Monastic Orders
Notes on Monasticism
Monasticism Before getting to understand what a monastery is about, we first must understand what monasticism is. Monasticism, from the Greek monachos, derived from monos meaning ‘alone’, is an (often) religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits such as romance, money, or luxury to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Instead, concepts such as friendship, simple pleasures, and cultivating the mind are encouraged in this way. This way of life can branch out to different kinds of styles such as the following:
Eremitic Eremitic living, or better known as hermitic living, is when one chooses to shun society to live absolutely alone, usually for religious reasons. The word is derived from eremite or erēmítēs which means ‘person of the desert’. These people usually live in their own little home or just wander in an area in search of something.
Cenobitic Gathering together in a building in order to live with the guidance of a superior is called cenobitic living. This superior sets the rules and guidance for those who live in this building. This is the typical way of monasticism.
Anchoritic Sometimes a person feels as if they need to be locked up as penance or to fully devote their lives to a cause. An anchorite usually needs the permission of a king or queen and will be permanently locked up or sealed in a cell about as big as a small bedroom. This cell was either placed in a yard by itself or attached to a chapel so that the anchorite could still pray at the right time and place. A person would visit the cell daily and give food and receive waste from the anchorite through a small window.
Sarabitic These monks choose the ways of monastic life which they like and sneer at the rest. They wish not to live with rules, a superior, or traditions but rather pick what they want to do in the way they want it at the time they want it and in the way they want it. They criticise tradition, which tends to irk other monks to a certain degree.
Girovagi Never committed to one place, the Gyrovagues give in to their own restlessness and are constantly seeking novelty. As they seek new environments, diet, people and practices, they move from cloister to cloister. They stay in a cell for about three to four days, just to wander off again to new venues.
Asceticism Monastic life of a monk contains asceticism, as asceticism is about living a minimalistic life to the point of renunciating possessions and pleasures in order to focus on spiritual goals. There is a difference between natural asceticism such as living in utmost simplicity and minimal lifestyle and unnatural asceticism where body mortification and self-infliction play part in the lifestyle. Asceticism wasn’t practised by all religions as some would rather celebrate the joys of life and worldly pursuits rather than abstain from it.
With this in mind, think about on what philosophy you want your monastery to focus on. It could be religious but it could also be some ideal or philosophical practice of life such as beauty, health, pure thoughts, magic, or perhaps attempting eldritch mutations that unlock psionic powers. When that focus is set, you’ve got your basis on the lifestyle for the monastery you wish to build. The rest of that lifestyle is a matter of how you wish to approach it from the given information as long as it can be done in a simplistic way with minimal money.
Location Monasteries demand a lot of room and in Buddhism, they strategically place them at a mountainside to let people appreciate simple and natural beauty. Not all lands have mountains and not all monasteries are placed near them. But what we can get out of this is that, in order to show that it needs to be away from the tumults of life, it is best if it’s placed in a remote location. Somewhere far or hard to reach such as the middle of a desert, on top of a snowy mountain, on an island, or in the clouds if you want. As long as the location is remote and (almost) cut off from civilization, it is a fine location to set a monastery. (Heck, the first monastery was made from the cave where Saint Benedict lived.)
Building So, onto the building itself. Choose for a medieval western or oriental building so you can pick the construction material. Stone walls, and glass windows for western buildings and wooden walls and paper windows for oriental ones. The floors are most likely of the same material as the walls by default but wood would work fine as well. If you want a unique style for this building, look for a way that fits the culture of the location and the available materials.
A monastery is usually named after a saint, a sacred place, or the person or order that founded it. So that’ll save you some time thinking about it. But do think about what kind of monastery you are going for and for what reason it’s there. Whether it’s for religious devotion, martial arts, or perhaps peace and love, then there needs to be an area and equipment for that kind of dedication.
Front Yard Beyond the gates is the front yard. These are usually big, easily half a mile long to get from the gates to the main entrance. The rest is a matter of extra dimensions decorated with a paved path to the main entrance and grass, ponds, lanterns, a bridge, some trees, or a pastoral patch of land. Decorate it to make it look inviting and lead to the main entrance. Monks are often seen working on the yard as it requires a lot of work and can calm the mind to the point of focused devotion.
Entry The entry is a relatively small room meant to welcome people. It is meant as an introduction leading to the hallways. They are about 10 by 20 feet give or take.
