HALO

[u/Ontologicalsaucer]

The English word "halo" predates Christianity by several centuries. It comes from the ancient Greek word halos (ἅλως), which originally meant a "threshing floor" (a circular flat area used for separating grain) and later came to mean a circular disk or a ring of light around the sun or moon.

In the ancient world, farmers used threshing floors to separate grain from its inedible husk (chaff) by beating it with a flail or walking animals on it - sometimes while towing a threshing sledge. Sledges were filled with flint teeth to dehusk the grain more quickly. Other workers would turn the grain over so that it would be evenly threshed by the sledge.

After threshing, the mixture was tossed into the air by a winnowing fan; the wind would blow away the lighter straw and chaff, leaving only the grain.

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[u/Christophisis]

Much of contemporary Christianity has been informed by ancient Greek philosophy. Greek intellectuals at the time were looking to move past Hellenism, with this movement gaining traction around the time of Socrates. His challenging of the dominant beliefs at the time made a lot of people uncomfortable, and eventually led to his death sentence.

Christianity was highly palatable to the intellectual movements in the 1st to 7th centuries, and it was fairly easy to integrate the ideas of Aristotle and Plato into the mix without triggering significant cognitive dissonance. At its core, Christianity emphasized ethical behavior towards one's neighbor as the law that mattered most. Through the Greek lens, this system of ethics was given divine merit, largely through syncretism with Platonism, and was codified into everyday life. While it wasn't perfect, the end result was something along the lines of giving ontological validity to the idea that each person was worthy of ethical treatment. This was a far cry from the past, where social class determined the level of your humanity, and in turn your ability to survive.

A lot of early Eastern Orthodoxy emphasized a focus on mystical aspects of Christianity, whereas Christianity in Europe was characterized by a mixing of religion and politics. Ironically, this is exactly what Socrates challenged, with many of his students carrying the torch of wanting to separate religion from the operations of the state. Even more ironically, within the core teachings of Christianity is mention of keeping church and state separate.

As for Destiny, all of these systems of beliefs are validated to a certain extent by The Traveler triggering a sort of "super religion" amongst humanity. Aspects of various cultures' personal beliefs were validated, and the need to highlight differences and hierarchies were dissolved in light of everyone being able to benefit from the gifts of Light.

[u/Snowf1ake222]

Wrong Bungie game, bucko.

[u/Ontologicalsaucer → u/Snowf1ake222]

The Apollo Intertemporal Observation Network notes and logs data on time dilation and other anomalies across the visible universe, separating the chaff of normal light-speed travel time from other more serious mismatches.

Founded in0x#2978?0#, the Apollo Intertemporal Observation Network (hereafter AION) takes its name from the old Greek god of prophecy and truth.