Aura (paranormal): Difference between revisions

In New Age belief, Aura refers to the energy field emanating from the surface of a person or object. This emanation is visualized as an outline of cascading color and may be held to represent soul vibrations, chakric emergence, or a reflection of surrounding energy fields. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of auras.

It is believed that auras may be viewed by the naked eye, though some psychics, like Edgar Cayce, believe this ability weakens with age. Focused training may be undergone in an attempt to improve one's ability to see auras. Layers of aura are seen as separate and distinct, yet connected to all the remaining layers. In the books of Carlos Castaneda, auras are referred to as luminous cocoons.

W.E. Butler has connected auras with clairvoyance, and etheric, mental, and emotional emanations.^[1] Robert Bruce classifies auras into three types; etheric, main, and spiritual.^[2] Various books have been written that derive various personality traits based upon the specific colors of the different layers of the aura.^[3][4]

Ancient shamanic and modern New Age metaphysics identify the aura as electromagnetic fields. The existence of electromagnetic fields around all living and many nonliving objects is purportedly demonstrated through Kirlian photography.

It is controversial whether or not humans can see these electromagnetic fields, perhaps as colors, with the naked eye. This claim is considered paranormal because devices that sense electromagnetic fields at magnitudes many times smaller than that which allegedly exists in auras have recorded nothing.

Debunkers of paranormal activity deny claims of the existence of auras. The magician James Randi, for example, has for many years offered one million US dollars to any person capable of repeatedly detecting auras; no one has yet succeeded, although at least one person has tried and failed (see The $1 million challenge). The test would involve the aura reader standing on one side of a room with an opaque partition separating them from a number of slots which may contain either actual people or mannequins. The aura reader should be able to identify which are real people and which are not.

Some people see auras as the result of a migraine, epilepsy, a visual system disorder, or a brain disorder. Eye fatigue can also produce an effect similar to the claimed aura. (See Aura (symptom) and synesthesia.)

• Brennan, Barbara Ann, Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field, Bantam, 1988, ISBN 0-553-34539-7.
• Brennan, Barbara Ann, Light Emerging : The Journey of Personal Healing, Bantam, 1993, ISBN 0-553-35456-6.
• Cayce, Edgar, Auras, ARE Press, 2002, ISBN 0-87604-012-1.
• Kilner, Walter J., The Human Aura, Citadel Press, 1965, ISBN 0-8065-0545-1.
• Krippner, Stanley and Rubin, Daniel, The Kirlian Aura: Photographing the Galaxies of Life, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1974, ISBN 0-385-06574-4.
• Larson, Cynthia Sue, Aura Advantage, Adams Media, 2004, ISBN 1-58062-945-8.
• Leadbeater, C.W., The Chakras, Theosophical Publishing House, 1987, ISBN 0-8356-0422-5.
• Moss, Thelma, The Body Electric: A Personal Journey into the Mysteries of Parapsychological Research, Bioenergy, and Kirlian Photography, Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher, 1979, ISBN 0-87477-109-9.
• Panchadasi, Swami, The Human Aura. Astral Colors and Thought Forms, Advanced Thought Publishing, Chicago, 1916. (PDF)

• Aura (symptom)
• Aureola
• Chakra
• Energy medicine
• Energy psychology
• Kundalini
• Mana
• Medical intuitive
• Odic force
• Prana
• Qi
• Qigong
• Synesthesia

• Auras & Aura Colors in Meditation, Spiritual Healing & Psychic Reading
• Exercises to See Auras for Energy Awareness
• Aura Colours
• Auras in the "Skeptic's dictionary"
• Kirlian Photography in the "Skeptic's Dictionary"
• A selection of articles related to the human aura