The Perception Of Auras
Kirk Straughen
(Investigator 83, 2002 March)
Introduction
According to occultists, every human being is surrounded by a
paranormal field known as an aura — a phenomenon that is described and
accounted for in the following way:
"Emanation said to
surround human beings, chiefly encircling the head, and supposed to
proceed from the nervous system. It is described as a cloud of light
suffused with various colours. This is seen clairvoyantly, being
imperceptible to the physical sight." (L. Spence: The Encyclopedia of the Occult, page 50)
What evidence is there that humans possess and aura that can be seen by gifted persons? I shall now address this question.
Evidence From Art?
Some proponents of the occult claim that evidence for auras can be
found in Christian and Eastern art where saints and divinities are
often portrayed with a circle of light surrounding their heads, or even
their entire bodies. According to occultists, the spiritual purity of
these beings causes a highly luminous aura that is, in this instance,
perceptible to physical sight, and is the reason why they have been
portrayed in this manner.
Unfortunately, this assumption is not supported by our knowledge of
ancient artistic conventions. The use of halos and aureoles (where a
cloud of light surrounds the entire body) in Eastern and Western art is
purely symbolic — light is often associated with virtue, truth and
goodness, whereas darkness is equated with the exact opposite: "God is
light and in him there is no darkness" (I John 1:5.) Naturally, the
most obvious source of light is the Sun which has often been worshipped
as a god, or used as a symbol of divine attributes:
<>"The halo denotes the
sunbeams, the luminosity, radiating from divine or holy persons. Gods
might be depicted with a halo as well as emperors and other outstanding
men such as poets and philosophers. There are examples from classical
times of Homer and Virgil with halos. From the 4th century Christian
artists began to show Jesus with a halo and later Mary and the
apostles; in time, the halo — in the form of a surrounding nimbus or
aureole — became the distinctive sign of a saint. Sometimes the beams
radiated not from the head but from the whole body, which was enclosed
by an aureole. This is familiar in images of Buddha and Mohammed, and
in Christianity it became a special attribute of Mary, the Mother of
God." (S.T. Achen: Symbols Around Us, page 20)
<>
Bio-electric Auras
Is it possible for an organism to be surrounded by an emanation that
arises from physiological processes? In certain cases it is, for
example, the African knife-fish Gymnarchus niloticus possesses an
electric organ that produces between three and ten volts of pulsed
direct current at a rate of three hundred pulses per second, thus
enveloping its body in a spherical electric field.
As objects enter this field they distort the lines of force, causing
them to diverge in the case of a poor conductor, or converge in the
case of a good conductor. In addition to its electric organ Gymnarchus
also has an arrangement of sensory pores over its skin, and these
organs enable it to detect extremely small changes in current density
(0.04 millionths of an ampere per square centimetre). It is from the
way in which these lines of force deviate, and the accompanying changes
in current density, that enables Gymnarchus to sense the position and
nature of objects in its environment.
I have cited the example of Gymnarchus in order to show what would be
required in order for an organism to be surrounded by an 'aura’. Human
beings, however, do not possess organs that can generate electric
fields, nor do we have receptors that can sense them. Although it is
possible to detect the electrical activity generated by our bodies
using specialised equipment, this activity does not radiate beyond our
skin, and therefore would not be detectable from a distance even if we
were equipped with the appropriate receptors. Some believers may claim
that the existence of auras is proven by Kirlian Photography where
objects photographed in a high-frequency electric field display halos.
This effect, however, is of no significance because its primary cause
is moisture:
"The Kirlian aura is
already discredited as a trivial thing, of no more significance than
static electricity, that depends mainly on the moisture in the object
‘photographed’. The human aura is supposed to change dramatically
according to physical and mental state: experiments showed that the
full range of possible ‘auras’ could be produced from any one object by
altering the gap between it and the electrode, the strength and
frequency of the field, the moistness of the object itself, and so on;
if all these things were kept constant, no differences could be
detected between the auras of ordinary people, psychic 'mediums' and
lunatics." (P. Nicholls, Ed: The Science in Science Fiction, page 168)
The Third Eye
Occultists may claim that the aura is a manifestation of the soul or
'life force' and, being supernatural, is not detectable through natural
channels of perception. Instead they claim that this paranormal
manifestation is seen with the 'third eye':
"For centuries the idea
that human beings have a latent psychic centre with a physical analogue
somewhere in the brain has fascinated all fans of the occult... Man
himself has one apparently functionless organ, the pineal gland in a
frontal/central position, which Descartes thought must be the point of
interaction between soul or mind and body. This is still often believed
to be the psychic centre in the folklore of modern Spiritualism."
(C. Evans: Cults of Unreason, page 248)
The existence of this psychic organ appeared to be confirmed by a Tibetan Lama — Dr T. Lobsang Rampa in his book The Third Eye,
which became a best seller in twelve countries. In his book, the author
claims that at eight years of age, when an apprentice Lama, he
underwent a form of brain surgery that was designed to open the third
eye, thereby enhancing his psychic perception. Details of this
operation, which was performed without anaesthesia, are given in
chapter seven of the book. A small hole was made in the frontal bone of
the skull using “an instrument made of shining steel," and then "a very
hard, very clean sliver of wood which had been treated by fire and
herbs to make it as hard as steel," was inserted through the hole and
into the brain. "For a moment the pain was intense, like a searing
white flame. It diminished, died, and was replaced by spirals of
colour, and globules of incandescent smoke. The Third Eye was now open,
and it was a very strange experience to see these men apparently
enveloped in golden flame. Not until later did I realise that their
auras were golden because of the pure life they led, and that most
people would look very different indeed."
