Theosophy
GA 9
III-6. Thought-forms and the Human Aura
[ 1 ] It has been said that the formations of any one of the three worlds can have reality for a man only when he has the faculties or the organs for perceiving them. Man perceives certain processes in space as light-phenomena only because he has a properly formed eye. It depends on the receptivity of a being how much of reality reveals itself to that being. Therefore a man may never say that only what he can perceive is real. There can be much that is real, for the perception of which he has no organs. Now the soul-world and the spirit-world are just as real as the sensible world, indeed they are real in a much higher sense. No physical eye can see feelings and ideas; but they are real. And as by means of his outer senses man has the corporeal world before him as an object of perception, so do feelings, instincts, thoughts, and so forth, become objects of perception for his spiritual organs. Exactly as processes in space can be seen with the sensible eye as colour-phenomena, so can the above-named soul and spiritual processes become, by means of the inner senses, perceptions which are analogous to the sensible colour-phenomena. To understand fully in what sense this is meant is only possible for one who has trodden the path of knowledge to be described in the following chapter and has thereby developed his inner senses. For such a one the soul-phenomena in the soul-region around him and the spiritual phenomena in the spiritual region become supersensibly visible. Feelings which he experiences in other beings ray out from them as light-phenomena for him; thoughts to which he directs his attention flow through spiritual space. For him, the thought of one man about another is not an imperceptible but a perceptible process. The content of a thought lives as such only in the soul of the thinker; but this content activates effects in the spirit-world. These are the perceptible processes for the eyes of spirit. The thought streams out as an actual reality from one human being and flows to the other. And the way in which this thought works on the other person is experienced as a perceptible process in the spiritual world. Thus the physically perceptible human being is only part of the whole man for one whose spiritual senses have unfolded. This physical man becomes the centre of soul and spiritual outpourings. It is impossible to do more than faintly indicate the richly varied world which reveals itself here to the seer. A human though*, which otherwise lives only in the understanding mind of the listener, appears, for example, as a spiritually perceptible colour-phenomenon. Its colour tallies with the character of the thought. A thought which springs from a sensual impulse in a man has a different colour from a thought conceived in the service of pure knowledge, noble beauty, or the eternal good. Thoughts which spring from the sensual life course through the soul-world in shades of red colour.6The explanations given here are from their very nature exposed to great misunderstandings. For this reason it is proposed in this new edition to return quite briefly to these points in a note at the end of the book. See under Addenda p. 115. A thought which springs from devoted and unselfish love rays out in glorious rose-red. And just as the content of a thought comes into expression in its supersensibly visible form, so also does its greater or lesser definition. The precise thought of a thinker appears itself as a formation with definite outlines; a confused idea appears as a wavering, cloudy formation.
[ 2 ] In this way the soul and spirit of man appear as the supersensible part of the whole human being.
[ 3 ] The colour effects perceptible to the eyes of spirit which ray out round the physical man when observed in his activity, and which envelop him like a cloud (somewhat in the form of an egg) are a human aura. The size of this aura differs in different people. But an idea can be formed of it by picturing that the whole man appears on an average twice as tall and four times as broad as the physical man.
[ 4 ] The most varied tones of colour ebb and flow in the aura. And this ebb and flow is a true picture of the inner life of the man. As this changes, so do the colour-tones change. But certain permanent qualities such as talents, habits, traits of character, express themselves also in permanent and basic colour-tones.
[ 5] In people who for the time being are remote from the experiences of the “Path of Knowledge” described in a later chapter of this book, misunderstandings may arise with regard to the nature of what is here described as “Aura.” It would be possible to arrive at the idea that the “colours” here described came before the soul just as a physical colour comes before the eye. But such a “soul colour” would be nothing but an hallucination. With impressions that are “hallucinatory,” spiritual science has nothing whatever to do. And in any case they are not what is meant in the description now before us. We reach a right conception if we keep the following in mind. The soul experiences in a physical colour not only the sense impression; it has an actual experience. This experience is different when the soul—through the eye—perceives a yellow surface from what it is when it perceives a blue one. This experience may be called “living in yellow” or “living in blue.” Now the soul that has trodden the path of knowledge has a similar “experience in yellow” when observing the active soul-experiences of other beings; an “experience in blue” when observing devotional moods of soul. The essential point is, not that in the thought of another soul the seer sees “blue,” just as he sees blue in the physical world, but that he has an experience which justifies him in calling the thought “blue,” just as the physical man calls, for instance, a curtain “blue.” And further, it is essential that the “seer” should be conscious that this is an experience free from the body, so that it is possible for him to speak about the value and the meaning of soul-life in a world the perception of which is not mediated through the human body. Although this meaning of the description must in all cases be taken into account, it is entirely a matter of course that the seer should speak of “blue,” “yellow,” “green,” etc., in the “aura.”
[ 6 ] The aura varies greatly according to the different temperaments and dispositions of human beings; it varies also according to the stages of spiritual development. A man who yields altogether to his animal impulses has a completely different aura from one who lives much in the world of thought. The aura of a religiously disposed nature differs essentially from one that is immersed in the trivial experiences of the day. In addition, all changing moods, all inclinations, joys and sufferings find their expression in the aura.
[ 7 ] The auras of different soul-experiences must be compared with each other in order to learn to understand the meaning of the colour tones. Take, to begin with, soul-experiences permeated with strongly marked emotions. They may be divided into two kinds: those when the soul is chiefly impelled to such feelings by the animal nature, and those when these emotions take a more delicate form, when they are strongly influenced by reflection. In the first kind of experiences mainly brown and reddish-yellow streams of colour stream through the aura in definite places. In persons with more delicate emotions there appear in the same places tones of brighter reddish-yellow and green. It is noticeable that as intelligence increases the green tones become more and more frequent. People who are very intelligent, but who give themselves up to the satisfying of their animal impulses, show much green in their aura. But this green will always have a stronger or weaker admixture of brown or brownish-red. In unintelligent people a great part of the aura is permeated by brownish-red or even by dark blood-red streams.
[ 8 ] The auras of quiet, deliberate, thoughtful moods of soul are essentially different from those of other conditions. The brownish and reddish tones recede, and different shades of green become prominent. In strenuous thinking the aura shows a pleasing green undertone. These natures know how to find their bearings in every condition of life.
[ 9 ] Blue tones of colour appear in intensely devotional moods of soul. The more a man places his Self in the service of a cause the more pronounced become the blue shades. Here too there are two quite different kinds of people. There are natures who are not in the habit of exerting their power of thought, passive souls, who as it were have nothing to throw into the stream of events in the world but their “good feeling.” Their aura glimmers with beautiful blue. This is also the appearance of many religious and devotional natures. Compassionate souls and those who find pleasure in giving themselves up to a life of benevolence have a similar aura. If such people are intelligent in addition, green and blue currents alternate, or the blue itself may assume a greenish shade. The peculiarity of the active souls in contrast to the passive is that their blue is pervaded from within with bright colour tones. Richly inventive natures, those that have fruitful thoughts, radiate bright tones of colour as if from an inner point. This is the case in the highest degree with persons whom one calls “wise,” and especially with those who are full of fruitful ideas. Generally speaking, everything that indicates spiritual activity takes more the form of rays which spread out from within; while everything that arises from the animal life has the form of irregular clouds which stream through the aura.
