http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2001/May/feature5.htm
Reading Auras
by Barbara Brennan
Did you ever feel an uneasy feeling at the back of yourneck, and turn to find someone staring at you? Do younotice that you are immediately comfortable with somepeople that you meet and like them instantly, and thereare others you are not comfortable with? Did you noticethat you get tired when spending time with some people, and with others you get energized? Do you get the strong urge to touch someone in pain, or even put your hands on someone's injury, and have trouble holding yourself back?
All of these sensations are reactions to information coming to us from another person's aura. The aura, a field of energy that surrounds each of us, is a distilled reflection of everything we think, feel and are. Without making an effort to perceive someone's aura, we can still receive quite a bit of data from its "vibes." But when we make a conscious effort to read an aura, it can tell us volumes about someone: how his/her past has affected him/her, what he/she wants most out of life, how healthy he/she is, how happy he/she is and what his/her problems and strengths are.
Most of us think of an aura as being colored light around the body, something mysterious that only psychics can see. In fact, anyone can perceive an aura, and it's not just something we can see, but also feel, and sometimes even hear, smell or taste!
At this point you may be scoffing, "What unscientific nonsense!" When I was a research scientist at NASA thirty years ago, I would have said the same. But after injuries I received in a car accident were greatly relieved by meditation and acupuncture, I became convinced that traditional science didn't have all the answers. I became a body psychotherapist, helping patients to uncover repressed emotions and desires through talk therapy, as well as breathing and other physical exercises. Eventually, as I listened to my patients talk about emotional issues, I realized that I could see colors and patterns of light around them, and that these patterns sometimes flowed freely and sometimes seemed stuck.
I didn't understand what I was sensing, but kept on paying attention to it. Most of the books I found on auras were difficult to relate to my life, because they described the aura from an Eastern mystical tradition. Then I found one written by an English physician in the 1940s. He noticed that people who were ill had lumps or breaks in their auras. Finally, I found some literature that showed "bio-energy" in the form of magnetic and electrical fields, as well as infrared radiation, had been measured coming from people. After awhile, I stopped asking myself if what I was perceiving was "real," and focused on whether it was useful. I started to notice from exactly where around the body I saw energy blocks, potential illnesses that would show up on clinical blood and urine tests a year or so later. This indeed was useful information. Out of this I developed a method of healing by interacting directly with the aura.
I recommend that you, too, suspend your disbelief enough to see whether your explorations are useful. I guarantee that learning about the aura can make your life more interesting and more meaningful.
HOW TO READ AN AURA
Although we are surrounded by human energy fields, we usually don't notice them -- just as a fish doesn't notice the water in which it swims. So the most important step you can take in learning to read someone's aura is simply to pay attention with all of your five senses. And don't forget the all important sixth sense, your intuition.
Next time you are interacting with someone, deliberately calm yourself down by quietly taking deep breaths. Detach a bit from the conversation, and "tune in" to the other things you are noticing. Pay attention to each of your five senses that are receiving more subtle information. Clear your mind and let it slow down a bit. Let your five senses combine to give you a fuller awareness of what is occurring in the present moment. Try it with different people. You might even want to try it with your boss, whom you would like to understand better. Or you could try it with a friend who wants her aura read.
Remember that the more you do this and get used to it, the more information you will get. It could be very simple at first. But as you practice, you will find yourself recognizing lots of information coming from the aura. Here's how information might come to you through each of your senses:
Touch
You might find yourself automatically stepping away from someone. Why did you do that? Did you feel uncomfortable? Stop and check out what else you can feel.
Here's how the experiences that I listed at the beginning of this article relate to the aura. You are immediately comfortable with people that you first meet when your energy fields are within the same frequency range. When your fields are not in close range, you will not be comfortable.
Many people touch in very nourishing ways that give support and love. They make you feel good because they give you lots of energy by radiating it out of their fields.
Others make you feel tired because they don't have enough energy, so they take it from you. Many people pull energy by speaking in a low voice, so that you have to give them energy to hear them. Others open their eyes very wide in a way that sucks energy in through their eyes. Some people take energy with the kind of touch you would rather not have.
We are sensing auric energy when we feel the urge to touch someone who is in pain, or even to put our hands on an injury. This is a natural healing instinct that we all have. By putting our hands on an injury, we give it energy to heal, and tests have shown that in most cases, injuries do heal faster by "laying-on-of-hands." Even when you kiss your toddler's boo-boo to make them better, you are giving healing energy with an extra measure of love!