Hallways and Cloister The hallways connect to all the other rooms and form a cloister together. A cloister is an open space surrounded by semi-open hallways. By that, I mean that the outer wall and ceiling of the surrounding hallway are closed and the inner part is open but supported by columns or just contains glassless windows. The innermost part of the cloister surrounded by the hallway is usually a garden, sometimes just a patch of grass but it could also be a nice looking decorated garden. Make the hallways 10 feet wide as multiple rows of people often need to walk down them and get to their location in time.
Bedrooms In most monasteries, bedrooms are separate. Not only that, but they are usually minimalistic and barely have enough to live. There is just enough room for one bed, one cupboard, and something such as a sink to wash your face. It’s practically a small cell but the door isn’t locked. I estimate a 10 by 15 feet per bedroom. The bedrooms are placed in a separate wing, so not close to the main hallway but on an upper level or remote building. The hallway that connects these rooms can be 5 feet wide as people can more easily find their own room.
In most cases, men and women sleep in separate wings. Still, there can be shared dormitories where the monks make their beds and sleep in the same room. In oriental monasteries, they usually prepare a blanket on a mattress when they sleep and store it when they wake. Try to make some measurements for about 10 people per wing, perhaps up to 20. The abbot/master usually sleeps in a private room that’s larger than the others.
Refectory/Kitchen/Pantry Devotion can make one hungry so each monastery has a kitchen and a refectory (dining room). I estimate the average kitchen to be about 15 by 15 feet or more depending on the expenses. A lot of people will work together in the kitchen to cook simple meals while the rest are setting the table(s). The most minimalist kitchens back then would have a least a hearth to heat a pot with and a table with cutting boards to prepare food on. Medieval kitchens would most likely have a bucket of water, a cauldron, some cutlery, and something to grind food with.
Unless the monastery has multiple dormitories, they would likely have one refectory that would fit all the monks at one table. So that would be about ten to twenty people at one or two connected tables with the abbey at the head. As each person would take a 5-foot square, just measure a table as it would take 5 people on either side and make the refectory slightly larger than that. It could be more depending on the size of the monastery and how many people it can hold.
Latrine/Reredorter/Necessarium What goes in must come out, ey? It’s usually an outhouse somewhere out back. A 5 by 5 little house where the poop is dumped in a bucket so the contents can be dumped somewhere else. Or, in cases of large groupings, there could be a collective latrine in which the waste will be dumped in between to walls which will land in a stream of water to wash it away.
Do I really need to say any more about a crapper? Well alright, it stinks, so people usually made it smell nicer with flowers and nice smelling herbs. The sittings are usually made of wood because let’s face it, press your bare butt against the cold stone and you’ll know what time it is.
Chapel/Meditation Room/Oratory There is one place that is central to the monastery and that is dependant on the focus that you chose for it. For religion, it’s a chapel or church meant for prayer. This usually means that there is a symbol prominently placed for everyone to see and to focus on with enough areas to sit and pray/meditate. These could be pews but also blankets, pillows, or something else that’s cheap and somewhat comfortable to sit on.
If it’s not religious, then it could still be something spiritual where the main figure talks about the monastery philosophies or it’s a place where all the monks sit together to chant.
Balneary Just because some people choose to be detached from society, doesn’t mean that they don’t need to wash. A balneary is usually a pool where people go to wash. In some cases, it is merely a tub or bucket with water with some soap and cloth. In the oriental monasteries, monks would almost make it an art in how they prepare an enjoyable bath after a hard day’s work. ‘Work hard, bathe hard’ would be a fitting phrase.
Infirmary Diseases, infections, broken limbs, opened wounds, and other traumas are still a thing in a monastery and when they live so far away from society, having a room ready to treat people’s ailments will come in handy. Monks are often willing to show compassion to travellers who are sick and back in the day, being treated for anything could mean the difference between life or death.
Library The phrase “monkish work” didn’t come from just anywhere. It’s about the writing that monks had to do by copying bibles and other scriptures which had to be done in minute detail and was a slow process. (Not to mention those finely crafted capital letters at the start of a chapter in western books.) The library was where books and scrolls with chants and records were collected. Some were chained to the shelf in order to prevent theft. In some monasteries, creating books was their main source of income as being able to read and write was a rare skill.