[ 10 ] The colourings of formations in the aura differ according to whether the ideas and conceptions which arise from the activity of the soul are placed at the service of the person's own animal impulses or of idealistic interest. An inventive person, who applies all his thoughts to the satisfaction of his sensual passions, shows dark blue-red shades; he, on the contrary, who places his thoughts selflessly at the service of an outside interest, shows light reddish-blue colour tones. A spiritual life combined with noble devotion and capacity for sacrifice shows rose-pink or light violet colours.
[ 11 ] Not only does the fundamental disposition of the soul show its colour streaming in the aura but transient emotions, passions, moods and other inner experiences do the same. Violent anger that breaks out suddenly creates red streams; feelings of injured dignity which suddenly well up appear in dark green clouds. Colour phenomena do not however appear only in irregular cloud-like forms, but also in defined, regularly shaped figures. If we observe a fit of terror in a man we see this in the aura from top to bottom as undulating stripes of blue colour, suffused with a bluish-red shimmer. In a person in whom we observe how he is expecting with anxiety some particular event, we can see red-blue stripes like rays constantly streaming through the aura from within outwards.
[ 12 ] Every sensation that is induced in a man from outside can be observed by one who has developed the faculty of exact spiritual perception. People who are greatly excited by every external impression show a continuous flickering of small reddish-blue spots and flecks in the aura. In people who do not feel intensely, these flecks have an orange-yellow or even a beautiful yellow colouring. In so-called “absentmindedness” bluish flecks more or less changing in form play over into green.
[ 13 ] A still more highly developed spiritual “vision” can distinguish three kinds of colour phenomena in the aura, radiating and surging round a man. First, there are colours which have more or less the character of opaqueness and dullness. Certainly if we compare them with those that our physical eyes see they appear, in comparison, fugitive and transparent. But in the supersensible world itself they make the space which they fill comparatively opaque; they fill it like clouds. Colours of a second kind consist of those which are as it were light itself. They light up the space which they fill so that it becomes, through them, a shining space. Colour-phenomena of the third kind are quite different from these two. They have a raying, sparkling, glittering character. They fill space not merely with light but with glistening, glittering rays. There is something active, inherently mobile, in these colours. The others are quiet, lacking in brilliance. These on the contrary continuously produce themselves out of themselves, as it were. By the first two kinds of colours the space is filled with a delicate fluidity which remains quietly in it; by the third it is filled with a life constantly kindling itself anew in never resting activity.
[ 14 ] These three kinds of colours are not ranged as it were alongside each other in the human aura; they are not each enclosed in a separate section of space, but they interpenetrate each other in the most varied ways. All three kinds can be seen playing through each other in one region of the aura, just as a physical body such as a bell can be heard and seen simultaneously. The aura thereby becomes an exceedingly complicated phenomenon: for we have as it were to do with three auras within each other and interpenetrating each other. The difficulty can be overcome however by directing attention to the three kinds alternately. We then do in the super-sensible world something similar to what we do in the sensible, for example, when we close our eyes in order to give ourselves up fully to the impression of a piece of music. The “seer” has as it were three different organs for the three kinds of colours. And in order to observe undisturbed, he can open or close any one of the organs to impressions. As a rule only the one kind of organ can at first be developed by a “seer,” namely, that for the first kind of colours. A person at this stage can see only the one aura; the other two remain invisible to him. In the same way a person may be accessible to impressions from the first two but not from the third. The higher stage of the “gift of seeing” consists in a person's being able to see all three auras and for the purpose of study to direct his attention to the one or the other.
[ 15 ] The threefold aura is the supersensibly visible expression of the being of man. The three members: body, soul and spirit, come to expression in it.
[ 16 ] The first aura is a mirror of the influence which the body exercises on the soul of man; the second characterises the life of the soul itself, the soul that has raised itself above what affects the senses directly, but is not yet dedicated to the service of the eternal; the third mirrors the dominion which the eternal spirit has won over the transitory man.
When descriptions of the aura are given, as here, it must be emphasised that these things are not only difficult to observe but above all difficult to describe. No one therefore should see in a description like this anything more than a stimulus to thought.
[ 17 ] Thus for the seer the particular character of the life of soul expresses itself in the nature of the aura. When he encounters a soul-life that is given up entirely to passing impulses, passions and momentary external incitements, he sees the first aura in the loudest tones of colour; the second, on the contrary, is only slightly developed. He sees in it only scanty colour formations; while the third is barely indicated. Only here and there, a small, glittering spark of colour shows itself, indicating that even in such a soul-mood the Eternal lives as a seed, but that it is driven into the background by the effect of the sensuous as has been indicated. The more the man casts away his lower impulses, the less obtrusive becomes the first part of the aura. The second part then grows larger and larger, filling the colour-body within which the physical man lives, more and more completely with its illuminating force. And the more a man proves himself to be a “Servant of the Eternal,” the more does the wonderful third aura reveal itself, that part which bears witness to how far the human being has become a citizen of the spiritual world. For the divine Self radiates out through this part of the human aura into the earthly world. In so far as human beings reveal this aura, they are the flames through whom the Divine illumines this world. They show through this part of the aura how far they know how to live not for themselves but for the eternally True, the nobly Beautiful and Good; how far they have wrung from their narrower self the power to offer themselves upon the altar of the great World Process.
[ 18 ] Thus what the man has made of himself in the course of his incarnations comes to expression in the aura.
[ 19 ] All three parts of the aura contain colours of the most varied shades. But the character of these shades changes with the stage of development reached by the man. In the first part of the aura can be seen undeveloped life of impulse in all shades from red to blue. These shades have a dull, muddy character. The obtrusive red shades point to the sensual desires, the fleshly lusts, the passion for the enjoyments of the palate and the stomach. Green shades appear to be found especially in inferior natures tending to obtuseness and indifference, greedily giving themselves up to every enjoyment, but nevertheless shunning the exertions necessary to bring them to satisfaction. Where the desires are passionately bent on any goal beyond the reach of the capacities already acquired, brownish-green and yellowish-green auric colours appear. Certain modern modes of life breed this kind of aura.
[ 20 ] A personal conceit which is entirely rooted in unworthy inclinations, thus representing the lowest stage of egotism, shows itself in muddy yellow to brown shades. Now it is clear that even the animal life of impulse can take on a pleasing character. There is a purely natural capacity for self-sacrifice, a striking degree of which is to be found in the animal kingdom. This development of an animal impulse finds its most beautiful consummation in natural mother love. These selfless natural impulses come to expression in the first aura in fight reddish to rose-red shades of colour. Cowardly fear and terror of external provocations show themselves in the aura in brown-blue and grey-blue colours.
[ 21 ] The second aura again shows the most varied grades of colours. Brown and orange coloured formations point to strongly developed conceit, pride and ambition. Inquisitiveness also betrays itself through red-yellow flecks. Bright yellow mirrors clear thinking and intelligence; green is the expression of understanding of fife and the world. Children who learn easily have a great deal of green in this part of the aura. A green-yellow in the second aura betokens a good memory. Rose-red indicates a benevolent affectionate nature; blue is the sign of piety. The nearer piety comes to being religious fervour, the more does blue pass over into violet. Idealism and an earnest view of life in a higher sense, are seen as indigo blue.
