What The Aura Is

Layers of the aura depicted with colours of the rainbow

In this article we will be looking at what the aura is – what it is made of, the different layers, how to see them, some different exercises you can try and courses you may be interested in to find out more and develop your aura reading skills.

If you’re not familiar with the aura, it may seem a little mind-blowing, so we’ll begin simply with…

What Is The Aura?

We are all made up of energy – we are electromagnetic beings with our own unique vibration. In fact every cell in our body, every organ, every bodily system has its own vibration and these inform our overall frequency.

But as well as our physical self, there are layers around us which are made up of different energetic vibrations. There are seven of these layers, the frequency and energy of each becoming higher and lighter as they expand outward from the core.

The first three belong to the physical plane, the final three belong to the spiritual plane, and the fourth layer acts as a bridge between the two. These energetic or subtle bodies are known collectively as the aura. Their characteristics are summarised below.

The 7 Layers Of The Aura

The Etheric Body

The first layer includes our physical body and an etheric field that surrounds it, radiating about 2-5 cm outside of the body. This field is usually grey or blue, but this can vary depending on our physical health. This system has the densest energy which allows us to see and feel our body; this dense energy makes the physical “us” tangible.

Each subtle body is associated with one of the seven major chakras or energy centres. The etheric body is linked to the root chakra which relates to being grounded, our physical needs and our survival. The etheric body allows higher energies to channel into our physical being.

It is also closely connected to the next two energy bodies as they work together. They provide us with our day to day experiences of living here on this earth.

The Emotional Body

This is where we experience the full range of emotions and feelings from love and happiness to fear and rage. If we repress our emotions after painful or traumatic events, they are stored here in the emotional body. If our emotional issues are not addressed, they can manifest as physical illness in the etheric body.

This layer radiates about 8cm outside of the body and can contain any colours. The more vibrant the colours, the healthier we are emotionally. In times of emotional crisis, the colours will be duller and there may be smudges in this layer of the aura.

All 7 major chakras are found in this layer, but the chakra particularly associated with the emotional body is the second or sacral chakra which represents emotions, sensuality, sexuality and creativity.

The Mental Body

There are several aspects to the third layer of the aura :

  • it works closely with the etheric body to ensure that things are happening as they should physically, from breathing and walking to cellular function
  • from this layer we do our thinking and experience all the different thoughts we have
  • this is where all ideas originate, from what to have for dinner to the most powerful thoughts, inventions and discoveries
  • our karma is stored and updated here – as and when we do good stuff or bad stuff, our brownie points or bad marks are tallied in this layer
  • our belief systems are part of the mental body – they inform how we feel about ourself and our ego. For example, we may believe we’re just not good enough, or we may believe we deserve love and happiness
  • through the “causal” aspect of our mental body, we experience communication with our soul. From here we feed our soul with all the knowledge and experiences we gain in this incarnation.

The mental body radiates upto about 20cm outwards and is associated with the solar plexus chakra, which represents our personal power. The colour of this layer is usually yellow; the more vibrant the colour, the healthier our state of mind and vice versa.

The Astral Body

This layer links the physical and spiritual realms, allowing spiritual healing energy to channel to the lower layers. It can radiate outwards upto 30cm and is associated with the fourth or heart chakra; this chakra represents love and relationships.

It’s through this fourth layer that the astral plane is accessed and astral projection occurs – i.e. “out-of-body” travel to one of the spiritual dimensions. Our psychic abilities come from the astral body, as well as hallucinations, near death experiences and dreams.

The astral body can contain any of the colours of the rainbow, and is quite often bright pink for those who experience happy, healthy, loving relationships and unconditional love. For those going through bad patches in their relationships, the colours are less vivid and may be patchy or dull.

The Etheric Template Body

The fifth layer works very closely with the etheric body. In fact, the etheric template holds a blueprint of everything contained within the etheric layer i.e. all of the information about who and what we are on the physical level, including our personality and our individuality.

The throat chakra is associated with this layer, representing self-expression and communication. It can be made up of any number of colours. They are brighter for those who communicate well, have good listening skills, and have a clear life purpose to fulfil.

