St. Elmo’s fire (also St. Elmo’s Fire[1][2]) is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a sharp or pointed object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere (such as those generated by thunderstorms or created by a volcanic eruption).
St. Elmo’s fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formia (also called St. Elmo, one of the two Italian names for St. Erasmus, the other being St. Erasmo), the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light, accounting for the name.[3] Sailors may have considered St. Elmo’s fire as a good omen (as a sign of the presence of their patron saint).[4]
Source: St. Elmo’s fire – Wikipedia
Tim B.
“In ancient Greece, the appearance of a single one was called Helene (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη), literally meaning “torch”,[9] and two were called Castor and Polydeuces, names of the mythological twin brothers of Helen.[10] Occasionally, it was associated with the Greek element of fire, as well as with one of Paracelsus’s elementals, specifically the salamander, or, alternatively, with a similar creature referred to as an acthnici.[11]”