[ 22 ] The basic colours of the third aura are yellow, green and blue. Bright yellow appears here if the thinking is filled with lofty, far-reaching ideas that comprehend the details as part of the whole of the divine World Order. If the thinking is intuitive and also completely purified from all sensory conceptions, the yellow has a golden brilliance. Green expresses love for all beings; blue is the sign of a capacity for selfless sacrifice for all beings. If this capacity for sacrifice rises to the height of strong willing which devotes itself actively to the service of the world, the blue brightens to light violet. If pride and desire for honour as last remnants of personal egotism are still present, despite a more highly developed soul-nature, there appear beside the yellow shades others verging on orange. It must however be remarked that in this part of the aura the colours are very different from the shades one is accustomed to see in the world of the senses. It displays to the seer a beauty and a sublimity with which nothing in the ordinary world can be compared.
This description of the aura cannot be rightly judged by anyone who does not attach the chief weight to the fact that “seeing the aura” implies an extension and enrichment of what is perceived in the physical world: an extension indeed that aims at knowing that form of soul-life which has spiritual reality apart from the world of the senses. This presentation has nothing whatever to do with a reading of character or of a man's thoughts from an aura perceived in an hallucinatory manner. It seeks to expand knowledge in the direction of the spiritual world and will have nothing to do with the questionable art of reading human souls from their auras.
6. Von den Gedankenformen und der menschlichen Aura
[ 1 ] Es ist gesagt worden, daß die Gebilde einer der drei Welten nur dann für den Menschen Wirklichkeit haben, wenn er die Fähigkeiten oder die Organe hat, sie wahrzunehmen. Gewisse Vorgänge im Raum nimmt der Mensch nur dadurch als Lichterscheinungen wahr, daß er ein wohlgebildetes Auge hat. Wieviel sich von dem, was wirklich ist, einem Wesen offenbart, das hängt von dessen Empfänglichkeit ab. Niemals darf somit der Mensch sagen: nur das sei wirklich, was er wahrnehmen kann. Es kann vieles wirklich sein, für dessen Wahrnehmung ihm die Organe fehlen. — Nun sind die Seelenwelt und das Geisterland ebenso wirklich, ja in einem viel höheren Sinne wirklich als die sinnliche Welt. Zwar kann kein sinnliches Auge Gefühle, Vorstellungen sehen; aber sie sind wirklich. Und wie der Mensch durch seine äußeren Sinne die körperliche Welt als Wahmehmung vor sich hat, so werden für seine geistigen Organe Gefühle, Triebe, Instinkte, Gedanken und so weiter zu Wahmehmungen. Genau wie durch das sinnliche Auge zum Beispiel räumliche Vorgänge als Farbenerscheinungen gesehen werden können, so können durch die inneren Sinne die genannten seelischen und geistigen Erscheinungen zu Wahrnehmungen werden, die den sinnlichen Farbenerscheinungen analog sind. Vollkommen verstehen, in welchem Sinne das gemeint ist, kann allerdings nur derjenige, welcher auf dem im nächsten Kapitel zu beschreibenden Erkenntnispfad gewandelt ist und sich dadurch seine inneren Sinne entwickelt hat. Für einen solchen werden in der ihn umgebenden Seelenwelt die Seelenerscheinungen und im geistigen Gebiet die geistigen Erscheinungen übersinnlich sichtbar. Gefühle, welche er an anderen Wesen erlebt, strahlen wie Lichterscheinungen für ihn von dem fühlenden Wesen aus; Gedanken, denen er seine Aufmerksamkeit zuwendet, durchfluten den geistigen Raum. Für ihn ist ein Gedanke eines Menschen, der sich auf einen andern Menschen bezieht, nicht etwas Unwahrnehmbares, sondern ein wahrnehmbarer Vorgang. Der Inhalt eines Gedankens lebt als solcher nur in der Seele des Denkenden; aber dieser Inhalt erregt Wirkungen in der Geistwelt. Diese sind für das Geistesauge der wahrnehmbare Vorgang. Als tatsächliche Wirklichkeit strömt der Gedanke von einer menschlichen Wesenheit aus und flutet der andern zu. Und die Art, wie dieser Gedanke auf den andern wirkt, wird erlebt als ein wahrnehmbarer Vorgang in der geistigen Welt. So ist für den, dessen geistige Sinne erschlossen sind, der physisch wahrnehmbare Mensch nur ein Teil des ganzen Menschen. Dieser physische Mensch wird der Mittelpunkt seelischer und geistiger Ausströmungen. Nur angedeutet kann die reich-mannigfaltige Welt werden, die sich vor dem «Seher» hier auftut. Ein menschlicher Gedanke, der sonst nur in dem Denkverständnisse des Zuhörenden lebt, tritt zum Beispiel als geistig wahrnehmbare Farbenerscheinung auf. Seine Farbe entspricht dem Charakter des Gedankens. Ein Gedanke, der aus einem sinnlichen Trieb des Menschen entspringt, hat eine andere Färbung als ein im Dienste der reinen Erkenntnis, der edlen Schönheit oder des ewig Guten gefaßter Gedanke. In roten Farbennuancen durchziehen Gedanken, welche dem sinnlichen Leben entspringen, die Seelenwelt. 1Die hier gegebenen Auseinandersetzungen sind naturgemäß den stärksten Mißverständnissen ausgesetzt. Es soll deshalb in dieser neuen Auflage ganz kurz am Schlusse in einer Bemerkung auf sie zurückgekommen werden. (Vgl.S.158ff.) In schönem hellem Gelb erscheint ein Gedanke, durch den der Denker zu einer höheren Erkenntnis aufsteigt. In herrlichem Rosarot erstrahlt ein Gedanke, der aus hingebungsvoller Liebe stammt. Und wie dieser Inhalt eines Gedankens, so kommt auch dessen größere oder geringere Bestimmtheit in seiner übersinnlichen Erscheinungsform zum Ausdruck. Der präzise Gedanke des Denkers zeigt sich als ein Gebilde von bestimmten Umrissen; die verworrene Vorstellung tritt als ein verschwimmendes, wolkiges Gebilde auf.
[ 2 ] Und die Seelen- und Geisteswesenheit des Menschen erscheint in dieser Art als übersinnlicher Teil an der ganzen menschlichen Wesenheit.
[ 3 ] Die dem «geistigen Auge» wahrnehmbaren Farbenwirkungen, die um den in seiner Betätigung wahrgenommenen physischen Menschen herumstrahlen und ihn wie eine Wolke (etwa in Eiform) einhüllen, sind eine menschliche Aura. Bei verschiedenen Menschen ist die Größe dieser Aura verschieden. Doch kann man sich — im Durchschnitt — etwa vorstellen, daß der ganze Mensch doppelt so lang und viermal so breit erscheint als der physische.
[ 4 ] In der Aura fluten nun die verschiedensten Farbentöne. Und dieses Fluten ist ein getreues Bild des inneren menschlichen Lebens. So wechselnd wie dieses sind einzelne Farbentöne. Doch drücken sich gewisse bleibende Eigenschaften: Talente, Gewohnheiten, Charaktereigenschaften auch in bleibenden Grundfarbtönen aus.
