Spiritual interpretations of persistent aura visual snow as seeing molecules, energy or the human "aura"

Gyps Kindra (familial persistent aura VS and spirituality)

In a post on the Ezboard forum Visual snow or static, the 30-year-old Belgian female with a diagnosis of definite (and familial) persistent aura without infarction wrote:

"I also have a slight interest in spirituality and you wouldn't believe what some of my 'same-interest' friends had to say about our vs. I even followed some of their suggestions (you never know what might help) but with no luck.... I'm not getting into that on this board though..."

(GypsKindra [subject #113], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - Does anyone ever wake-up with tremor-like vibration? - important information, June 8, 2006)

In her response to a post asking for more information as to these spiritual aspects of the visual snow experience, she explained:

"I always considered it 'dangerous' to get into that topic on a forum that has nothing to do with the subject, most probably are sceptical about it (as shown with previous attempts of members to get into this area), there is nothing worse than trying to discuss spirituality with a bunch of sceptics.

But since you asked:

The main idea behind the spiritual paths I tend to follow is that everything in existence is nothing more than energy. Energy vibrates on different frequencies, which is why solids feel 'solid' and liquids feel 'liquid'. Our spirit (or soul, or consciousness) is energetic and can vibrate on other frequencies in order to experience them (for example to travel on the astral plane or communicate with non physical beings).

The theory I hear the most, in relation to our vs, is that our spirits don't vibrate on the right frequency that is needed to experience the material plane and therefore we see, hear and feel things that others can't experience. Or in other words, we are not 'grounded' enough.

Others seem to think that this is a gift and can be used for spiritual or occult purposes, like a sixth sense.

I must say that when meditating, it is the vs that gives me visual depth and eventually turns from static to real images. The tinnitus can turn into a voice if you focus on it long enough (up until now, all without making much sense or having much meaning)

BUT, I'm also aware that our imagination can play tricks on us very easily."

(GypsKindra [subject #113], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - Does anyone ever wake-up with tremor-like vibration? - VS and spiritual experience, June 8, 2006)

She added: "I wrote a reply in the forum about spirituality in relation to vs, which is the only subject I looked into.

I never considered the migraine aura itself as spiritual, since there is enough information about the process in our brain that causes it to assume it is not spiritual, but physical.

When people have no other option, they usually turn to the alternative side as a last resort; spirituality has always been used to explain the unexplainable. When I was 12 my doctor didn't even know what a migraine aura was, and those who did hear about it made it sound like taboo headaches. I can imagine what it must have been like a couple of centuries ago to have these migraine attacks."

(Gyps Kindra [subject #113], Email to Klaus Podoll, June 9, 2006)

"Well I tried several things in the past, some of it is, in my opinion, very close to the absurd. To name a few:

I worked with a 'medium' who thought that my energy was distorted and tried to fix this with help from 'the other side'. (This had no effect.) There was the Tarot lady who saw in her cards that I was cursed before birth and her advice was to get baptized by a Jesuit priest, of course I never did that last one.

I saw a clairvoyant healer who cleansed my aura once a week for 6 months, with no effect at all.

I met with a herbal healer who 'felt' that there was something wrong with a spot in the back of my head. He travelled to Indonesia 4 times a year to get certain herbs (not sure which ones). I've been taking these herbs for almost a year. I must say that during this time I haven't even had the slightest cough, but my other symptoms haven't changed at all.

I had contact with someone who followed the 'chaos path', who thought that the symptoms were caused by stress. The main idea was to give up control, and, by doing this, give up stress (don't try to control anything, just go with the flow and take things as they come). This also didn't help, it even worsened my anxiety. I did figure out that my anxiety stems from the fear of losing control of my life. By following his path for about 2 months my symptoms got even worse.

Besides all this I still meditate about 3 times a week to ground myself, so far it doesn't help with the vs and migraines, but it is relaxing. The meditation I use is a form of visualisation; I imagine a silver cord that is on one side connected with a source of healing energy, and on the other side is connected to my solar chakra.

Besides all the things I tried in order to get rid of my vs, my own spiritual practices are limited to meditations and vision quests these days. I do think that it is the vs that makes these possible, like I wrote on the forum; it is the vs that gives me depth in the dark, which allows me to see images. By practising this while being awake, my dreams got more intense and I became able to remember almost every single one, sometimes 4 dreams in one night.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask."

