Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
The Sri Lankan Guardian offers a succinct essay about the British-born Harold Musson, who became the Sri Lankan Buddhist hermit Nanavira Thera and prolific writer on the intersection of Buddhism and modern existentialism. Was his life and death anomalous tragedy? “Nanavira likely saw the situation differently,” notes the author.
URL: https://slguardian.org/buddhism-nanavira-thera-the-hermit-of-bundala/
See also the Hermitary review of the book The Hermit of Bundala by Hiriko Nansuci.
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Smithsonian magazine offers a summary of the topic: “Ornamental Hermits Were 18th-Century England’s Must-Have Garden Accessory.” Includes many illustrations and a short video of Gordon Campbell’s comments.
This fall, University of Oxford’s Social Sciences departments presented a series of educational programs for “family-friendly audiences,” that included a program titled “Life as a Hermit,” presented by faculty of the Schoool of Archaeology.
From the website: “Hermits are people living in solitude. How does your life differ to theirs?In this activity, inspired by findings from Byzantine hermitages in Cyprus, enter our ‘cave’ to experience life as a hermit! You will ‘meet’ a male and a female hermit, handle objects used by hermits, explore why people chose to live as hermits, and challenge some stereotypes.”
British musician Richard Dawson is described as composing and performing “prog folk” or progressive folk. His music treats and exhausts the traditional English folk devices, melodies, and textures, adding touches of more familiar “prog rock” or progressive rock elements overlapped with psychedelia. His recent (2022) The Ruby Cord includes a 40-minute section titled “The Hermit.”
Aeon presents a 1987 BBC video production from the series “Nationwide: Remote Britain.” The video is titled “The Only Resident of Écréhous.” Byline: “Why one man spent 15 years in ‘self-imposed’ island exile.” Here is a summary from Aeon“:
“Born on Jersey in the Channel Islands (part of the British Crown Dependency), Alphonse Le Gastelois (1914-2012) moved to the small, only seasonally inhabited Écréhous island chain roughly six miles away in 1961, after being wrongly suspected of a series of heinous sexual assaults. Relocating for his own safety and peace of mind, he remained there, living mostly in isolation, until 1975, even after he was proven innocent when the string of attacks continued in his absence and the real culprit was finally caught in 1971. First broadcast in 1978, this clip from the BBC series Nationwide: Remote Britain tells Le Gastelois’s incredible story of ‘self-imposed exile’, including his formal attempt to become ‘King of the Écréhous’ – a request that would ultimately go unfulfilled in law, if not in legend. Depicting the power of unfounded rumour and gossip to derail a life, his story is one that echoes with amplified intensity in the internet age.”
URL (Aeon): https://aeon.co/videos/why-one-man-spent-15-years-in-self-imposed-island-exile; (YouTube): https://youtu.be/5AFNq8G_K3Y?si=H22zlaY0oWjOP