The sight of a ring around the Moon or Sun is a breathtaking phenomenon that has captivated humans for centuries. It is a celestial occurrence that holds great significance and has often been associated with spiritual and biblical meanings. In this article, we delve into the intriguing world of the ring around the Moon and Sun, exploring its biblical connections and the interpretations that have been attributed to it throughout history. Get ready to embark on a fascinating journey through ancient texts and symbolism as we uncover the deeper meaning of this awe-inspiring celestial event.
The Significance of Rings in the Bible
While the Bible doesn’t have a ton to say about rings specifically, circular designs do have some importance in Christian symbolism.
Circles and rings are often used to convey the idea of infinity and eternity. This is likely why wedding rings are a classic symbol of love and commitment—they’re circular and will never end so they represent an everlasting bond.
Rings were often used as symbols of protection in ancient times, as well. A person might wear a ring with a gemstone engraved with a magic symbol to protect them from curses or diseases.
And while the Bible doesn’t speak to this specifically, there are examples of how rings could have been used in the lives of people in Biblical times.
For instance, Joseph was given an ornate ring by Pharoh as a sign that he was second in command in Egypt (Genesis 41:42). This was an emblem of power and authority, and it would have had significance to the Israelites who saw that Joseph had been given such an important role because the Lord was with him.
Additionally, when we read about Jericho falling, we hear about Rahab’s family hanging a scarlet cord—possibly used as a belt or sash on a robe—out her window so that the Israelites would know not to destroy her house when Joshua’s men attacked. The scarlet cord might not have actually been a ring, but it was still a circular object that was seen to have spiritual significance (Joshua 2:15-21).
The milcah that Abraham sent his servant to find for Isaac would have been more of a nose piece than what we think of as a ring, but it still fits into the general Biblical custom of using jewelry (Gen. 24:22).
What About Solar and Lunar Halos?
We really just don’t know what sorts of beliefs ancient cultures had about solar halos since there’s not much evidence left for us to look at.
But it’s clear that ancient cultures had a reverence for these stunning phenomena. In many indigenous South American cultures, for instance, the appearance of sun dogs was seen as an ill omen.
In modern Christianity, solar halos are often associated with Renaissance art and are frequently shown surrounding depictions of Jesus Christ. For this reason, some people view them as an apotropaic symbol used to ward off evil.
In Hinduism, solar halos might be seen as representations of chakras or energy points within the body.
The cultural views on solar halos and their meanings can vary widely depending on which culture you’re looking at!
The Ring around the Moon: Prophecies and Symbolism
The ring around the moon has been a subject of fear, wonder, and fascination through the ages. Both the moon and the ring have their own set of meanings in the Bible. In many ways, a union of these two entities is a representation of the Godhead itself.
While solar halos are mentioned less frequently in Scripture, they still hold some important prophetic significance. Read on to explore these biblical meanings further.
Revelation 4:3
The verse that immediately comes to mind when discussing halos is Revelation 4:3. This verse is set during John’s vision of heaven, where he saw someone who sat on a throne. Someone was also standing around the throne.
Around this one standing figure were three halos, shining brightly. John likened these halos to emerald and jasper stones.
Marks 13:24
Jesus Christ spoke about a great tribulation that will happen in the future. The sun will darken, and the moon will not give any light. Stars will fall from heaven, and the heavenly bodies will shake.
In verse 24, Jesus said that after the tribulation, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Friends also asked Jesus when these things will happen, and what signs they should watch out for. In verse 26, Jesus mentioned that they will see “The Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory.”
Acts 2:16-21
During his message to the Jews of Jerusalem at Pentecost, Peter mentioned a prophecy from Joel. He said that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and that everyone who calls upon God’s name would be saved.
Peter eventually quoted Joel from Acts 2:19-20. Joel mentioned wonders in heaven above and signs on earth below. There would also be blood, fire and smoke. The sun would become dark and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord arrives.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
Paul taught about what would happen when Jesus returns in his letter to the Thessalonians. According to him, “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command.” The archangel would call for God’s trumpet first, then dead believers will rise from their graves.
In verse 16, Paul said that after this event living believers “will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
The Ring around the Sun: Divine Messages and Spiritual Interpretations
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably heard the phrase “The grim,” which is a large, ghost-like dog whose appearance supposedly means death. In the book series, the grim was thought to be a supernatural omen because it only showed itself to people who were about to die.
According to ancient and medieval folklore, it was thought that halos around the sun or moon signified supernatural or otherworldly beings. Seeing a halo generally meant that you were having a spiritual or supernatural encounter and were marked for death.
