A closer look
There is a very thin line between profound mystical enlightenment and severe caloric deficiency. In the 3rd century, early Christian hermits fled to the Egyptian desert to live in total isolation. They survived on a few scraps of bread, slept on the dirt, and barely drank water. Unsurprisingly, their sleep-deprived, starving brains began projecting massive hallucinations. They documented epic, terrifying battles with literal demons taking the forms of wild beasts and seductive women. Modern medicine would call this psychosis induced by starvation, but back then, it was just top-tier mysticism.
