Around 94 BCE, the Chinese historian Sima Qian recorded a tense moment before the famous Hongmen Banquet. The adviser Fan Zeng warned his lord about a rival named Liu Bang: "I had someone observe his qi. It took the shapes of dragons and tigers and formed five colors. This is the qi of a Son of Heaven." Liu Bang went on to found the Han dynasty.
Reading the colors of a person's energy is an ancient practice. Today it comes in many forms: intuitive readings, aura photographs, instant apps and technology-generated biofield visualizations. They can sound alike, and they offer very different experiences. Here is how they compare, where each comes from, and how to choose the one that fits what you want to know.
Why the terms get mixed up
"Aura reading," "aura photo," "aura scan" and "biofield scan" are often used as if they mean the same thing. Each describes a different way of working with the energy field: through a person's perception, through a camera and sensors, through software, or through a visualization of the field from every angle. Knowing which is which helps you choose well.
What is an aura reading?
An aura reading is an intuitive interpretation of a person's energy, usually offered by someone who describes perceiving colors, sensations or impressions around the body. The reading may happen in person, by video or from a photo, and you usually receive spoken or written insights about your energy, emotions or life themes.
The practice has deep roots. In ancient China, wang qi (望气), the observation of qi, was a recognized skill, as Fan Zeng's report shows. Many spiritual traditions describe people gifted at perceiving subtle energy.
Modern research offers one fascinating window on this. At the University of Granada in Spain, psychologists found that a well-known healer who saw colors around people had emotional synesthesia, a neurological trait in which the brain links people and emotions with color. Some aura readers may be perceiving something real through a brain that blends the senses.
Strengths: a personal, human conversation; intuitive insight; a meaningful spiritual experience.
Keep in mind: the result depends on one person's perception, and you usually have no image to look at afterwards.
What is aura photography?
Aura photography creates a portrait surrounded by bands of color. In the early 1980s, the California engineer Guy Coggins developed the AuraCam, which pairs an instant camera with hand plates fitted with biofeedback sensors. You rest your hands on the plates, the system reads signals from your skin, and software translates them into colors layered around your portrait. Coggins built on the curiosity sparked by Russian inventors Semyon and Valentina Kirlian, whose photographs of glowing coronas became famous decades earlier.
Aura photography has found a new generation of fans through traveling studios and social media, where people share their colorful portraits as a snapshot of their mood.
Strengths: a fun, visual keepsake; a colorful talking point; quick results.
Keep in mind: you usually receive one front-facing image, and the colors are generated from hand-sensor readings according to the system's color rules.
What is an automated aura app?
Aura apps and AI readers ask for a selfie, a quiz or an uploaded photo and return an instant colored image or personality result. They analyze visible features of your photo, such as color, posture and facial expression, and generate a reading automatically.
Strengths: instant, inexpensive and playful.
Keep in mind: there is usually no practitioner involved, and results work more as entertainment. Our guide AI Aura Reader vs a Practitioner-Reviewed Biofield Scan explores the difference in depth.
What is a 360° biofield visualization?
A biofield visualization uses specialized technology to create an image of your energy field. See Your Aura creates a complete 360° visualization from your recent full-length photograph and intake information. Your field appears as a blue grid surrounding the body, with areas of reduced field strength shown in pink.
What makes it different:
- It shows every angle. The field rotates a full 360°, and you receive front, right, left and back views.
- It includes a before-and-after comparison. After Yvette completes the remote energizing stage, a second visualization shows how your displayed field has shifted.
- It focuses on field patterns. The attention is on where the field is strong and continuous and where pink appears, instead of on personality colors.
- It includes personal interpretation. Yvette reviews both visualizations alongside your intake and writes your report herself.
- It is remote. You submit your photo and intake from home, and everything is delivered digitally within ten business days.
