# Do people have auras? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461 "2003-07-18T20:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/1 "2003-07-18T20:20:31Z")
I’ve seen a bit of soft evidence that auras exist. The most impressive to me is that disparate cultures (European and Indian) both show auras in their artwork. Why would cultures so widely seperated believe in the same thing if it didn’t exist? On the other hand, it sounds like so much malarky. What do you think? Is there any hard evidence for auras? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/2 "2003-07-19T00:53:47Z")
The master speaks of [auras](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_069.html) indirectly here. And no, there is no hard evidence for their existance. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/3 "2003-07-19T01:11:16Z")
Actually, auras do exist, for us migraine sufferers. An aura is what you call the flashing lights, or colorful patterns that often overwhelm one who is suffering from a migraine headache. I sometimes wonder if they got the name from the supernatural myth. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/4 "2003-07-19T01:17:58Z")
D’oh! You are correct, **Guin**. I neglected to take in the very real neurologic phenomenon. However, the migraine (and related) auras are thus far not photographable (except with a PET scan of the brain). And I don’t think the New Age crowd is referring to that variety of aura when discussing the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/5 "2003-07-19T01:19:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\* I sometimes wonder if they got the name from the supernatural myth. \*\* Perhaps the myth came from the real migraine phenomenon! ---
**Author:** ![ronbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@ronbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ronbo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/6 "2003-07-19T01:22:01Z")
What’s your definition of an aura? Living things give off bio-electro-magnetic energy. Electric fish and sharks can sense that aura even if we can’t. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/7 "2003-07-19T01:32:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ronbo \* > \*\*What’s your definition of an aura? > Living things give off bio-electro-magnetic energy. Electric fish and sharks can sense that aura even if we can’t. \*\* I don’t know whether or not fish are responding to “bio-electric-magnetic energy.” Fish have sense organs along their sides in what is called the “lateral line.” These organs sense minute pressure and chemical changes in the water. In addition, the eyes of most fish are in the sides of their head giving them nearly 360[sup]o[/sup] vision, at least for motion. Because of these attributes a fish can spin around and grab a minnow behind it just as easily as you reach out and pick something up off the table. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/8 "2003-07-19T01:55:00Z")
I have heard people say, “Doesn’t s/he have a wonderful aura?”. I think what they are talking about is that the person is confident, well dressed and has a nice disposition. Probably way off base here, just my pair of pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/9 "2003-07-19T02:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > **The most impressive to me is that disparate cultures (European and Indian) both show auras in their artwork. Why would cultures so widely seperated believe in the same thing if it didn’t exist?** Maybe the Europeans got it from India or the Indians from Europe? It’s not a days hike, but the two places aren’t that far apart. Remember, Alexander the Great got to the border of India before he died, and the Romans and Indians traded with each other pretty regularly. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/10 "2003-07-19T02:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Maybe the Europeans got it from India or the Indians from Europe? It’s not a days hike, but the two places aren’t that far apart. Remember, Alexander the Great got to the border of India before he died, and the Romans and Indians traded with each other pretty regularly. \*\* Looking at some illuminations (interesting word) from the middle ages, I see various religious figures with halos. Wouldn’t this predate Polo? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/11 "2003-07-19T02:48:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > \*\*Why would cultures so widely seperated believe in the same thing if it didn’t exist? > \*\* I don’t know about auras, but I find that a rather odd statement. I was under the impression that belief in unproveable things are often widely spread across different culltures? Things like God(s), spirits/ghosts, a flat earth, an afterlife, the idea of monsters, etc. Lots of different cultures believe in things like that… but that doesn’t mean they’re all necessarily right. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/12 "2003-07-19T02:48:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > \*\*Looking at some illuminations (interesting word) from the middle ages, I see various religious figures with halos. Wouldn’t this predate Polo? \*\* Looking back, I see I totally misread your post. Oops. So I wonder if the concept of a halo goes back to ancient Rome. Any art historians want to share? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/13 "2003-07-19T02:53:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nobodyimportant \* > \*\*I don’t know about auras, but I find that a rather odd statement. I was under the impression that belief in unproveable things are often widely spread across different culltures? > > Things like God(s), spirits/ghosts, a flat earth, an afterlife, the idea of monsters, etc. Lots of different cultures believe in things like that… but that doesn’t mean they’re all necessarily right. \*\* I was thinking about that. At first glance it seems like a pretty specific thing, too much so to be a coincidence. But the concept of an inner light might be part of the human condition, and if so variations on it might not be uncommon. So we have Europe with halos and India with gods enveloped in fire. Did American Indians have something like this? How about East Asians? The more I think about this the more intriguing it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/14 "2003-07-19T03:24:23Z")
What I’m trying to say is that having lots of people believe in the same thing doesn’t make it true. Mass belief in something that later turned out to be untrue has occured a few times in history, I think. Personally, I believe that auras are just one of those spiritual things that we can never ascertain the existence of. The believers will keep on believing, since all they really need is faith, and the skeptics will just keep doubting their existence since no evidence can be found. _shrug_ But about East Asian auras… well, have you ever seen those Buddha portraits with yellow, glowing discs behind the head? Those might be auras, although I’m not too sure. ---
**Author:** ![ronbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@ronbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ronbo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/15 "2003-07-19T03:26:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*I don’t know whether or not fish are responding to “bio-electric-magnetic energy.” \*\* (I meant to write electrO-magnetic.) It is well documented that electric fish sense the electrical “aura” of other living things. This is the first [web-site](http://whozoo.org/Intro2000/tashcorm/tempagetwo.htm) I found. Its not very “deep” (pun intended), but gets to the point: > [@](#): > > The lateral line can be seen in the picture above just at the margin of the more darkly pigmented dorsal side of the fish. The fishes’ reading of their electrical environment is something like echolocation in bats or in dolphins. Some of the electrical receptors are tuned to the transmissions of non-electrical fish; others are specialized for detecting the signals of the fish itself. Their ability to detect electrical signals even allows them to detect the heartbeat of other fish. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/16 "2003-07-19T03:45:00Z")
Do you mean some sort of aura in a supernatural sense? If that’s the case, then I’d have to say no, they do not exist. However, it is possible to detect a sense about a person, based on cues from behaviour, how they talk, body language, etc. One might refer to this sense as an aura. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/17 "2003-07-19T04:53:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ronbo \* > \*\*It is well documented that electric fish sense the electrical “aura” of other living things. > \*\* Sharks, skates and rays are _extremely_ good at sensing electric fields. [They use this ability for hunting.](http://umbc7.umbc.edu/~cole/electro.htm) If, however, the OP means the sort of aura that people match up with crystals, then, no, there is not the slightest bit of actual evidence for them. In fact, this is so non-debatable that it really belongs in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/18 "2003-07-19T05:20:15Z")
Halos in a lot of religious iconography have their origins in images of sun gods. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/19 "2003-07-19T05:47:51Z")
The _Britannica_ says this about the lateral line. “A network of sensory receptors located along the head and sides of fishes and amphibians. The system serves to detect movements and pressure changes in the surrounding water. The individual receptor, called a lateral line organ, or neuromast, consists of a cluster of innervated hairs surroundedby a jellylike projection (cupula) that bends in response to water movements. The neuromasts of most bony fishes are set in a series of interconnected depressions, forming a canal, with openings at intervals to the environment.” _Britannica_ goes on to say that sharks, rays and most catfish have a lateral line that is sensitive to electrical potential differences. You learn something every day. However, your post said: “Living things give off bio-electro-magnetic (you later changed that to just electro-magnetic in a later post) energy. Electric fish and sharks can sense that aura even if we can’t.” The electrical potential in the vicinity of the fishes prey isn’t in any sense of the word a mysterious “aura” that we can’t detect. It is true that we can’t directly sense the electric field, at least at low levels, but we can sure detect it. In fact we can detect such fields so well that it has been determined by measurement just how sensitive the sharks, etc. are. _Britannica_ gives that threshold sensitivity as a field that can be as small as 1 microvolt/meter. ---
**Author:** ![Scarf-Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Scarf-Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarf-Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461/20 "2003-07-19T12:48:30Z")
Ever heard of Kirlian photography? [http://skepdic.com/kirlian.html](http://skepdic.com/kirlian.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-have-auras/189461.md?page=2)