Bell/Gong Either a belltower or gong hall is present in a monastery to announce the time of waking up or to start a new action of the day. As the location is supposed to be as quiet as possible, the bell or gong should be loud enough to be heard all over the area.
Aesthetics Walls and Ceiling Some monasteries are carved into cliffsides where they just use the stone itself for walls, other times it's built in a way that allows for sculptures and frescos. The latter is often used for symbols of the philosophy such as an angel greeting visitors or a depiction of an important person.
The ceiling itself can be supported in a way that shows its own style of craftsmanship. It could be made of straight beams or arches. Sometimes small windows can be installed inside the building to provide a little bit of light from other hallways that are shut with doors.
Windows Windows, if any, are very small in monasteries. This is because they are expensive to make and absorb heat, making the poorly heated building colder than it already is. Not all windows need to be stained glass as those are even more expensive so those are reserved for special locations that are meant to show the monastery symbols. These can be placed at the chapel or the entry.
Oriental monasteries follow the old traditional constructions made with mostly wood and sheets of paper (washi or shōji). Such doors and windows can slide open which conserves space and allows some fresh air and sunlight in. “How could such a thing survive a rainstorm?”, you might ask. Well, a lot of these buildings have overhanging roofs that offer plenty of cover from rain, the windows themselves cover for blowing winds and the cold.
Garden There are backyards in monasteries to ease the mind a bit with natural beauty. Western gardens are often functional and provide produce, oriental gardens such as Zen gardens are tended as a serene and simple work of art that is re-crafted periodically.
Monestary Rules Abbot/Master There needs to be someone making the rules.
Begging Monks often beg in a local area for money and give gifts back.
Curfew When to wake and when to bed as a group.
Hygiene The hygiene standards.
Chores What work needs to be done around the monastery such as cleaning, yard care, sanitary duty, etc.
Mealtimes Not all monasteries have standard mealtimes, some eat once or twice a day.
Free Time Some are given free time to pursue hobbies.
Talking Speaking is often not allowed in monasteries as it’s considered to be a distraction from what is important.
Clothing Clothing is often cheap, covering the silhouette, functional, made of simple materials and either in a discrete color or in a symbolic color of the order. The abbot/master often had more distinctive clothes to show status.
Food The food is cheap and simple, such as rice or bread with pieces of fish and herbs.
Tasks Some would get tasks for repairing something or creating something needed in the monastery.
Haircut A bald head was often beneficial for hygiene but also showed a willingness to lose one’s ego as hair can show one's pride in the shape, color, and health.
Examples You are imprisoned by the religion of Gelpor. A seemingly innocent religion with an ever-growing dark streak of strict ethnic cleansing and torture. They are trying to torture you as well and brainwash you into joining their ranks. If you want to keep your mind for yourself, you need to find a way to get out of their dungeons, bypass the inquisitors, and escape the monastery.
The Sun Yard, a monastery dedicated to Pelor, was a place of peace. One day, a heavy storm damaged the bell and made it lose its pure sound. This caused hordes of demons to attack the monastery, trying to corrupt it and take away Pelor’s light. As the monks are trying to keep the hordes at bay, it is up to you to repair the bell and ring it so the sound can weaken the demons.
The Pure Heart monastery was the training ground for hundreds of monks willing to learn their style and achieve excellence of self. Until the cenobite was challenged by a stranger who killed him. The stranger demanded that the old rules should make way for the new, training became harsh and hard to bare. Now the Pure Heart is in preparation of war, hundreds of warrior-monks are at the command of one cruel tyrant.
High in the mountains is where the ones with psionic talent are being sent to, or at least it used to be. The Cloud Top was the perfect place to train psionic powers while keeping it safe from the rest of the world. Those who are trained there were able to perfectly control their mind and be a boon to society. But reality got warped in that place, a rift to the Outer Realm opened and horrendous creatures came pouring in. The Cloud Top is a desecrated full of horrors and unstable psionicists. And more keep pouring out until someone can stop it.
The undead apocalypse is here and only a small village of survivors are holding out in Saint Nicol’s monastery. The people are wary, newcomers are thoroughly checked and judged, and food is scarce. You have heard that there is a way to drive the hordes back but it will require preparation and a solid army of people. What will you do in the coming year? How will you guide these people to take care of themselves and prepare to end the world’s suffering?