The Theory of Nothing

What the heck is an aura?

What the heck is an aura?

An aura is a paranormal phenomenon. It’s defined as a subtle, luminous radiation field that surrounds a person or object like a halo--you know, those things that saints in religious art have around their heads. Auras are also the favorite of occultists and mediums, which has given the idea a sham label. The fact is the idea has been around for a very long time and it has become a new-age spiritual favorite.

 However, there have been attempts to actually detect a person’s aura as we shall see.

What’s important about the aura is that it can be used to detect mental and emotional disorders. Some claim that it can be used to determine overall health and wellness. If that were the case then an aura has to be a physical phenomenon, not a just a spiritual one.

One could argue that the aura is a form of esotericism, in other words, something that can only be understood by psychics. However, in that case an aura would have to be some kind of energy field generated by the body. There have been attempts by psychics to read a person’s aura, but these attempts have been futile.

However, Kirlian photography has been able to photograph a person’s aura. Semyon Kirlian discovered this photography technique in 1939 when he found that an object connected to a high-voltage source and placed on a photographic plate could produce a photographic image.

By 1968, this idea began to be employed to detect auras of living beings. Supposedly, the method causes a coronal discharge because of electrical ionization. In other words, living things are moist and when electricity is applied to a living thing it produces an area of ionized gas around it, which can be photographed. This gas ionization is associated with the living object’s aura. The image obtained by this method looks like a colored halo. No surprise there!

There are many skeptics that argue that this idea is not detecting the aura. There have been many books written about this technique but the skepticism prevails. Even if the paranormal explanation has been debunked, the science is still solid. Kirlian photography has been used to create beautiful images of living art that can only be described as ghostly. Belief that Kirlian photography is detecting the aura of a living being is based on faith.

Be that as it may, what is an aura? Some claim it’s a life force that is created by the body and surrounds it. That would suggest that a spiritual thing could influence a physical phenomenon. Think about that one. Could this be the manifestation of the soul?

In any case, Amazon sells Kirlian photographic equipment so that you can do your own experiments. Some of the Kirlian cameras are pretty expensive though, but the idea still has a lot of followers.

Thanks for reading.