Light relates to many aspects of our lives.  When we think about the color white, associations of goodness, truth, purity, virtue and innocence come to mind.  A virgin bride wears white, a white flag is an international sign of surrender or truce, and peaceful intent.  If you are intelligent you are said to be bright, and you can have a bright idea. The word white sounds similar to the word light which sounds like life.  Light is used to indicated understanding as revealed in the metaphors, “I’ve seen the light” and “That throws some light on the question”.  People who have had near death experiences report being drawn to the white light.  The Bible states that God said “Let there be Light” and it was good.  Ironically the word good sounds and looks very similar to the word God.  En-lighten-ment means obtaining clarity of reasoning, perception, and understanding and is linked to the scientific revolution, reason , science and rationality.  Scientists such as Galileo and Newton studied divine or natural law in the “Age of Reason”.  This is often contrasted with the term dark ages, which can mean either oppressed or lack of historically written information. There is a condition called S.A.D. or Seasonal affective disorder where by people become depressed when they do not get enough light.  We tell people who are overly worried or stern to lighten up, meaning to be cheerful.

Throughout time, Halo’s and crowns of light have been associated with Holiness.  This image may have come from the ancient people witnessing the Corona of the Sun during eclipses. The Sun was seen as a life giving power, however when it was covered with the darkness of an eclipse, it created fear and was seen as a scary occurrence against the natural order.  The word eclipse came from the Greek word meaning “I abandon” and meant the sun was abandoning the earth.  This fear combined with the fact that many people experienced visual impairment after seeing the eclipse, made it a very scary event.  Figuring out when eclipses would happen and then predicting them, would have made some appear powerful in the eyes of indigenous people.  It is no wonder that the awe inspiring Corona of the sun became a symbol of power.  The Corona of the sun appears like a crown or wreath, like a halo and is also called the crown of immortality. Halos became associated with power.  Many of our great symbols such as the Statue of Liberty, the Collosus of Rhodes, (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) and the image of Sol Invictus (meaning the unconquered Son on Roman coins) all displayed crowns of sun-rayed halos.  The corona is also why kings wear halo like crowns of spiked or pointed gold, and it is also from where the word coronation comes from.

In Hinduism, Shiva dances in the firey ring of ten thousand things.  Indeed a circle contains all manifestations of the All, and the outward rays extend into the infinite mystery. Some see the halo as symbolizing the saint’s consciousness as ‘radiating’ beyond the physical body.  This could be why the word “hallowed” is used in the Lords prayer, “hallowed be they name.  Once mans consciousness grows to encompass all, the ego of the individual gains perception of its personal insignificance, the interconnectedness of all matter and thought in space-time, and the direct identity with the one infinite mystery known as God.

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© Copyright 2009 Kelly Sabota-O’Donnell