[ 5 ] Bei Menschen, welche den Erlebnissen des in einem späteren Kapitel dieses Buches geschilderten «Erkenntnispfades» vorerst ferne stehen, können sich Mißverständnisse ergeben über die Wesenheit dessen, was hier als «Aura» geschildert wird. Man kann zu der Vorstellung kommen, als ob dasjenige, was hier als «Farben» geschildert wird, vor der Seele so stünde, wie eine physische Farbe vor dem Auge steht. Eine solche «seelische Farbe» wäre aber nichts als eine Halluzination. Mit Eindrücken, die «halluzinatorisch» sind, hat die Geisteswissenschaft nicht das geringste zu tun. Und sie sind jedenfalls in der hier vorliegenden Schilderung nicht gemeint. Man kommt zu einer richtigen Vorstellung, wenn man sich das Folgende gegenwärtig hält. Die Seele erlebt an einer physischen Farbe nicht nur den sinnlichen Eindruck, sondern sie hat an ihr ein seelisches Erlebnis. Dieses seelische Erlebnis ist ein anderes, wenn die Seele — durch das Auge — eine gelbe, ein anderes, wenn sie eine blaue Fläche wahrnimmt. Man nenne dieses Erlebnis das «Leben in Gelb» oder das «Leben in Blau». Die Seele nun, welche den Erkenntnispfad betreten hat, hat ein gleiches «Erleben in Gelb» gegenüber den aktiven Seelenerlebnissen anderer Wesen: ein «Erleben in Blau» gegenüber den hingebungsvollen Seelen~timmungen. Das Wesentliche ist nicht, daß der «Seher» bei einer Vorstellung einer anderen Seele so «blau» sieht, wie er dies «blau» in der physischen Welt sieht, sondern daß er ein Erlebnis hat, das ihn berechtigt, die Vorstellung «blau» zu nennen, wie der physische Mensch einen Vorhang zum Beispiel «blau» nennt. Und weiter ist es wesentlich, daß der «Seher» sich bewußt ist, mit diesem seinem Erlebnis in einem leibfreien Erleben zu stehen, so daß er die Möglichkeit empfängt, von dem Werte und der Bedeutung des Seelenlebens in einer Welt zu sprechen, deren Wahrnehmung nicht durch den menschlichen Leib vernuttelt ist. Wenn auch dieser Sinn der Darstellung durchaus berücksichtigt werden muß, so ist es für den «Seher» doch ganz selbstverständlich, von «Blau», «Gelb», «Grün» und so weiter in der «Aura» zu sprechen.
[ 6 ] Sehr verschieden ist die Aura nach den verschiedenen Temperamenten und den Gemütsanlagen der Menschen; verschieden auch je nach den Graden der geistigen Entwickelung. Eine völlig andere Aura hat ein Mensch, der sich ganz seinen animalischen Trieben hingibt, als ein solcher, der viel in Gedanken lebt. Wesentlich unterscheidet sich die Aura einer religiös gestimmten Natur von einer solchen, die in den trivialen Erlebnissen des Tages aufgeht. Dazu kommt, daß alle wechselnden Stimmungen, alle Neigungen, Freuden und Schmerzen in der Aura ihren Ausdruck finden.
[ 7 ] Man muß die Auren der verschiedenartigen Seelenerlebnisse miteinander vergleichen, um die Bedeutung der Farbentöne verstehen zu lernen. Man nehme zunächst Seelenerlebnisse, die von stark ausgeprägten Affekten durchsetzt sind. Sie lassen sich in zwei verschiedene Arten sondern, in solche, bei denen die Seele zu diesen Affekten vorzüglich durch die animalische Natur getrieben wird, und solche, welche eine raffiniertere Form annehmen, die sozusagen durch das Nachdenken stark beeinflußt werden. Bei der ersteren Art von Erlebnissen durchfluten vorzügl ich braune und rötlich-gelbe Farbenströmungen aller Nuancen an bestimmten Stellen die Aura. Bei denen mit raffinierteren Affekten treten an denselben Stellen Töne von hellerem Rotgelb und Grün auf. Man kann bemerken, daß mit wachsender Intelligenz die grünen Töne immer häufiger werden. Sehr kluge Menschen, die aber ganz in der Befriedigung ihrer animalischen Triebe aufgehen, zeigen viel Grün in ihrer Aura. Doch wird dieses Grün immer einen stärkeren oder schwächeren Anflug von Braun oder Braunrot haben. Unintelligente Menschen zeigen einen großen Teil der Aura durchflutet von braun-roten oder sogar dunkelblutroten Strömungen.
[ 8 ] Wesentlich anders als bei solchen Affektzuständen ist die Aura bei der ruhigen, abwägenden, nachdenklichen Seelenstimmung. Die bräunlichen und rötlichen Töne treten zurück und verschiedene Nuancen des Grün treten hervor. Bei angestrengtem Denken zeigt die Aura einen wohltuenden grünen Grundton. So sehen vorzüglich jene Naturen aus, von denen man sagen kann, sie wissen sich in jede Lage des Lebens zu finden.
[ 9 ] Die blauen Farbentöne treten bei den hingebungsvollen Seelenstimmungen auf. Je mehr der Mensch sein Selbst in den Dienst einer Sache stellt, desto bedeutender werden die blauen Nuancen. Zwei ganz verschiedenen Arten von Menschen begegnet man auch in dieser Beziehung. Es gibt Naturen, die nicht gewohnt sind, ihre Denkkraft zu entfalten, passive Seelen, die gewissermaßen nichts in den Strom der Weltereignisse zu werfen haben als ihr «gutes Gemüt». Ihre Aura glimmt in schönem Blau. So zeigt sich auch diejenige vieler hingebungsvoller, religiöser Naturen. Mitleidsvolle Seelen und solche, die sich gerne in einem Dasein voll Wohltun ausleben, haben eine ähnliche Aura. Sind solche Menschen außerdem intelligent, so wechseln grüne und blaue Strömungen, oder das Blau nimmt wohl auch selbst eine grünliche Nuance an. Es ist das Eigentümliche der aktiven Seelen im Gegensatz zu den passiven, daß sich ihr Blau von innen heraus mit hellen Farbentönen durchtränkt. Erfindungsreiche Naturen, solche, die fruchtbringende Gedanken haben, strahlen gleichsam von einem inneren Punkte heraus helle Farbentöne. Im höchsten Maße ist dies der Fall bei denjenigen Persönlichkeiten, die man «weise» nennt, und namentlich bei solchen, welche von fruchtbaren Ideen erfüllt sind. Überhaupt hat alles, was auf geistige Aktivität deutet, mehr die Gestalt von Strahlen, die sich von innen ausbreiten; während alles, was aus dem animalischen Leben stammt, die Form unregelmäßiger Wolken hat, welche die Aura durchfluten.
[ 10 ] Je nachdem die Vorstellungen, welche der Aktivität der Seele entspringen, sich in den Dienst der eigenen animalischen Triebe oder in einen solchen idealer, sachlicher Interessen stellen, zeigen die entsprechenden Auragebilde verschiedene Färbungen. Der erfinderische Kopf, der alle seine Gedanken zur Befriedigung seiner sinnlichen Leidenschaften verwendet, zeigt dunkelblaurote Nuancen; derjenige dagegen, welcher seine Gedanken selbstlos in ein sachliches Interesse stellt, hellrotblaue Farbtöne. Ein Leben im Geiste, gepaart mit edler Hingabe und Aufopferungsfähigkeit, läßt rosarote oder hellviolette Farben erkennen.
