The Etheric Field: Shaped like the physical body, it serves as a blueprint for your body and reflects your spirit. Extending as much as 5 inches out from the body, this is the field that people new to seeing auras usually see first. This field can be detected by infrared cameras. It is also called the "etheric body" or the "vital layer." Donna reports that the color of this field does not change and that it often reflects the color of one of the meridians associated with the person’s primary element.

Barbara Ann Brennan offers this anecdote in explaining how the etheric body exists prior to and shapes the physical body: "This relationship has been supported in the observations of plant growth by Dr. John Pierrakos and myself. Through the use of High Sense Perception, we observed that an energy field matrix in the shape of a leaf is projected by the plant prior to the growth of a leaf, and then the leaf grows into that already existing form" (Hands of Light, 1987, p. 48).

The Protective Field: While the Etheric Field is fluid and interacts with the physical body, this second layer forms a protective sheath that encases the Etheric Field. The Protective Field protects the Etheric Field in a manner similar to the way the Pericardium Meridian protects the Heart Meridian. Not found in most charts, Donna sees this field distinctly.

The Mental/Emotional Field: This field holds emotions, thoughts, and visual images. It is the subtle energy dimension of your personal sense of reality. If is often seen as two separate fields or "energy bodies." The "emotional body" is closer in, then "the mental body." Donna also sees this area of the aura as having more than one layer. She sees four layers: two emotional, two mental. But the order of these layers varies depending on the person’s sensory type (described in the Energies of Love DVD). We all have all four layers, but the layer that is closest to your body depends on your sensory type:

• The feeling band governs feeling-based emotions (innermost if you are a kinesthetic).

• The emotional band governs emotions that are based on thoughts, judgments, and history (innermost if you are a tonal).

• The yang mental band moves out toward the world (innermost if you are a visual).

• The yin mental band stays contained (innermost if you are a digital).

The Morphic Field: Also called the "etheric template" or "habit field," this layer of the aura holds the templates for all the fields within it. These templates are ideal forms which may or may not manifest ideally in the inner layers. Illness, trauma, and negative habits may all interfere. While "morphic fields" may exist at all levels of energy, emotion, thought, behavior, and physiology, we use the term here to bring attention to Rupert Sheldrake’s revolutionary insights into the phenomenon. The morphic field combines the 5 elemental energies of the universe (the 5 Rhythms described in Chapter 7 of Energy Medicine) into your unique constellation of energetic rhythms, habits, and dispositions. It is relatively fixed, though it can evolve during your lifetime.

The Celestial Field: The fifth layer is associated with higher spiritual forces, usually attributed to the 6^th and 7^th chakras. The Celestial Field is an antenna that connects you with the Wisdom, Love, and Bliss of the Cosmos. When you are aligned with this field, you feel one with the universe. But whether consciously aligned or not, it is always there around you, always available for you to tune into for inspiration and guidance. While it may have any of many colors, the colors it contains are permeated by gold and silver.

The Celtic Weave: This energy surrounds, contains, and weaves through the aura. It is described in Chapter 6 of Energy Medicine.