Hermit
A
hermit (from the
Greek erēmos, signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in
seclusion and/or
isolation from society.
Originally the term was applied to a Christian who lives the
eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e. the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart).
Often – both in religious and secular literature – the term is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style – including the
misanthrope – and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with
anchorite/
anchoress (from the
Greek anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside the circumvallated city"),
recluse and
solitary. However, it is important to retain a clear distinction.
Christian hermits in the past have most often lived in
caves,
forests, or
deserts, but some of them preferred an isolated cell in a
monastery or even a city. From what is known of their contribution to Christian heritage, male hermits were more common than female. As regards the anchorites, one that has left a lasting impression on Christian spirituality is the
English anchoress
Julian of Norwich.
From a
religious point of view, the solitary life is a form of
asceticism, wherein the hermit renounces wordly concerns and pleasures in order to come closer to the
deity or deities they worship or revere. This practice appears in
Hinduism,
Buddhism,
Christianity and
Sufism. In ascetic hermitism, the hermit seeks solitude for
meditation,
contemplation, and
prayer without the distractions of contact with human society,
sex, or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of
cleanliness or
dress. The ascetic
discipline can also include a simplified
diet and/or
manual labor as a means of support; for example, the early Christian
Desert Fathers often wove baskets to exchange for bread.
Religious hermits are often sought out for spiritual advice and counsel and may eventually acquire so many
disciples that they have no solitude at all. Examples include
Anthony the Great, who attracted such a large body of followers in the
Egyptian desert that he is considered by both Catholics and the
Orthodox to be the "Founder of
Monasticism", and
Gautama Buddha, who, having abandoned his family for a solitary quest for spiritual enlightenment, ended up as the founder of Buddhism.
One interesting variation of the eremitic life is the
Carthusian order of
Roman Catholic monks and
nuns. Carthusians live in what are essentially "
communities of hermits", each monastic having their own cell (with sleeping chamber, study, and workshop) where they spend most of their time alone, except when they meet in
church for
worship, and on other occasions.
Other religious hermits include
Simeon Stylites,
Herman of Alaska,
Thomas Merton,
Sergius of Radonezh,
Seraphim of Sarov, and
Charles de Foucauld.
Some wealthy estate owners during the Romantic period of the 19th cenutry would pay imitation "hermits" to inhabit their properties, as living garden decorations.
It is also possible for people to forsake human society for reasons other than religion. For example, in a notorious case,
Theodore Kaczynski, known as the "Unabomber", lived in a remote cabin in
Montana which gave him the privacy to build
mailbombs. It should be noted that he did not seek to be alone and was not a hermit as such. His high school physics teacher insisted that he was "not the loner he's been portrayed to be."
Friedrich Nietzsche, in his influential work
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, created the character of the hermit
Zarathustra (named after the
Zoroastrian prophet Zarathushtra), who emerges from seclusion to extol his philosophy to the rest of humanity.
Diogenes the Cynic, an
ancient Greek philosopher, led an ascetic life in a barrel. According to
legend, when
Alexander the Great came to him one day and offered to grant him a wish, Diogenes asked Alexander to step out of his sunlight.
*
Monasticism*
Solitude*
Silence*
Recluse*
Isolation*
Poustinia*
Hermitage*
Hermitary: the hermit, hermits, recluses, eremiticism, solitude*
Immaculate Heart of Mary's Hermitage: Catholic, hermit, solitude, silence, contemplation*
Chart showing the place of the Consecrated Hermit (canon 603) among the People of God*
anchorite?