The claims made in The Third Eye
are incredible to say the least, and raised suspicions in the minds of
some scholars who were familiar with Tibetan culture. As a result of
these concerns Clifford Burgess, a Liverpool private eye, was employed
by them to gather information on Dr Rampa to confirm the biographical
details contained in his book. Mr Burgess unearthed the following facts:
(1) Dr Rampa’s real name was Cyril Henry Hoskings.
(2) He was from rural Plympton in Devon, not Tibet.
(3) He was a certainly not a doctor. It is quite clear
from this investigation that the book, although containing a wealth of
detail that lends authenticity to the account, is nothing more than
sheer fantasy masquerading as fact.
Research has also shown that the pineal gland, rather than being
connected with paranormal functions, secretes a chemical called
melatonin. Although the exact function of this gland is unknown, it is
thought to play a role in the regulation of body rhythms:
"The function of
melatonin and the pineal gland in humans, in contrast to several other
animals, is uncertain. Its secretion is stimulated by sympathetic
postganglionic neurons that constitute the last link in a neuronal
chain primarily triggered by receptors in the eyes responding to the
prevailing light — dark environment. Melatonin secretion, therefore,
undergoes a marked 24-h cycle, being high at night and low during the
day, and melatonin probably influences a variety of body rhythms."
(A.J. Vander et al: Human Physiology, page 296)
Psychological Explanations
To believe or claim that auras exist is no proof of their existence.
Indeed, the only evidence we have is the word of the clairvoyant that
they are seeing something and, unfortunately, their testimonies are
inconsistent — "not all clairvoyants describe the auras of similar
objects or people in the same way." (F. Gettings: Encyclopedia of the
Occult, page 31) Seeing auras appears to be a subjective phenomenon —
the result of the individual's own mental processes instead of the
perception of a paranormal emanation.
The subjective nature of aural perception has been demonstrated by
tests — if each person’s aura carries a unique signature, then it
should be possible to identify an individual solely by his or her aura.
One such test is described by James Randi in his book James Randi — Psychic Investigator.
The test was basically as follows — five people stood behind a
translucent screen that was illuminated from the rear, causing them to
appear as silhouettes when viewed from the front. This screen had been
divided into five sections labelled A to E, with a single person
occupying each section.
When the clairvoyant confirmed he could see their auras through the
barrier, the lights were switched off and the volunteers were, in
random order, asked to step from behind the screen. The clairvoyant’s
task was to use his aura reading ability to identify which section of
the barrier the person had been standing behind. Unfortunately, the
clairvoyants third eye must have been somewhat myopic — his score was
only two out of five, which is no better than chance alone. What could
lead a person to believe they can see auras? Those who sincerely
believe they have this ability may have arrived at this conclusion due
to the following factors:
"Optical illusions,
after-images, hysterical hallucination, delusions, suggestion,
wishful-thinking, trickery and invention are the sole explanations of
"aureole phenomena" in the case of sane individuals. Among psychotics,
as might be expected, delusions and hallucinations of auras are not
uncommon.
Experiments with hysterical subjects who claim to
perceive auras quickly reveal their spurious character. Braid mentions
one such subject, who whenever the idea was suggested, saw coruscating
flames emanating from the poles of a magnet or wherever she imagined
its influence to extend. Such cases were frequently reported in the
psychological literature of the nineteenth century. Experiments showed,
however, that the same "effects" were produced when non-metallic
objects, disguised as magnets were used." (D.H. Rawcliffe: Illusions
and Delusions of the Supernatural and the Occult, page 107)
Conclusion
Firstly, from a physiological perspective, our nervous system is
incapable of generating an aural field and, moreover, we have no sense
organs that could conceivably detect such a field even if it did exist.
Secondly, people who sincerely claim to see auras have failed to detect
them when subjected to carefully controlled tests, which suggests their
belief is due to psychological factors rather than the perception of an
occult force. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to substantiate the
claim that human beings are surrounded by a paranormal emanation that
is perceptible to occult vision.
Bibliography
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Droscher, V.B. The Magic of the Senses, W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd., London, 1969.
Evans, C. Cults of Unreason, Panther Books Ltd., Herts, 1974.
Gettings, F. Encyclopedia of the Occult, Rider & Co. Ltd., London, 1986.
Nicholls, P. (Ed) The Science in Science Fiction, Michael Joseph Ltd.,
London, 1982.
Rampa, T.L. The Third Eye, Ballantine Books, New York, 1976.
Randi, J. James Randi: Psychic Investigator, Boxtree Ltd., London, 1991.
Rawcliffe, D.H. Illusions and Delusions of the Supernatural and the Occult, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1959.
Spence, L. The Encyclopedia of the Occult, Bracken Books, London, 1988.
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Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version.