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What I Learned From My Aura Reading

For starters, it’s purple.

Culture
What I Learned From My Aura Reading
Alec Kugler

What do you think of when you hear aura photography? Psychics? Crystals? Feelings? Me too. And I would bet that most people think the same—and they’re almost right.

Christina Lonsdale is the visual artist behind Radiant Human, a traveling portrait experience, who is adding a different element to aura photography. Lonsdale grew up in one of her father’s two communes, and left when she was ten (seriously). Her parents met because of a goat named Foxy Lady (a story for another day) and her mother is a spiritual painter. So needless to say, Radiant Human is a natural fit for the family.

 


Lonsdale most recently set up shop for a ten-day stint at the Whitney Museum in New York City (you can follow her tour on her Instagram). “I wanted to create something that is relatable, and I think now in the digital age with selfies and social media, it was really interesting to explore selfies in a new way. We are literally broadcasting our energy through images of ourselves anyway, and this was a direct translation of what that is. Because this camera interacts with your energy, it takes your electricity and matches it to a color and that color comes out as a second exposure, so this is almost like an interactive filter. I really loved that, and this project has only existed on Instagram, so I thought that was another interesting layer as well. This is an analog camera that is using peel-away film that somehow ends up in digital form anyway.”

So how does it work? You book a 5-10 minute session with Lonsdale, which takes place in her traveling dome (of course). You put your hands on top of the metal sensors that are connected to the camera and in just a few seconds your aura photograph is taken. After waiting a minute or two for the film to process, Lonsdale walks you through what the colors mean.

Naturally, I had Lonsdale photograph my aura and share her findings. “Your mental capacity is telling me that you’re a logical dreamer,” she began. “Having this color right here in the lower left-hand corner is your interior, so this is being a dreamer at heart through and through. And this lower right-hand corner is telling me that you are a little bit more reserved. That you would rather observe before participating. You’re not cold, it is just more about being a little bit more selective.” As someone with approximately three to-do lists going at any given time, each surrounded by doodles and sketches, I would say that is pretty spot-on. As far as being reserved? I’d like to think that I am open to anything and anyone, but my friends would be quick to say that is not always the case.

Lonsdale will remind you that she is a visual artist, not a typical aura photographer. “I don’t identify as a healer. I think that art can be healing, absolutely, and I do think that through art we can have elevated consciousness, absolutely. But I don’t identify as a healer or a medium. That’s why I called this Radiant Human, because I really wanted to level the playing field here, I wanted it to be this interaction between me and you and this camera.”

If you want to partake in Radiant Human’s traveling exhibit, follow along on Instagram to see where she goes next! Her farthest travelers to date? Two women who drove 7 hours just to see their auras.

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