Thankfully, we’ve come a long way and science has explained many atmospheric optical phenomena, including halos. However, halos are still often associated with divine messages and spiritual signs. Some religious groups see halos around the sun as signs of good fortune or blessings from God.
Sun and moon halos are also seen in various biblical stories, particularly during divine events. The most famous story involving a sun halo is when Jesus was baptized in the New Testament.
Matthew 3:16 says: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
This passage is often used to explain that halos are actually a divine light from heaven above. So when you actually see a halo around the sun or moon, it’s said that it’s an icon depicting spiritual enlightenment.
Halos are also used as symbols in religious art, from pre-Christian cultures to Eastern religions. Christian art often uses halos to depict holy figures such Jesus Christ, Mary Mother of God and various saints. In this sense, halos are seen as symbols of enlightenment and spiritual awakening.
In Christianity specifically, halos are used as a tool for believers to see the holiness found within each person. In this spiritual interpretation of sun and moon halos, these atmospherics serve as reminders of the divine origins found within themselves.
Halos still hold religious significance today, both within Christianity and in other religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Historical Accounts and Biblical References
Throughout the Bible, multiple observations have been made about solar and lunar halos. This is why many Christian believers interpret reading solar or lunar halos as a sign of hope.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel had mentioned seeing a rainbow-like effect in the sky. He described it as “a wheel inside a wheel” at a time when the sky was covered by clouds.
Looking at the New Testament, both St. John and St. Paul revealed to have seen fantastic visions during which they saw strange halos around heavenly bodies.
Halos are also featured in Jesus’s sermon on the Mount of Olives as a sign of hope, inspiration and happiness. Using war as an example, Jesus tells his followers that they will see these signs before His second coming.
However, it’s important to note that not all biblical references to radiant halos are positive connotations. The Bible speaks about Dagon, a god of the Philistines who has a connection with radiant halos. In fact, some Biblical scholars believe that Dagon and similar idols were used by ancient peoples to mock God sacred halo.
Even though there are negative mentions, nobody knows for sure what these references actually mean. Since the Bible is open to interpretation, people can choose how they want to perceive radiant halos.
Historically speaking, some of the most popular events that involved perceived sun and moon halos were civil wars from 1455-1485 and 1642-1651 as well as the American Revolution and World War I from 1914-1918.
As an example, during 1914 the Manchester Guardian described seeing many fiery bands of color around the sun to symbolize the “woeful havoc being wrought by the war in Europe”.
Overall, eye-catching sights such as solar and lunar halos have always found a way to affect human emotion.
Interpretations across Different Cultures
There are several origins of this folklore that are taken from different cultures and their own explanations for halo-like atmospheric rings. The Buddhists believe that the ring around the sun is a sign from Buddha himself. This sign represents his ability to avoid his death to find a solution for all of the world’s problems. The ring can be seen when he was meditating and he radiated a brilliant light from his body that caused a circular halo-like pattern. In these cases, the ring represents peacefulness and tranquility.
Scandinavian countries have their own interpretation of the circular patterns and they believe it is an omen for rain. In Estonia, people say that the ring represents how many days to expect rain in the month. The indigenous people of Alaska believe that the ring around the moon represents a full moon and strength. They strongly believe in the connection between spirits and nature. People see the ring as a message to be slow if you are traveling or to proceed with caution.
The Incas and Aztecs took this one step further and believed that the ring meant the end of the world was near. They would then make offerings to their gods in order to prevent any end of days disaster. Even during modern times there have been some false rumors about this being a sign of an impending apocalypse!
There are also some superstitions that may arise from seeing a sun dog, or multiple halos around the sun. It is said that if you see three circles around the sun you will be cursed for life. Some interpretations instead suggest that you will have good luck forever instead! Roman solider believed that this represented an approaching storm with thunder so load it would actually shatter the sky.
It would seem that folklore has come up with plenty of both positive and negative omens related to halos surrounding the moon or sun. Much like current popular beliefs in lucky horseshoes or black cats, so too do these superstitions persist.
Scientific Explanations: How is the Ring Formed?
Of course, in addition to superstition and the Word of God there are scientific explanations for the ring around the moon and other optical phenomena. Scientists say that these rings are caused by refraction, or bending of light. Ice crystals in cirrus clouds made up of hexagonal columns of ice form prisms that cause moonlight to be splayed into the various colors of the spectrum.
For a solar halo, the sun must be at least 22 degrees above the horizon and the cirrus clouds fairly thick. It is most likely to happen when a warm front approaches. Ice crystals refract the light, creating a 22 degree halo around the sun.
