Aumgn, what would it take for you to change your mind? One of the things that makes so many of the discussions here end up going in circles is there is no clear direction. Would it ever be possible to make you think twice about Reiki and Auras?
My “belief” in Reiki and auras is tied in with and, with Reiki, built upon, personal experience; thus they are not opinions or based upon blind faith or irrational postulations, and will not change easily.
1/ Are the auras visible all the time? (yes/no)
Almost all the time. The only time that I either absolutely cannot see the aura or have difficulty perceiving it is after I consume large amounts of meat, especially red meat, which has a grounding effect and thus reduces my body’s energetic vibration level enough that for some reason I can’t see the hazy glow as well.
2/ What effects the size of the aura?
One of the main ideas of holism is that all life is connected. The aura has more than two layers; while seven layers is the widely accepted (“woo-woo”) number of layers, it is likely, according to holistic thought, that the layers, which are increasingly hard to detect the more you get away from the body, extend to infinity; thus the “how” of the assertion that we are all connected. Note that this is my interpretation. As far as what I can see, I have noted that of all the etheric auras I have looked at, mine is the most visible, I presume because I am the healthiest and probably most spiritually advanced of those whose auras I've seen (and therefore have a stronger aura than most); this is in accordance with holistic thought which holds that a key factor determining the strength (and therefore visibility) of the aura is one’s health. The ways of getting and keeping a strong aura and thus good health have been covered in many books about auras; the main points that anyone can do include eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, drinking, or generally abusing your body – which are largely commonsense health tips – as well as remaining emotionally balanced (having a cheerful disposition helps).
3/ If someone stood behind a screen the same height as themselves, could you see the aura above the screen? (yes/no)
Theoretically (I’ve never tried it). I might test this out.
Make this test: Look at your hand and watch the 1inch "aura". Now look at some person who is, say, 20 ft. away. If the "aura" was real, you would only see it as very thin, but it still looks 1inch thick, because it only exists on your retina.
Tried it on my hand then my cat. No, it does not still look one inch thick, it is proportional to the size of my cat in my vision. I know what afterimages look like, and I know that what I’m seeing is different than that.
Only makes sense if you believe in Reiki woowoo .
“Belief” in the efficacy of Reiki is not a requisite of giving or receiving it. Reiki works independently of one’s beliefs. Were I to give one of you fine fellows a treatment, you would still benefit from it (and resulting from more than just the “relaxation” or whatnot inherent in the treatment’s dynamics). Regardless, the girl’s diagnosis of my aura, green and purple, made sense as I was in a “peaceful” sort of mind (or whatever similar emotional state green can/does represent) and was in a spiritual or psychic or whatever you’d like to call it mode in which I had manifested, as the Amazing Randi says purple represents or is held to represent, “psychic ability and occult power,” or something like it. I acknowledge the possibility she was lying about her knowledge of auras, but after getting a good judge of her personality and overall knowledge of such spiritual matters I have ruled this out as being anywhere near probable.
1) No normal person has a problem seing the red part of the spectrum, so why should it suddenly be a problem with auras?
Perhaps because auras are outside the normal range of human vision. I don’t know enough about the logical explanations for auras or the electromagnetic spectrum to really defend this point. I simply put two pieces of information together: 1) it is common knowledge among holists that blues are perceived first, reds last, and 2) the colors she confessed to being unable to see were reds and oranges, which, in tandem with her purported ignorance of aura dynamics, convinced me that her confessed ability to see colors was authentic. The electromagnetic spectrum bit was my own interpretation of why this happened; if that explanation is fallacious then so be it.
Randi mentioned some time ago that anyone can see an aura around any object. This is caused by eye fatigue, which leads presumably to a distortion of the lens which seperates the colors of light as they enter the eye much like a prism. So no, I do not doubt you have seen what you call auras, I merely disagree that it is some kind of internal energy
If anyone can see an “aura” around any object, mustn’t all auras necessarily then be the same? As in, no differences in “luminosity”? Because I have observed that my aura is more “luminous” than most auras of people I’ve met. How would that, assuming my observations are correct, be explained by the eye fatigue hypothesis?
to rationalize a belief in a failed healing art such as Reiki.
Can I ask why you say Reiki has “failed” as a healing art? If it is all bunk, wouldn’t it be unable even to succeed or fail, because it wouldn’t then be a healing art at all?
But are you perfectly sure? Have you had your eyes checked recently? So you went to Reiki, and out of the blue you start seeing "things" or "auras". My first thought would be to go have my eyes checked, have you done this? If my vision was fine, and then it changed, and in this case as it would seem quite significantly, then this would be the first thought to cross my mind, not that I had some new special ability.
I have had my eyes checked (at least at an optician) since I began receiving Reiki treatment. I do not have 20/20 vision and have not had it since I was younger; but I have no known vision defects other than slight nearsightedness most likely inherited genetically. I did not start seeing the etheric layer of the aura “out of the blue” – the ability developed over time, catalyzed by the energetic “opening” associated with and spiritual evolution precipitated by my numerous Reiki attunements, and helped along with my once-regular practice of auric vision exercises. But with the subject of the efficacy and dynamics of Reiki we venture perhaps too deep into “woo woo”-land for the comfort of my skeptical fellows.
Aumgn- I assume you will appreciate that there are two fundamental mental approaches to this issue:
As "mundane" explanations are ruled out one by one, some people will be increasingly convinced you are describing an unknown or unexplained phenomenon.
People of a different mindset will be increasingly certain that you are either deluded or deliberately lying.
Most regulars at this site fall into the second group. You are aware of this. So don't be dismayed if some of us are brusque or dismissive. We would be astonished, but fascinated if your ability had some grounding in fact. We will not, however, believe it without hard evidence.
If you can produce such, we will be happy to see it.
I completely understand where the skeptic is coming from, and view the skeptical method as a legitimate one for testing the validity of seemingly outlandish claims. I do not expect anyone here to believe me outright. Due to the limitations of our means of communication and my present inability to gather such hard evidence, all I can really do is recount what has led me to the conclusions I hold regarding auras, and hope to stimulate some meaningful discussion about possible causes of my personal experiences alternative to the ones I posit. The most I can ever hope a rational but open-minded skeptic can say as a result of the assertions I make and information I put forth is, “Well if he is being truthful, and if what he says is accurate, then there may be something worth further investigating.” I don’t fault anyone for saying what they do; I am rather happy with the way discussion is going so far, and can say that I expected worse treatment.
One question. You say you can see the aura in the dark. Does it illuminate things? Can you, for example, read by the illumination?
No, it cannot illuminate anything, at least given the present state of my aura and my ability to perceive it.
You've made two completely testable claims here. No need for debate, no need for theory, no need for any further information - just do some testing.
I concur. Unless a reply to my responses merits answering, I will hold off posting further until I’ve done some testing and posted the results.
