Black Aura: Meaning in Energy Work

Normally when I meditate or receive acupuncture or massage healing, I see purple and yellow aura energy colors moving behind my closed eyes. However, since I’ve opened my own Reiki healing touch practice and started hands-on work with a variety of clients, I’ve had the opportunity to experience and explore very different chakra colors than I usually see alone. Today I’d like to discuss one of the most surprising and profound ones: the black aura meaning.

The first time I saw a black aura, a client came in and lay on her back for a Reiki session. I centered myself as usual, then placed my hands at the top of her head for the first hand position. Instantly, I saw a rush of black, like the darkest ink pouring into a lighter-colored pool. I felt a sense of falling into expansive vastness — but not in a negative way… more like I was diving into a powerful ocean. The word that came to mind was “depth.” I’d never experienced this before, and wondered what it could mean.

Each Chakra Has a Color, Except Black

When I returned from that session, I went into heavy research mode to figure out what black energy means in terms of chakras and healing. Why is black so much more confusing than other colors? Well, the reason is that most other colors of the rainbow clearly correlate with a certain chakra — but black does not, in any obvious way.

For example, seeing red is all about the First Chakra or Root Chakra, which is located at the base of the spine, and is connected with fear vs. safety. Meanwhile, seeing white aura light is connected the 7th or Crown Chakra, which links with spirituality and the highest universal energy. However, on any chart of chakra colors, black is nowhere to be found.

I picked up the phone and put in a call to one of my mentors, a Reiki Master and energy worker named Andrea, for further insight — and wow, did she help illuminate the mystery of seeing black! What follows is a combination of her teachings, and my own research and experiences.

(NOTE: What you are reading right now is not a medical article; it is an exploration of visualizing colors during the liminal space of energy work. If you are seeing black spots in any way besides a spiritual, energetic, or meditative one, or are seeing blotches of light with your eyes OPEN — as with seeing sparkles in vision — please consult your doctor or eye specialist instead of this post.)

Black Aura Meaning

The first and most important thing to know about seeing a black aura is that, despite our (problematic) societal bias that “darkness is negative,” someone with a black aura of energy does NOT indicate bad things! In fact, Reiki is non-duality, so it doesn’t even really fit to call anything “bad” with energy colors. Given this fact, then what IS seeing black connected with, energetically?

Let’s look at it as a logic puzzle: If white is the top chakra and is associated with very high energy (like outer space, cosmic, spiritual level of high), what would black — the opposite color — therefore be? Another clue: several times that I’ve seen black energy, it’s been tinged with red — the color of the “grounded” chakra — the chakra about having your feet firmly planted on the soil.

Did you guess it? Yes: black is fertile, deep subterranean Mother Earth energy that is even deeper than red! Black is that rich and magical soil which grows our most fruitful harvests. It symbolizes creation, as with a womb. It’s associated with Chakra Zero: the Earth Star Chakra.

In the words of Andrea, “I find black very exciting to encounter during energy work. I usually see it only with higher vibration people.” This fits with the client with whom I saw the color black. She is a successful and strong entrepreneur, and is in the process of greatly expanding her business as demand for her creative work soars.

When Can Seeing Black be Bad?

Though Andrea emphasizes that nothing in Reiki is “bad,” she does note that there are times when seeing black can indicate an area where something is going on — a part of the body or life that is calling for extra attention.

For example, one day a client came in to my Boston Reiki studio, and during our session, no matter where I placed my hands, I couldn’t see a single color of energy coming from him. This is very unusual for me, and made me somewhat concerned. However, during the last quarter of our session, during which the client was on his stomach, I finally saw a color: BLACK, emerging from the Fourth, Heart Chakra… the area of the body connected with love and human bonds. There were very faint colors trying to push through (see my illustration below), but the overwhelming color I was present to was inky black — expansive and deep.

While seeing black in this context isn’t necessarily bad, given what I know about this client, the black color pool is likely sending a message. This man had been single and living alone during the isolating events of 2020-21, meaning it is very likely that his energy had been closed off with the heartbreak of lacking human connection. The black could therefore be proclaiming that the way forward for him is to do everything possible to foster friendships, love, family ties, and even romance in order to heal and open his 4th Chakra — and by extension, the rest of his stopped-up energy flow.

Seeing Black Mixed with Other Colors

When I see black, it is a very distinct onyx pool with a marked feeling of expansive space — different from the usual lighter and more closed-in darkness of having one’s eyes closed. However, sometimes I see different colors mixed in, and each of these can be a clue to the meaning of black, too, as can the place or chakra on the body where touch elicits the color.

When I see black with another color (for example, an orange aura, purple aura, or green aura) and the other color is strong, I focus on the meaning or chakra of the other color, and take the black as sort of an amplifier. For example, in the case of the first client, the red was quite clear over the black, meaning the black symbolized a fertile and expansive power with the red of the root chakra: fearlessness. (Again, a match for a woman expanding her own business.)

When, however, I see black with colors struggling to push through (as in the illustration above), I think more of the second client — the one who had a depth of yearning present in a specific chakra that seemed to have activity paired with blocked energy.

During Reiki, when I come to a patch like the drawing I created above — clear depth and activity indicated by black, but with colors struggling to come through — I pause to really focus, “look” (albeit with closed eyes), and listen. Ideally, at this moment, I have a conversation with the client to try to unearth what is happening there for them, and what the path forward might be. Thank you, black, for being our teacher, and being such a fertile space for discovery and growth!

Seeing a Black Aura, in Sum

My favorite part of talking with Andrea about the meaning of seeing black was when she explained, “To truly work with meditation colors and aura colors, you’ve got to go beyond the traditional chakras. Have conversations with clients about what they’re feeling, and their lives, and look inside your own intuition as well. Those are the elements that reveal the true meanings of each hue — not just a simple chakra chart.” Given all this, I’m so curious to hear from readers like YOU: what’s YOUR take on the black aura meaning? Do share!

Want more? See my post about the magenta aura meaning.