by Robert Bruce (from The Astral Pulse Website)

12. The Human Aura:

The human aura is an energy field that surrounds the human body, and reflects the subtle life energies at work within and around it. This is something like the magnetic field that surrounds a simple magnet. Like a magnetic field, the aura is generated within physical matter - but is also affected by it's surroundings. The energies flowing through the aura make us what we are, and are in turn affected by our surrounding life conditions and life style. The aura reflects the activity of our organs, health, mental activity and emotional state. It also shows disease - often long before the onset of physical symptoms.

The strength and properties of an aura are determined by the amount of, and the quality of, the energies flowing through it.

13. The Main Aura:

The main human aura is banded around the body - strata like. Imagine a person with thick, colored hoops of light dropped over them, and you get the general idea. The main colors of the aura emanate from the primary energy centres (major chakras - or psychic centres). The individual bands of color are difficult to see, unless you have very well- developed auric sight, and are observing under optimum conditions.

14. The Etheric Aura:

Close to the skin is the etheric aura. This is often called "The vitality sheath". It is seen (with auric sight) as a pale, narrow band, next to the skin, outlining the body. This is usually no more than half an inch wide - depending upon the vitality of the subject. It looks like a dense layer of pale smoke, clinging to the skin. This is the visible part of the energy body, in it's contracted state.

During sleep, the etheric aura expands and opens (becoming larger and finer) in order to absorb and store vitality (cosmic energy?) within it. After sleep, the energy body contracts and forms a dense sheath surrounding the body, close to the skin. This holds within it the stored energies we all need for living.

In a way, the energy body is like a living storage battery. During sleep, it automatically sets itself on recharge, replacing the energies that have been used up.

15. Energy Centres (chakras):

The primary energy centres (chakras) are the non-physical organs of the energy body. There are at least seven primary centres, and over three hundred secondary and minor centres, scattered throughout the human body. All together, they form a complex network of non-physical energy components. These are all joined together by interconnecting pathways, or meridians.

These centres, and their interconnecting pathways (meridians) were charted by the Chinese, and other Eastern races, thousands of years ago. Modern versions of these charts are still widely used today, in many types of alternative medicine and body work, i.e., acupuncture and reflexology.

Primary energy centres are attached to major internal organs, glands, nerve ganglia and the spinal cord. Secondary and minor energy centres are attached to joints, glands and nerve clusters, throughout the body.

There are active centres - transforming and manipulating energy - feeding other energy centres and taking care of life processes - both physical and non-physical. There are storage centres, communication centres, and centres designed to absorb energy from other energy sources around us.

Some energy sources: Food, water, oxygen, sunlight, planetary energy, cosmic energy, love, sex, music. Some of these energy sources are very subtle, but all are necessary for us to live a balanced life.

Energy centres are invisible to the naked eye but can be felt, quite strongly, when they are active (as a pulsing, thrumming sensation). When energy is consciously drawn from one centre to another, through the connecting meridians, this can be felt as: A rushing water sensation, a spreading warmth, a tingling feeling, or a combination of these. Energy centres (chakras) can also be seen - with auric and clairvoyant sight - as whirling vortexes of intensely colored light).

Every energy centre has important individual functions, in the energy body. It also works in conjunction with all the other major and minor centres. Each centre is an individual, but integral part of the energy body. They all work together, for the good of the whole energy body; just as all the physical organs, brain, heart, liver, kidneys, glands, etc, work together for the good of the whole physical body.

The energy body is extremely complex. It is, in a way, similar to an electronic device. Energy flows into the electronic device, and on through connecting pathways (meridians) that are etched into the circuit board. These connecting pathways (meridians) carry energy on to all it's electronic components, (chakras), diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc. Energy is continually being changed, enhanced and transformed, by these components; to serve a multitude of different purposes, required by the device, as a whole unit, to function properly.

A single energy centre, is very much like a single electronic component. It takes in energy from the components around it, and changes the value of it. It enhances this energy, in various ways, transforming it into something different, that is needed by the whole unit.

Each energy centre (chakra) takes in the different types of energy it requires, from other energy centres in the energy body, and generates a completely different type of energy - with a different value and color - according to what is required.

The strength of each primary energy centre, in any particular person, depends upon that person's individual makeup; their nature, health and life style, as well as their spiritual, moral and psychic development. The energy generated by all the chakras at once, is reflected into the aura, mixing together and causing the dominant hue of the aura. This, dominant hue, is the part of the aura most commonly seen with auric sight.

