Understanding Auras: A Beginner’s Guide to What They Are, and Why They Matter
The Human Energy Field: Ancient, Subtle, Powerful.
Exploring the Aura: A Timeless Concept
A lot of people think it is a new age concept. However, auras have been represented from antiquity in many pictorial ways.
While the concept of the aura is often dismissed as “New Age,” it’s anything but new. Across centuries and continents, mystics, healers, and artists alike have tried to depict and understand the radiant field of energy that surrounds all living things.
Have you ever sensed someone's energy before seeing them? You're not imagining it.
In this post, we’ll explore how ancient traditions, spiritual texts, and even modern photography point to the aura as a real and vital part of our energetic anatomy.
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About Your Guide to Energy and Aura Work
I'm Janet Rae Orth, an intuitive consultant and clairvoyant with over 30 years of experience in energy healing and aura reading. Having conducted thousands of readings and energy healing sessions, I've learned to see and interpret the subtle energy patterns that surround us all. My work combines ancient wisdom with practical techniques to help people understand and heal their energy fields.
[Learn more about my background and spiritual practice →]
What Is an Aura? Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science
The aura is the spiritual body - an electromagnetic field that emanates from all living matter. This field of energy exists outside the range of normal vision, but clairvoyants and energy-sensitive individuals have described and depicted it for thousands of years.
Auras in Religious Art and Ancient Cultures
Both Christ and Buddha are frequently shown with halos surrounding the head. These aren't just artistic flourishes - they're symbolic representations of spiritual radiance. In many traditions, the halo radiating from the crown chakra symbolizes divine light, spiritual purity, and enlightened presence.
Historical examples include:
The Church of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg depicts Christ and disciples with glowing light
Tintoretto's Last Supper (1592–94) clearly shows Christ's aura as glowing light around his body
The Virgin Mary frequently appears with glowing light surrounding her
Persian Zoroastrian mystics and Chinese Taoist scrolls show enlightened beings with radiant energy
According to Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experiences: "The aura is not visible to normal vision, but may be seen by clairvoyance as a halo of light." This suggests clairvoyants see magnetic energy fields that register as light.
Kirlian Photography: Capturing Energy Fields
Developed in the 1940s, Kirlian photography captures electromagnetic energy around living objects. The former Soviet Union used this technique to assess athletes' metabolic processes and fitness levels.
While skeptics debate whether these images show true auras or electrical discharge, many healers view Kirlian photography as visible proof of the energy body described by ancient wisdom. Recent research into the "bio-field" in integrative medicine further supports the idea that human energy fields affect physical and emotional well-being.
How Your Aura Works: The Seven Energy Layers
Your aura surrounds your physical body and consists of seven layers of subtle energy, generated by the seven chakras referenced in yoga traditions and Chinese medicine.
The Chakra-Aura Connection
Your aura surrounds your physical body and consists of seven layers of subtle energy, generated by the seven chakras referenced in yoga traditions and Chinese medicine. In Sanskrit, "chakra" means "wheels of light" - spinning energy vortexes that create your aura. Each chakra corresponds to specific glands in your endocrine system and serves as a channel through which this energy flows into your body.
Understanding the Seven Chakras
The Root chakra grounds you to earth energy, focusing on physical survival and your foundation in the world. Moving upward, the Sacral chakra governs your emotions, creativity, and sensuality - the flowing, feeling aspects of life. Your Solar Plexus holds your personal power, identity, and confidence, radiating your sense of self into the world.
The Heart chakra serves as a bridge between your physical and spiritual bodies, flowing with love, compassion, and self-esteem. Your Throat chakra expresses your truth and authentic communication, while the Third Eye opens your intuition and vision, shaping how you see the world around you. Finally, the Crown chakra connects you to spiritual consciousness and divine wisdom.
The first three chakras relate to your physical body, the heart chakra bridges physical and spiritual, and the upper three connect to higher consciousness.
The Aura as the Spiritual Body
The aura is the spiritual body. The aura itself relates to the electromagnetic field which emanates from all matter. This field of energy is outside of the range of normal vision.
The aura isn’t just a boundary, it’s a communicator. It sends signals, picks up subtle cues, and reflects your inner state. Your aura can attract, repel, soothe, or shield, depending on how you’re feeling and what you’re broadcasting. It’s like a spiritual language your body speaks without words.
Even if you can’t see an aura, you can still experience it in many ways.
For example, think of a time when you have been driving down the highway and you find yourself looking in your rearview mirror, seconds before the approaching highway patrolman appears. That’s your energetic sensitivity in action. We actually feel it.
Or when someone gets too close and you instinctively think, “They’re in my space.” You’re feeling the edge of your aura.
Want to tune into your own energy field for deeper inner awareness? Download my free Aura Reflection Journal Prompts→ to explore what your energy is holding, how it's feeling, and what it may be asking for.
What Happens When Your Aura Is Blocked
When energy patterns become stuck or unmoving in the aura, it disturbs both the physical and emotional bodies. (Even the former Soviet Union knew this).
We are dependent on the active and harmonious flow of energy to maintain our good health. Because our minds as well as our bodies are composed of energy and create dis-ease.
You might also connect this to moments in life where you feel foggy, unmotivated, or energetically "off." A blocked aura can feel like heaviness, mental fatigue, or a constant sense of being drained, even if everything in your life looks fine on the surface.
These blockages can be released when we make changes in our thinking about ourselves and our lives.
Once we become aware of negative patterns we can remake them into positive and validating attitudes that allow energy to flow clearly.
The good news: Blockages can be cleared by changing your thinking patterns and energy practices. Once you become aware of negative patterns, you can transform them into positive, validating attitudes that allow energy to flow clearly.
How to Heal and Strengthen Your Aura
Simple Daily Practices:
Here are gentle ways to strengthen and cleanse your aura each day. Before getting out of bed, scan your body and notice how your energy feels, setting an intention for clear, vibrant energy. Throughout your day, visualize protective golden light around your aura, especially before entering crowded spaces. Spend time outdoors to naturally cleanse and recharge your energy field. Trees, water, and earth help reset your aura. Regular meditation keeps your energy flowing and helps you become more aware of your auric field.
Ready to Heal Your Energy Field?
If you're feeling energetically stuck or want to understand your aura better, I offer personalized energy healing sessions to help identify blocks and restore your natural vitality.
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"After my session with Janet, I felt a new calmness and strength I forgot I had. Not only did she impact my emotional health, she also helped with a visual problem I'd learned to live with. I left able to see better than I had in years!" - R.C., Tampa, FL
Continue Your Energy Journey:
Ready to dive deeper into understanding your spiritual energy? Explore these related topics:
🔮 The Five Clairs Explained: Turn Your Sensitivity Into Your Superpower →
🌹 Letting Go & Chakra Clearing: Release What No Longer Serves →
🛡️ Protect Yourself from Negative Energy: Tools for Empaths →
💭 The Power of Letting Go: Release Limiting Beliefs →
✨ Want to go even deeper?
Join me December 4–7, 2025, for the Manifesting Immersion Retreat→ where we’ll release energetic blocks, activate your soul clarity, and call in your next aligned chapter.