(Gyps Kindra [subject #113], Email to Klaus Podoll, June 9, 2006)

Wendi Triplet Mom [subject #147], Visual snow, 2007. © 2007 Wendi Triplet Mom (see here

WendiTripletMom (familial persistent aura VS experienced as gift of seeing molecules)

WendiTripletMom, a sufferer from familial persistent aura without infarction, has seen visual snow for "as long as I can remember".

As a child: "At first I thought I was seeing the air and that everyone saw this way. Then I learned about molecules in school and how they bump into each other, so I figured since the VS does that I must be seeing the molecules of the air, but I often wondered why they did not move faster and slower in the hot and cold like my teacher said they would. When I realized I wouldn't see the air molecules when my eyes were closed, I thought I was seeing the molecules of my eyes... later I thought it was the molecules of the gel stuff in the eye (can't remember the name right now) [the vitreous body].

I mentioned the VS and the black things I see when I look at something for a while, like when I’m watching TV, to my parents once when I was about 10 (guessing the age) and they took me to the eye doctor. He acted like I was nuts, but checked me out really well and did not find anything wrong. He told my parents I was either imagining things or looking for attention. I thought I was pretty special that I could see molecules when nobody else could lol!

I really got interested in finding out more about VS when I read a book by Donna Williams, where she was describing her snow and how Irlen lenses helped her and her boyfriend with their VS."

(Wendi Triplet Mom [subject #147], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - Experience of vs as a child, October 29, 2006; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

Maja (persistent aura VS, seeing energy and reading the human "aura")

"Ich habe diese Störungen schon so lange ich denken kann. Als Kind waren sie besonders in der Dunkelheit extrem intensiv: sehr viele Felder von roten, grünen, gelben und blauen Punkten, die sich sehr schnell bewegten, so dass mir fast schwindelig wurde. Heute habe ich die Störungen den ganzen Tag lang und sehen den viel beschriebenen Schnee immer (v.a. vor einfarbigen Flächen). Besonders stark ist es im Dunkeln vor dem Schlafengehen. Aber im Unterschied zu früher sehe ich nicht mehr verschiedenfarbige Punkte, sondern eigentlich nur noch sehr starken Schnee (hellgelb/gold /weiß - dunkel).

Weil ich diese 'Störung' schon immer hatte, bin ich davon ausgegangen, dass es irgendwie normal sei, obwohl ich wusste, dass z.B. keine von meinen früheren Freundinnen das hatte. Erst vor ein paar Tagen hab' ich mich mit jemandem darüber unterhalten und infolgedessen eigentlich das erste Mal darüber nachgedacht.

Bemerken muss ich aber auch noch, dass ich es nie als sonderlich störend empfand, weil ich es eben schon immer hatte. Ich habe mich daran gewöhnt und weiß gar nicht, wie die Welt anders aussieht. Seit dem Gespräch mit meinem Kumpel wurde mein Interesse geweckt. Ich würde gern mögliche Gründe kennen.

Außerdem sehe ich um alle Gegenstände und Menschen (ebenfalls besonders vor einem einfarbigen Hintergrund) einen weißgoldenen Schein. Wenn ich mich auf diesen konzentriere wird er größer bzw. dicker und ändert manchmal die Farbe. Ich denke aber, das hat nichts mit einer Migräne zu tun, weil ich das immer kann (zwar manchmal besser, manchmal schlechter, aber immer) und nicht nur in bestimmten Abschnitten.

Erst durch das Gespräch mit meinem Bekannten habe ich das erste mal diesen hellen Schein um Personen herum mit dem Schnee zusammengebracht. Ich dachte immer (vielleicht auch weil meine Mutter ein bisschen esoterisch geprägt ist), dass ich ein bisschen aurasichtig bin und dieser Schnee vielleicht Energiefelder o.ä. sind. Ich hab das immer eher als Begabung gesehen, nicht als Krankheit, Symptome etc. Aber wie gesagt, wenn man das schon immer hat, ist das vielleicht auch was anderes. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, wenn man Bekanntes auf einmal anders sieht, dass das sehr belastend sein kann."

