“General Perspective View of the Human Aura.” Auguste Jean Baptiste Marques (1896)
The nearest phenomenological experience I suspect I ever encounter in relation to auras is when I get a migraine. An initial shift at the edge of my vision begins to splinter into the colours of the spectrum, and then gradually the world I look at begins to bend and fragment, the experience being not unlike looking at the world through a cut glass vase. I sense that if I could see myself from outside my body, my head would be surrounded with a faceted glow. I have had these migraines for many years and when I get them I just accept them and watch. They are a useful reminder of how much the world is a construction of my perceptual system and I try to hold on to the sensation of moving through what becomes a very fragmented world, even though I am intellectually aware that nothing outside of myself has actually changed.
I have made my experiences of migraines in both clay and in two dimensions.
Sol Invictus: Roman
I found this image of a Roman Sol Invictus recently and I felt that perhaps its maker had also experienced migraines. I liked the fact that the eyes were shut, suggesting a concentration on internal energies, that were then escaping through the head. A glow around the head is a visual idea that in religion is usually called a halo and I think that because of the prevalence of so many halo type glows that emerge from Holy Ghosts, Jesus and the Saints, that a heavily Christianised society such as that in 19th Century Britain, would have been well prepared for an idea of invisible auras, so it is no surprise to see texts such as 'The Chakras' by Leadbeater, whereby he illustrates chakra forms as if they are circular auras, or 'Man and His Bodies' by Annie Besant, which has a chapter on 'the human aura'.
The crown chakra: Leadbeater
Some neurophysiologists have though apparently suggested that the ability to see a glowing aura surrounding a person is the product of synesthesia. Aura, or emotionally mediated synaesthesia is described by people with that particular synesthesia, as a condition whereby they see projected around other people colours, which depend on some sort of emotional condition that belongs to the perceiver. This condition can also be seen in relation to objects that people have an emotional relationship with. The important issue here is that the 'aura' is therefore a projection that is dependent on the perceiver. Could it be therefore, that it was a person with emotionally mediated synaesthesia, that first came up with the idea of an aura?
Ramachandran, Miller, Livingstone and Brang (2012), have developed a diagram to explain their subject's taxonomy of emotions. They had noticed that the subject’s colour for pride was a shade of blue and the colour for aggression was pinkish–red. As the colour for arrogance was purple, they presumed this was due to an understanding of a mixing of blue and red (pigments, not light), the combination of pride and aggression in what could be called an emotion–space being arrogance. This observation, if further verified would indicate that the subject’s colour associations are not random and are the results of a taxonomy of emotions subjectively understood by the subject. Ramachandran, Miller, Livingstone and Brang went on to map several of the subject’s emotion–colour associations in a colour space, which resulted in a colour taxonomy of emotions; which reminded me of Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions and so I set out to compare the two.
There were only five words that were the same, (see linked in red) and of these there was not enough congruity to establish anything meaningful. For instance for the person with emotionally mediated synaesthesia, joy is red and for Plutchik it is yellow. Disgust for one is sort of orange and for the other purple. Love sits between green and yellow for Plutchik but is red/purple for the synesthete and fear is green for one and red for the other. It was interesting though to see how when people pick emotive words how hard it is to hit on the same words. Another possibility was I suppose to cluster the words, putting nervousness for example next to apprehension, at least they were both in green.
I had earlier played around with Plutchik's idea and had placed colours around his cone of emotions, as I did like the fact that different saturations and tonalities could be linked to degrees of emotional intensity.
The idea of colour intensity and an aura type effect has often been used in the past when artists were having to find ways of visualising a closeness to divinity. In Medieval art full-figure auras, are called aureoles or mandorlas if more almond shaped. They are used to indicate a divine nature or at times figures under divine protection. Mandorla were often painted in several concentric patterns of colour that grew darker as they came close to the centre. This was a reflection of the church's use of apophatic theology, whereby as holiness increases, there is no way to depict its brightness, except by darkness.
The aura type image we associate with Christianity is something that is found in earlier art forms as well as other religions, also to signify divine presence.
