The root chakra is associated with the first layer of the auric field, or the etheric body, ether being the state between energy and matter. According to Barbara Brennan's book Hands Of Light (1988), the etheric body is a "structure of lines of force on which the physical matter of the body tissues is shaped and anchored." This field is prior to, and not a result of, the physical body. In The Nature Of Personal Reality (1974), Jane Roberts writes, "The body... has 'invisible' counterparts composed of the electromagnetic properties and the interior sound and light qualities. These invisible structures precede the emergence of the physical body. They also exist after the body's death... The data is impressed upon them [genes and chromosomes] from within. The identity exists before the form."

The etheric body is in motion with flashes of energy or light that move through the lines or webs in the structure of the template for the physical body. It is located about one quarter to two inches outside the physical body and according to Barbara Brennan, pulsates about 15-20 cycles per minute and varies from light blue to gray colors. If one could see the pulsations as they travel around the lines, one might look at the shoulder of a person, see a flash as it goes from the shoulder to the wrist, but as soon as one sees it, it is gone until the next pulsation comes through. Brennan claims the chakras of this layer of the aura are net-like, like the etheric body, and only have grayish or bluish colors, not the typical rainbow progression that is often seen in pictures of the chakra system.

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Genevieve Lewis Paulson, Kundalini And The Chakras (1991), says that when this layer is in balance, the physical body will appear youthful and very energetic. It will seldom be ill and have great power. She simply calls this layer "emanations of the physical body."

According also to Ted Andrews in his book How To See & Read The Aura (2000), this first layer is simply related to the physical body, a template, and nothing more.

In Vera Stanley Alder's book The Finding Of The Third Eye (1976), she says the first layer is a body of "ether, higher and finer vibrations, and acting as an intermediary between it and the outer ether, a channel through which all the magnetic life-forces are fed to it." Vera Stanley Alder also notes that the ancient Egyptians called this layer the KA, symbolizing the vehicle or holder of the body.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, in Meditation: The Art Of Ecstasy (1976), says that the first layer of the aura has polar opposites of breathing like the physical body does. On the incoming breath, something is rejuvenated, and on the outgoing breath, something is dormant.

In The Chakra Handbook (1999), Shalila Sharamon and Bodo J. Baginski say, "The ethereal body resembles the physical body in shape and dimension, and is therefore sometimes called the 'ethereal twin' or 'inner physical body'... the ethereal body is formed anew with each reincarnation and dissolves within three to five days after physical death. The astral, mental and spiritual bodies continue to exist after death and reunite with the newly formed physical body in every reincarnation."

Joshua David Stone, Ph.D., says in Soul Psychology: Keys To Ascension (1994), "The etheric body, or the etheric double, is an exact replica of the physical body. It is the archetype upon which the physical form is built. There is nothing in the manifest universe... that does not possess an etheric body. This etheric body governs and conditions the physical body. The function of the etheric body is to store the rays of radiant light and heat from the sun and to transmit them via the spleen chakra [solar plexus chakra] to all parts of the physical body."