This is a fun sort of science.

I've had these photos taken on several different occasions and had my aura read by the people who took them, by the software that comes with the camera and by others, and all of their opinions have varied quite a bit. After some years of looking at auras and aura photos, it seems to me that many of these colours that we see in photos such as these could represent our state of mind/emotions/being at the time we are sitting for the photo, as they are based on the galvanic skin response from our hands on the sensors. They are not quite what I have seen clairvoyantly of people's auras - but then they could hardly capture this in real time. Our energies are constantly changing and moving. Although we may have a sort of base set of colours in our aura, the aura can and does change in a flash according to what we are doing.

If we are rushed and have just come in from running errands, taking care of logical details and that sort of thing, the aura is often a yellow/red mixture of colours. (In my own experience, I have found that a bright yellow often represents logical thought or reasoning and red in mixture with it often represents taking care of the basic necessities of daily life.) If we have had time to settle, it moves into a mix of colours that seems to represent our general or usual state of being. For me that is often blues and purples and magentas. When there is a strong overall healing taking place in the person's energy, I see a lot of green. When there is a focused healing taking place (like when someone has had a cold and is in the process of healing there), then I see a sweet orange colour.

Some people interpret the small vacant spots as an oncoming illness. The darkish area around my throat when these aura photos were taken may have indicated the small bout of laryngitis I had the next week. But that may not be the case. I have found that when the camera is moved farther away from the person sitting, the colours in the image do not move back correspondingly. So what may have looked like a dark area in my throat in one shot could appear to be in my chest on another.

When people are not relaxed, strong outbursts of certain colours can indicate strong feelings or emotions at the time. A strong desire to connect with the energy of a tree can make a visible colour flash (often green) between the person and the tree. The same goes for our interactions with people and pets. A quick rush of red can mean a strong burst of an angry feeling or it can be a strong passion towards a person or cause. A lot of yellow can mean that the person is in thinking mode and a lot of blue can indicate a high sort of meditation or contemplation.

As you play with this stuff, you will come to know what the different colours mean to you. For me, when I see a muddy brown in someone's energy field, it can mean they are seriously or chronically ill or it can mean an acute but temporary problem. When I see a large hole, it can mean to me that they have just emerged from a serious illness and their energy is ripe to be filled with something else. But for you this may be different.

So if you have had one of these photos taken and the description that their computer print-out offered doesn't seem quite right, or the interpretation of the reader isn't quite right, or if my own ideas above don't sit quite right, don't be alarmed. You know yourself best.

If you can't sign up for the course I offer on Seeing Auras and want to learn how to see auras on your own there are lots of good books and sites that can guide you. I can get you started here, though.

Learning to See Auras

We use our night vision to see energy. If your Mom told you to eat your carrots, it was because they are good for the 'rods and cones' in your eyes that you use for night vision. To see something well in the dark, you see it best by looking right next to it rather than right at it. The same thing works for seeing the energy around people and objects. One of the best times of day to practice is at dusk, when you are using your peripheral vision anyhow. If you are indoors, indirect lighting (but not dark) is a great way to start.

Start by finding a quiet spot in a comfortable chair and set up a mirror so that you can practice seeing your own energy field. Keep the light indirect and keep the background behind you reasonably plain, without too many objects in view. Some people hang dark fabric behind them to get rid of the clutter but if you don't have any, just see that the wall behind you is not too busy.

Now, focus your attention very gently on a spot in the centre or at the edge of your forehead. When you are looking at energy, it is not the same kind of direct focus we use when we are looking at an object, like a ball. Instead it is a relaxed focus as if it is our whole face that is looking and not just our eyes. Our eyes just take in what we are seeing. Your gaze will be on the forehead but your awareness will be on the area around your head. As you do this, you will start to become aware of a hazy light that seems to come out unevenly around your head. It will likely be a whitish/bluish/greyish/yellowish colour and the second you bring your focus to it, it will vanish. When that happens, bring your focus back to the forehead or anywhere inside your body and bring your relaxed attention to the areas outside the body. Again, you will see this hazy light rise. You are beginning to see the aura.

As you practice, you will become more aware of the right spot to look, how relaxed your focus needs to be and how relaxed your mind needs to be. An intense drive to "see your aura" may be too intense for the relaxed state of mind that works best. Also, as you practice, you will become aware of colours in the aura. At first they may seem to be so subtle that they seem to be your imagination. But stick with it and watch how they develop. They remind me a bit of how the Northern Lights can sometimes just seem like hazy whitish moving energies, and then you become aware of the reds and greens arising subtly in them. Your awareness of colours improves with practice. As this awareness improves, the colours will seem to intensify.

When you move into brighter light, you will notice that the colours get brighter as well. (You needed the dusky light to start with though, so that you could begin to see your aura.) Once you get the hang of seeing energy, you can begin to practice anywhere - on a bus, during family gatherings, or on walks in nature.

As you get better, you may begin to notice other "aspects" of your aura. Some people call them "levels" but I find that term a bit misleading. For example, the mental energy body can often be seen as a finely focused grid of blue lines. Some people see objects or symbols in the energy fields of others. Some start to notice the chakras and the colours and movement of energy in and around them. When you take your attention into nature, you can compare the energy around a tree you ignore with one you feel an affection for. Likewise, you can see the energy around a plant or animal withdraw when it senses danger.

Babies can see energy easily. Watch how they interact with something just over your shoulder. Makes you wonder what it is, doesn't it?

Something else you may come to notice is that you don't need your eyes open to see colours at all. If you meditate and see colours rise and expand and move and change while you have your eyes closed, you may be seeing the colours in your own energy.

Another way to see the colours in your own energy is from the inside rather than the outside. Rather than looking in a mirror, try at dusk one evening to quiet your gaze and mind as if you were meditating. Then notice if a greyish/whitish cloud seems to hazily appear in front of you. This looks a bit like the condensation you see when it is cool and you see your breath, but it appears on warm summer nights, too. As you practice, you will begin to see the colours here as you did when looking in the mirror.

When it comes to interpreting, remember that each of us see things from our own perspective and through our own symbology. So if red means something different to you, since even the authorities disagree, trust yourself. You'll know when you see it what that red is all about.

Have fun with it.

If you want an online resource that is more comprehensive than this, go to Robert Bruce's site. He has a wonderful online reference to seeing auras. astraldynamics.com