You may have seen ancient and modern paintings depicting gods, Buddhas and saints in halos. In the form of light, some halos are soft and delicate, and others are bright and radiant. Most people assume halos to be artistic exaggerations to portray the greatness of divine beings, but how accurate are such assumptions?
People with near-death experiences have described their souls leaving the body and surrounded by white lights that emit a feeling of warmth and love. For instance, the book “Heaven Is For Real” by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent chronicled the account of their three-year-old son, Colton Burpo, who went to heaven while on the verge of death.
Colton fell seriously ill after rupturing his large intestine and had to be rushed to the hospital to remove abdominal abscess. During the surgery, Colton’s parents were in a different room, praying to God.
After the surgery, Colton was wheeled to the intensive care unit. The doctors would remain silent whenever Colton’s parents asked about his condition, for they knew Colton would not survive.
A miracle happened on Day 17. Colton emerged from consciousness and began describing what happened during the operation. Colton’s parents were dumbfounded.
Colton described how he rose from the operation table, looked down at the surgeons and nurses performing the surgery and saw his parents pleading to God to save him.
At first, Colton’s father refuted his claims, but Colton continued to share details that only his parents would know, such as things his father specifically pleaded to God in silence. Both were convinced their son had an out-of-body experience.
Colton said he went to the heavens, a beautiful place full of colours, bright lights and lives. And in describing the lives there, Colton said there was light on everyone’s head.
“Heaven Is For Real” is a complete record of Colton’s near-death experience and what he saw. The book, published in 2010, was sold more than 10 million copies and made into a movie, which grossed over $100 million.
A Tale from the Qing Dynasty
Not only do saints emit light, but ordinary persons also emit light, according to the scientific community.
The Qing Dynasty writer Ji Xiaolan recorded such an account in his book “Yue Wei Thatched Cottage Notes”. During the Qing Dynasty, an elderly scholar was walking at night when he met an old friend who passed on years ago. The scholar, who was upright and frank, was not afraid, though he knew the other party was a ghost. “Where are you going?” he asked. His friend replied: “I am now an officer of hell, and I am going to the village to take people’s souls. I happened to be on the same road as you.”
The two walked together and chatted. Passing by a dilapidated house, his friend said: “This is the home of an intellectual.” The scholar thought it was bizarre and asked how he knew.
“Ordinary people are busy during the day, and their minds are full of distractions, which cause their spirituality to be obscured. But after falling asleep at night, there are no selfish and distracting thoughts, and their spirituality is clear. It radiates light and shines through the body’s hundred orifices, colourful and splendid.”
“Those with profound knowledge included Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty. Those with splendid literary talents included Qu Yuan and Song Yu of the Warring States Period, Ban Gu and Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty,” his friend said.
“Their emitted lights shoot straight into the sky, competing with the stars and moon for brilliance; people with lesser knowledge would emit lesser radiance, and people with even lesser knowledge would have even lesser light, and it decreases in order. But ordinary people cannot see such light; only ghosts and gods can see it. The light in this broken house is as high as seven or eight feet, so I know it is the home of an intellect.”
The old scholar was curious and wanted to know how good he was: “I’ve read books all my life, how bright is my light when I sleep?”
The friend listened on, hesitated and pondered: “I passed by your private school yesterday. You were taking a nap, and I saw a scripture on your chest. Every word turned into black smoke and shrouded the roof. The students’ reading voices were sealed in thick clouds and mist; there was no light to be seen. I dare not speak nonsense.”
When the old scholar heard this, he became angry and scolded his friend, who laughed and walked away.
A Case from China
Taiwan’s United Daily News published an article, “The Mystery of Human Body Light”, by author Chen Keli, whose father worked in an agency in Northern China. Chen’s father had a colleague named Huang, who came from Fujian, and the pair enjoyed a strong friendship.
Huang could see the light on people’s heads since he was a child. His mother would not allow him to share his discovery, fearing that he would bring trouble to himself.
Huang said: “Everyone emits light on their heads, but their luminosity, size, and colour differ. People with power emit mostly red and purple light; upright ones emit mostly white and blue light. Corrupted individuals emit black or grey light. Other colours such as yellow, orange and green are emitted according to one’s morality and behaviour; the intensity depends on the person’s luck at that time.”