[ 11 ] Allein nicht nur die Grundverfassung der Seele, sondern auch vorübergehende Affekte, Stimmungen und andere innere Erlebnisse zeigen ihre Farbenflutungen in der Aura. Ein plötzlich ausbrechender heftiger Ärger erzeugt rote Flutungen; gekränktes Ehrgefühl, das sich in plötzlicher Aufwallung auslebt, kann man in dunkelgrünen Wolken erscheinen sehen. — Aber nicht allein in unregelmäßigen Wolkengebilden treten die Farbenerscheinungen auf, sondern auch in bestimmt begrenzten, regelmäßig gestalteten Figuren. Bemerkt man bei einem Menschen eine Anwandlung von Furcht, so sieht man diese zum Beispiel in der Aura von oben bis unten wie wellige Streifen in blauer Farbe, die einen blaurötlichen Schimmer haben. Bei einer Person, an der man bemerkt, wie sie mit Spannung auf ein gewisses Ereignis wartet, kann man fortwährend rotblaue Streifen radienartig von innen gegen außen hin die Aura durchziehen sehen.
[ 12 ] Für ein genaues geistiges Wahmehmungsvermögen ist jede Empfindung, die der Mensch von außen empfängt, zu bemerken. Personen, die durch jeden äußeren Eindruck stark erregt werden, zeigen ein fortwährendes Aufflackern kleiner blaurötlicher Punkte und Fleckchen in der Aura. Bei Menschen, die nicht lebhaft empfinden, haben diese Fleckchen eine orange-gelbe oder auch eine schöne gelbe Färbung. Sogenannte «Zerstreutheit» der Personen zeigt sich als bläuliche, ins Grünliche spielende Flecke von mehr oder weniger wechselnder Form.
[ 13 ] Für ein höher ausgebildetes «geistiges Schauen» lassen sich innerhalb dieser den Menschen umflutenden und umstrahlenden «Aura» drei Gattungen von Farbenerscheinungen unterscheiden. Da sind zuerst solche Farben, die mehr oder weniger den Charakter der Undurchsichtigkeit und Stumpfheit tragen. Allerdings, wenn wir diese Farben mit denjenigen vergleichen, die unser physisches Auge sieht, dann erscheinen sie diesen gegenüber flüchtig und durchsichtig. Innerhalb der übersinnlichen Welt selbst aber machen sie den Raum, den sie erfüllen, vergleichsweise undurchsichtig; sie erfüllen ihn wie Nebelgebilde. — Eine zweite Gattung von Farben sind diejenigen, welche gleichsam ganz Licht sind. Sie durchhellen den Raum, den sie ausfüllen. Dieser wird durch sie selbst zum Lichtraum. — Ganz verschieden von diesen beiden ist die dritte Art der farbigen Erscheinungen. Diese haben nämlich einen strahlenden, funkelnden, glitzernden Charakter. Sie durchleuchten nicht bloß den Raum, den sie ausfüllen: sie durchglänzen und durchstrahlen ihn. Es ist etwas Tätiges, in sich Bewegliches in diesen Farben. Die anderen haben etwas in sich Ruhendes, Glanzloses. Diese dagegen erzeugen sich gleichsam fortwährend aus sich selbst. — Durch die beiden ersten Farbengattungen wird der Raum wie mit einer feinen Flüssigkeit ausgefüllt, die ruhig in ihm verharrt; durch die dritte wird er mit einem sich stets anfachenden Leben, mit nie ruhender Regsamkeit erfüllt.
[ 14 ] Diese drei Farbengattungen sind nun in der menschlichen Aura nicht etwa durchaus nebeneinander gelagert; sie befinden sich nicht etwa ausschließlich in voneinander getrennten Raumteilen, sondern sie durchdringen einander in der mannigfaltigsten Art. Man kann an einem Orte der Aura alle drei Gattungen durcheinanderspielen sehen, wie man einen physischen Körper, zum Beispiel eine Glocke, zugleich sehen und hören kann. Dadurch wird die Aura zu einer außerordentlich komplizierten Erscheinung, denn man hat es, sozusagen, mit drei ineinander befindlichen, sich durchdringenden Auren zu tun. Aber man kann ins klare kommen, wenn man seine Aufmerksamkeit abwechselnd auf eine dieser drei Auren richtet. Man tut dann in der übersinnlichen Welt etwas Ähnliches, wie wenn man in der sinnlichen zum Beispiel — um sich ganz dem Eindruck eines Musikstückes hinzugeben — die Augen schließt. Der «Seher» hat gewissermaßen dreierlei Organe für die drei Farbengattungen. Und er kann, um ungestört zu beobachten, die eine oder andere Art von Organen den Eindrücken öffnen und die andern verschließen. Es kann bei einem «Seher» zunächst überhaupt nur die eine Art von Organen, die für die erste Gattung von Farben, entwickelt sein. Ein solcher kann nur die eine Aura sehen; die beiden anderen bleiben ihm unsichtbar. Ebenso kann jemand für die beiden ersten Arten eindrucksfähig sein, für die dritte nicht. — Die höhere Stufe der «Sehergabe» besteht dann darin, daß ein Mensch alle drei Auren beobachten und zum Zwecke des Studiums die Aufmerksamkeit abwechselnd auf die eine oder die andere lenken kann.
[ 15 ] Die dreifache Aura ist der übersinnlich-sichtbare Ausdruck für die Wesenheit des Menschen. Die drei Glieder: Leib, Seele und Geist, kommen in ihr zum Ausdruck.
[ 16 ] Die erste Aura ist ein Spiegelbild des Einflusses, den der Leib auf die Seele des Menschen übt; die zweite kennzeichnet das Eigenleben der Seele, das sich über das unmittelbar Sinnlichreizende erhoben hat, aber noch nicht dem Dienst des Ewigen gewidmet ist; die dritte spiegelt die Herrschaft, die der ewige Geist über den vergänglichen Menschen gewonnen hat. Wenn Beschreibungen der Aura gegeben werden — wie es hier geschehen ist –, so muß betont werden, daß diese Dinge nicht nur schwer zu beobachten, sondern vor allem schwierig zu beschreiben sind. Deshalb sollte niemand in solchen Darstellungen etwas anderes als eine Anregung erblicken.
