The belief in an aura of colored light surrounding a “saintly” person has been around for centuries, and perhaps for millennia. Auras appear in medieval art as the traditional “halo” surrounding the heads of saints. The modern definition of the human aura varies depending on the spiritual tradition. Psychics who can see auras see a diffuse kaleidoscope of light that seems to emanate from the human body. The various colors have different meanings depending on the person’s health and spiritual condition.
The human aura can be interpreted in different ways. For some psychics, the aura is simply the subtle spiritual radiation that surrounds a person’s body. For others, the aura is the outer limit of the human soul. In other words, the soul that animates the body actually extends beyond the physical body and can be seen by psychic sensitives. The definition favored by most trained psychics comes from the modernized version of Theosophy.
Theosophy is a spiritual tradition thought to have had its beginnings in the third century AD. In the late twelfth century, these ideas gave birth to the Jewish Kabbalah. The Kabbalah later became the basis of medieval alchemy and esoteric Christian mysticism. This body of mystical beliefs was gradually built up over a period of centuries by religious theologians, many of whom were themselves powerful psychics (mystics).
In the late nineteenth century, madame Helena Blavatsky and others resurrected these medieval beliefs, combining them with eastern religious philosophy, thus creating what eventually became modern Theosophy. The modern version of Theosophy has become the basis of the modern occult beliefs concerning the connection between the human soul and the human body.
Theosophy teaches that there are (at least) three auras corresponding to three separate spiritual bodies. The etheric body, which is roughly equivalent to what Dr. Wickland called the “magnetic aura” and which is the subject of this chapter, the emotional body, also called the astral body which forms the direct connection between the soul and the human body and deals with human emotions, and the causal body, also called the oversoul which corresponds to the overall spiritual path and purpose of the soul. (Note: The oversoul, also called the “group soul” is covered in depth in chapter 21)
Numerous very long volumes have been written about the complex structure of the human aura and the various spiritual bodies. This esoterica includes patterns of energy that flow around the body as well as the energy vortexes known as chakras. It’s not exactly a “settled science”. There is even disagreement about the number of spiritual bodies with most modern sources saying there are as many as seven of them. Many of the best psychics seek training in this knowledge, and healers who can see auras may use them to diagnose physical conditions. However I am not a psychic and I would rather leave this complex subject to an author who has more direct knowledge. Therefore, I will take a simplified approach to the human aura in order to explain its overall protective function. We will be discussing much more about theosophy and its foundations in chapter 21.