Vivid bursts of lightning flare at the highest reaches of a ship’s mast, illuminating the peaks in a glowing blaze – a fire born from a miracle or dream. Named for the patron saint of sailors, this phenomenon was infrequently observed in the fatal depths of a storm at sea. It was a beacon of light that cast those working to keep the ship afloat in a miraculous penumbra and a haze of bewilderment. St. Elmo calls to the high winds – to the electrified ether of a burgeoning storm, which, just when all seems lost, swallows its prey in the stillness of its eye.