The Primary Energy Centres And Their Colours

Table 2: Names and Colours of the primary energy centres (chakras)

Locations of the seven primary energy centres (major chakras)

1. Base: base of spine (between anus and genitals)

2. Spleen: navel area

3. Solar Plexus: base of sternum

4. Heart: centre of chest (over heart)

5. Throat: base of throat, just above where it joins the chest

6. Brow: exact centre of forehead (between the eyes)

7. Crown: whole top of head, above the hairline

Notes:

Each primary is best thought of as - roughly the size of your hand.

Each primary has more than one functioning part (or petal).

The _exact_ location of sensations felt, when a primary centres is active will vary slightly - depending on what part of that centre (or petal) is active. E.G. The spleen centre is usually felt between the tummy button and pubic line. The brow centre is often felt between the eyebrows, instead of on the actual brow.

16. Basic Hue Classification:

The basic hue of an aura is it's dominant color. This is the most visible color of the multiple energies generated by all the chakras (mixed together) creating a general, overall color. There are, of course, many different colors in any person's aura, but the basic hue is usually seen first.

Many people suggest that people can be classified, as being a particular type of person, by the basic hue of their aura.

For example:

Red - sensuality, vitality, raw energy.

Orange - emotion.

Yellow - personality power, mental power, intellect.

Green - spirituality, love, affinity with nature,natural healer.

Blue - highly spiritual, religious, natural teacher,healer.

Violet - very highly spiritual, psychic, clairvoyance, religious, teacher and healer.

Gold - highly advanced spirituality and psychic abilities - an adept.

I have found this method of classification to be both unfair to the person being classified, and extremely misleading. The basic meanings of the individual colors are well known - as above. I find the human aura to be such a complex and changeable engine, it just cannot be classified in such a simple way.

For example: if a person, with a predominantly blue aura, is experiencing an emotional crisis, their aura will be flooded with large patches of orange. This is a temporary state only, and once the crisis is resolved, their aura will revert to its natural blue.

There are so many things that can temporarily change the appearance of an aura - sometimes just for an hour or more. Devotional worship, for example, generates high minded feelings and deep spiritual love. An unstable, emotional, dominant and violent person, who's aura is, say, naturally red and orange, with streaks of black in it - can generate higher spiritual colors, during worship. These will temporarily flood their aura, giving them the appearance (to auric sight) of being a very spiritual person - but hiding their "true colors" and hence, their true nature.

Jock:

Blue: Jock was a young man I knew, several years ago. He was an extremely vital, sensitive man, but was very unstable, having a lot of problems. Jock was a deep thinker, and we would often expound upon the meaning of life and the nature of the universe, together. At times like this I would often see a lovely spiritual blue, surrounding him.

Red: Now, once Jock had a few drinks in him (alcohol), he could become extremely aggressive, violent and dangerous - at the drop of a hat. At times like this, I would see his aura change dramatically, in moments, to a bright, angry red, with big orange patches and black streaks in it. Not a trace of his original blue aura would remain. This, red, orange and black color, would stay with him, until he calmed down completely and sobered up.

Dan:

Dan was an old friend of mine, with a naturally green aura. When Dan has a problem, his mind goes into overdrive, trying to find a solution to his problem. His aura then changes to bright yellow, flooding strongly through his aura. This reverts to it's original green, very quickly, once he has found a solution. I have often observed this, while playing chess with him. Every time he gets into a sticky situation, his aura floods yellow.

Gardening:

When I have been gardening - having a lot of physical contact with plants - the aura around my hands and forearms changes to a lovely green. This green fades away a few hours later. Close contact with plants seems to have an effect on the energy body. Maybe this is where the old saying comes from "Having a green thumb" - for gardening.

These examples demonstrate the changeable nature of the human aura, in a very general way. An aura is a variable reflection of the energy activity going on within a person. This reflection is detected by the brow centre of the observer, and interpreted, as colored bands of light, by the sight centre of their brain. Health, mood, emotion, strong thoughts, drugs, and other influences, stimulate many different energy patterns in the primary and secondary energy centres. These different patterns change the overall quality of the energy being reflected into the aura. This generates many different colors - which changes the auras dominant colors.

17. The Human Aura And Colour:

The human aura is very sensitive to color. It reacts to the colors of clothing worn and to the colors of it's surrounding area. Colour affects the subtle flow of energies within the energy body. This accounts for our strong natural likes and dislikes, when it comes to choosing the colors we wear, and those that surround us.

This sensitivity varies, from person to person, depending upon how sensitive they are and how sensitive their aura is. Women, generally, have more delicate and sensitive auras than men. They are, therefore, far more sensitive to the effects of color, than men are. Colour can have a strong effect on a very sensitive person. If they wear a color that clashes too badly with their aura, it can make them physically ill.

The effect of color on the emotions is well known. Wall colors are carefully chosen, in hospitals and other institutions, to calm agitated people and put them at ease. Soft pastel shades of pink and blue are the most frequently used colors for this, because of their well-known calming effect.

18. Clothing:

It is impossible to get a clear view of an aura through clothing. The auric colors given off by any colored clothing react with the wearer's aura. This causes interference that blocks and changes the natural flow of energies within an aura. For example: a blue shirt will flood the wearer's natural aura with yellow - changing it's appearance.

Even neutral colored clothing will block and dim an aura - making it dull and difficult to see. If, for example, you observe the aura of a person wearing a red shirt: their aura will contain a great deal of green. This shows why bare skin is best, in order to get a clear view of an aura.

When a colored material is worn, the band of color seen close to the material is the reverse auric color of that color. The aura's real colors will be seen building up from the outer edge of that color. The reverse auric color of the material, and the true colors of the living aura, affect each other - changing their natural colors.

19. Disease:

This shows up in the aura in many different ways, sometimes weeks or months before any physical symptoms appear. An ear infection, for example, will show up in an aura as a gradually thickening shadow over the ear and side of the head. This can be seen several days before any physical symptoms appear. The shadow will begin as a light-grey smudge, gradually thickening and darkening. It will eventually change to a murky-green patch, about the size of your hand. As the infection worsens it will become shot through with red and orange streaks, flecks and sparks.

A shadow in the aura is the first sign of _any_ approaching health problem. Murky-green, with red and orange streaks, flecks and sparks, is common to infection.

20. Death:

When a person is dying, their aura undergoes dramatic changes. I have observed the auras of people, dying of terminal cancer and other diseases, in the weeks prior to their death. The first noticeable sign is when the aura fades and begins to grow weaker and paler. Next (with long term illnesses) a week or so before physical death, the aura begins to expand and change. It changes into a beautiful (very pale) milky-blue, shot through with faint, tiny, silver and white sparks. These sparks flash and twinkle throughout the aura. Each spark is only visible for a fraction of a second at a time.

*Note: The aura of a dying person is a very pale milky-blue. It is VERY pale and faint and VERY difficult to see. It is quite common to see a pale-blue aura surrounding a healthy person, and this does NOT mean they are about to die. The aura of a dying person is quite different from a normal, healthy, pale-blue. It is all one color, much larger than normal, very milky and very faint.

Closer to the time of death, the aura begins to pulsate, swelling and shrinking erratically. At times it will fill the entire room, becoming more of an atmosphere than an aura. At other times it will be so shrunken as to be almost invisible to auric sight. It grows paler and finer by the day, and the tiny silver and white sparks become finer and increase in frequency.

There is a great deal of activity in all the energy centres, at this time. The energy body is preparing itself for the final separation - of the physical body from the non-physical body (or spirit). There are, at times, faint surges of color and faint colored sparks, like pastel fountains, surging and falling from the primary centres. They spasm and shudder and begin generating a much higher and more refined type of energy. This change heralds the imminent and final separation, of the spirit from the physical body - what we call death.

At some time (variable) before physical death, the aura will become almost invisible to auric sight. Only a faint, very pale glow will still be seen, close to the skin. This is residual etheric matter, clinging to the physical body. There is, however, still intense activity going on within the energy body, but this is now far beyond the reach of normal auric sight.

The aura is now reflecting itself into a much higher level of reality - another dimension. Clairvoyant and astral sight are necessary, in order to see any more energy activity, during the final stages of the death process. At the actual moment of death, if you are watching closely, you will see a very faint, pale mist, surge up out of the body, and quickly vanish. This is the spirit leaving the physical body. That faint mist is residual etheric matter, clinging to the spirit body, as it departs.

The actual timing for these changes in the aura to occur, depend greatly upon the type of illness, the duration of it, and the strength of the dying person. These govern the speed of the actual death process. With some conditions, this whole process can happen very quickly, often a matter of hours. With other conditions, this may happen over several days, weeks or even months.

21. Spirit Energy:

There is always a lot of spirit energy and activity, surrounding a dying person, in the days and weeks prior to their death. The amount of this spirit activity seems to depend greatly upon their belief system, as well as their moral, spiritual and psychic development.

