Another saint of the desert: St. Macarius.

Why all the saint days in January? It's cold. The desert is hot.

But January is a lot like the desert. Desolate. Forbidding . . . Silent.

Russia has a long history of hermits. "Mystics of the Northern Forests."

Russia has a long, weird religious history in general. I flush it out here in summary form.

Lightning Segments

Music for Lighting Segments: Sky Hawk Beach by Blue Wave Theory. Used pursuant to the Attribution Share-Alike License 4.0.

Theme song: Skinnin’ Lynyrd by Greg Scheske, a bespoke expert. Email him here: [email protected]