As a spiritually-inclined individual, I’ve had my crystal ring-clad fingers in many mystical pies for years now.
I’ve delved into all kinds of spiritual phenomena from tarot reading to runes to tasseomancy (reading tea leaves).
But while these fortune-telling methods can be done at home by anyone in the know with access to tarot cards or loose tea leaves, I’ve never been able to fulfil my wish of having my aura read because sadly, I don’t possess the gift of seeing auras.
And while literally every man, woman and their dog knows a decent psychic, aura readers are very hard to come by.
So when a friend of mine told me there was an exhibition at Carriageworks called All Auras Touch where local artist Kate Mitchell read people’s auras, I saw this as my long-awaited opportunity to learn more about the energy field that surrounds me.
First up, let’s analyse what the heck an aura even is.
“An aura is your energetic field, every living being emanates an aura,” Kate explains.
“In a very simple way, it is your energy, and if you think of it in terms of like colloquial language, people always say ‘such and such has such an aura about them’. It’s energy that you feel or sense. The vibe of a person. This is what you’re picking up on – it’s their aura.”
As I enter the All Auras Touch exhibition at Carriageworks, I see rows and rows of large portraits, featuring a variety of colours.
When I look closer at each one, I notice a face hiding amongst the colours. I realise that the portraits aren’t just a random array of lights, they’re people’s auras.
It’s interesting to note that while the faces are visible in the portrait, the bright lights are the focus, which I interpret as symbolism for how a person’s aura is far more indicative of their soul than the appearance of their face.
Kate Mitchell, an Australian artist whose work is featured in galleries across the globe, is one helluva talented lady, but much like me, she does not possess the ability to see people’s auras.
She does, however, possess an Aura Camera 6000, an ‘electromagnetic field imaging camera’ invented by American innovator Guy Coggins in the ’70s, that helps her photograph people’s auras, then analyse them.
Kate has invited folks from a variety of professions to come and have their aura read, and when I say variety, I mean variety (I notice a policeman waiting to sit for his portrait after me).
“We often get stuck at a person’s job title and we identify that person with that job title,” Kate explains.
“Just take that kind of classic situation when you’re at a barbecue and you meet someone for the first time and they’re like, “what do you do?” and you say, “blah, blah,” and in a second, a whole sequence of assumptions and judgments that can either be positive or negative are made about who you are.”
She adds, “So the project was more driven by the idea of dropping the job title so that placeholder on the wall, which has the job title, comes off, and is replaced by this luminous sentient colour field for this person.”
So I go into Kate’s dark room, place my hands on two sensors, and have my aura portrait taken.
Observe:
She then sits me down to talk me through what the colours say about me, explaining that they represent the vibes of my past, present and future.
Past: Ultramarine
No, those dark edges around my aura don’t mean that I’m a demon, Kate assures me. Ultramarine is the colour of the truth seeker.
“It indicates an openness to seek truth, even when the truth is not always a comfortable thing to hear,” she says. “You have this attitude of leaving no stone left unturned until you get to the truth.”
Ultramarine represents “a very empathetic worldview”, meaning that I’m “actively seeking out new experiences and opportunities and forging new relationships.”
Being the colour of creativity, it also denotes a “creative attitude towards all of life’s trials and tribulations.”
Present: Magenta
As you can see, my aura is primarily magenta, the colour of spirituality, which says that I’m a lover of “really nourishing and engaging conversations” with “an openness to consider all matters spiritual.”
“Magenta is all about speaking from a place of authenticity,” she says. “So this means speaking your truth and living your truth, even when this is not always a comfortable thing to do.”
It’s also the colour of the helper, so it tells us that I’m very present and a good listener, but apparently I need to “redirect” this energy back to myself and focus on me rather than others, “which then enables you to better help others because we can’t assist and help from a place of depletion.”
Future: Yellow
On the bottom left of my aura, you’ll see a vibrant yellow which means that my future is “shining very brightly” (hell yeah!), based on the “quality and energy” that I’m currently “cultivating.”
“This is all about assessing your own form of communication and being acutely aware of those around you and how they’re communicating with you.”
Kate tells me that the yellow in my aura is “an invitation to consider setting boundaries and assessing what you will and will not tolerate in the way that people communicate with you.
“Now, these boundaries can be set and imparted in a very compassionate way. But it’s really important to be aware of these forms of communication.”
I’ve had my palm read, I’ve had my future predicted, I’ve had psychics commune with angels and deceased relatives surrounding me, but to have my aura analysed was a particularly enlightening experience (no pun intended).
Now, is this what my aura will look like forever? Absolutely not.
“If you came back in three weeks time, it would be different,” she says.
“Or maybe some colours are similar if you’re still kind of working through the same things. But about three weeks is the time frame, if you will, for it to really change.”
It’s important to note that this interview took place before the COVID-19 outbreak, so I’m sure some of the colours may have changed slightly, but I like to think that vibrant yellow is guiding me through the madness.
For more information on Kate’s work, head here.