You are also sensing someone's aura through touch when you get that uneasy feeling at the back of your neck and turn to find someone's eyes boring into you. The other person was sending what I call an energy streamer from his eyes, a surge of energy sent out to you that you could feel. Or, how about the "look that kills," or "knifed in the back (or belly)"? Ever feel that energy strike you? It hurts!
The feeling of physical well-being comes from a strongly developed first level of the auric field. You can feel it when you are around someone who is physically active like an athlete. The more the first level is developed, the more magnetically attractive that person will be. That's because the person's magnetic field is actually stronger!
That feeling of plain old relaxed comfort, or just "hanging out" with another person, is usually associated with a highly charged second level that says "I'm okay, you're okay."
You can feel the crisp clear air around someone who has a very bright third level of the aura. This is the sign of a clear, developed mind with a balance between the rational and the intuitive. The aura around this person will help clear your mind and you will be able to think more clearly.
You can feel the warmth and soothing energy coming from people who are letting their love feelings for you flow. They have cleared their fourth level.
The experience of safety, trust, order and truth, comes with the development of the fifth level of the auric field, that has the energy of positive will. You know that this person will "do the right thing".
You will feel expanded and uplifted by the auras of people who have spent a lot of time meditating or in a spiritual practice because the sixth and seventh levels of their auras are very expanded and highly charged.
Visual
Everyone wants to see an aura. Yet, most people do but usually don't recognize it. If you dim the lights and relax your eyes, you will see a haze around everyone. If you gently gaze at your fingertips in a darkened room, you will see streamers coming from them.
Or, even in daylight you might see a sudden flash of color that is gone the next instant, so you don't pay attention to it. That is the beginning of opening your auric vision. Usually you will see these flashes of color in your peripheral vision. The next stage is to see the color purple when you close your eyes. If you keep on practicing, you will see more. But remember, sometimes it will be there and sometimes it won't. That's okay. It may take some time to develop your auric vision. It's worth it.
The color sky blue close to someone's body means physical health. A soft cloud of green energy around someone, you will know they are at peace with themselves and the rest of the world. It will be contagious.
Many people's response to someone whose third level is exceptionally bright on any particular day is to say, "Wow, you look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today."
The energy of love looks like flowing streams of rose-colored fluid. Like strawberry Jello before it is firm.(Fourth level)
Cobalt blue is the color of trustworthiness and honesty.(Fifth level)
World spiritual leaders have a lot of colorful pastel opalescent streamers on their sixth levels, and strong gold threads on their seventh levels, knitting their whole aura together.
Hearing
It is possible to hear sounds, notes, even music or words from someone's aura that tell us about him/her. You might hear someone's favorite tune. Or hear a word that is especially meaningful to the other person. Or a word that comes to your mind.
I have heard high-pitched screeching sounds associated with pain and illness. In the beginning, I only heard a few sounds and an occasional word. Now I channel hour-long lectures on various spiritual topics, or answer personal questions from strangers I have not met before.
Taste and Smell
Taste and smell are the two least used senses to perceive the aura. I almost never use them. However, on occasion I have savored the sweetness of another's heart. I have picked up the fragrance of flowers when in the presence of a spiritually developed person.
Some illnesses have a distinct bad smell and flavor.
Intuition
This is the sense that is operating when you suddenly just know something. For example, you know that the phone is going to ring before it does. You may even know who it is, but you don't know what he/she is calling about. It's like the song from West Side Story, "Something's coming don't know what it is, but it's gonna be good!" Or you sense you've known someone before but can't remember when or where.
Probably you have had most of the above experiences in some form or other, but have not associated them with your aura. You can have a lot of fun exploring your own field and the fields of other people, as well as the interactions between. I guarantee that if you stick with it, it will change your life in ways you can't even imagine now. I wish you safe and delightful journeys into the world of light and energy
Let Your Light Shine
Centering and balancing into your true self brings about harmony in your life. Sit quietly in a chair or on a meditation cushion with the upper part of your back free. Only support the very lowest part of your back, if you need to. As you breathe in, follow your breath to center, to a point an inch and a half above your navel. Here, there is a point of light in the center of your body that is uniquely you. It is different from anyone else. Continue this simple breathing to center. Allow this light to be there. Imagine it there. Feel it there as you continue to breathe. With each breath it becomes brighter. When you begin to sense it, let it expand spherically out from your center. Let it brighten your auric field on all levels. Continue for as long as you like. This will become more and more pleasurable. This is your core light, the center of the divinity within you. Let your light shine!
