THE HUMAN AURA: F.J. REBMAN.

AMERICAN FREEMASON, NOVEMBER 1912

THE Fellow Craft, by virtue of the degree he holds, is permitted to extend
his research into the hidden mysteries of nature and science; in fact he is
expected to make the liberal arts and sciences his study, that he may the
better be enabled to discharge his duty as a Mason and estimate the
wonderful works of the Almighty.  To the majority of Masons this has no
practical meaning and is passed over simply as an empty phrase of the
ritual.  I fear me much that even the question of: "What and Who is God?"
very rarely, if ever enters the mind of the Speculative Mason.  And yet it is
an interesting question, even though there is no likelihood that it ever will
be answered by mortal man.  That is, perhaps, the reason why it appeals
to so few.

If it were not for the discovery every day, so to speak, of new mysteries,
laws and conditions in nature by scientists, inventors and other searchers
for truth, God the Creator and Great Architect of the Universe would soon
be forgotten altogether.  Even as it is, small credit is given to Him, praise
and admiration generally being bestowed upon the cleverness and
ingenuity of man's mind, which, after all is only a faint reflection (in part) of
the infinite wisdom of the Almighty.

We know so little of the marvellous mechanism of the Universe that, when
by chance a new discovery is made we are astounded, indeed, but only for
a little while.  The interest taken in it soon fades away, wonderment ceases
and the discovery passes into every day life as a matter of fact which
requires no further thought or consideration.

Take, for instance, the electrical spark.  But a few years ago its powers,
although known to man to be of enormous value, lay unharnessed and
unused.  Today science has put a bridle on this energy and has forced it
into service for locomotion, lighting, picture motion, for transmission of
sound and of messages by wire as well as by ethereal waves, etc.  It is
even made to reveal the framework of man's body and his internal organs
by means of the Roentgen ray.

I remember well how, in the earlier period of the nineties, when Professor
Roentgen had made his wonderful discovery, even scientists scoffed at the
idea.  The possibility of seeing and even photographing the bones of the
living body was ridiculed.  It was in February, 1895, that the X-rays were
found.  In April of that same year I published in London the first number of
the Archives of Skiagraphy, now the Archives of the Roentgen Ray.  In
order to meet the charge that the photographs (radiograms) obtained by
the aid of Crook's tube, were genuine and not faked, I had the original
negative glass plates mounted on wood-blocks and used them, instead of
half-tones, for printing the illustrations by a process then known as
"colotype." Doubting persons were thus enabled to examine the prints as
well as the negatives for any traces of faking or "retouching." In this
manner, definite proof was given to the world of the reality of X-ray technic. 
Doubts soon disappeared and Roentgenology has become an important
branch of physical science and is today a powerful adjuvant to modern
surgery.

And so it is with every discovery.  Mankind is forever in the dark as to the
wonderful mysteries contained in nature, until a fortunate fellow-being finds
and points out something new and startling, and successfully brings it to
the attention of the masses.  We require a guiding hand in all our doings.

This refers to the life of the individual as well as to that of nations and the
world at large.  Our whole life is a continuous course of object lessons, a
progressive school, as it were.  We are forever learning new things, that is,
we absorb knowledge from what we see, hear, read or otherwise
experience.  We hold fast in our mind that which appeals to our taste or to
our capacity of understanding, and make it a part of our knowledge. 
Things which we are unable to grasp we pass by, perhaps with
wonderment, or we laugh at them or consider them a joke or sheer
nonsense.

Take, for instance, the claim advanced by certain individuals, -
"clairvoyants," - that they are able to see an aura around the human body. 
How few people have taken this claim seriously! Occultists, theosophists,
profess to possess this power also.  It comes to them by virtue of faith in
their religious cult and tenets.  We shrug our shoulders, perhaps pity the
"poor deluded creatures," and dismiss the subject from further thought.

