You can see or otherwise perceive and read people's auras. If you don't believe me, you're right. Of course, if you believe it is possible, you are also right! I will never forget the first time my left-brained, generally skeptical engineer of a husband saw an aura (mine). Never before or since have I seen such a look of wonder on his face. It was like he was a child witnessing the tooth fairy flying out the window with his tooth in her magic satchel. I figure if I can help him to see auras, I can help anyone.

While I'm sure everyone has heard the term "aura" before, it may be helpful to define what we're talking about. The aura is a field of energy (electromagnetic and other finer energies) surrounding all living things, and some would say all atomic forms, animate and inanimate. For the skeptical or the scientifically inclined, we are fortunate to live in a time when the latest technology now enables us to measure and observe these energy fields. Our technology confirms what mystics have taught for ages. For more information on the science underlying the aura, especially energy healing, check out Psychophysics: A Wholistic Approach to Healing through the Aura.

Our auras are in constant interaction with each other and with our environments. The more prolonged or profound the interaction, the greater the affect on the auras. Consequently, the auras of family members, longtime friends, and people married for many years are likely to grow more and more similar.

The residue of auric interactions is what imprints places and things with our unique energies. Notice, for example, how different houses feel. Every house has its own aura, arising from the people and other influences residing there, and every room in every house has it's own unique feeling, depending on who lives and sleeps there. A house that is deserted most of the time "feels" more empty than a house that is full of daily living, even when no one is home at the moment. Contrast such a house with a hotel room. The hotel room has a constantly changing but shallow interaction with many diverse energetic influences. We leave the residues of our energy everywhere. Those things we interact with most or most deeply, such as our clothes, jewelry, cars, beds, favorite chairs, pets and loved ones become most strongly imprinted with and affected by our energies. It is this residual energy that psychics read when performing psychometry. It is also the residual energy of very intense or traumatic experiences that usually create "hauntings," which are often simply "tears" in the fabric of space and time, or windows into the past.

We are already aware of others' auras, though most of this awareness takes place at a less than conscious level. We feel drained by some people, others energize us. Some people we feel in harmony with, others discordant with. Someone who is close to or shares our energetic vibration we are likely to feel attracted to. Someone on a vastly different "wavelength" we feel uneasy around. Our language reflects our unconscious awareness of the energy interactions underlying these experiences.

When we sense someone looking at us, we are aware of their energy literally interacting with ours. To a clairvoyant, this is visually observable. I experienced an interesting example of this years ago when I was first starting to see auras. I was waiting for a friend to eat dinner in the large coop house she shared with about a dozen other university students. As I was sitting there relaxed and looking around, I noticed a young man enter the dining room. He looked at my friend, who was facing the other direction, preparing her plate. As he looked at her, I saw a tentacle of deep murky red energy extend from his solar plexus, travel across the room, and sort of "swarm" all over her energy field. As soon as this "tentacle" made contact with her field, she stiffened, then turned around and looked directly at him, with an annoyed look on her face. At that point the tentacle of energy was withdrawn.

Later when I told her what I had seen, she explained that he was someone she'd been having a lot of trouble with, for he was constantly harassing her sexually. It was then that I put together consciously what I had witnessed. He had been fantasizing about her sexually, and I had seen both his "fantasy" and her recognition at a less than conscious level of this. She had simply "felt" someone looking at her and felt annoyed, though she hadn't consciously known why until she saw who it was.

The first aura I ever perceived belonged to an instructor of mine at the University of Michigan. I didn't set out to try to see auras, it just happened one day. I was sitting in a large lecture hall, and I was very tired. In front of me several classmates rested in apparent blissful slumber. I was in a half-trance, relaxed and open. As my attention drifted in and out, I began to notice this golden yellow glow around my professor's head. As he leaned forward toward the microphone and into the spotlight, it was harder to see, but each time he stepped back just out of the bright light, it was there. As I played with my vision a bit, it became clearer, bigger, and brighter. I was surprised.

Knowing next to nothing of what I do now, I remembered something called an aura, and wondered if that was what I was seeing. Then I began to look around the dim auditorium, and was amazed to see auras here and there around my fellow students' heads.

I share this experience because it highlights some key ingredients of the ideal conditions for perceiving auras. First, I was going through a period of disciplined meditation, and many interesting psychic and spiritual experiences were arising that were interrelated. Meditation is the one main ingredient that is universally prescribed for psychic and spiritual development. When one quiets the conscious mind's chatter, whispers and subtle energies can be perceived.

