Word for the day : Stylite

   Stylite (n.) : a religious ascetic who spends his life on top of a pillar.

    The original, and the most famous stylite was one Simeon Stylites the Elder.  He's the dude on the left in the picture above.  He reportedly stayed up there for 37 years.  You can read about him here.

  The second pic is also of our Simeon the Elder.  His little perch was originally only 9 feet high.  But over time, his townspeeps built it up to a towering height fo 50 feet.

    It's comforting to know that the 20th/21st Century doesn't have a monopoly on religious nutjobs