[ 17 ] Für den «Seher» drückt sich also die Eigentümlichkeit des Seelenlebens in der Beschaffenheit der Aura aus. Tritt ihm Seelenleben entgegen, das ganz den jeweiligen sinnlichen Trieben, Begierden und den augenblicklichen äußeren Reizen hingegeben ist, so sieht er die erste Aura in den schreiensten Farbentönen; die zweite dagegen ist nur schwach ausgebildet. Man sieht in ihr nur spärliche Farbenbildungen; die dritte aber ist kaum angedeutet. Da und dort nur zeigt sich ein glitzerndes Farbenfünkchen, darauf hindeutend, daß auch bei solcher Seelenstimmung in dem Menschen das Ewige als Anlage lebt, daß es aber durch die gekennzeichnete Wirkung des Sinnlichen zurückgedrängt wird. — Je mehr der Mensch seine Triebnatur von sich abstreift, desto unaufdringlicher wird der erste Teil der Aura. Der zweite Teil vergrößert sich dann immer mehr und mehr und erfüllt immer vollständiger mit seiner leuchtenden Kraft den Farbenkörper, innerhalb dessen der physische Mensch lebt. — Und je mehr der Mensch sich als «Diener des Ewigen» erweist, zeigt sich die wundersame dritte Aura, jener Teil, der Zeugnis liefert, inwiefern der Mensch ein Bürger der geistigen Welt ist. Denn das göttliche Selbst strahlt durch diesen Teil der menschlichen Aura in die irdische Welt herein. Insofern die Menschen diese Aura zeigen, sind sie Flammen, durch welche die Gottheit diese Welt erleuchtet. Sie zeigen durch diesen Aurateil, inwieweit sie nicht sich, sondern dem ewig Wahren, dem edel Schönen und Guten zu leben wissen: inwiefern sie ihrem engen Selbst abgerungen haben, sich hinzuopfern auf dem Altar des großen Weltwirkens.
[ 18 ] So kommt in der Aura zum Ausdrucke, was der Mensch im Laufe seiner Verkörperungen aus sich gemacht hat.
[ 19 ] In allen drei Teilen der Aura sind Farben der verschiedensten Nuancen enthalten. Es ändert sich aber der Charakter dieser Nuancen mit dem Entwickelungsgrade des Menschen. — Man kann im ersten Teil der Aura das unentwickelte Triebleben in allen Nuancen sehen vom Rot bis zum Blau. Es haben da diese Nuancen einen trüben, unklaren Charakter. Die aufdringlich roten Nuancen deuten auf die sinnlichen Begierden, auf die fleischlichen Lüste, auf die Sucht nach den Genüssen des Gaumens und des Magens. Grüne Nuancen scheinen sich vorzüglich bei denjenigen niederen Naturen hier zu finden, die zum Stumpfsinn, zur Gleichgültigkeit neigen, die gierig jedem Genusse sich hingeben, aber doch die Anstrengungen scheuen, die sie zur Befriedigung bringen. Wo die Leidenschaften heftig nach irgendeinem Ziele verlangen, dem die erworbenen Fähigkeiten nicht gewachsen sind, treten bräunlichgrüne und gelblichgrtine Aurafarben auf. Gewisse moderne Lebensweisen züchten allerdings geradezu diese Art von Auren.
[ 20 ] Ein persönliches Selbstgefühl, das ganz in niederen Neigungen wurzelt, also die unterste Stufe des Egoismus darstellt, zeigt sich in unklar-gelben bis braunen Tönen. Nun ist ja klar, daß das animalische Triebleben auch einen erfreulichen Charakter annehmen kann. Es gibt eine rein natürliche Aufopferungsfähigkeit, die sich schon im Tierreiche im hoben Grade findet. In der natürlichen Mutterliebe findet diese Ausbildung eines animalischen Triebes ihre schönste Vollendung. Diese selbstlosen Naturtriebe kommen in der ersten Aura in hellrötlichen bis rosaroten Farbennuancen zum Ausdruck. Feige Furchtsamkeit, Schreckhaftigkeit vor sinnenfälligen Reizen zeigt sich durch braunblaue oder graublaue Farben in der Aura.
[ 21 ] Die zweite Aura zeigt wieder die verschiedensten Farbenstufen. Stark entwickeltes Selbstgefühl, Stolz und Ehrgeiz bringen sich in braunen und orangefarbenen Gebilden zum Ausdruck. Auch die Neugierde gibt sich durch rotgelbe Flecken kund. Helles Gelb spiegelt klares Denken und Intelligenz ab; Grün ist der Ausdruck des Verständnisses für Leben und Welt. Kinder, die leicht auffassen, haben viel Grün in diesem Teil ihrer Aura. Ein gutes Gedächtnis scheint sich durch «Grüngelb» in der zweiten Aura zu verraten. Rosenrot deutet auf wohlwollende, liebevolle Wesenheit hin; Blau ist das Zeichen von Frömmigkeit. Je mehr sich die Frömmigkeit der religiösen Inbrunst nähert, desto mehr geht das Blau in Violett über. Idealismus und Lebensernst in höherer Auffassung sieht man als Indigoblau.
[ 22 ] Die Grundfarben der dritten Aura sind Gelb, Grün und Blau. Helles Gelb erscheint hier, wenn das Denken erfüllt ist von hohen, umfassenden Ideen, welche das Einzelne aus dem Ganzen der göttlichen Weltordnung heraus erfassen. Dieses Gelb hat dann, wenn das Denken intuitiv ist und ihm vollkommene Reinheit von sinnlichem Vorstellen zukommt, einen goldigen Glanz. Grün drückt aus die Liebe zu allen Wesen; Blau ist das Zeichen der selbstlosen Aufopferungsfähigkeit für alle Wesen. Steigert sich diese Aufopferungsfähigkeit bis zum starken Wollen, das werktätig in die Dienste der Welt sich stellt, so hellt sich das Blau zum Hellviolett auf. Sind trotz eines höher entwickelten Seelenwesens noch Stolz und Ehrsucht, als letzte Reste des persönlichen Egoismus, vorhanden, so treten neben den gelben Nuancen solche auf, welche nach dem Orange hin spielen. — Bemerkt muß allerdings werden, daß in diesem Teil der Aura die Farben recht verschieden sind von den Nuancen, die der Mensch gewohnt ist in der Sinnenwelt zu sehen. Eine Schönheit und Erhabenheit tritt dem «Sehenden» hier entgegen, mit denen sich nichts in der gewöhnlichen Welt vergleichen läßt. — Diese Darstellung der «Aura» kann derjenige nicht richtig beurteilen, welcher nicht den Hauptwert darauf legt, daß mit dem «Sehen der Aura» eine Erweiterung und Bereicherung des in der physischen Welt Wahrgenommenen gemeint ist. Eine Erweiterung, die dahin zielt, die Form des Seelenlebens zu erkennen, die außer der sinnlichen Welt geistige Wirklichkeit hat. Mit einem Deuten des Charakters oder der Gedanken eines Menschen aus einer halluzinatorisch wahrgenommenen Aura hat diese ganze Darstellung nichts zu tun. Sie will die Erkenntnis nach der geistigen Welt hin erweitern und will nichts zu tun haben mit der zweifelhaften Kunst, Menschenseelen aus ihren Auren zu deuten.