Second, the instructor taught Eastern Religion. While I hadn't considered it at the time, he no doubt had spent years in meditation and spiritual practice. The healthier an individual and the more spiritually developed, the bigger and brighter the aura will be. Hence, the paintings of Jesus, saints, and other holy people throughout history are often depicted with a halo. Their auras were so bright, they were easily perceived by the artist, and perhaps everyone.

Third, I was in a very relaxed state. My mind was blank and open, my eyes were unfocused. This half-trancelike state is essential, especially when first learning to view the aura.

Fourth, the subject, my professor, was speaking before a large group of people. The "charge" that people feel when speaking before an audience (whether defined as exhilarating or terrifying) arises in large part from the tremendous amount of psychic/auric energy that is flowing from the audience to the speaker through their attention. This pumps up the speaker's energy or aura dramatically. The easiest auras to see belong to people standing up and teaching, performing or speaking in front of a group. If the person is teaching a spiritual workshop, the energy that one can observe on the stage is amazing.

The most interesting auric displays I've observed have been while watching someone "channel" entities who supposedly enter and take over the body of the channeler. I've see this actually happen (though I was a bit skeptical, as my own experiences with spirit communication have been different). I've also seen a channeler who says this happens actually by relaying information from at times a spirit outside of her, and at other times from her own "higher self," though I believe that she believed an entity was entering her body. Of course, I listened for the truth in what was communicated, regardless of the source. It's been fascinating to observe such situations.

How You Can Perceive Auras

First, before you leap into this new adventure, make sure you take a moment to examine your intentions, and remember to always act with responsibility. As we develop spiritual abilities and skills, it is especially important that we maintain a high level of integrity. The more powerful we become, the stronger and more immediate the repercussions, both positive and negative, of all we do. We must develop more responsibility and wisdom concurrently with our abilities.

With this in mind, it's important that we get others' permission before we go poking around in their auric fields. It's one thing to sit in the back of an auditorium and observe the glow around someone's head, but it's another to search the field of a friend or loved one for information we don't want them to know we're looking for. Also, it is unwise to push our observations or advice on anyone. If we're asked for our perceptions, then it is prudent to listen to our intuition and act always with love and a desire to empower and inspire others in all we do. It's also important to admit it when we don't know what something means. Just because we can see someone's aura, does not mean we have all the answers. Respect others and respect the process.

If you still want to see and read auras, then I recommend deciding that it will be a process or skill you will pick up immediately, right from the start. Of course, I don't want you to get discouraged if that doesn't happen, but I also don't want to tell you that it's a terribly hard skill to develop, requiring months of meditation and practice (though that doesn't hurt). If you believe you can do it, you can. Decide to do it now, and you can make that happen.

I've either taught or been present when many people have learned to see auras over the years, and here I will present the techniques that were most successful.

First, a dimly lit room is ideal for seeing the aura. Twilight is an especially easy time, for the lighting indoors is ideal, and you are likely to be relaxed and a bit tired. A blank, light colored wall behind the subject is important. Sit across the room from the subject, preferably leaning against an opposite wall or sitting cross-legged on the floor. Both the subject and the observer/s should be comfortable. (The best place in my house for seeing auras is for the observer to be in the bedroom, with the subject standing in the hallway, which is darker than the bedroom.)

The subject can simply sit or can attempt to enhance their aura through concentrated effort, such as imagining energy running up their spine and out the top of their head. The observer should relax, breathing deeply and evenly, and focus on the subject for a few minutes, then look into the space surrounding the subject's head. The gaze should be soft and unfocused. Once light is perceived around the head, the subject and observer can play with this, with the subject sending their aura up, then drawing it in, etc. while the observer describes what they see.

This is the method for viewing the aura with the physical eyes, though I often feel I'm using a combination of my physical and astral body's eyes. It is just as valid to close one's eyes and "imagine" the person's aura, and trust what you see. You can also draw an outline of the subject's body on a piece of paper, and allow your intuition to guide you in charting the aura. The results of this compared to the physical eye method are generally the same, so long as one trusts their intuition in the process.

If you try the above exercises and are still struggling, you may be more kinesthetic or auditory than visual. Some people just don't "see" things in the ways others do, and that's perfectly fine. Kinesthetic folks can try "feeling" the aura by running their hands around the body of the subject. Many gifted healers are highly kinesthetic, and sense the energy with their hands, including dis-ease and imbalances. They can "sense" the colors or even more important, the meaning underlying the colors of the aura. Auditory people can simply listen within for information on the aura. It may be helpful for auditory folks to write a description of the aura, listening to the dialogue of their mind to provide the details.

