A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland

A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland In the course of researching and writing the book Maitland spent silent time in silent places – on Skye in the Hebrides; in the Sinai Desert; in forests and mountains; in a flotation tank; in monasteries and libraries. She was trying to match her personal experiences to those [...]

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Bookends to the day and night

Realizing that I was drifting and not cultivating the virtues in myself that I value – compassion, right speech, integrity – I decided to restart what had been my routine for several years. Like a garden choked with weeds, I’d allowed other concerns to crowd out what I believe is most valuable for any human [...]

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Willard – the hermit of Gully Lake (1)

In the 1940′s American-born Willard (Kitchener) MacDonald jumped his troop train heading to WWII. Fearing authorities he lived as a Hermit deep in the northern wilderness of Nova Scotia, Canada, for more than 60 years. This is the true story of The Hermit of Gully Lake, a man who lived a life that the rest [...]

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Willard – the hermit of Gully Lake (2)

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Becoming a hermit (1) – the need to be alone

Perhaps for many, the journey of solitude begins with the discovery that he or she is actually happier when alone than with other people. It is probably rarely an “all or nothing” encounter with self, but rather it develops as a growing realization of who we really are. Some people thrive in the company of [...]

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Ray Phillips – The hermit of Manana

The Hermit of Manana, a film by Elizabeth Harris. Released May 2006. “The Hermit Of Manana” is the true story of Ray Eugene Phillips (1892 – 1975). He was born in 1892, attended the University of Maine, fought in World War I, held down a job in New York City in the bustling 1920s, and [...]

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The Hermit Writings of S.

The Hermit Writings of S. are a collection of short essays on many aspects of being a hermit – self-sufficiency, hermit and the world, love, time, urban eremitism, and virtue, for example. They are straight-forward, down to earth and direct. “We cannot give up the world and then expect the world to do anything for [...]

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Thomas Merton – video of his hermitage

A chance meeting with a Roman Catholic nun on the underground railway in Naples when I was 15 years old introduced me to Thomas Merton. She urged me to read “The Seven Storey Mountain” (the long version of his autobiography) which I did. Even at that age I was enormously drawn to the monastic life [...]

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A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries & Recluses

A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries & Recluses by Isabel Colegate Isobel Colegate brings a novelists insight to the lives of hermits through the ages – men and women, Buddhist, Christian and others who have found the journey either liberating or hell. She tells their stories with a genuine interest and warmth that is [...]

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Hermits, The Insights of Solitude

Hermits, The Insights of Solitude by Peter France France’s book is a survey of the wide variety of people who have lived as hermits, mostly in the Christian tradition, but including such modern hermits as the late Robert Lax who lived on Patmos. The rich tapestry of lives is a good introduction to how other [...]

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