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POSITION: 41°15’17″N 13°36’24″E
“Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.” – Morpheus, The Matrix
As every cabin boy knows, Saint Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. And St. Elmo’s fire is an atmospheric phenomenon that causes spars and rigging to fluoresce, usually just before a lightning strike. Over the centuries, sailors deemed St. Elmo’s fire a good omen. Right up until lightning struck, I guess.
St. Elmo’s is also the name of a bar in the 1980s Brat Pack hit film, ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’. A film that features a cringeworthy dad-rock hit of the same name. Tickle Me Elmo has nothing to do with Gen-X B movies but, for reasons I’ll explain, does have an ironic connection with its saintly namesake.
Local Heroes
Saint Elmo, aka Saint Erasmus, was bishop of Formia towards the end of the 3rd century. If you head out our marina and turn right, Formia is about three miles down the road. This discovery reinforced for me Gaeta’s central role in nautical history. Coming as it did on top of finding out that John Cabot was born locally, and the world’s last big gaff cutter is docked here.
Old Saint E. was a bishop when being Christian was enough to put you on a lion’s dinner plate. Docletian, contemporary Roman Emperor and early technocrat, persecuted Christians with gusto, destroying churches, smashing relics, and eviscerating clerics. Refusing to worship Roman gods, St. Erasmus was arrested, tried, and martyred by having his abdomen slit open and his intestines wound around a windlass. The windlass brings us to sailors and his abdominal misfortune to Tickle Me Elmo.
Open Sesame
I have no idea how Elmo from Sesame Street got his name, but I doubt the marketing wizards at Tyco Toys dug into the history of St. Elmo when it designed his avatar. If you missed the 1990s, Tickle Me Elmo was a bone fide meme. Released in the United States during the summer of 1996, by Thanksgiving people were fighting over and getting arrested for trying to buy one. Scalpers bought and then resold Tickle Me Elmos at vastly inflated prices.
I never understood the attraction. About 20 inches tall, the little red monster would cry hysterically when its belly was pushed. It’s as well the designers hadn’t read their ancient history. They might have forgone millions in revenue.
Gaeta Connection
For several centuries St. Erasmus’s remains were kept in the Cathedral of Formia. A horde of pesky Saracens sacked the city in 842 and his body was moved to the cathedral in Gaeta, where it rests to this day. At least that’s what I’ve read. The cathedral is closed until further notice.
Ergo…
In summary, St. Elmo was an ancient martyr and patron saint who gave his name to two electrical phenomena, both appreciated by pirates. Such is the irony of fate.
There’s another Elmo worth mentioning, Dr. Elmo Shropshire, composer of that perennial holiday favourite, ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer’. Enjoy!
Very interesting, you added a lot of color to our little haven here. Thank you for “Enlightening” us. Good read!
Haha! Thanks Robin!
Mike, Sarah and I are wrapping up our week in Cabo. As always, I’m enjoying catching up on your always interesting and entertaining yarns.
Our hotel is on the Pacific side of Lands End. The ocean is anything but peaceful. Complete prohibition on entering the water and, if a person turns his/her back to the surf, people are routinely swept away in vicious rip tides. We climbed to the top of the rock formations yesterday for spectacular views of both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez sides. Lands End was given its name because it was the last land heading south until a sailor reaches Antarctica.
Wow! Sounds fantastic, but very glad not to be close to shore onboard Aleta in those conditions!