The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms is a work written by William Walker Atkinson as Swami Panchadasi. This work is of the type which arguably set off the New Age movement (which grew out of the ashes of the New Thought movement). This work has long since fallen into the public domain as well.
This is going to be one of the worst books which meets my threshold to suggest. It’s not necessarily bad book, but there’s way better material on the market. Basically, it’s a cool snapshot into the development of New Age materials for better and worse (e.g. how it tries to reconcile with science and some of the general theories), and it’s cheap. If that really isn’t grabbing you, well, the book might not be for you. Let’s see what it covers, its origin, and whether it’s worth getting or not.
Contents
This work purports to cover the basics of seeing auras, and controlling one’s own aura. The Human Aura splits the aura up into the Prana aura (the manifestation of physical health and similar) and the rest of the aura (I didn’t notice a name for it). Our usual palette of colors are touched upon as well as many of the standard New Age interpretations of the aura. There’s also some stuff not in more modern New Age works as well (or rather, has fallen out of favor).
Concepts such as magnetism and healing are discussed but not really expounded on. Its claims are a bit audacious as to what it covers on many fronts. The whole book weighs in at 61 pages, but it doesn’t quite make the same use of the space as other works of the time (like The Kybalion or The Secret of the Golden Flower).
I’m ripping on it quite a bit, but that being said, it does have a few good techniques in it, as well as some information you don’t find elsewhere. I read this work as a skeptic and it didn’t really win me over, but a couple of the techniques do work in some form. Rather they work as an optical illusion or some actual auric insight is a bit of a different matter however, one which I’m not really qualified to determine. The bigger reason I see this book as worth even considering is for the author.
William Walker Atkinson
William Walker Atkinson wrote a lot of books. He is also credited as the author of The Kybalion, which despite its authorship, is often touted as one of the best books on Hermeticism.
He wrote around 100 books in the latter years of his life. His works strike me as a crossing of Hermeticism, New Age, Yoga, and general Occultism (in no real order of importance). I’ve read a limited number of his works, but I’m interested in reading more. Atkinson used different personas for different veins of works, and I feel Swami Panchadasi is probably the weakest. That being said, it is interesting seeing how he puts his works together and comparing styles.
We can get into the general argument of appropriation and similar as well. I normally wouldn’t give such an argument much credence if the work fit what it’s trying to be, but this work misses the mark. Atkinson used many vaguely Indic titles for his pseudonyms, though works like this are not really derived from any real Indic religion or philosophy. Yeah, he throws in the term Prana and mentions Sanskrit, but it’s a stretch at best. It really is Atkinson’s own hot take. Works like this also open up the possibility of Atkinson “selling out” or similar at some point.
I was interested in this book because I was curious what else Atkinson wrote about and what other information it might contain. One thing to note is that Atkinson’s persona Swami Panchadasi makes at least an attempt to reconcile the theories of auras with science. Some of the scientific theories are a bit absurd by today’s standards (e.g. aether), but still stand to some degree as a metaphysical abstraction. It doesn’t make any claims which are patently unsound outside of the general concept of physics bleeding into metaphysics and psychology into parapsychology. Take that how you will.
Is It Worth Getting?
Whether this work is worth getting is going to depend entirely on why you’re getting it. If you want something on the metaphysics behind auras and similar psychic phenomena, look elsewhere. The raw information in the book is plentiful in other, more modern works which are better written. There’s a reason Swama Panchadasi only has 2 works while some of Atkinson’s other personas have dozens.
If you’re interested in Atkinson, New Thought, or the historical development of spiritualism and occultism, this book is of interest. You get a snapshot of beliefs which would be from a more New Age selection of a newspaper stand or similar as portrayed in the first decade of the 20th century. It’s a short, easy read, and at least one of the techniques is novel enough to be of some use depending on your beliefs.
The content is not the best, but it’s also not the worst. It’s bad enough I’d not have sought it out without an agenda, but it’s good enough I don’t feel I wasted the equivalent of a cheap pizza. It had cheese, but not enough to throw the baby entirely out with the bathwater. Some parts are further enriched by cryptic references to other parts of Atkinson’s philosophy.
This probably won’t be the most insightful spiritual work you read, but it still has its value. It’s a cheap, easy read which covers many concepts which are still mainstream with many New Age practitioners. The historical value helps make it more worthwhile, especially if you’re interested in the man behind The Kybalion.
Get a copy here: