Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-12-13
HAVE YOU AN AURA?
A Few Thoughts on q Subject that Require.
Much of Faith to Understand.

ored aura" Precisely what an aura
Is. l confess | don't know, and I am
also free to say that | am at present
unable to understand what earthly or
uhearthy use an aura is to anybody.
anyhow. All the same. according to
the experts before mentioned, we have
all got auras, whether We want them
or not, and it is obviously our duty to
see to 1t that our personal aura is re.
spectacle. and Of good, healthy hue.
For II you aura is cOlorless, it denotes
that you are smitten with what the ex.
perts call "an acute paucity of spiritu-
aiity, which sounds really dreadful,
and may conceivably be even wrose
than the measles. A black aura is al.
most as bad. for 1t denotes hatred.
envy. and all uncharitableness. while
one OF the scarlet kind is proof of self
interested love. and the terra-cotta
brand Is overwhelming evidence that
its owner is a habitual drunkard.
All this and much more of the same
kind, l have learned In
my cursory study of the occult "a
study to which was impelled upon re-
ceipt OF circulars. and so on, from a
New York publishing concern.
There is good deal more of this
aura" cult. Of course "a great deal
more, indeed, than is dreamt of in the
everyday philosophy of the writer Of
For instance, have learned
that trees. and animals, and even
stones have auras which envelop the
body. and are, it is alleged, visible to
the microscopic eye Of the true oc.
cultist. who can usually be depended
upon to see things that are not visible
to folk OF cOmmoner mould, even as
you and l. From what | can make
out OF 1t. this aura bulges out. as it
were. something after the fashion of
the halo or nimbus you see encircling
the heads of pictured saints. the only
difference being that it bulges out all
over the patient instead of confining its
subtle manifestations to his head. 1t
Is OF various colors-indeed, the color
seems to vary with the changing state
of the wearer's temperament-so that
the actual fact is that you and have
been all this time going about some
thing like Kaleidoscope fireflies with.
out knowing 1t. As for the colors and
their significance, don't feel disposed
to trouble with the list further than I
have done already. There are infinite
graduations Of tints. of course, and it
seems to be possible for an ordinary
citizen with doubtful liver to have
pale green aura in the morning, a
bright yellow one by noon, and bril-
liant red sample about closing time.
These vagaries. however. are not par.
ticularly germane to the real point at
issue. What l was thinking of when
the fascinating subject OF auras led
me from the direct path was that the
present state Of what we may term the
public temper would seem to be all In
favor of that recrudescence of phe.
n0mena of which the circulars speak
so positively. This aura business is
seemingly great.
A lady has been lecturing to fash
ionable New York audiences on what
she calls "Auric Colors and their Ply.
chic Significance" and though that in
itself is not particularly remarkable, 1t
certainly seems to me to mean some.
thing when the said lady Is able to at.
tract crowds to listen to her. 1t was
only recently that the Christian Scient.
lists. with great pomp and ceremony
opened their splendid cathedral in Bos.
ton. which cost a large amount of
money. Several members Of the Brit.
ish Peerage actually came across the
pond" to be present and took part in
the dedication ceremonies, II memory
serves me truthfully, In connection
with the cathedral at Boston, which is
quite truthfully termed a monument to
Mrs. Baker Eddy. Here. then. we have
a tangible proof that the times are ripe
for occult manifestations. 1t Is not
much use to laugh at these things.
Christian Science has been described
as something which Is neither science
nor Christianity, and. IL we accept the
understood meaning of these terms,
the description is perfectly Just. But
the fact remains that Mrs. Eddy's cult
has made and is making many converts
In all parts Of what We call the civil.
lied world.
There were those - indede. they still
exist - who believed that compulsory
would drive out superstition
and kill credulity. don't think it
will. True. We don't believe in witch
craft. to any great extent nowadays,
and the modern maiden would hardly
stoop to the simple little black magic
practised by her grandmother on
in order to see what sort
Of husband. II any, the future had In
store for her. But, after all, with all
our forcing the unwilling youth to pur-
sue the stony paths Of learning, we
only seem to have turned human cred
uilty into fresh channels. We have
given the boys and girls a smattering
Of science" and any doctrine which
can by any chance masquerade under
that much-misused term is swallowed
as greedily today as were the fearsOme
Of the village doctor a CEN
tury ago. So that probably We are
really in for that recrudescence.
Anyhow. the receipt Of the circulars
l have hereto called attention to makes
me think that even the seeing Of auras
is possible. LUE r. VERNON.