Auras in mysticism and synaesthesia: a comparison.
E G Milán, O Iborra, M Hochel, M A Rodríguez Artacho, L C Delgado-Pastor, E Salazar, A González-hernández
Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.11.010 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | Synaesthetes who experience colors in response to human faces and figures |
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key findings | Synaesthetic color experiences triggered by faces and figures are phenomenologically and behaviorally dissimilar from purported auric perception. |
Abstract
In a variety of synaesthesia, photisms result from affect-laden stimuli as emotional words, or faces of familiar people. For R, who participated in this study, the sight of a familiar person triggers a mental image of "a human silhouette filled with colour". Subjective descriptions of synaesthetic experiences induced by the visual perception of people's figures and faces show similarities with the reports of those who claim to possess the ability to see the aura. It has been proposed that the purported auric perception may be easily explained by the presence of a specific subtype of cross-modal perception. We analyse the subjective reports of four synaesthetes who experience colours in response to human faces and figures. These reports are compared with descriptions of alleged auric phenomena found in the literature and with claims made by experts in esoteric spheres. The discrepancies found suggest that both phenomena are phenomenologically and behaviourally dissimilar.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions Individuals with extensive experience administering psilocybin or psilocybin-containing... | 2017 | Survey and qualitative/quantitative analysis | n = 10 |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Do Drugs Have Religious Import? A 40-Year Retrospective | 2004 | Interview | |
| Narratives of the mystical among users of psychedelics Psychedelic drug users | 2021 | Qualitative study | n = 50 |
| When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness People who reported Time Expansion Experiences | 2020 | Qualitative study | n = 74 |