This layer extends beyond the second layer (emotional body) and is associated with mental activity. It is similar to the first layer of the aura, the etheric body, in the way that it is web-like in structure, with lines creating a net-like effect. However, the web is golden in color, or yellow, rather than the bluish-grayish tones of the etheric body.

The third layer is connected to the solar plexus chakra, thus having to do with power balancing and power struggles. The third layer can be worked with for correcting personal power imbalances or mental distortions. The third layer is also a great place for working with "stopping the mind" or calming the minds of others.

Author Comments:

According to Barbara Brennan in Hands Of Light (1988), thoughts appear as blobs of golden or yellow light emerging from the web. Well formed thoughts and ideas are intricately detailed blobs of yellow light. Unformed thoughts or ideas, still in the gestation period, will be less detailed and formed.

Genevieve Lewis Paulson in Kundalini And The Chakras (1991) says, "The mental body contains matter which can vibrate at a rate similar to that of the creative force in our cosmos... the more rigid the matter in our mental body becomes, the more difficult it is to flow with life..." She goes on to say that when this layer of the auric field is in balanced operation, "manifestation and other mental powers will be considered normal."

Ted Andrews, How To See & Read The Aura (2000), agrees with others that this is the mental layer of the auric field.

Vera Stanley Alder agrees in The Finding Of The Third Eye (1976), that this is the mental body layer of the aura, "and well known instances of thought telepathy traveling right across the world in the space of a few seconds prove to us the speed at which we can function while in this body." Alder did not know the name of this layer according to the ancient Egyptians, but she did know that the spirit body was represented by a lotus, "which is able to rise out of the darkness and mud to reach the light." It is interesting to me how this same symbol emerged in Eastern spirituality...

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, in Meditation: The Art Of Ecstasy (1976), says this layer is an incoming and outgoing of power. "One moment you are powerful and the next moment you are powerless; one moment you are hopeful and the next moment you are hopeless; one moment you are confident and the next moment you lose all your confidence. It is a coming in of magnetism to you and a going out of magnetism from you... This coming in and going out of the magnetic force corresponds to your breathing." He goes on to use the example of judo: "Breath corresponds to what is happening in the third body. So when the breath is going out (unless the person has been trained to fool you), that is the moment when his magnetic force is going out. That is the moment to attack! And this is the secret of judo."

In The Chakra Handbook (1999), Shalila Sharamon and Bodo J. Baginski say, "The mental body possesses both a higher and a lower octave. It's lower frequencies are expressed by the linear thinking of the rational mind, the approach adopted by most people to truth. This kind of mental activity is based on perceptions of the physical level... The astral body translates the information into feelings and passes them on to the mental body, which in turn reacts by formulating corresponding verbal thoughts. Through the influence of the astral body and its unresolved emotional patterns, the information is frequently distorted and thinking becomes biased... This means that the rational mind can practically never be unbiased and neutral, although it claims this of itself."

Joshua David Stone, Ph.D. says in Soul Psychology: Keys To Ascension (1994), "The refinement and development of this body are the result of hard work and discrimination... The mental body remains clear when you maintain a good mental diet. Every thought that comes from your subconscious mind or from other people should be examined to determine if it is of God or not of God and if it is truth or illusion. If it is positive and of God, let it into your mind as you would good food into your stomach. If it is negative and not of God, deny its entrance into your mind. It is the ongoing process of remaining conscious and vigilant and not functioning on automatic pilot that will keep your mental body clear."