243 St Vladimir’s Teological Quarterly 63:3 (2019) 243–259 The Cultural Influences on Stylitism as an Ascetic Practice: The Case of St Simeon the Stylite Vasilije Vranic Stylitism is the exercise of the ascetic practice of stasis on an elevated platform, usually on a pillar, for a long period of time. Te frst attestation of the practice is in ffh-century Syria by a certain Simeon, native of a village on the border between Syria and Cilicia. He was nicknamed “the stylite” afer he chose to stand immovable for close to forty years on a platform around six feet in diameter, raised high on a pillar and exposed to the elements. In the case of St Simeon, however, it must be noted that his stylitism underwent an evolution. He began his stasis on a plat- form which was merely a few feet from the ground, but over the years it was gradually raised to a height of about sixty feet. Despite valiant attempts by scholars to analyze and explain the inspiration for such a strange ascetic practice, which bafed both practitioners and admirers of asceticism, the origins of stylitism remain the object of scholarly debate to this day. 1 Te austerity of Simeon’s practice and the shock it provoked is made evident in the fact that stylitism met strict opposition from the outset, even within the monastic milieu. 2 Various theories exist regarding the origin and purpose of stylitism, ranging from an explanation of this peculiar practice 1 Foreword by Susan Ashbrook Harvey in Te Lives of Simeon Stylites, tr. Robert Doran, Cistercian Studies 112 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1992), 9. 2 When his fellow monks in Egypt heard about the austerity of mortifcation Simeon imposed on his body, they excommunicated him. Cf. Sebastian P. Brock, “Early Syr- ian Asceticism,” Numen 20.1 (1973): 15.