What is a Halo?
A halo (or nimbus) is found in art (mostly religious art) around the heads of individuals indication holiness, majesty, or heroism. It is one of the most common images in religious iconography. Its shape is generally round, though other shapes such as squares and triangles are sometimes found. Sometimes it is just rays of light seeming to come from the head of a holy person or God the Father. The color is almost always gold, white, or yellow. It is one of the most common forms of Christian iconography and religious symbolism. Here is what two popular AI products have to say about it.
ChatGPT:
A halo (or aureole) is a circular glow or ring of light often depicted above the heads of sacred figures, such as saints, angels, or divine beings, in religious and artistic representations. It holds various symbolic meanings, including:
- Divinity and Holiness: In Christian art, a halo is a symbol of divine favor and sanctity, representing the person’s connection to God or their spiritual purity. It marks a figure as sacred, transcending earthly existence.
- Enlightenment or Spiritual Light: The halo can symbolize the inner light or enlightenment of a person, often associated with wisdom, knowledge, or a higher spiritual state. It suggests a person who is spiritually illuminated or inspired.
- Protection and Power: In some cultures and traditions, a halo can signify the protective aura or divine power surrounding a figure. This is common in art depicting angels or deities, indicating their role as guardians.
- Victory and Triumph: In certain historical contexts, halos were used to symbolize triumph or victory, sometimes extending beyond religious figures to include rulers or heroes.
- Aura of Goodness: A halo can also symbolize purity, goodness, and righteousness, often used to indicate a person whose actions or character reflect virtuous qualities.
Overall, the halo is a powerful visual cue in art and symbolism, signifying sacredness, divine presence, and spiritual significance.
Gemini:
A halo, often depicted as a circle or disk of light surrounding a person’s head in art, symbolizes holiness, divinity, or spiritual enlightenment.
Here are some of the key meanings associated with halos:
- Divine Presence: Halos are often used to indicate a direct connection to the divine or a higher power. They can represent the presence of God, angels, or saints.
- Spiritual Radiance: The light of the halo symbolizes inner light, wisdom, and spiritual purity. It suggests that the person is illuminated from within.
- Martyrdom and Sainthood: In Christian art, halos are frequently used to identify martyrs and saints, signifying their sacrifice and devotion.
- Royal Power: In some cultures, halos were also used to symbolize the power and authority of kings and emperors.
It’s important to note that the specific meaning of a halo can vary depending on the cultural and religious context in which it is used
The Halo In Religion
Although the word comes from ancient Greek, and they probably copied it from the Egyptians, the first known use of a halo was in the art of ancient Iran. It quickly spread to other places and religions all over the world. It was used regularly on depictions of saints during the Middle Ages. Sacred persons are typically depicted with a halo around the head in many religions including Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. It was used on Roman Emperors and gods as well as Byzantine emperors. Sometimes a halo is shown around the whole body of a holy person (or saint), in which case, it is more properly called a mandoria. This image shows Jesus Christ with a mandoria as well as a halo.
The ancient Sumerian religion speaks of “melam,” a visible light or glow seen around gods, heroes, and holy people and places. Persian mythology had a similar concept in their iconography called Khvarenah, but it was usually depicted as a glowing, phoenix-like bird called a Simurgh. The Simurge might be surrounded by a circle of light, or be shaped in a circle, as in this example:
The well-known writer Homer from Ancient Greece wrote of a light around the heads of heroes. Pictures of the Greek demigod Perseus often include depictions of beams of light radiating from his head when he is fighting Medusa. The Colossus of Rhodes, which is actually a statue of the sun god Helios, has a radiant crown on it. This halo or crown was copied for the Statue of Liberty.
The halo was also used in ancient India. A pottery shard from around 1400 BC shows the Hindu god Shiva and an attendant, both with halos.
In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art, the halo has been used for many centuries on images of Buddha. Tibetan Buddhists used a variety of halo types in artworks depicting saints.
In Roman art, a halo was used to represent sanctity. This is probably where it was first seen by the early Christians and copied to use on statues and paintings of Jesus and saints. In early artworks depicting Christ, Christ’s halo was said to represent the Logos or divine nature of Christ. The cruciform halo, a halo with a cross in it, was used in some early Christian art only when the halo was on a member of the Holy Trinity. The triangular halo was also used only on members of the Holy Trinity. Plain halos were used on the heads of saints, apostles, and the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
An interesting variation of the halo is found in early Italian art depicting saintly individuals while still living. These portraits had square halos rather than circular ones. Another variation found in Zoroastrian art is for the halo to be a complete circle above the head looking more like a picture of the sun than a halo.
The Halo Outside of Religion
Today you can see the circular halo used in artworks, cartoons, and advertising to depict such things as honesty and innocence, often on a character who is pretending to be innocent. For example, a dog might be shown next to a shredded pillow with a halo over his head, or a cat next to a “fallen” Christmas tree will have a halo. In advertising, a halo might be used to indicate that a product is divinely good, or divinely inspired. A company went so far as to name its brand of ice cream “Halo Top” and put gold-colored tops on the round boxes so they resemble round halos.
There is also the related term where a positive opinion people have of one product or service from a company is extended in their minds to other products and services by the same company. This is known as the “halo effect”.
But the use of a halo outside of religion is not new. It was already mentioned that Homer and other ancients often depicted a halo over a “hero” who might have gained that title for fighting in a war. Likewise, kings, queens, and other royal or political figures were often shown with a halo. The crowns usually worn by monarchs and high priests in the past were an attempt to show a halo as a physical thing. It was originally intended to show that the person was “one with the Sun”, specifically, the Spiritual Sun, but later used simply to show that one had great power. Poet Kahlil Gibran had this to say about what is the true crown, and by implication, the true halo:
“Knowledge and understanding are life’s faithful companions who will never prove untrue to you. For knowledge is your crown, and understanding your staff and when they are with you, you can possess no greater treasure.”