Here, the auric energy may radiate upto 60cm from the body. The etheric template body is believed to be particularly receptive to sound healing in order to cure disease before it manifests on a physical level.

The Celestial Body

Divine love, connection to all that is, enlightenment and awareness are stored in the celestial body. It’s here that we experience unconditional love and unity. Through the celestial body, communication with the spiritual realm becomes possible.

It is here that our personal Akashic Records are kept – that is a record of every single thought, deed, action, everything we have ever done or experienced – past, present and future. We may be granted access to these records in order to understand why we are struggling with a particular issue in this life.

The colour of this layer may consist of bright white, gold, silver or pastel colours and can radiate upto 80 cm outwards. The celestial body is associated with the third eye or brow chakra which represents our intuition and life purpose.

The Ketheric Template or Causal Body

This final layer contains and protects all the other layers within. It is oval shaped and can extend a metre or more outwards from the body. It is usually gold or violet and is associated with the crown chakra, which represents our higher consciousness and connection to all that is.

The Ketheric Template contains details of our current existence that we agreed before incarnating, such as the people we will meet, the circumstances we will find ourselves in and the lessons we will learn. It also contains experiences and knowledge from previous lives.

In this layer, the energy is at it’s lightest and is receptive to any spiritual practice such as meditation, yoga, contemplation and prayer.

How To See The Aura

So, the big question is…are auras real? Apparently yes they are, and it’s not just humans that have them. Also animals, plants and inanimate objects. These auras differ greatly as the lower the energetic vibration is (e.g. from a rock), the smaller or less vibrant the aura.

Generally a human aura is oval shape and may extend a few inches from the physical energy field to a few feet away, depending on the health of that person. In good health, the aura will be made up of vivid colours. If there are holes, smudges or faint patches, this is usually a sign of ill health in one area of our lives or another.

Everyone’s aura is unique, and the human aura can differ from one moment to the next as it represents our changing thoughts, feelings, emotions and so on. The aura is usually strongest and brightest for children and those who practice spiritually. Many clairvoyants and psychics claim to be able to see the aura. Can you?

Try these exercises…

Below are some exercises you can try to get started. Why not give it a go?

To try sensing the aura, give the palms of your hands a good rub together for a few moments – until you feel a little heat building. Then gently move the palms away from each other about 15cm apart but facing each other. Then very gently bring them closer together until you can feel some resistance. This is your energetic field, or aura.

To try seeing the aura, hold one of your hands up with fingers spread, against a light coloured background. Try not to focus too hard on your hand. Kind of gaze for a few moments without looking too hard. After a while, you may begin to see an outline. It will probably disappear once you try to focus, but with practice you may begin to find it easier to visualise.

Photographing the aura…

There are also a number of ways to capture the aura. Possibly one of the best known is Kirlian Photography, accidentally discovered by Russian inventor and researcher Semyon Kirlian, along with his wife Valentina, in 1939.

They developed a system of photography where people or objects were seen to be surrounded by a silhouette of colour when in contact with high voltage electricity. Sounds dangerous right? Well, they developed their system for almost twenty years before going public with their findings in 1958.

Check out the YouTube video below to find out more. It’s quite fascinating!

It’s believed that by capturing, seeing or sensing the aura we can then read what the energetic fields are telling us. So can the aura be used as a diagnostic tool for ill-health? Could we treat diseases before they manifest on a physical level? That’s a whole other topic which you can find out about in my next post “Healing With The Aura.”

It’s A Wrap…

In this article we’ve covered what the aura is, the characteristics of the 7 layers and how they work together for us to experience our life on a day to day basis physically, as well as enabling our connections with the “other-worldly.”

You can try the exercises above if you’re interested in seeing the aura yourself, or you could try capturing it.

Watch this space for my next article in the aura series, “Healing With The Aura.” You can follow me on my Facebook page Therapy Jet if you would like to be notified when new articles are published.

Finally, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the post. I’d love to hear from you so please comment below with your feedback or questions.

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