The key is to trust what you perceive, however it is you perceive it.

Interpreting What You Perceive

At first, you are likely to see a slightly bluish white glow surrounding the head and body. This is the etheric body. The astral body (one level out from this) is where colors are first generally perceived. The further out one goes, the more one's skills must be refined, for the energy becomes finer and finer as we move from the etheric body to the astral/emotional body, to the mental and then spiritual bodies. Colors within the first twelve inches out from the body are likely to relate to feelings, the second twelve inches or so to thoughts, and beyond that to spiritual matters.

The following key on colors and their meanings is given as general information. Your intuition is the ultimate authority in all you do, especially in spiritual/psychic experiences. Clear jewel tones and pastels denote positive or pure energy. The clearer and brighter, the more positive. The murkier or "heavier" a color, the more polluted the energy is with negativity, imbalance or fear. There are many shades of every color, so don't be misled by the apparent simplicity of the following list.

Bright, clear red is associated with physicality. A person with this color prominent in the aura is likely to be athletic or sensual, passionate, willful and/or strong. Flashes of red often denote anger, and a murky red (towards maroon) can be lust, while dull red is often resentment. When looking for physical dis-ease, red often denotes over-stimulation or inflammation of an area.

Clear orange is associated with creativity and emotion. It often reveals courage and joy. Muddied oranges can represent pride and vanity.

Clear yellow is very common to find around people's heads, especially, I would presume, in the West. It represents the intellect, and lots of yellow in the aura is the sign of an intellectual. It can also indicate cheerfulness, or a "sunny" disposition. Impure yellows can reveal excessive intellectualizing and imbalance, or someone who is close-minded, dogmatic or critical.

A bright clear green denotes healing and growth, or often represents a healer. Many nurses and alternative healers have this color prominent in the aura. Physicians may have this, but also may tend more toward the yellow of the intellectual. Green also represents compassion. Muddier greens reveal jealousy and greed.

A shade one is likely to observe often if looking at the auras of speakers is a sickly yellow-green. This denotes intellect for greed or profiting from ideas, and generally shows someone who relies on their intellect both for profit and to feed the needs of their egos. I'm not saying that all speakers show this, or that speaking is a greedy endeavor, by any means! If you do observe this in a speaker, however, it is wise to remain aware of where that person may be coming from.

There are many shades of blue to be observed in auras. Blue generally denotes calmness and spiritual devotion, and can be found in seekers of truth. It often represents spiritual/psychic development. Turquoise can denote a passionate and youthful adventurous questing spirit. Bright royal blue shows someone honest and loyal. Light blue reveals a good imagination and intuition. Muddy blue often reveals sadness and loneliness (feeling blue), and also worrying.

Violet and purple in the aura generally denote spiritual or religious devotion. Royal purple shows leadership and strength of will. Murky purple can reveal egomania, arrogance, or a persecution complex, where the individual blames others or outside influences for their unwanted experiences.

Pink in the aura generally symbolizes love, affection and companionship, as well as an appreciation of beauty. Hot pink or magenta shows true devotion and affection. Muddy pink can denote immaturity, dependency and neediness.

Gold is a color showing power, spiritual achievement, dedication, inspiration and harmony. It is a color associated with "God" or the divine.

Grey generally symbolizes fear, and it is generally grey that muddies up other colors in the aura, making them less than clear. Silver would be the positive aspects of this color frequency, representing feminine/goddess energies, optimism, intuition and spiritual awakening.

Brown, when vibrant and clear, represents level-headedness and groundedness. It has an earthy vibration of determination and organization. When murky, it can represent blocks and stale energy.

Black can be fear or hatred and also show problems, imbalances and addictions. A clear jet black, however, can represent protection, mystery/secrets and wisely guarded knowledge.

White can be purity and truth, but is often a mixture of many colors that have not been more finely perceived or interpreted. Balls of light over the shoulders of the subject often reveal spirit guides or "guardian angels" who are important and current influences in the person's life.

Of course, combinations of colors represents combinations of those aspects. For example, blue/green might represent someone who is healing through a spiritual search for truth. It's important, again, to listen to your intuition when interpreting what you see in an aura. Ask within for understanding about what is shown, and develop your own system of understanding based on your own experiences.