87 Mobility, immobility and sainthood In this passage of the Life of Euthymius, the hagiographer’s (Basil) love for hesychia when he resided in a monastic cell is contrasted with busy city life. The space for hesychia, on the other hand, is thus a quiet place, away from urban society, and in this case also away from the communal monastery. An interior space, a degree of physical separation, a degree of solitude, silence and an absence of distractions can thus be distilled as circumstances that make this space suitable for practicing or being in a state of hesychia. From the examples in which hesychia is connected to monastic cells it might be tentatively concluded that hesychia was found in a type of space that is relatively small, inside and enclosed: a space that physically separates the monk from the outside world. In addition to this physical separation, the space also separates the monk from other people. The cells are not shared with others, but they are individual. In practice and sometimes also in the narratives monastic cells do not completely guarantee either of these desiderata – physical separation and solitude. Cells may be entered by other people. In the examples of the Life of Gregory chapter 25 and 39 this indeed happens. In both cases the entering of people is presented as a disturbance to the monk. Although the monastic cell is thus presented in these narratives as one of the spaces associated with hesychia, the space itself does not (completely) guarantee reaching hesychia. This also applies to the other types of spaces that are connected to hesychia in the narratives. In fact, disturbances, like people entering in the monks’ enclosed spaces, is one of the motivations for monks to travel away from a place. Not finding hesychia at a certain place, or the desire to reach it is another motivation. However, that the particular space is not a perfect guarantee for physical separation and solitude does not detract from the fact that these spaces do provide some degree of separation and solitude. The qualities of physical and social isolation are sought after by monks in these spaces – or at least presented as such – and these qualities are deemed to be necessary or appropriate for realising hesychia. The fact that interactions with people are presented as disturbances supports this observation. The other (semi-)enclosed spaces that are connected to hesychia in the narratives share these qualities as well, a degree of physical separation from the outside (and exterior) world, and (ideally) a degree of solitude. The degree of physical and/or social isolation varies: the cave mentioned in the Life of Euthymius is presented to be really secluded from and unknown to other human beings. The tower in the Life of Gregory on the other hand, while providing a degree of physical separation, is situated in an urban context. These spaces have in common that they are (semi-)enclosed, interior spaces that are contrasted to the outside, exterior world. 2
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