But now comes Dr. Walter Kilner, of London, and tells us that the human
body is surrounded by an atmosphere, just like the earth and the other
heavenly bodies which we call stars, and just like everything else in nature
that has a body, whether animate or inanimate.  And he tells us that
everybody can see it, and that it is not necessary to be a clairvoyant, or an
occultist, or a theosophist to perceive it.  All we have to do is to use certain
mechanical means, or, let us say, certain chemical screens or filters, such
as he has devised, follow his instructions, and the hitherto invisible will be
revealed to our corporeal eye.

In fact we shall find that to see this aura or atmosphere is simply a matter
of training our visual organs to adapt themselves to certain wave-lengths
of light which lie beyond the ultra-violet rays and for that reason have thus
far escaped the notice of the people at large, being only apparent to a few
(clairvoyant, if you wish to use the expression) persons whose eyes are
constructed by nature so as to be able to accommodate themselves to
these vibrations.

Dr. Kilner's book reminds me of the man who, whilst walking along the
sweet suddenly espies an airship sailing through the sky. He stands still,
gazes up into space and watches the progress of the aeronaut.  Soon a
crowd gathers around him and all are craning their necks in the direction
in which he is looking.  You happen to join the throng and ask: "What is to
be seen?" "An airship," says the small boy.  "Where? I cannot see it." "Just
look a little to the right of the top of that flagstaff on the hotel over yonder."
You stare for a moment or two, and - there it is for certain.  Your eyes have
found the proper accommodation.

Dr. Kilner says: Look through this little glass filter for the space of 30 to 45
seconds and then look at that person in front of you and the aura will
become visible to your eyes.  If you are quick of perception, you will find
it. If you are slow, it will take some time and require more practical
instruction, but you are pretty sure to discover it.

Now, what is the aura or the atmosphere of the human body? What does
it consist of? What does it look like? What it is, and of what it consists, we
are as yet not in a position to say.  The study of this phenomenon is still
too young to enable us to give a definition of it.  We do not pretend to
know whence or how this auric force emanates from the body.  All we know
at present is that it exists and we can give a description of it.

The aura appears like a subtle haze that surrounds the whole human frame.
It varies in size, density and colour in each individual, and is also influenced
by the physical condition of its owner, that is to say by health and disease,
by normal and abnormal conditions, and also by the degree of mental
development.

In bright (mentally) and healthy persons the aura is of a bluish tint, very
much like the vapour that rises from a burning cigarette lying on an
ash-tray.  In the majority of cases, however, it is rather gray than blue, and
in dull people of the white race it has a muddy, grayish tint.  In the
coloured races it is more of a chocolate colour.

We can judge of the mentality of a person by the colour of the aura.  The
higher the development of the mental faculties and the more brilliant the
psychical qualities, the closer approaches the colour of the aura to the blue
of the ether in the sky.  Perhaps as "auralogy" develops and our knowledge
of this force becomes more definite, the study of the aura will be employed
as an aid in diagnosing character, mental endowments, and thus fitness for
certain positions in the business world.  Why not?

In India and other oriental countries, where the occult has been the theme
of study for centuries, the aura has always played an important rate.  These
Eastern people have cultivated the human mind in a different direction from
the Caucasian races, who have ever striven to turn more to the practical,
materialistic side of life.  See how far the hypnotic power has been
developed in India, where even the common street fakir can exercise a
power over the visual organs of his audience without direct control of each
individual, a power which is not as yet understood by the western peoples.

But they, on the other hand, cannot comprehend our development of the
physical powers of nature for practical use, such as steam and electricity. 
They cannot understand the transmission of the voice over the telephone,
or that of light over the wire, or the workings of the telegraph or the
Marconi instruments.  But, then, how many white men are there who
understand any of these mysteries? We simply accept as facts what by
practical demonstration we perceive to exist, and trouble little or nothing
about the mechanical construction.

