often missing.

Meanwhile, many different medical and health products are offered under Hildegard’s name – from crack salve up to slippers made from the fur of badgers. Consequently, the „Hildegard Medicine“ and its marketing is a part of the current trend in alternative medicine, which however, apart from some superficial connections, has no connection with Hildegard of Bingen.