Reading about English medieval Archorites, they where people (usually woman) who voluntary went into religious solidarity, they literally got bricked into a tiny cell for the rest of there lives. Some of the rules written in the guidebooks are a little funny, like how you shall love no beast but can have one cat or how even though your supposed to be in solitary confinement you can still give advice to people that visit you, but shouldnt talk or gossip for too long, which seem to come up repeatedly, so I'm assuming they had problems with people just starting up a whole gossip chain through the small window of their cell.
There's one famous account of a mystic called Margery kemp who was worried her intense visions where fake and was overwhelmed by them, she was known to cry or have histerical reactions in public from her visions. So she decided to visit the anchoress Julian of norwich and ask her what she thought, and to paraphrase Julian basically just said "nah it's fine, just try to keep calm and carry on" and Margery is just like "okay thanks" leaving Julian to just chill in her little cell forever.
Margery did write that Julian's advice actually made her feel alot better about everything, and apparently she was very calm compared to Margery's intense emotional state.
maybe it's because I haven't slept yet and I'm sleep deprived but this just made me laugh, like Margery is worried she's dislusional, so off she goes to ask a woman who bricked herself into a tiny room for life what she thinks about said delusions.
Julian and Margery are interesting woman in English history, it's cool that's they both met eachother and there's some record of it, there isn't much if any recorded visits to Julian of norwich, she obviously had visitors and gave advice but they weren't written down or recorded. Julian is also credited as writing the first book in the English language by a woman.
