The word halo is Greek and literally means “threshing floor,” because it described the circular track followed by a team of oxen while threshing golden colored grain.
The idea of the halo has pagan roots and wasn’t accepted by the Christian church until the seventh century.
Its symbolism of heavenly authority is the reason monarchs wear crowns and Native chiefs wear bonnets of feathers.
In religious paintings a halo suggests a sacred aura.
