The Human Atmosphere (The Aura)

Walter J. Kilner’s book investigates the subtle human “aura” through a quasi-scientific approach, combining observation, medical curiosity, and occult theory. It is historically notable as an early attempt to study invisible bodily radiations in a systematic way. Readers will find descriptions of optical experiments, visual methods, and speculative interpretations of human energy fields.

Walter J. Kilner (1847–1920) was a British physician and medical author best known in occult-adjacent literature for The Human Atmosphere (1911), a work that claimed the existence of a visible human aura. Although trained in medicine, his book became influential in later occult and New Age currents because it attempted to present aura perception in quasi-scientific terms.