Practical Magic: A Beginner's Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics, and Spells - Nikki Van De Car 2017

Auras
Healing for hedge witches

WE’VE ALL HAD THAT MOMENT WHEN WE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLY close to someone in an elevator or on the street, as if they had touched us unexpectedly, even if they didn’t. We back away as much as we can. That sense of discomfort, of invasion, happens to everyone. It also works the other way—sometimes the act of just being near someone we love, or whose energy inspires us, can be comforting and provide a physical sensation of warmth and ease. We can call that invisible something around us our “space,” our “bubble,” our “energy field,” but the spiritual term for it is our aura.

All living things are surrounded by an aura. A typical aura spreads three feet away from the body, though the actual size depends on the person. Try rubbing your palms together furiously, generating heat. Then stop and let them drift slowly apart, paying attention to the energy you feel between them, the vibrations, the trembling, and the remaining heat. That is your own aura.

The energy that flows through the body, concentrated in the chakras, spills beyond the skin to interact with the world outside. In that way, whatever we’re feeling inside is reflected outside. If we are out of balance, someone who can read auras can see that. But these imbalances make themselves clear in other ways, too. Every time we interpret someone’s behavior, we read their internal imbalance: “My husband snapped at me. I know he’s stressed out at work.” “My friend is so tired all the time. I know she’s not paying enough attention to self-care.” We often don’t even need any supporting actions to understand these things—we can tell through simple body language or facial expressions or even some unnameable sense. It’s with that unnameable sense that reading auras comes in.

An aura has seven layers called the subtle bodies, and these layers can fluctuate in visibility and size depending on the person’s internal state. So someone’s aura does not always look the same and is not always the same color. Everything depends on which layer is dominant at a specific moment.

ETHERIC AURA This layer lies closest to the physical body. At its resting state it extends only one to two inches outside the skin. It contains information about a person’s physical well-being. This is what can be seen through electromagnetic or Kirlian photography. Its color typically varies between blue, when the person is more sedentary and tends to be emotional, and gray, when the person is more active.

EMOTIONAL AURA This subtle body extends three inches from the body and pertains to a person’s emotional state. The emotional aura can be any color and may contain blotches signifying different emotions. If the person’s emotional state is confused or conflicted, the aura will appear muddied.

MENTAL AURA This aura extends eight inches from the body. If a person is deep in thought, this layer will appear bright yellow with colors sparking depending on which emotions are associated with the thoughts.

ASTRAL AURA The first three aural layers are grounded in the self. Starting with this layer, things get a little wild. The astral aura is closely tied with the emotional aura, but it reflects the higher self or the best version of ourselves. When we are in love—romantic or platonic—it glows pink. This layer is the bridge to astral projection, and it extends about a foot away from the body.

ETHERIC TEMPLATE AURA This aura extends about two feet from the body, and it can be very difficult to see—and to understand. The etheric template aura is essentially a blueprint for all physical life. It appears as a dark blue.

CELESTIAL AURA This subtle body extends about two and a half feet from the body. Its colors tend to be shimmering, soft pastels, and the layer represents our communication with the Divine. Emotions of ecstatic love tap into this layer, as love is our strongest connection with the spiritual realm.

KETHERIC TEMPLATE AURA This aura extends approximately three feet from the body and shines like a structured web of gold. If the celestial aura relates to our emotional connection with the Divine, the ketheric template aura is tied in with our mental and spiritual knowing. Our intuition resides here.

Though we are all able to sense auras, we are not all able to sense every layer, at least not individually—only extremely experienced practitioners can do that. Once we’ve taught ourselves to actually see the auras, not simply sense them, we may still have a hard time interpreting them because the layers lie on top of one another, so that what we are looking at is a blend of all the layers. This still gives us a lot of information and allows us to interpret what we see. An aura will rarely be just one color, but frequently one specific color tends to dominate. If that color is clear and bright, the aura is considered healthy, but if it is muddied, the person may be experiencing some emotional issues.