A fascinating ebook available free on the web is The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael by Walter Horn, Jenny White Marshall, and Grellan D. Rourke (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1990). The book details archaeological investigations of a rocky island off County Kerry, Ireland, which housed a hermit’s dwelling in the 9th century. Includes photographs.
St. Louis Abbey hermit
This 2006 essay titled “An Experience of the Eremitic Life” by Abbot Luke Rigby, a Benedictine monk at St. Louis Abbey in Missouri, recounts the author’s decision and how he eked out an eremitic life in his seventies residing near the abbey and school. An example of a contemporary Catholic pursuit of eremitism.
URL: http://www.stlouisabbey.org/publications/jubileebook/Luke.pdf
CBS News on hermits
CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds offers a 2-minute video on hermits today, interviewing Paul and Karen Fredette of Hot Springs, North Carolina, editors of Raven’s Bread, a newsletter for hermits. A brief story accompanies the video.
URL: story – http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/28/eveningnews/main5816436.shtml
URL: video – http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5816761n&tag=api
Mt. Athos today
The December 2009 issue of National Geographic includes an article on Mount Athos, the ancient Eastern Orthodox monastery island. The writer neatly summarizes the flavor of solitude and persistence in the character of the monks and hermits, and the threats of modernity to the ways of centuries. Accompanied by a photo gallery.
Cambodian feral woman
A recent Telegraph (UK) article titled “Jungle woman Rochom P’ngieng wants to return to the wild” describes the plight of an 18-year old Cambodian woman who grew up alone in the jungle from the age of eight and was reintroduced to society in 2007 but unsuccessfully so far. The woman does not speak, eats prepared food reluctantly, refuses clothes, and regularly attempts to flee back to the jungle.
Brought to our attention by a friend of Hermitary.