St. Elmo's Fire

[Salty Dog]

St. Elmo's Fire: St. Elmo's Fire is named after the Italian Saint Erasmus (Elmo in English). St. Erasmus is the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors. St. Elmo's Fire is a weather phenominon that occurs when a large amount of atmospehric electricity is present, usually before or after a thunder storm. It is usually seen as a good omen by men at sea, a sign that the very finger tips of God has come down from Heaven to protect the ship from danger.

St. Elmo's Fire appears as blue flame or sphere at the top of a ship's mast or masts, often for minutes at a time. It does not produce heat or cause things to burn. Sometimes the sphere will break up and dance along the yardarms and upper lines of the ship. On ships with more than one masts the flame may appear at the top of each mast or dance about like a blue flame licking the top of of all the sails.

Leave it to Ben Franklin to explain this naturally occurring condition in his work concerning electricity in the air and lightning. Basically as electricity builds up in the atmosphere before or storm or disippates after a storm it is attracted to the top of the masts which act as grounded lightning rods. The elctricity causes the tips to brightly glow in a blue or whitish blue light.
Despite Mr. Franklin's wisdom, the light is still seen today as a sign of good luck or fortune, escpecially when it appears near then en of a tempest. At that time, it is seen as a sign that St. Elmo has watched over the ship through the storm and answered the prayers of her crew.

[Roland]

Saint Erasmus of Formiae (or Saint Elmo)



Falkenstein Altarpiece. Staatsgallerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. Saint Erasmus, who was Bishop of Formiae, carries a crozier in his left hand and holds a windlass and palm frond in his right. Note that his intestines are neatly coiled around the windlass.