The Five Beasts of St. Hildegard: Prophetic Symbols of Modern Society

Fascinating book! Mr. Turner has done a phenomenal job connecting present-day realities with each of St. Hildegard's five Beasts. This book was published in 2014, which in Turner's opinion put us in the mid-to-late part of the Era of the Black Pig, the fourth Beast. The author broke up the first three eras by specific years in concordance with his interpretation of the prophecies (1895-1914, 1915-1945, and 1946-1991). Near the end of book, he posits the question as to the signs and events by which we might be able to recognize the beginning of the fifth and last era of St. Hildegard's vision, the Era of the Grey Wolf; an era of extreme civil unrest worldwide and of revolt against the rich and powerful, and which culminates in the appearance of the Antichrist. I stopped reading at the point of his question, briefly explained the question to my husband, and then said "That's easy. The year beginning the last ers was 2020." Several days later I read in Mr. Turner's blog that he considered the year 2020 as the year which future historians would odentify as the abrupt end of an era.This is not spooky stuff. This is God speaking to a woman of the 12th century and showing her things to come right before the return of Christ.

I didn’t know that St. Hildegard was into prophesying. Very good reading and very interesting also.

This is a very strange book, and most difficult to rate. The author attempts (quite unsuccessfully, in my opinion) to tie in certain prophetic utterances of the 12th Century mystic and Doctor of the Church, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, to current events, beginning with the year 1870. Let me say one thing up front - Reid Turner's analysis of the contemporary world is spot on, and well worth reading. I have no quarrel with his insightful reflections on our sorry times and the woeful decline in the ties that bind us all since the middle of the 19th Century. For all our vaunted (and undeniable) technological progress, in purely human terms the Modern World has indisputably regressed in almost every way over the past 150 years. Having just survived the most violent and anti-human century in history (the 20th), we seem hell bent on making an even worse mess of the 21st.But as much as I appreciated the author's take on today's societal trends, I remain unconvinced that Saint Hildegard was referring to our times in her visions. One can all too easily read into fanciful apocalyptic imagery such as St. Hildegard's almost anything one wishes (just look at what people have done with the Book of Revelations over the past 2000 years), and it seems that the author has done precisely that. But it does not detract from the undeniable value of his commentary. I think Turner would have done better to use St. Hildegard's visions as a narrative framework for his otherwise worthwhile commentary, rather than claiming any sort of prophetic nature to them.The book appears to be self-published - not that there's anything wrong with that! I myself have three self-published books to my name, so I salute the author for getting his word out.

Very intriguing and easy to read book. The author makes a compelling case for St. Hildegard's prophecies. It is important to know Hildegard is a doctor of the church when considering this book. This book is also a very brief historical book which may encourage the reader to do their own research. One last suggestion: take advantage of Hildegards sainthood and ask for her help. Do this with her and other saints.

The author makes an interpretation of the 5 beasts prophecy placing them in distinct eras of the modern age, starting in 1870. He claims that at the time of writing (2014) we are still at the black pig Era. I believe that the gray wolf era started at Amazonian Synod in 2019. He also makes consideration about the antichrist comments of St. Hildegard and on Revelations.