India Today adds an update titled “See the daily routine an Old Believer hermit living in Siberia” re Agafya Lykov, the Russian hermit living in Siberia, who is regularly reported on in this blog and is the subject of several film documentaries. In December 2018, the 74-year old Agafya contacted a journalist because she lacked essential supplies, and a delivery of food, medicine and hay were delivered. Includes a short video from Ruptly (Russia Today, RT); see below.
“Eremo” – eremitism web site
Eremo is a Switzerland-based web site on the subject of the hermit life, edited and maintained by Brother Markus. The dominant tradition is Hinduism, but Brother Markus includes Buddhist and Christian mystics as resources in his articles on various aspects of eremitism, and in his recommended readings. The Hindu term “Brahmacharya” is emblematic, defined as “a lifestyle adopted to enable one to attain the Ultimate Reality.” And that lifestyle is the lifestyle of the hermit, supplemented by the practice of virtue, meditation, yoga, and careful readings of classic sages. The site is in German, with English and Spanish translations of the site as options. Supplemented by photos of Brother Markus’ hermitage and environs.
Mauro Morandi update
Mauro Morandi, a 79-year old hermit on the small island of Budelli in southern Italy for nearly thirty years, is threatened with eviction, reports Il Globo.
Budelli was recently incorporated into Sardinia’s Maddalena Archipelago national park, and authorities claim that his presence on the island is incompatible with that designation. Morandi, who survived an eviction attempt several years ago due to thousands of petitions on his behalf, argues that, on the contrary, his presence protects the isalnd’s fauna and flora from the neglect of tourists and other island visitors.
Chinese wilderness couple
XinhuaNet features a story on a wilderness couple devoting their lives as caretakers of an ancient and neglected forestland in China. “For about two decades, Luo Yuxiong and her husband Zhao Jinshan have led a life of solitude in the barren land in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.” Details their decades-long environmental work to restore forest to a once-ravaged area.
URL: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-11/26/c_137632453.htm
CNN on Fr. Dario Escobar
A brief 2:28 CNN video update on Father Dario Escobar the hermit: “Meet the hermit who’s the last of his kind: Father Dario Escobar lives high in the mountains of Lebanon and is the region’s last remaining hermit. CNN’s Ben Wedeman journeys to speak with Father Dario, who is not as isolated as one might think.
URL: https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/11/23/hermit-father-dario-escobar-lebanon-wedeman-pkg-vpx.cnn