In like manner as the instruments and mechanical contrivances just
mentioned have become accessories to and paraphernalia of modern
business, will, no doubt, the aura be employed by progressive man for his
convenience and necessities. If, in the early Christian era, the aura was
perceived in holy persons and depicted as a halo surrounding the head of
the saint, or even the whole body, as may be observed in many pictures
of  Christ, so the aura of the human body may yet become the
distinguishing badge of the wearer.  In criminology it should play an
important part for pointing out mental defects and moral inferiority.

The size of the aura is governed by sex and age as well as by physical
conditions of the body.

In boys, immature girls and in the adult male, its area hardly ever extends
beyond a distance of 3 to 4 inches from the frame.  In woman it may be
traced to 24 or 30 inches.  Woman enjoys a higher psychical development,
and that, no doubt, accounts for the superiority of her aura.  As in size, so
also in tint the female aura excels.

Cold, heat, perspiration, air-waves, such as drafts or gusts of wind, do not
seem to influence the aura in any manner or form.  The faint luminosity
surrounding the body is as steady as the cold light of the moon.  I have
observed the aura in the same person when the body was simply
streaming with perspiration in a hot room, and again when the skin was
cold as marble, but there was no difference either in the size, colour or
appearance of the aura.

In some persons the aura is intersected by peculiar radiations streaming
from certain portions of the body.  They appear like sheaves or bundles of
light issuing from the body into space like the faint rays of a searchlight
visible at a great distance on the horizon.  I call to mind a particular
instance.  When giving a demonstration before several medical men, one
of the doctors present said to me: "This is the second time I have come to
a demonstration and, although I have seen much of what you are pointing
out, I still have grave doubts as to the actual existence of the aura.  I
cannot as yet make up my mind to accept it as a physiological fact.  I am
still tempted to place what I have seen in the category of optical illusions
produced by the use of the coloured screens.  But if you can answer me
one question to my satisfaction, I will capitulate and dismiss the feeling of
uncertainty."

I said:  "Ask the question."

Doctor.  "Have you noticed anything unusual in the aura of this person?

Answer. "Yes, I have observed a band of light about two inches in width."

Doctor. "So have I. Indicate its location."

Answer. "It emanates from the right hip to the middle of the right forearm."
(The subject was standing in front of us in a darkened room before a black
background with arms akimbo upon the hips.  Of course the model was
stripped.)

Doctor. "That settles it. I have been watching this phenomenon for quite a
while (and he pointed it out with his finger to the other observers, who then
noticed it also.) But why have you not drawn our attention to it before?"

Answer. "I was waiting for you to find it yourselves.  What I am anxious to
avoid is to be charged with resorting to suggestion, - hypnotic suggestion."

Doctor: "Well, I can trust my eyes now after this demonstration.  The aura
is a concrete fact.  There is no illusion about it.  I have observed it also in
a black cat walking about a room which I had covered with black all around
and in which I could not see the cat itself at all, but I could follow the aura
moving about distinctly.  However, I was inclined to attribute it to electricity
rather than to any other force.  Now I am certain it was the aura."

Let me say here that the aura is not a luminous body in itself.  You cannot
see the aura in an absolutely dark room.  But it is capable of illumination. 
A certain amount of light must be admitted.  It is best to filter the light into
the room through a very dark blue or green blind in the window, or a dark
blue or green mantle over a Welsbach gas lamp or an electrical bulb.  After
a little practice I have found it just as easy to see the aura in broad
daylight, however, as in a specially prepared room, and I have taught
others to do the same.

According to Dr. Kilner's instructions the observation room should be
arranged as follows:

(1) A room with one window only, pointing to the north if possible, is
preferable, so as to admit light from one direction only.

(2) A double roller-blind made of very dark blue or green material, such as
is commonly employed for roller-blinds.  These blinds should be so
arranged that one pulls down from the top and the other pulls up from the
sill of the window.  They should overlap each other all the way, thus
allowing of absolute control and regulation of light.

(3) A dead black background 7 feet high and 6 feet in width.  I have found
black flannelette the most serviceable material for this purpose.  It reflects
no light and is cheap in the bargain.

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