Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
Ann Renfrew of Loch Morar, Scotland, is in her early 50’s and has been a Benedictine nun in Germany. She received the rite to become a hermit in an Arasaig ceremony presided over by the local bishop. A priest commenting on the new hermit remarked to the Press and Journal of Sister Maria Edith that “She will still talk to people, but it will be in a withdrawn way.”
URL: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1344926?UserKey=
Ansuman Biswas, who spent 40 days in the Manchester Museum tower as a hermit, is interviewed by BBC News upon his exit (August 5 was his last day there ) and return to “real” life. Excerpt:
A hermit is re-entering society after spending 40 days and 40 nights in Manchester Museum’s Gothic tower.
Ansuman Biswas, 43, from London, chose 40 objects from the museum collection during his isolation, where he contemplated “loss and extinction”.
He posted his thoughts on the items on a blog, as well as practising yoga and meditation for up to five hours a day.
Mr Biswas, an artist, told the BBC it had been a wonderful experience which he hoped to repeat in the future.
“It’s flown by really. I wish I could have another 40 days and 40 nights,” said the hermit.
“There’s so much to do still and I’ve got lots of ideas that I’ve run out of time now to realise.
“Except I could continue to do them in real life, or whatever real life is.”
Includes a one-and-a-half minute video.
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/8187909.stm
Blog: http://manchesterhermit.wordpress.com
An article from Men.Style.com on Daniel Suelo is titled, “Could You Survive Without Money? Meet the Guy Who Does.” Suelo has lived over 7 years without money, in a cave near Moab, Utah. The article writer visited with Suelo, interviews him about his past and records a typical day of food, foraging, and reflection.
URL: http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_9817
Daniel Suelo’s blog, “Moneyless World, Free World, Priceless World”: http://zerocurrency.blogspot.com/
This item on Kathryn Bloomquist from the Catholic News Agency and the Catholic Diocese of Salinas, Kansas describes how a widow became a nun and hermit within the Catholic rite. Sr. Kathryn had been strongly attracted to solitude throughout her marriage. When she became a widow, she sought out the bishop’s advice and then prepared for over four years to become a nun and simultaneously a hermit. Sr. Kathryn resides alone in the home she lived in with her late husband.
Tatton Gardens, a Liverpool estate, is soliciting for an ornamental hermit for its garden show from July 22-26, 2009, according to an article in the Liverpool Daily. The head gardener, Sam Youd, who holds an uncompromisingly Gothic view of what a hermit should be — but consistent with the 18th- and 19th- century estate holder’s view of eremitism — has indicated his criteria for a garden hermit, along with living in a “grotesque” place and with a skull: “It will take a certain type of person to do justice to the hermits of the 18th and 19th century,” said Mr Youd. “The Hermit’s Grotto is pretty grotesque, but that reflects the reality of a hermit’s environment.”
Additionally, Mr. Youd insists that the hermit must have:
- an unkempt natural appearance;
- love of solitude;
- vow of silence;
- facial hair (male or female);
- overgrown toenails.
The article is entered under “Golf News.” No mention of any of this on the Royal Horticultural Society Tatton Gardens web site (http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/shows/tattonpark2009/).