Article...cont:Can Kirlian Photography Detect Diseases?
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Can Kirlian Photography Detect Diseases?
By George Nava True II
Kirlian or high-voltage photography is a technique of taking pictures
by means of electricity. Also known as corona discharge photography,
this cameraless method was accidentally discovered by Russian
electrical technician Semyon Davidovich Kirlian in 1939.
Kirlian photographs are made by placing an object directly on
photographic paper or film laid atop a metal plate to which
high-voltage current is applied. This supposedly records the "aura" or
energy field which appears as bright colors or halos surrounding the
objects.
With the help of his wife Valentina, Kirlian conducted several
experiments using this photographic technique and published his
findings in the late 1950s. He believed auras yielded important
information about the health of both animals and plants. This was later
applied to humans.
News about Kirlian photography reached the United States in 1970 with
the publication of Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain by
Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder. It has since been studied by other
researchers, notably Dr. Thelma Moss, a psychologist at the University
of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
Psychic States
Moss said the auras of non-living things such as coins, paper clips and
other objects are constant and unchanging. Those of living things like
plants, animals and humans vary according to the host's inner or
psychic state - whether the subject is healthy or diseased, aroused or
relaxed.
The auras of healthy, calm individuals reportedly differ from those of
tense, sick subjects. The International Kirlian Research Institute
(IKRI) said these changes have been observed in people with cancer and
other diseases. Kirlian photography is also used to measure the healing
powers of psychics which is supposedly transferred to the patients they
treat. Taking this cue, New Age hucksters began promoting Kirlian
photography as a new diagnostic tool that could detect serious
diseases.
"Even nutritional deficiencies, drug abuse, confusion, and psychiatric
illness are laid bare by the Kirlian photos. These 'diseases' are
then treated or prevented with vitamins, acupuncture, homeopathy, and
whatever else the fringe therapist happens to sell," according to
nutritionist Kurt Butler in A Consumer's Guide to Alternative
Medicine.
The aura is also believed to convey important information about a
person's character and emotions. In The Supernatural A-Z, magician
James Randi said the color of the aura as seen in the Kirlian
photograph is interpreted this way:
"Pink means affection.
Bright red means anger.
Dark red means passion and sensuality.
Yellow means high intellectual activity.
Orange means selfishness, pride and ambition.
Brown means greed.
Green means many, many different things.
Blue means religion and devotion.
Purple means psychic ability and occult power."
Phantom Effect
Perhaps the most unusual phenomenon associated with Kirlian photography
is the "phantom effect." A leaf that had been cut and photographed
showed a complete aura even when a portion of it was removed. The
missing portion had a faint aura but was still visible. Proponents
claim this is the "ethereal double" or "enteric body" - the aura
closest to the body from which disease can be detected. Does this mean
Kirlian photography will soon be offered alongside x-rays, magnetic
resonance imaging, ultrasonography, and other diagnostic methods?
Don't bet on it. In the first place, there's no agreement among
practitioners regarding the aura's true nature. Standards for disease
interpretation based on the aura's color and size don't exist.
Kirlian "experts" use different equipment and a single Kirlian photo
can elicit different responses from different "readers." This makes it
highly unlikely that you'll get an accurate diagnosis from Kirlian
photography.
"Books pour forth from the New Age presses for interpreting the colors
of auras, but they are not consistent in their content. The variations
are according to the whim of the writer," said Josh McDowell and Don
Stewart in The Occult.
Corona Discharge
Furthermore, there's nothing supernatural about Kirlian photography.
The manner in which it's done can be explained by natural means.
Scientists say the size and shape of the aura doesn't correspond to a
person's health, mood or attitude but is produced by fluctuations in
high-frequency current. The image on film is actually a corona
discharge, a natural electrical phenomenon like the one found in
flashes of lightning.
Gary Poock and Paul W. Sparks reported in Smithsonian magazine that
there are at least 13 factors that can influence the Kirlian image.
These include voltage level, voltage pulse rate, moisture, atmospheric
gasses, the internal force and angle of the object held against the
film, and barometric pressure. In effect, a single person can come up
with different auras simply by changing finger pressure and the amount
of moisture found in his or her skin. The more moisture there is, the
larger and more colorful the auras are.
"Living things (like the commonly photographed fingers) are moist. When
the electricity enters the living object, it produces an area of gas
ionization around the photographed object, assuming moisture is present
on the object. This moisture is transferred from the subject to the
emulsion surface of the photographic film and causes an alternation of
the electric charge pattern on the film. If a photograph is taken in a
vacuum, where no ionized gas is present, no Kirlian image appears. If
the Kirlian image were due to some paranormal fundamental living energy
filed, it should not disappear in a simple vacuum," explained Terence
M. Hines, a psychology professor, in Pseudoscience and the Paranormal.
"That the Kirlian image is enhanced by emotional arousal can also be
easily explained by the presence of moisture. A basic physiologicasl
response to arousal is sweating. Thus, aroused individuals will have
greater moisture content on their skin surface and the greater amount
of moisture will produce a larger Kirlian image," added Hines, a
consultant of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims
of the Paranormal (CSICOP).
Until Kirlian enthusiasts come up with better equipment, more rigid
standards and more convincing proof that auras exist, don't waste
your time and money on them. For now, the auras they produce are, at
best, works of art that belong in a museum - not in a hospital.