The strongest I have ever felt this - high level spirit energy and activity - is around dying children. Children seem to be a lot more aware of their spirituality than adults give them credit for. We, adults, seem to lose so much of this awareness - of our spiritual and divine nature - as we grow older.

I have been in the presence of many dying children. The only way I can describe this is that, at these special times, I have been in a holy presence - far beyond my poor understanding of reality. Children gain a special kind of wisdom and a high level of spiritual understanding - and they have no fear of death.

Accidents:

I have never had the opportunity to observe the aura of someone dying, shortly after an accident, so cannot comment on this aspect of death.

Premature death:

I have, though, known healthy, vital people, that have died suddenly, from strokes, heart attacks and brain aneurisms. I have observed them, in the days and weeks prior to their premature deaths. I have noted similar changes, as I might expect to see in a dying person: very milky-pale-blue expanded auras, silver and white sparks, and lots of spirit energy and activity around them. These people, though, were not sick. They were all, healthy, vital people, but there was something quite different about them - an indefinable atmosphere. In all cases, they seemed to know, intuitively (but not consciously) that their time in this world was nearly up. They all did certain things, tidied up their affairs, or made things right in some way, in the days and weeks prior to their death.

22. Why Most People Fail To See Auras:

The most common reason why people fail to see an aura, is simply the way they go about it. The human aura is _not_ a good training ground for the beginner.

This is what usually happens: Your volunteer sits and waits, for a very long time, while you struggle and strain for a glimpse of their aura. You are trying to relax and concentrate - and master a tricky visual technique - all at the same time. You subconsciously worry about what they are thinking of you. Are they getting bored? Are they getting impatient? Do they think you foolish, a failure, or both? This kind of pressure causes subtle tensions to build up within you, that effectively negate the relaxed state needed to see the aura. Trying to get results, under this kind of pressure, as a beginner, is next to impossible.

Here is an email letter from a young man. It shows some common misunderstandings, when auras are first encountered:

David: "I was sitting in economics class, when I started to see a faint white glow around the lecturer's head (not really though, I can't really describe it), it was surrounding the sides of his head.

And, I could also see a similar one, coming from one of the students sitting in front of him, except the student's had a sort of bluish tinge to it. I kept looking, and a bright yellow glow appeared around his head. Then I started to see a similar white glow coming from some of the computer monitors, that sit on the desks. At first, I was hoping that I could see auras, but then when I saw it on the monitors, I had my doubts."

Me: Every living and non-living thing has an aura, including monitors. The reason you saw them when you did is (let me guess) You were bored, tired, very relaxed, maybe day dreaming a little. Your eyes were tired, heavy, and you were having trouble keeping them open? These are the PERFECT conditions for seeing an aura!

David: "That's exactly how It was! The discussion sort of went off topic and wasn't all that interesting to me."

"Anyway, I was wondering if you can tell me if I actually did see their auras. I tried staring at myself in the mirror to see my aura, when I got home, and tried to see a friends aura, but it didn't work. I haven't been able to see an aura, since that day, a week or two ago. As for some of my questions. I was wondering what colors non-living objects give off - is it white? How come the aura was brighter around their heads?"

Me: You did see the aura! The colors given off by non- living objects vary with the color of the object, but inanimate objects, generally, have a simple pale, creamy aura surrounding them. The aura you saw, surrounding the heads of the people around you, was their etheric aura - which is a pale, creamy color, usually with a pale blue tint to it.

The human aura is brighter around the head area, for two reasons:

1. Clothing blocks the aura.

2. The head area is usually bare (no clothing to block it) and is where the yellow of the intellect is most active, which is quite easy to see. This yellow varies in intensity, according to the degree of mental activity going on at the time the aura is seen. This, mental activity, brightens the aura in the head area. Maybe the student you observed was really on the ball that day?

The main point of showing you this letter is: David began to see the aura, with no trouble at all, when he was tired and not trying to see it. He was tired, bored and day dreaming (a very relaxed state). David was struggling to stay awake and forcing his eyes to stay open. This _forcing_ his eyes to stay open, creates a strong mental opening action, at the site of the brow centre - between the eyes. This stimulates the brow centre and combined with a relaxed, un-focussed gaze, causes spontaneous auric sight to occur.

When David tried to see an aura, later at home, he could not - because he was wide awake and trying, and was no longer in a relaxed enough state for auric sight to work.

Keep this, above, in mind - when you first attempt to use auric sight!

Go to Auric Sight Part 3