(Maja [Subjekt #472], Email an Klaus Podoll, 11.11.2007)

Maja [Subjekt #472], Persistierendes "Aurasehen" (Korona-Phänomen), 2007. © 2007 Maja (größeres Bild siehe hier)

"Ich sehe diesen Schein nicht immer bzw. er fällt mir nicht immer auf. Ich denke, ich könnte ihn immer sehen. Geht übrigens auch bei mir selbst, wenn ich z.B. meine Hand vor einen weißen Hintergrund halte. Der Schein bewegt sich auch mit den Gegenständen oder Personen mit, wenn sie sich bewegen. Meine Mutter sagt dazu, ich sei aurasichtig, v.a. weil ich auch das schon sehe, seit ich denken kann. Es gab jedenfalls kein Erlebnis o.ä. seitdem ich es sehe. Ich habe ein Bild angehängt, auf dem ich versucht habe, es zu malen. Allerdings sind meine künstlerischen Fähigkeiten doch sehr begrenzt. Deswegen versuche ich, es Ihnen noch einmal ein bisschen ausführlicher zu beschreiben: Man kann sich den Schein ähnlich wie eine Hülle vorstellen, die um Gegenstände/Personen liegt. Von der Farbe her ist er am ehesten weiß, kann aber auch weißgold oder blauweißlich sein. Auf jedenfall ist er selbst vor weißem Hintergrund hell, irgendwie leicht leuchtend. Am ehesten vergleichen kann man die Farbe mit diesen hellen Nachbildern, die man hat, wenn man beispielsweise in die Sonne geguckt hat und dann auf dunkle Flächen schaut. Und wie gesagt ist es so, dass ich - wenn ich lange auf den Schein schaue oder mich darauf konzentriere - diesen stärker, d.h. dicker sehe. Ich hoffe Sie können meine Beschreibung insoweit nachvollziehen.

Ich hoffe, meine Ausführungen bringen Sie ein Stück weiter. Ich habe schon einiges im Internet über Augenrauschen, Aura-Migräne etc. gelesen und besonders auch durch einen Bekannten festgestellt, dass viele Menschen sehr darunter zu leiden scheinen. Ich meinerseits habe mich nie großartig daran gestört, weil ich eben eine spirituelle Erklärung für all diese visuellen Phänomene habe und hatte (wahrscheinlich, weil sie schon immer da waren). An allen Ergebnissen bin ich trotzdem sehr interessiert."

(Maja [Subjekt #472], Email an Klaus Podoll, 28.12.2007)

aw24 (familial persistent aura VS, seeing energy and reading the human "aura")

"Hey everyone, I just came across this website and found that it is such a relief to know that other people experience the same symptoms as me. I have had VS for as long as I can remember. I always believed this was the way that everyone viewed the world-with little sparkles and blobs and streaks of lights skidding across the room. I've never asked my doctor about this because well for one besides the normal headache that anyone can get it has never affected my life in a negative way. And another thing that last thing I want is to be tested for something that I've had for the last 21 years and hear the word 'cancer' or 'insane'. So I'm just gonna stick with this...

Well I asked my mom when I was about 8 years old about it and she said she never sees anything and I said that if I blur my vision that I can see lights around people - obviously auras. Well my step grandma was sitting there and thought this was the greatest thing that I could see auras. So I 'read' everyones auras while she told me what each color is (since she has been interested in this type of things forever) and ever since then I can do it with ease and it's just been a part of me. I don't tell anyone though except my dad and one of my good friends in college since they both have open minds. I found out that my dad has had this all his life too! Not the aura part but the VS. He said that when he was young he just told himself that he could see molecules. when his brothers found out that he thought he could see molecules they beat him up... So I guess this is why I keep silent! My friend found this fascinating as did her sister. They believe I can read auras or see energy or something else that can't be diagnosed with a brain scan. Her sister actually had this book on auras and there was this one section on 'sparklers' and about fertility. I didn't know if it meant that I was fertile or if I see more sparkles around someone if that means they are. I'm not sure if I buy that theory...