Circles are perfect forms and two perfections overlapping create the almond shape of the mandorla. Known as the vesica piscis, (bladder of a fish), this shape is a type of 'lens'. which is itself a mathematical shape formed by the intersection of two disks with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the centre of each disk lies on the perimeter of the other.
Whilst religious iconography picked up on the visual power of aura type images to represent invisible mystic or divine powers, our bodies can also be thought to hold within them other types of invisible energies; energies that could perhaps be visualised in similar ways. For instance, the heart's rhythmic contractions create a strong magnetic field that can be detected outside the body using magnetometers and it has been observed that this field can be modulated by emotions. As someone with atrial fibrillation, I'm very aware of how when my heart speeds up in response to an emotional dilemma, my interoceptual awareness of it changes and I can 'feel/see' these energies moving through my body.
Magnetic field distribution (left) and corresponding body surface potential distribution (right), generated by a current dipole activated at the apex of the right ventricle, with the a magnetic catheter technique. (From Fenici, Brisinda and Meloni, 2005)
The electrocardiogram was invented by Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven in 1902 to record the heart's electrical activity. The success of this idea caused other researchers to look for similar outcomes; one of whom was Walter John Kilner (1847–1920) who was a medical electrician at St Thomas Hospital, London, in charge of electrotherapy. In 1911 Kilner published the "Human Atmosphere" or aura, proposing not just the aura's existence and nature but also its possible use in medical diagnosis and prognosis.
The human energy field he argued, was an indicator of both health and mood, thus tying together both physical and emotional health. Kilner's work often seems similar to that of other slightly later researchers in this area, who tap more into electromagnetic ideas to be able to measure the body's energy fields, but Kilner, unlike Willem Einthoven, had no understanding of electromagnetic measurement. He would I suspect have loved to have seen electrocardiography at work. He therefore attempted to invent devices to be used by the naked eye, that could enable people to observe "auric" activity. When we look back on his work, we can of course see how he was able to fool himself by setting out to make something that enabled him to 'see' what he strongly believed in. We all know how much an expectation can influence what we see and I suspect sadly, he was more susceptible than most to the expectation effect.
It is not so much whether or not there can be any scientific proof of auras, what I'm looking for is how we are predisposed to think visually about them and what they represent. In my work looking at the visualisation of interoception, what I often find myself doing is sitting with someone whilst they describe to me an inner feeling, be this pain, emotion or another sensation and the ground out of which the conversation emerges, must not be that dissimilar to the landscape out of which thinkers such as Kilner emerged. I listened recently to a podcast devoted to synaesthesia and one of the people talking about their experiences had emotionally mediated synaesthesia, which meant that she saw colours surrounding people and these colours changed, often due to her emotional connection with the person seen. As she went on to describe, what was for her an everyday experience, I began thinking about how perhaps it was those of us who literally see differently, that help us as a species come to see or visualise those things that most people cant see, such as emotions. For instance we mainly have a three colour visualisation system called trichromacy, but evidence exists that there are people who have four distinct colour perception channels or tetrachromacy. Apparently it’s more common in women than in men and it has been suggested that nearly 12 percent of women may have this fourth colour perception channel. Is this why it is often suggested that women are more 'psychic' than men?
However, back to Kilner. He created what came to be called 'Kilner screens'; which were treated with variously coloured liquid dyes. These screens it was argued allowed us to see outside the visual light spectrum, and what could be seen were the result of seeing 'N-rays'. 'X-rays' immediately come to mind here. In his book we read that his screen allows us to perceive various auric formations, such as the 'Etheric Double', the 'Inner Aura' and the 'Outer Aura', which were formations that extended several inches from patients' naked bodies. His screens were more popularly known as Kilner goggles and are in my mind very closely associated with 'x-ray specs'.
In reality of course x-ray specs merely create an optical illusion; no real X-rays are involved, but once again we have a device to create images of the body that many were willing to think, might offer an alternative vision.