Huang added that the glow depends on a person’s temperament, which changes. If someone who used to be a good person had turned bad, his light that used to be tall and white, would turn dark and small. Huang can instantly distinguish between good and bad people, which helps him in making friends and doing things.
Huang revealed that he once saw Zhang Zuolin (a warlord in the Qing Dynasty), who emitted red light thirty feet high in his heydays. Huang had the opportunity to meet Zhang again, a week before Zhang was killed in Huanggutun. This time the light above Zhang’s head was only five or six feet high, dark and faint. Sure enough, Huang soon received news of Zhang’s death. It seemed that a person’s radiance is closely linked to his virtues and fortunes.
Modern Aura Research
Modern scientific research on the human glow began with an unexpected discovery. In 1911, Walter John Kilner, a doctor in London, suddenly found a 15mm luminous edge around the human body when painting a glass bottle with double cyanine dye.
The discovery did not attract the world’s attention. It was not until 1939 when Soviet scientist Semyon Kirlian used high-frequency electrophotography to take pictures of a bright glow surrounding the human body, that prompted scientists worldwide to study this phenomenon.
The Kirlian photography technique, however, was rejected by the scientific community, based on inconsistent evidence. But Russian quantum-mechanical physicist Konstantin Korotkov decided to invent a stable, environment-independent digital kryonography.
In 1995, Korotkov and his team invented the first digital Kirlian photography – Gas Discharge Visualisation or GDV. GDV photography can observe the photon energy emitted by the human body and the changes of the human energy field under different states.
Scientists discovered the main glow of the body is located above the head, looking like a candle flame. The glow is divided into three layers, stretching up to two feet. The glow of ordinary people is monochromatic, with at most three colours, forming a diameter of 30 to 50 cm (about half the length of a baseball bat). This aura emits energy, just like candle flame emits light.
Findings showed that physically active workers or people engaged in sports emit a stronger glow than mental workers; the luminosity of young adults is more than twice that of teenagers and the elderly.
The term “Indigo children” refers to children with special talents, who have a dark blue glow detected on their heads. They have exceptional willpower or supernatural ability, and their eyes can sense low-frequency light. In some cases, they can see paranormal phenomena and predict what the future. Russian boy, Boriska Kipriyanovich, who claimed that he came from Mars, is one of them. Russian researchers claim that 5 percent of children born after 1994 belong to “Indigo Children”
In studying the human body glow, scientists also discovered the bright flashes of the halo exactly match the 741 acupuncture points marked on the ancient Chinese acupuncture map, and each person has a unique body glow. The ancient Chinese discovered the existence of the human glow and knew how to apply it to medical treatment.
In addition, the colour of the human glow is ever-changing. Studies found that the glow changes colour according to a person’s state. When a person lies, his glow flashes irregularly with various colour spots. When people are sick, the glow becomes grey and dark. For cancer patients, a cloudy glow is seen within the body.
So, what do the different colours mean? Scientists worldwide have conducted studies and discovered some patterns.
A primarily red glow indicates willfulness and stubbornness; it also points to selfishness, physical strength or leadership. Blue indicates faith and piety – the darker the blue, the purer and more devoted a person is. Orange indicates good health. Green indicates nature and health restoration but may also reveal a treacherous character.
Pink indicates love, romance, happiness or falling in love. A self-centered person who experiences a state of love can turn selfless with his or her radiance altered. When a couple holds hands, the energy on the woman’s fingers is particularly bright and extends to the man’s fingers. When a man and a woman in love embrace, their radiance intertwines and turns extraordinarily bright.
A bright yellow glow signifies intellectual excellence and an expression of wisdom. Black indicates death, evilness or scourge.
Grey indicates depression. When people encounter troubles, their glows become dim with weak scattered energy. The glow intensifies when people experience good fortune and turns bright and dazzling red.
As the saying goes, people who are kind-hearted, optimistic and cheerful enjoy good luck and easily overcome small setbacks. This can also be explained by the “human glow” theory.
