Kirlian
photography is a controversial method of photography
developed by Russian electrical technician Semyon Kirlian. It allegedly
reveals a corona or “aura” around living things. Occultists frequently
claim this photography supplies evidence of man’s inner psychic nature
related to his alleged “astral body,” “higher self,” or occult aura.
Psychics also claim to see auras around people, which are said to
interpret their physical, emotional, or spiritual condition. Allegedly,
Kirlian photography reveals this aura that psychics claim to see.
Kirlian photography is also said to offer evidence of the healing
abilities of psychics and spiritists insofar as it reveals the existence
of the “astral body,” “higher self,” or other psychic components to man
variously related to the healing process that occultists claim to
employ.
But the
meaning and value of Kirlian photography are not known and New Age
occultic interpretations are doubtful at best. Occult interpretations of
this phenomena frequently associate it with mystical occult energies
connected with spiritism which are then wrongly interpreted as divine,
natural, or neutral energies.
No one
denies there are weak electrical phenomena within the body or that
living entities have what could be interpreted as “energy” fields. For
example, the electroencephalograph can detect electrodynamic phenomena
in the brain, and other instruments can detect heat energy radiating
from our bodies. But to say that these supply any evidence for the
occultic concept of the “aura” or the occultic energy called prana,
chi, ki, etc., would be wrong. New Agers may speak of the thermal
or electrical activity of the body as “bio-energy,” but it should not in
any way be confused with the “aura,” or the prana, mana, ki, chi,
etc., of New Age medicine. Comparing the scientific descriptions of
known bodily phenomena to the occultic descriptions of the aura reveals
that both the “fields” and “energies” are vastly different.
Exactly
what the Kirlian photography reveals is still uncertain. Kirlian
photography may have experimental uses, but not for New Age believers.
Its phenomena are explainable by recourse to more mundane things such as
human sweat or the photographing process itself. (See The Skeptical
Inquirer, Winter 1989.)
As noted,
New Age interpretations of Kirlian phenomena are cited as evidence of a
human aura that many psychics claim to see. But first, not every psychic
claims to be able to see auras. One wonders why, if everyone supposedly
has an aura that can be psychically perceived.
Second, if
auras are universal to man and internally generated by the human body or
spirit, they should be able to be seen in the dark. But not all psychics
can see them in the dark.
Third,
Kirlian photography reveals auras around everything – inanimate objects
such as coins and desks included – not just people, leaves, or other
living things. This also suggests that the Kirlian phenomenon is related
to the photographic process.
Biblically,
we know that inanimate objects do not contain a spiritual essence. Thus,
whatever Kirlian photography reveals, it does not appear to be something
spiritual. If it reveals the same aura around dead objects that cannot
have a spirit or spiritual life, why should we conclude that the aura it
reveals around living objects is anything spiritual?
Fourth,
whatever psychics are seeing does not appear to be genuine psychic
perception of the human spirit or some universal, mystical energy field
because the reports psychics give are too dissimilar and contradictory.
Finally,
any known bodily energy or electricity is much too weak to become a
healing power or the source of psychic abilities which occultists claim.
And if everyone has an inner core of mystical divine power, then
everyone should be able to develop psychic powers. But, in fact, the
only ones who do so are occultists who have spirit guides.
