Aura reading · Aura colors
Aura Color Meanings: Every Color, Where the Chart Came From and How to Read It
In aura reading, each color in the energy field said to surround a person stands for a quality: red for vitality and drive, yellow for optimism and thought, blue for calm and speech, green for care, violet for insight, and so on. The chart is a tradition built from Theosophy and later writers. No instrument has detected an aura, so the colors are symbols to think with.
The color chart at a glance
The table gives the meanings most often quoted, with the usual shadow side each color is said to carry. Read it as one tradition's vocabulary. Another author may swap two entries or add a color the chart omits, which is the first sign that nothing here is measured.
| Color | Said to show | Shadow reading |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Vitality, courage, drive | Anger, impatience |
| Orange | Creativity, sociability | Restlessness, overindulgence |
| Yellow | Optimism, intellect | Over-analysis, worry |
| Green | Care, growth, balance | Envy, being stuck in giving |
| Blue | Calm, honest speech | Reserve, holding back |
| Indigo | Intuition, depth | Isolation, self-doubt |
| Violet | Spiritual interest, imagination | Detachment from daily life |
| Pink | Gentleness, affection | Naivety, dependence |
| Gold | Inspiration, a sense of purpose | Pride, an impossible standard |
| White | Clarity, openness | Vagueness, no clear edges |
| Black or grey | Protection, withdrawal | Heaviness, avoidance |
How the chart was assembled
The first systematic colors for inner states come from Theosophy. In 1901 Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater published Thought-Forms, which showed paintings of clouds of color said to be produced by emotions and thoughts: red for anger, yellow for intellect, blue for devotion. Leadbeater's later book The Man Visible and Invisible described the aura in more detail.
Later twentieth-century authors reworked the scheme. Some tied each color to a chakra, so that red matches the root and violet matches the crown. Others, such as Barbara Brennan in Hands of Light in 1987, described layers of the field, and Pamela Oslie, in Life Colors in 1991, gave a color to each personality type. Each system is a creation of its author.
Why two charts disagree
Compare any two aura charts and the differences show at once. Pink may mean love in one and immaturity in another. Gold may be a high spiritual sign or a warning of pride. White may be purity or a lack of definition.
- Authors draw on different source systems, such as Theosophy, the chakras or personal vision
- Color words are loose: indigo, violet and purple are not the same shade, but sources use them as if they were
- A single color is rarely read alone, so interpretation depends on mixtures and on what the reader knows about you
Can an aura be photographed?
Several technologies are offered as aura photography, and none of them photographs an aura. Kirlian photography, developed by Semyon Kirlian from 1939, records a corona discharge when a high-voltage field is applied to an object, and its glow changes with moisture and pressure rather than with mood or health. Commercial aura cameras, from the 1970s on, place the hand on sensors that measure temperature or skin conductance and software turns the readings into colors around a portrait.
The colors in such a picture can change from one moment to the next with how warm or damp your hands are. That makes them a fair guide to your hands and a poor one to your spirit.
Seeing colors around people
Some people sincerely report seeing colors around others. A 2012 case study in the journal Consciousness and Cognition described one healer who reported seeing auras and who had several forms of synaesthesia, a condition in which one sense triggers another, such as sounds that carry colors. A single case cannot show how common this is. If that is what is going on, the colors are real experiences produced by the viewer's own brain, tied to how the viewer perceives people, rather than light coming from them.
None of this means those who see colors are lying. It suggests an explanation that does not require a field around the body.
Using a chart without letting it label you
Aura charts are most useful as a prompt for reflection, and they can mislead when taken as a verdict.
- Read the entry for the color you were given, and underline only the words you can recognise from real events in your life.
- Ask what the shadow reading would look like on a bad day, and whether you have seen it.
- Notice what you want the answer to be. A flattering reading is more likely to feel correct.
- Treat a color as a mood or a season, not a permanent trait.
Reading with a person
FateArc readers who work with energy and aura use the colors as a language to explore how you are feeling and what you want to change. They cannot show you a color that an instrument could record, and an aura reading is not a diagnosis of any kind. If you would like to talk it through, you can look through profiles and choose a reader whose manner suits you.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the rarest aura color?
No source measures this, so the answer depends on whom you ask. Charts often call gold, white or rainbow rare because they are described as signs of high spiritual development, which is a claim about a belief and not a count.
Can an aura change color?
Believers say it changes with mood, health and circumstances, which is why a reader may give a different color on a different day. That flexibility also means a reading is hard to test, so treat it as a snapshot of how you feel.
How do I find out my aura color?
Options include an aura photo, a quiz and a reading with a person. None is a measurement of a real field. A quiz or reading can still be a pleasant prompt for thinking about your personality and mood.
Is a black aura bad?
In most charts black stands for protection, withdrawal or a heavy mood, and it is not treated as a curse. Be wary of anyone who says it means you are in danger and offers to fix it for a fee.