The varying colors are attributed to the internal reflection of colors in prisms. As with rainbow colors, red is refracted the least while violet is refracted more. Sunlight must pass through at least 60 degrees of ice crystal to create a halo, but both refraction and reflection must occur. In short, it’s a very complex process that I don’t fully understand despite reading several sources on it.
I know this all sounds incredibly similar to why we can see rainbows. But rainbows are formed from water droplets that break sunlight into its various colored components. The main difference between rainbows and halos is crystals reflect light while water droplets refract them.
Other factors include air temperature and pressure. Smaller ice particles create smaller halos and larger ones obviously create larger ones. It’s all very complex stuff that I truthfully don’t fully understand despite doing my best to find accurate sources on the science behind lunar halos.
According to space.com, lunar rings last longer than solar rings because ice crystals are more likely to form and remain in thin clouds at higher altitudes—the ideal condition for halos to form.
Science doesn’t fully back up some superstitions common in certain religions, but at least there can be some agreement among people that these halos are rare and beautiful gifts from nature.
Notable Occurrences: Famous Ring around the Moon and Sun Events
While ring around the sun and moon events are a somewhat common occurrence throughout the year, some are more notable than others.
One of the most famous ring around the sun events happened in 2012 when a solar halo appeared over the International Space Station (ISS). The amazing image of the red-orange sun halo surrounding the ISS was taken by astronaut André Kuipers and quickly went viral. According to EarthSky, NASA released a statement at the time explaining that the phenomenon is actually quite common in space. Halos appear because of sunlight passing through ice crystals high in Earth’s atmosphere. The crystals scatter different wavelengths of light which creates a luminous halo around the sun.
Another notable ring around the sun event happened in October 2016. A fire rainbow phenomena was seen across America’s southeastern skies and was even dubbed one of the beauties of nature. Technically known as a circumhorizontal arc, fire rainbows only occur when the sun is higher than 58° above the horizon and appear only in cirrus clouds. Their name is somewhat misleading since they have nothing to do with rain or fire but is actually related to an optical illusion that occurs when certain types of clouds refract sunlight at just a right angle.
However, according to Earth and Sky, there have only been a handful of documented cases of circumhorizonal arcs or “fire rainbows” due to its strict weather requirements. For this phenomena to occur, cirrus clouds must be located at an altitude of about 6,000-7,000 meters and be between 100 million ice crystals per cubic meter.
In some cultures, ring around the moon events had deep meaning—whether it’s forewarning of a typhoon or an omen from above. One such example is the Mayan civilization where people believed that seeing a ring around the moon meant “the gods were angry” which would result in bad weather and war. Even today, there are still a few cultures that consider a lunar halo as an unlucky sign.
Personal Experiences and Testimonials
There are numerous stories of people seeing halos and rings around the sun and moon.
Some of these experiences have been profound, and the ones that have been documented and shared are really special.
Here are some of those stories:
Kenyan Ring Around Sun Represents a Bright Future
In 2020, moguls started a chain message that claimed a ‘Kenyan ring around the sun’ had been spotted. This sun halo was interpreted to represent a number of different things, including doomsday prophecies.
Prior to getting too scared or worried, everyone took a deep breath and listened to the actual source in Kenya. The country’s farmers and scientists saw the halo as an indication that there would be good rain during the season. In other words, their crops were saved by this enchanting event.
Astronomer Recalls Teenage Sun Ring Schoolyard Experience
Matthew Tiscareno, an astronomer in the United States, recalls a time when students at his high school started pointing out the ‘weird ring’ around the sun. He really thought that it didn’t sound like something that was truly happening until he went outside and looked for himself.
After seeing the beautiful sun halo himself that day, he decided to spend his life studying space and planets.
Rings in the Sky Mark Important Meeting
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s first meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un happened under a haloed sky. Although some of us may see this as a mere coincidence, it was hard not to notice or feel the profound effect this had on both leaders’ nations.
This was also interpreted to be a good omen overall for South Korea.
Mexico Teen Breathless Over Strange Moon Halo
Teenagers worldwide are always on their phones, which is why Jose Manuel posted to his social media when he noticed a halo around the Moon in Mexico City. His friends also shared their photos and reactions online.
The ring around the Moon and Sun is a captivating sight that has sparked wonder and curiosity in people since ancient times. It has been seen as a beautiful display of nature’s artistry and has also been associated with spiritual and biblical meanings. Whether you view it as a sign from the heavens or simply a stunning celestial occurrence, the ring around the Moon and Sun undoubtedly leaves us in awe of the wonders of the universe. So, the next time you witness this magical phenomenon, take a moment to reflect on its beauty and the deeper meanings it may hold.
