Hermits around the web – Hermitary
news, sites, and pages of interest about hermits and solitude
Wales Online reviews the book Deep County: Five Years in the Welsh Hills (2011) by Neil Ansell. Ansell spent 5 years as a hermit in Wales, and recounts the solitude, nature, and rural life.
Another source is this Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/27/neil-ansell-my-life-as-hermit
An article in the Independent (UK) titled “Grail Community: Life inside a (gently crumbling retreat,” offers an inside look at a unique a lay association of celibate women who choose not to be nuns or to work visibly in the world despite their interest in ecclesiastical and social issues.
The women of the Grail Community in north-west London have provided a sanctuary to all-comers for more than 60 years. But, with the sisterhood ageing and dwindling, they are having to seek out a smaller home. Fortunately, these ‘hermits’ are not afraid to step outside…
On their 8+ acre grounds (which they may have to give up due to the time and expense of upkeep) are small cabins or “poustinias” for visitors who may want to spend time alone.
If the Grail Community itself is shrinking, there is, it should be pointed out, plenty of life in its two sister organisations — the Companions of the Grail, made up of celibate Catholic women who have their own homes but try to live out the service-to-the-community ideal as individuals; and even more markedly in the growing number of Grail Partners — married couples, again regular visitors to Waxwell, who draw inspiration from the core community and its work, but apply it more widely in the midst of everyday lives and families.
Two Orthodox hermit nuns in a North Yorkshire monastery are interviewed in a 2002 article titled “And Then There Were Two” in the Guardian. The nuns live in separate hermitages, pursuing creative projects and spiritual practices, meeting for meals. And they grant the Guardian reporter an interview because they are seeking recruits. Brought to our attention by a friend of Hermitary.
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/16/gender.uk
One of the two nuns at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Assumption mentioned in the article, Mother Thekla, has been well-known in British circles as a scholar and translator of religious works as well as a creative inspiration and librettist for the contemporary British composer John Tavener, with whom she broke communications because of his growing interest in Hinduism, as mentioned in a Telegraph article in 2003.
Mother Thekla has edited an album of sacred music for Naxos and published at least half a dozen books, including Can Wisdom Be Taught?.
A Mail (UK) article on Karen Markham, a Shropshire hermit. She holds a doctoral degree in music composition and has taught music at the university level. Before her decision to live as a hermit, Karen learned tai chi from a Buddhist teacher, spent time in the U.S. with communities of Native Americans in New Mexico and Muslim Sufis in Philadelphia, returning to England under the sponsorship of a Christian Orthodox monastery. Karen resides in a cottage on now highly-valued property, and was the recent subject of media articles on her possibly losing her present home. Includes several photos.
URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1290619/Karen-Markham-Meet-modern-day-hermit.htm
UK hermit Katen Markham is distracted from her eremitic life by the possibility of losing her dwelling-place, notes the article “Modern hermit Karen Markham fights for solitude” in the Telegraph. She has been a hermit at her cottage, her Hermitage of Divine Wisdom in Shropshire, for six years but the owner now wants to sell the property. From the article:
Miss Markham, who used to teach at Radley College, has converted a piggery into a chapel and keeps chickens in the garden, where she grows her food.
Her daily regime follows the rules of solitary living laid down by St Benedict, the founder of western monasticism, and involves rising at 4am to spend three hours praying and chanting divine names, as well as spending time in contemplative silence. She is committed to a life of chastity.
She has no television, takes no holidays and has very few personal possessions. She weaves rugs on a hand loom using wool from local sheep. Her interest in the solitary life began after she spent three years as part of a Muslim Sufi community in America; that led her to study the Christian saints. “Very few people want to live on their own, but it works for me and allows me the space to try to live a holy life,” she said.
Other reports: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7782251/Bishops-attempt-to-save-one-of-Britains-only-hermits-from-eviction.html; http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=95023
Hermitage appeal fund information: http://www.hermitageofdivinewisdom.org.uk/appeal.html