Kilner goggles are still being produced, but unlike x-ray specs which you can buy for £4 to £5 they cost £45 to £75 and come with lots of convincing blurb. I looked up the words put in to aid search engines to find the aura glasses above, they were, Dicyanin, Style, Ghost, Hunting, Paranormal, Tool, Detector, Metaphysical, Chakras, Energy, Prana, Occult, Wicca, Crystal, Meditation, Weird, Psychic, Reiki, Healing, Glasses, EVP, Emf, Kirlian, Orgone. Interestingly there seems to be a conspiracy theory surrounding the banning of the chemical dicyanin and manufacturers of these goggles are always keen to state that they use a synthetic replacement chemical. All fascinating stuff that points to a real want to believe in something. You can probably do it yourself without any special equipment. Just put your hand against a white wall and state at it for a while, gradually a 'halo' will begin to emerge around the fingers. This 'halo' will depend on the actual colours in your hand, for instance if your hand is pinkish, you will begin to see colours that are optical opposites, greenish/blueish. This is colour fatigue and as most of the adverts for the aura goggles suggest you stare at the edges of bodies for some time until the aura appears, I think it is this phenomena that has triggered the idea of the aura. 
Stare at this green head for 5 minutes (the time you are asked to stare at a body to see an aura)
There is an 'auratic' history and we use a certain set of words, including in particular, rays, waves and fields when talking about invisible energy or radiation. Such as magnetic fields, radio waves, microwaves, X-rays, and gamma rays. The idea of 'x-rays' is still a powerful concept, one that in particular shows how invisible rays can penetrate solid forms and reveal 'what lies beneath'. 
Various researchers have then used these forms to develop concepts about how invisible energies lie beneath surface appearances. For instance Harold Saxton Burr, a researcher into bio-electrics, contended that the electro-dynamic fields of all living things, mould and control each organism's development, health, and mood. He named these L-Fields and used them to explain cellular differentiation and how and why living organisms were able to retain the forms that they do. Burr compared his L-field idea to the entelechy of Hans Driech and the morphogenetic fields proposed by Hans Spemann and Paul Weiss.
However there are far more prosaic forms of invisible energies passing through the body.
The engraving above is really about sweat. The "insensible perspiration that issues from the pores of the body, which can only be discerned by means of a lens and that ascends through the bed-clothes like a mist when we are asleep", is I'm pretty sure, sweat. But we are all very aware of what happens when we have a fever and it is another invisible something passing through the body that we need to reckon with.
Emotionally mediated synaesthesia aura
Ramachandran, Miller, Livingstone and Brang (2012) have investigated this issue and have attempted to give scientific credibility to what has often been regarded as folklore. They based their paper on a 23-year-old man diagnosed with Asperger's, who began to consistently experience colours around individuals from the age of 10. His colours were based on identity and emotional connection. They also investigated the subject's claim that emotions evoked highly specific colours, allowing him, despite his Asperger's, to introspect on emotions and recognise them in others. It was this aspect that particularly interested myself, as it appeared to relate to my interest in how emotion could be visualised. 
Ramachandran, Miller, Livingstone and Brang: A colour taxonomy of emotions
Robert Plutchik: Wheel of emotions
I had earlier played around with Plutchik's idea and had placed colours around his cone of emotions, as I did like the fact that different saturations and tonalities could be linked to degrees of emotional intensity.
Plutchik's cone of emotions: Anger, annoyance and rage
Christ within a green mandorla
The mandorla is made from two overlapping circles
Whilst religious iconography picked up on the visual power of aura type images to represent invisible mystic or divine powers, our bodies can also be thought to hold within them other types of invisible energies; energies that could perhaps be visualised in similar ways. For instance, the heart's rhythmic contractions create a strong magnetic field that can be detected outside the body using magnetometers and it has been observed that this field can be modulated by emotions. As someone with atrial fibrillation, I'm very aware of how when my heart speeds up in response to an emotional dilemma, my interoceptual awareness of it changes and I can 'feel/see' these energies moving through my body.