Comparison at a glance
| Feature | Intuitive aura reading | Aura photography | Automated aura app | See Your Aura |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main input | The reader's perception | Portrait plus hand-sensor readings | Selfie, quiz or uploaded photo | Full-length photograph and intake |
| What you receive | Spoken or written reading | One colored portrait | Instant image or color result | 360° visualization, four views, before and after, written report |
| Viewing angles | None | Usually front only | Usually one image | Every angle |
| Focus | Colors, impressions, spirituality | Color symbolism | Entertainment or personality | Field pattern and change |
| Practitioner | Yes | Sometimes | Usually no | Yes, personally |
| Before-and-after | Rarely | Rarely | Usually no | Yes |
| Psychic basis | Often | Sometimes | Algorithmic | No, technology-generated |
Individual providers vary, so it always helps to read how a particular service explains its method.
Which experience is right for you?
Choose an intuitive aura reading when you want a spiritual conversation and value one person's intuitive insight.
Choose aura photography when you want a fun, colorful portrait to keep or share, perhaps at an event with friends.
Choose an aura app when you are curious, want something instant and free, and are happy with an entertainment result.
Choose a 360° biofield visualization when you want to see your whole field from every angle, compare it before and after energizing, and receive a personal written interpretation from an experienced practitioner.
These experiences can also complement each other. Someone who enjoys aura photography may later want the depth of a full visualization, and someone who has received intuitive readings may appreciate seeing their field as an image.
Intuition and technology each have their place
The German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, has spent decades studying intuition. In Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2007), he shows that intuitive judgments often draw on rich, fast pattern recognition that works remarkably well. Intuition is a real form of intelligence.
Technology adds something intuition alone cannot: an image you can look at, rotate, compare and return to. See Your Aura brings the two together. The technology creates the visualization, and Yvette's experienced interpretation helps you understand it.
Questions to ask before buying any aura service
How is the result produced? Will I receive something created individually for me? Can I see a full sample first? Who interprets it, and what is their background? What exactly is included, and what does it cost? How will my photograph be handled? A trustworthy provider answers these questions clearly and describes its service as a wellness experience that sits alongside medical care.
Frequently asked questions
Is an aura scan the same as aura photography?
No. Aura photography usually creates one colored portrait from hand-sensor readings. A See Your Aura scan creates a complete 360° visualization of your biofield with before-and-after images and a personal written interpretation.
Does See Your Aura tell me my aura color?
The visualization focuses on the pattern of your field, shown as a blue grid with pink areas of reduced field strength, and on how it changes after energizing.
Is See Your Aura a psychic reading?
No. The visualization is generated by technology, and Yvette interprets it using her health knowledge and the pattern displayed.
Is it a Reiki session?
No. The service includes a remote energizing stage as part of the scan process, and the focus is on visualizing and interpreting your field.
Can any of these services diagnose illness?
No. Aura readings, aura photography, apps and biofield visualizations are wellness and reflective experiences. Health concerns belong with a qualified professional.
Where this leaves us
From the qi-watchers of ancient China to Guy Coggins' instant cameras and today's 360° visualizations, people have always wanted to see the colors and patterns of human energy. Each approach offers something different: the intimacy of a reader's intuition, the fun of a colorful portrait, the ease of an app, or the depth of a full biofield visualization with before-and-after images and personal interpretation.
The best choice depends on what you want to understand. If you imagine seeing your energy for the first time, would you rather hear it described, hold a colorful snapshot, or turn it slowly in your hands and look at it from every side?
Sources and further reading
These references cover historical and modern ways of reading and picturing the aura, research on perception and intuition, and the history of aura photography.
Observing qi in ancient China
- Sima Qian. Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), "Basic Annals of Xiang Yu" (《史记·项羽本纪》): "吾令人望其气，皆为龙虎，成五采，此天子气也。" Annotated excerpt by Ning Jiayu. blog.sina.com.cn
Perception and intuition
- Milán EG, Iborra O, Hochel M, et al. (2012). Auras in mysticism and synaesthesia: a comparison. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(1). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22197149
- Gigerenzer G. (2007). Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious. New York: Viking. goodreads.com
Aura photography
- Packard C. (2019). The colorful and clairvoyant history of aura photography. Artsy, 3 January 2019. artsy.net
- How aura photography invaded Instagram. The Ringer, 15 November 2018. theringer.com