The history of Jewish asceticism is traceable to 1st millennium BCE era with the references of the Nazirite (or Nazorean, Nazarene, Naziruta, Nazir), whose rules of practice are found in Book of Numbers 6:1–21.

When was asceticism used?

In Hellenistic culture (c. 300 bc–c. ad 300), asceticism in the form of fasting and refraining from sexual intercourse was practiced by communities of a religiomystical character, including the Orphics and Pythagoreans.

How is asceticism practiced?

Asceticism consists of practices of self-discipline undertaken voluntarily in order to achieve a higher state of being. ... Those who seek to practice an ascetic path often go out of their way to locate themselves far from the secular world.