I guess what im getting at is: Am I the only one that believes it may be spirtual? The funny thing is I don't even worship a god or anything. I have a belief in spirits and auras and other things cause it is something that has been around me all my life (not seeing a ghost and talking to it or anything just very odd things always happen to me). Don't get me wrong I believe that some people's VS is caused by another underlying condition that only a doctor can help with but there's gotta be other people out there that have had it all thire life without an explanation. I mean we all, every one in this world, is gonna have something wrong with them that a doctor could find and try and link with VS. So has this been asked before or discussed? If so I'd love to see the link so I can read up on it. Cheers, Amy"

(aw24, Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General Discussion - has this been asked?, January 1, 2008)

illuminati primus (familial persistent aura VS and seeing energy)

This sufferer from visual snow since childhood, possibly caused by familial persistent aura without infarction, wrote in his first post on the Ezboard forum Visual snow or static:

"I found this board today and the simulator... Well I have had these effects since forever and they are normal for me.

I asked many people about this VS, because it's rare that someone really sees this like I see it and can control the speed and also the intensity of the snow.

I learned to control it like I learned to control the afterimages that appear around objects or float in air and drift down; they can be stopped in midair and moved where I want, it is possible. I can also concentrate the visual snow or change the speed of the flicker.... My mother explained to me, when I was 10-12 years old, that this is energy, well she also has had VS since forever.

So for me this is a sort of energy, the fact that I can control its intensity and move the concentrated ball or object I form in air also speaks for this theory... I don't know really what it is and why this works, but it does and I have done it, as far as I can remember, since I was 5 years old... I had this sort of things as I was under 10 years and well I not really wanted it, it started from alone."

(illuminati primus, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - I have VS and After Images since i'm 5 Year old, June 30, 2005)

manuva (familial persistent aura VS, meditation and seeing energy)

"Hi, this is my first time here. I've experienced visuals since around puberty. At first they worried me, but now I love living with them... The visuals in darkness are particularly strong if I have just been meditating. In fact, I think I only see them in the dark if I have just finished meditating and then open my eyes. The strength of the visuals seems proportional to how deep the meditation was."

(manuva [subject #198], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – visuals in total darkness, September 16, 2006)

"I am not a religious person and have not been raised religiously - but I have spent some time over the past 5 years meditating. I find an amazing sense of peace, happiness and a strange sense of love and understanding for everyone (including people I don't really like) both when I meditate and after a meditation. These feelings are stronger during periods when I meditate more regularly. The visuals I perceive are amazingly vivid and prominent in these times of meditation, and also calm, so I perceive that they are somehow linked in my understanding of them... They are almost a barometer for my state of relaxation and happiness.

On the few occasions when I have been to the deepest levels of meditation I've ever been, the visuals have been extraordinary. They are so vivid and clear and dancing everywhere that they take over the background environment that I'm looking at. In a way, they became my environment. The lights take on a 3 dimensional shape and move in 3 dimensions. Once or twice on these occasions I've held my hand out and noticed smaller, fine lights dancing around my fingers. It is only this powerful during and immediately after a very deep meditation - it doesn't continue on like this.

I have wondered over the years what these visuals are - are they a projection from my eye? Are they a creation of my mind? Are they something I sometimes perceive that is external to my body? I don't know.

During the time I was learning to meditate I talked of these visuals with some of my teachers, and they all seemed to explain them quite comfortably as something that is perceived by many people, especially people in a more meditated state - and that it was an energy of some sort. Basically, as the mind empties of activity and thought it creates space to perceive more things (that was the general idea they'd communicate)... Getting this explanation from multiple independent people, and associating the occurrence of the visuals with my own positive meditated feelings, made me feel very warm towards the visuals. These explanations made me feel completely at ease with the visuals, although I am still very sceptical as to what they really are. I don't think of it as a spiritual vs scientific explanation. If it is some kind of external energy I think of it as a part of physics that perhaps hasn't been fully understood yet.

Wilhelm Reich's (1897-1957) notion of orgone energy. © 2007 Jürgen Fischer www.orgon.de

For example I found a community of people on the internet [see here for similar posts from a German internet forum] who see the same visuals people describe on this forum; however they believe they are something called orgone energy as discovered by Wilhelm Reich - I am sceptical but interested.

So in answer to your question I think the reason I love the visuals is due to the tight correlation with my happiest and most peaceful emotional states."

(manuva [subject #198], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – visuals in total darkness, September 16, 2006; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll) [more on VS and orgone energy]

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