‘Even if you don’t believe in auras, just be open-minded enough to try to see what’s there. Don’t let prejudice cover your sight. If you are determined not to see, then you won’t.’
‘I am going to move about six feet away so that you have the space that’s needed to see. Now focus six inches above my head. Relax. Slightly unfocus your eyes and try not to blink.’
Roz
‘I can’t see anything.’
Mia
I moved away from the bookcase to sit in front of a white wall. Then I slightly lowered the lighting by switching off a lamp.
‘Seeing auras always works better if there is a plain background. You need to be able to see clearly, but it’s best if the light is not too bright.’
Roz
‘I still can’t see anything.’
Mia
‘Of course you can’t see anything, you’ve only just started. It’s important not to be emotionally involved. You mustn’t care what you see. Don’t expect to see anything. Just wait.’
Roz
I tried to feel nonchalant and carried on looking. And looking.
Suddenly I caught sight of a hazy white shadow pulsing around Mia’s head. I focused on the shadow – and lost it.
‘I think I saw an uneven glow around your head. It was like the oil in a lava lamp, moving and changing all the time. Was that it?’
Mia
‘Yes. Well done. The first time you see any aura, you will see it as either white or gold. This is not a person’s aura colours, it is just the first stage of sight. Try again.’
Roz
I was excited. This was going to be easy. I refocused on the spot above Mia’s head. Nothing happened. I couldn’t see the light I’d seen before. I felt disappointed. Had I really seen it the first time?
‘I can’t do it now. It’s gone.’
Mia
‘It’s not gone, Roz. The first time you didn’t know what to expect. You were impassive. That’s why it came easily. But once you’d seen it, you knew what you were looking for and that got in the way.’
‘Settle down, try to feel non-emotional and just see what is, not what you expect there to be.’
Roz
This was easier said than done but, just as I was about to give up, I saw the white shadow around Mia again.
‘It’s bigger this time. Thicker.’
Mia
‘The more you get used to seeing auras, the more you will see. As you get more proficient, you may start to see colours in auras. Alternatively, you may only ever see white but flashes of colour may come in your mind.’
Roz
‘Can you see my aura?’
Mia
‘As I first focus on you, from your head to your shoulders, I see white, eight inches deep.’
Roz
‘That’s much wider than the light I saw around your head.’
Mia
‘When I started, the auras I saw were probably only an inch wide. As I said, the more you look, the more you see.’
‘The white is like a mist and it is filling up with blue. There is light blue above your head. Around the sides is a mixture of greens, brown and pink. Light blue means you are a people person, you care for others.’
‘Green is a practical colour. It means you are going to be caught up in the practical necessities of life. Brown is earth, it means you’re grounded. Pink is stress. Don’t worry, everyone has a certain amount of pink.’
‘What’s really interesting is you have a strong purple colour weaving through the rest, which indicates a healer or carer of souls.’
Roz
Mia was looking to the right – as if someone was standing there and talking to her. Eric – or whatever it was – was holding her total attention.
‘Is Eric in the room?’
Mia
‘He’s sitting in that wicker chair but, as I look, it’s not actually your chair. He’s sitting in an old brown leather chair, in the same place as your wicker one. Are you okay with that?’
Roz
‘I’m not sure I believe it, actually.’
Mia
‘That’s okay.’
Roz
After Mia had left to go to the B&B, I sat for a while in my living room. The idea of Mia talking to her spirit guide didn’t scare me, but I was disappointed that I didn’t have a sense of him myself. If Eric was really there, wouldn’t I have felt his presence? Alone now, I tried to sense any change in the room, but it felt the same as always. Did Mia’s guide leave the room when she did?
It felt disloyal, but I couldn’t help wondering whether Eric was real – or whether he was a part of Mia. I believe we all have a higher self – a spark that makes us want to be our best self. Perhaps – consciously or unconsciously – Mia was giving that part of herself a character and a name.
I wondered if what she would be teaching me would be ways to have more contact with my higher self. One way or another, the journey had begun.
Roz
The next morning, Mia took me to Bath to people-watch. As a writer, looking at other people is one of my favourite pastimes, but today, Mia said, I would be looking in a different way.
Mia
‘When I first discovered I could see auras, my children were at school and I used my time to play. I used to sit in cafés, looking at people’s auras. I loved my new ability to see people glowing.’
‘I remember one morning seeing a woman smiling to herself as she stirred her tea. Curiosity aroused, I made eye contact,