Iron filings reveal a magnetic field
The shape of a magnetic field
As can be seen from the image above, computer aided technology can produce maps of the body's electromagnetic fields, that allow you to compare images belonging to
electrocardiogram fields of the heart, to those of magnetocardiogram fields. In order to do this, the heart, can be thought of as an electric dipole, (the separation of the positive and negative electric charges found in any electromagnetic system that produces an electric field). This field extends in all directions, and can be measured at the body surface.
Putting electrodes at two different points which each have a different electric field strength will produce a potential difference. If you connect electrodes to two different points at the body surface, you should be able to measure the potential difference generated by the cardiac electric field, and then plot its changes over time. This is how the electrocardiogram works.
Dermatomes of the Upper and Lower LimbsDermatomes are areas of skin on your body that rely on specific nerve connections to your spine. In this way, dermatomes are much like a map. Upper limb dermatomes run longitudinally, while lower limb dermatomes exhibit a more spiral pattern. This difference arises from the unique way the limbs bud and rotate during embryonic development. This supports Whitehead's idea that there is a plan that is laid down during our body's initial development and that this informs how underlying electromagnetic connections will eventually work. I'm working in a hospital spinal injuries unit at the moment and am beginning to see several people who are suffering from nerve pain. For instance, a condition called radiculopathy occurs when a spinal nerve is compressed or irritated, often due to a herniated disc. This can result in pain, sensory loss, or motor weakness in the corresponding dermatome. Electrodiagnostic testing can now be used to support the diagnosis of this condition; a diagnostic tool that is a more recent development of the technologies associated with the electrocardiogram.
Kilner's illustration of a healthy woman with "a very fine aura", from The Human Atmosphere
It is not so much whether or not there can be any scientific proof of auras, what I'm looking for is how we are predisposed to think visually about them and what they represent. In my work looking at the visualisation of interoception, what I often find myself doing is sitting with someone whilst they describe to me an inner feeling, be this pain, emotion or another sensation and the ground out of which the conversation emerges, must not be that dissimilar to the landscape out of which thinkers such as Kilner emerged. I listened recently to a podcast devoted to synaesthesia and one of the people talking about their experiences had emotionally mediated synaesthesia, which meant that she saw colours surrounding people and these colours changed, often due to her emotional connection with the person seen. As she went on to describe, what was for her an everyday experience, I began thinking about how perhaps it was those of us who literally see differently, that help us as a species come to see or visualise those things that most people cant see, such as emotions. For instance we mainly have a three colour visualisation system called trichromacy, but evidence exists that there are people who have four distinct colour perception channels or tetrachromacy. Apparently it’s more common in women than in men and it has been suggested that nearly 12 percent of women may have this fourth colour perception channel. Is this why it is often suggested that women are more 'psychic' than men?
However, back to Kilner. He created what came to be called 'Kilner screens'; which were treated with variously coloured liquid dyes. These screens it was argued allowed us to see outside the visual light spectrum, and what could be seen were the result of seeing 'N-rays'. 'X-rays' immediately come to mind here. In his book we read that his screen allows us to perceive various auric formations, such as the 'Etheric Double', the 'Inner Aura' and the 'Outer Aura', which were formations that extended several inches from patients' naked bodies. His screens were more popularly known as Kilner goggles and are in my mind very closely associated with 'x-ray specs'.
The aura seen via Kilner goggles
A hand seen using x-ray specs
An x-ray that suggests a skin like aura surrounding the bones
Röntgen discovered x-rays in 1895, and in visualisations of invisible rays they have remained the 'mystic master' of ray type form ever since. The other related form is the field, such as an electric field.
An electric field
However there are far more prosaic forms of invisible energies passing through the body.
A young man holding his hand to his heart, emanating insensible perspiration.” Colour stipple engraving by J. Pass, after Ebenezer Sibly (1794)
The engraving above is really about sweat. The "insensible perspiration that issues from the pores of the body, which can only be discerned by means of a lens and that ascends through the bed-clothes like a mist when we are asleep", is I'm pretty sure, sweat. But we are all very aware of what happens when we have a fever and it is another invisible something passing through the body that we need to reckon with.
