Dear Anthony:

It should be mentioned that the regulations of the Mosaic Law do not apply to us who live under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. So it does not matter what Leviticus says in terms of our customs and regulations today.

Tonsure was not widely used until the early medieval age, but its origin goes back to the Apostles. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia in the 7th and 8th centuries...

As to the monastic tonsure, some writers have distinguished three kinds: (1) the Roman, or that of St. Peter, when all the head is shaved except a circle, of hair; (2) the Eastern, or St. Paul's, when the entire head is denuded of hair; (3) the Celtic, or St. John's, when only a crescent of hair is shaved from the front of the head.

 Tonsure is a sign of humility, devotion, and commitment.

Buddhist monks also practice tonsure (probably for similar reasons as Catholic monks, but not sure). Hindus use the tonsure as a right of passage of stages in a person's life.

The fact that non-Christians have the practice of tonsure, does not make the Catholic practice wrong. The same is true for halos.

The halo is an artistic device in art and iconography to indicate a holy person. Other cultures have used it for similar purposes before the time of Christ. Christianity adopted this around the 4th century.

It doesn't matter if symbols were used by pagans first or also. What matters is the meaning of the symbol for us as Christians.

The inspiration of pagan cultures to use symbols that mean holiness, or signs of humility and devotion comes from God. God is the source of all goodness. Holiness, humility, and devotion are good things in-and-of-themselves. Pagans may have misunderstood the true and full meaning of such symbols, but that is because they did not have the enlightenment of God's Revelation. We have the advantage of God explaining to us the meaning of things. He does this in the Sacred Scriptures and in Sacred Tradition. The pagans did not have that resource.

Thus, we should be asking, "what does this symbol mean?" as symbols can have many meanings to different people and cultures. This does not taint the symbols for Christianity.

If we were to be scrupulous about not using anything with a pagan origin then we would have to change the wedding ceremonies, not wear wedding rings, not use the names of the months of the year, and we would even stop using the Cross, as well as a whole host of other things with pagan origins that we use and do on a daily basis. It is silly to take such a position as your friend.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary