Hildegarde's world is its oval, or egg, shape. Also extraordinary is the pure ether in which are located the fixed stars, the inner planets, Mercury and Venus, the Moon, and at the center of the oval a mixture of the four elements, rather than the earth alone. Beyond the fixed stars and the inferior planets is a shell of "dark fire" (ignis niger) or a "dark skin" (umbrosa pellis). And beyond this lies a mass of bright fire (lucidus ignis) within which are located, in ascending order from the Earth, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Thus the Sun and the three outer planets are not only separated from the inner planets and the fixed stars, but they lie beyond the fixed stars.
Planets, stars, and orbs | Edward Grant