Magnification of sweat glands
The more I have worked with interoceptual feelings, the more I realise emotions, physical pain, bodily functions, intuitions, illnesses, memories and a host of other things are all mixed up and tied together by the fact they all inhabit the same very complicated physical body. It is no surprise then to find that the various thinkers who were looking at auras, had tried to fit in to their theories other ideas that were floating around at the time. For instance in his book 'The Human Aura', Auguste Marques connects the concept of 'thought forms' to the aura and he suggests that images and colours penetrate the aura in response to emotional changes in the mind of the person who's aura we are studying. These thought forms are illustrated in his book and for Marques have very particular meanings.
From: The Human Aura: Thought Forms
Marques uses Blavatsky's definition of an aura; 'A subtle invisible essence or fluid, that emanates from human and animal bodies and even things; it is a psychic effluvium, partaking of both the mind and the body, as it is the electro-vital and at the same time an electro-mental aura, called in Theosophy the akasic or magnetic.' Several types of aura are defined by him, including what he calls 'Tatwic' coloured bands. These relate to the senses, 'Akasha' to sound and in the form of dotted spheres, ellipses or egg-forms; 'Vayu', to touch, and in the form of circles; 'Tejas', to sight, and the form of triangles; 'Apas', to taste, and in the form of the crescent or lotus flower and 'Prithivi' to smell, and in the form of squares or quadrangles. These forms combine at a microscopic level to form auric bands.
So you can imagine colour added into the mix and the fact that these are constantly changing in response to our breathing patterns. I am of course drawn to compare these images with magnetic and electric fields and so I took a sample line and put it through a few transformations in order to arrive at an auratic form.
Head with Tatwic auratic form
One way of describing a human being is that it is an electrodynamic organism attuned to the cosmos. This statement represents the fact that we are at a deep level organised by electric and electromagnetic fields. Alfred North Whitehead stated that, "an electron within a living body is different from an electron outside it, by reason of the plan of the body." This body plan he maintained represented both mental and physical attributes of a unified experience and that it was able to modify the motion of subatomic particles within it. Some years later the physiologist Harold Saxton Burr wrote The Blueprint for Immortality first published in 1972, which on its cover blurb stated, “This is a breakthrough book – the first comprehensive account ever published of one of the most important scientific discoveries of this century. It reveals that all living things – from men to mice, from trees to seeds – are moulded and controlled by ‘electrodynamic fields’, which can be measured and mapped with standard modern volt-meters. It goes on the state, “Since measurements of L-field voltages can reveal physical and mental conditions, doctors will be able to use them to diagnose illnesses before the usual symptoms develop and so will have a better chance of successful treatment.” An almost exact description of how Kilner's work was supposed to be used and also my thoughts when thinking about what interoceptual images might be useful for.
Pain felt when in a wheelchair
Pain relieved using a centrally jointed bed
Once again an idea seems impelled into being by a psychological need and I sense that Burr's book might be as much to do with art as science. However time to end another ramble, especially as I have just discovered after writing most of this post that there already exists a book, 'Picturing Aura' by Jeremy Stolow, that seems to cover most of the ground I've been thinking about.
References
Fenici, R., Brisinda, D. and Meloni, A.M., (2005) Clinical application of magnetocardiography. Expert review of molecular diagnostics, 5(3), pp.291-313.
Kilner, W.J., (1911) The Human atmosphere, or, The aura made visible by the aid of chemical screens. Rebman Company. Available at: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/t94es3zc/items
Ramachandran, V.S., Miller, L., Livingstone, M.S. and Brang, D., (2012) Colored halos around faces and emotion-evoked colors: a new form of synesthesia. Neurocase, 18(4), pp.352-358.
Renbourn, E.T., (1960) The natural history of insensible perspiration: a forgotten doctrine of health and disease. Medical History, 4(2), pp.135-152.
Stolow, J. (2025) Picturing Aura London: MIT Press
See also:
Diagrams: Visualising the invisible
Interoceptual textures and surface flow
Para-scientific visions and Rayonism
The iconography of the invisible
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