6. of the thought forms and the human aura
[ 1 ] It has been said that the formations of one of the three worlds only have reality for man if he has the abilities or the organs to perceive them. Man only perceives certain processes in space as light phenomena because he has a well-trained eye. How much of what is real is revealed to a being depends on his receptivity. Thus a person must never say that only that which he can perceive is real. Many things can be real that he lacks the organs to perceive. - Now the soul world and the spirit world are just as real, indeed in a much higher sense real than the sensory world. It is true that no sensual eye can see feelings or ideas, but they are real. And just as man has the physical world before him as a perception through his outer senses, so feelings, drives, instincts, thoughts and so on become perceptions for his spiritual organs. Just as spatial processes, for example, can be seen through the sensory eye as color phenomena, so through the inner senses the aforementioned mental and spiritual phenomena can become perceptions that are analogous to sensory color phenomena. However, only those who have followed the path of knowledge to be described in the next chapter and have thus developed their inner senses can fully understand in what sense this is meant. For such a person, the phenomena of the soul become visible in the world of the soul that surrounds him and the spiritual phenomena become supersensibly visible in the spiritual realm. Feelings which he experiences in other beings radiate for him like light phenomena from the feeling being; thoughts to which he turns his attention flood the spiritual space. For him, a thought of a person that relates to another person is not something imperceptible, but a perceptible process. The content of a thought lives as such only in the soul of the thinker; but this content causes effects in the spiritual world. These are the perceptible process for the mind's eye. As an actual reality, the thought emanates from one human being and flows to another. And the way in which this thought affects the other is experienced as a perceptible process in the spiritual world. Thus, for those whose spiritual senses have been opened up, the physically perceptible human being is only a part of the whole human being. This physical human being becomes the center of emotional and spiritual emanations. The richly diverse world that opens up before the "seer" here can only be hinted at. A human thought, which otherwise lives only in the mind of the listener, appears, for example, as a spiritually perceptible color phenomenon. Its color corresponds to the character of the thought. A thought that arises from a sensual impulse of man has a different color than a thought conceived in the service of pure knowledge, noble beauty or the eternal good. Thoughts which spring from the sensual life pervade the world of the soul in shades of red. 1The arguments given here are naturally exposed to the strongest misunderstandings. They will therefore be returned to very briefly in a remark at the end of this new edition. (Cf.p.158ff.) A thought through which the thinker ascends to a higher realization appears in a beautiful bright yellow. A thought that comes from devoted love shines in a glorious pink. And like the content of a thought, its greater or lesser specificity is also expressed in its supersensible form. The precise thought of the thinker shows itself as an entity of definite outlines; the confused idea appears as a blurred, cloudy entity.
[ 2 ] And the soul and spiritual being of man appears in this way as a supersensible part of the whole human being.
[ 3 ] The color effects perceptible to the "spiritual eye", which radiate around the physical human being perceived in his activity and envelop him like a cloud (approximately in egg shape), are a human aura. The size of this aura varies from person to person. But you can imagine - on average - that the whole person appears twice as long and four times as wide as the physical person.
[ 4 ] The aura now floods with the most diverse shades of color. And this flooding is a true picture of inner human life. Individual shades of color are as changeable as this. However, certain permanent characteristics: talents, habits, character traits are also expressed in permanent basic color tones.
[ 5 ] People who are initially distant from the experiences of the "path of knowledge" described in a later chapter of this book may have misunderstandings about the nature of what is described here as "aura". One can get the idea that what is described here as "colors" stands before the soul in the same way as a physical color stands before the eye. But such a "soul color" would be nothing but a hallucination. Spiritual science has nothing whatsoever to do with impressions that are "hallucinatory". And they are certainly not meant in the present description. One arrives at a correct idea if one keeps the following in mind. The soul experiences not only the sensory impression of a physical color, but it has a spiritual experience of it. This spiritual experience is different when the soul - through the eye - perceives a yellow surface and different when it perceives a blue surface. This experience is called the "life in yellow" or the "life in blue". The soul that has entered the path of knowledge now has the same "experience in yellow" in relation to the active soul experiences of other beings: an "experience in blue" in relation to the devotional soul moods. The essential thing is not that the "seer" sees "blue" in a vision of another soul as he sees this "blue" in the physical world, but that he has an experience which entitles him to call the vision "blue", just as the physical human being calls a curtain "blue", for example. And furthermore, it is essential that the "seer" is aware that with this experience he is standing in a body-free experience, so that he receives the possibility to speak of the value and meaning of the life of the soul in a world whose perception is not mediated by the human body. Even if this sense of representation must be taken into account, it is quite natural for the "seer" to speak of "blue", "yellow", "green" and so on in the "aura".
[ 6 ] The aura varies greatly according to the different temperaments and dispositions of people; it also varies according to the degree of spiritual development. A person who devotes himself entirely to his animal instincts has a completely different aura than someone who lives a lot in thought. The aura of a religiously inclined nature differs essentially from that of one who is absorbed in the trivial experiences of the day. In addition, all changing moods, all inclinations, joys and pains find their expression in the aura.
[ 7 ] The auras of the various soul experiences must be compared with each other in order to learn to understand the meaning of the color tones. First take soul experiences that are interspersed with strongly pronounced affects. They can be divided into two different types, those in which the soul is driven to these affects primarily by the animal nature, and those which take on a more refined form, which are strongly influenced, so to speak, by reflection. In the former kind of experiences, brown and reddish-yellow streams of color of all shades flood the aura at certain points. In those with more refined affects, tones of lighter reddish-yellow and green appear in the same places. It is noticeable that with increasing intelligence the green tones become more frequent. Very clever people, who are completely absorbed in the satisfaction of their animal instincts, show a lot of green in their aura. However, this green will always have a stronger or weaker touch of brown or brown-red. Unintelligent people show a large part of the aura flooded with brown-red or even dark blood-red currents.
[ 8 ] The aura of the calm, deliberative, thoughtful mood is significantly different from such emotional states. The brownish and reddish tones recede and various shades of green emerge. When thinking hard, the aura shows a soothing green basic tone. This is what those natures look like who can be said to know how to find themselves in every situation in life.
[ 9 ] The blue color tones appear in the devoted moods of the soul. The more a person puts their self at the service of a cause, the more important the blue shades become. Two very different types of people are also encountered in this respect. There are natures who are not used to developing their thinking power, passive souls who have nothing to throw into the stream of world events but their "good mind", so to speak. Their aura glows a beautiful blue. This is also the aura of many devoted, religious natures. Compassionate souls and those who like to live out an existence full of doing good have a similar aura. If such people are also intelligent, green and blue currents alternate, or the blue itself takes on a greenish hue. It is the peculiarity of active souls, in contrast to passive ones, that their blue is imbued from within with bright hues. Inventive natures, those who have fruitful thoughts, radiate light shades of color from an inner point, as it were. This is particularly the case with those personalities who are called "wise", and especially with those who are filled with fruitful ideas. In general, everything that points to spiritual activity has more the form of rays that spread out from within; while everything that comes from the animal life has the form of irregular clouds that flood the aura.
[ 10 ] Depending on whether the ideas that spring from the activity of the soul are placed in the service of one's own animal instincts or in the service of ideal, objective interests, the corresponding aura images show different colors. The inventive mind, which uses all its thoughts to satisfy its sensual passions, shows dark blue-red shades; the one, on the other hand, which selflessly places its thoughts in an objective interest, shows light red-blue shades. A life of the spirit, coupled with noble devotion and self-sacrifice, reveals pink or light violet colors.
[ 11 ] Not only the basic constitution of the soul, but also temporary affects, moods and other inner experiences show their floods of color in the aura. A sudden outbreak of violent anger produces red floods; offended feelings of honor, which are expressed in a sudden upsurge, can be seen to appear in dark green clouds. - However, the color phenomena do not only appear in irregular cloud formations, but also in clearly defined, regularly shaped figures. If you notice a feeling of fear in a person, for example, you will see it in the aura from top to bottom like wavy stripes of blue color with a blue-reddish shimmer. If you notice that a person is eagerly awaiting a certain event, you can constantly see reddish-blue stripes running through the aura from the inside to the outside in a radial pattern.
[ 12 ] For an accurate mental perception, every sensation that a person receives from the outside must be noticed. People who are strongly aroused by every external impression show a continuous flare-up of small blue-red dots and spots in the aura. In people who do not feel vividly, these spots have an orange-yellow or even a beautiful yellow color. So-called "absent-mindedness" in people manifests itself as bluish, greenish spots of a more or less variable shape.
[ 13 ] For a more highly developed "spiritual vision", three types of color phenomena can be distinguished within this "aura" that surrounds and radiates around the person. Firstly, there are those colors that are more or less opaque and dull. However, if we compare these colors with those that our physical eye sees, they appear fleeting and transparent in comparison. Within the supersensible world itself, however, they make the space they fill comparatively opaque; they fill it like foggy formations. - A second kind of colors are those that are, as it were, entirely light. They illuminate the space they fill. This space itself becomes a space of light through them. - The third type of colored phenomena is quite different from these two. These have a radiant, sparkling, glittering character. They do not merely illuminate the space they fill: they shine through it and radiate through it. There is something active, something moving in these colors. The others have something resting in themselves, lackluster. These, on the other hand, continually generate themselves from themselves, as it were. - The first two types of color fill the space as if with a fine liquid that remains calmly within it; the third fills it with an ever-increasing life, with a never-resting activity.
[ 14 ] These three types of color are not located next to each other in the human aura; they are not located exclusively in separate parts of space, but interpenetrate each other in the most diverse ways. In one place of the aura one can see all three types playing together, just as one can see and hear a physical body, for example a bell, at the same time. This makes the aura an extraordinarily complicated phenomenon, because you are dealing, so to speak, with three interpenetrating auras. But you can become clear if you focus your attention alternately on one of these three auras. You then do something similar in the supersensible world to what you do in the sensible world, for example, when you close your eyes in order to fully surrender to the impression of a piece of music. In a sense, the "seer" has three different organs for the three genres of color. And in order to observe undisturbed, he can open one or other type of organ to the impressions and close the others. A "seer" can initially only have one type of organ, the one for the first type of color. Such a person can only see one aura; the other two remain invisible to him. In the same way, someone can be sensitive to the first two types but not to the third. - The higher level of the "gift of sight" then consists in the fact that a person can observe all three auras and, for the purpose of study, direct his attention alternately to one or the other.
[ 15 ] The threefold aura is the supersensible-visible expression for the essence of man. The three limbs: body, soul and spirit, are expressed in it.
[ 16 ] The first aura is a reflection of the influence that the body exerts on the soul of man; the second characterizes the soul's own life, which has risen above the immediately sensually stimulating, but is not yet dedicated to the service of the Eternal; the third reflects the dominion that the eternal spirit has gained over the perishable man. When descriptions of the aura are given - as has been done here - it must be emphasized that these things are not only difficult to observe, but above all difficult to describe. Therefore, no one should see in such descriptions anything other than a suggestion.
[ 17 ] For the "seer", therefore, the peculiarity of the soul's life is expressed in the nature of the aura. If he encounters soul life that is completely devoted to the respective sensual drives, desires and the momentary external stimuli, he sees the first aura in the screaming shades of color; the second, on the other hand, is only weakly developed. Only sparse color formations can be seen in it; the third, however, is barely hinted at. Here and there only a glittering sparkle of color appears, indicating that even in such a mood of soul the eternal lives in man as a disposition, but that it is repressed by the marked effect of the sensual. - The more man strips himself of his instinctive nature, the more unobtrusive the first part of the aura becomes. The second part then enlarges more and more and fills the color body, within which the physical human being lives, more and more completely with its luminous power. - And the more the human being proves to be a "servant of the eternal", the more the wondrous third aura appears, the part that bears witness to the extent to which the human being is a citizen of the spiritual world. For the divine self radiates into the earthly world through this part of the human aura. Insofar as people show this aura, they are flames through which the divinity illuminates this world. They show through this part of the aura to what extent they know how to live not for themselves, but for the eternally true, the nobly beautiful and good: to what extent they have wrested from their narrow selves to sacrifice themselves on the altar of the great workings of the world.
[ 18 ] This is how the aura expresses what man has made of himself in the course of his embodiments.
[ 19 ] In all three parts of the aura, colors of the most diverse shades are contained. However, the character of these shades changes with the degree of development of the person. - In the first part of the aura you can see the undeveloped instinctual life in all shades from red to blue. These nuances have a cloudy, unclear character. The intrusive red nuances point to sensual desires, to carnal pleasures, to the addiction to the pleasures of the palate and the stomach. Green shades seem to be found here especially in those lower natures who tend to dullness, to indifference, who greedily indulge in every pleasure, but still shy away from the efforts that bring them to satisfaction. Where passions fiercely demand some goal to which the acquired faculties are not equal, brownish-green and yellowish-green aura colors appear. However, certain modern lifestyles actually breed these types of auras.
[ 20 ] A personal sense of self that is rooted entirely in lower inclinations, i.e. represents the lowest level of egoism, shows itself in unclear yellow to brown tones. Now it is clear that the animal instinctual life can also take on a pleasing character. There is a purely natural capacity for self-sacrifice which is already found to a high degree in the animal kingdom. In natural motherly love this development of an animal instinct finds its most beautiful perfection. These selfless natural instincts are expressed in the first aura in shades of light red to pink. Cowardly fearfulness, frightfulness of sensual stimuli is shown by brown-blue or grey-blue colors in the aura.
[ 21 ] The second aura again shows the most diverse color levels. A strongly developed sense of self, pride and ambition are expressed in brown and orange formations. Curiosity also manifests itself in red-yellow patches. Bright yellow reflects clear thinking and intelligence; green is the expression of an understanding of life and the world. Children who grasp things easily have a lot of green in this part of their aura. A good memory seems to be betrayed by "green-yellow" in the second aura. Rose-red indicates a benevolent, loving nature; blue is the sign of piety. The more the piety approaches religious fervor, the more the blue changes to violet. Idealism and the seriousness of life in a higher conception are seen as indigo blue.
[ 22 ] The basic colors of the third aura are yellow, green and blue. Bright yellow appears here when the mind is filled with high, comprehensive ideas that grasp the individual from the whole of the divine world order. This yellow has a golden sheen when thinking is intuitive and completely pure from sensual imagination. Green expresses love for all beings; blue is the sign of selfless self-sacrifice for all beings. If this capacity for self-sacrifice increases to the point of a strong will that places itself in the service of the world, the blue lightens to light violet. If, despite a more highly developed soul, pride and ambition are still present as the last remnants of personal egoism, shades of orange appear alongside the yellow ones. - It must be noted, however, that in this part of the aura the colors are quite different from the nuances which man is accustomed to seeing in the world of the senses. A beauty and sublimity confronts the "seer" here with which nothing in the ordinary world can be compared. - This representation of the "aura" cannot be judged correctly by those who do not place the main emphasis on the fact that "seeing the aura" means an expansion and enrichment of what is perceived in the physical world. An expansion that aims to recognize the form of the soul life that has spiritual reality outside the sensory world. This whole description has nothing to do with interpreting the character or thoughts of a person from a hallucinatory perceived aura. It aims to expand knowledge towards the spiritual world and has nothing to do with the dubious art of interpreting human souls from their auras.