In Human Design, your aura is the way you make contact with people before you even speak. The system describes four of them, one per family of types. No device measures it: take it as a picture of how you approach other people.
The 4 auras
Open and enveloping: Generators and Manifesting Generators
About 68% of people. The system describes an aura that draws people and opportunities in, and soaks up the mood of a place quickly. Hence the idea that these types do well by responding to what comes to them.
Closed and repelling: Manifestors
About 9% of people. An aura described as striking, one that keeps others at a distance. Unasked for advice tends to bounce off it. People around may feel caught off guard by a decision that arrives without warning, hence the strategy to inform.
Focused and absorbing: Projectors
About 23% of people. An aura that settles on one person at a time and reads how they work in depth. It can feel intrusive when nobody asked for it, hence the strategy to wait for the invitation.
Resistant and sampling: Reflectors
About 1% of people. An aura that tastes other people’s auras without merging: it takes a sample, filters a little, then lets go. That is why place and company matter so much to Reflectors.
What the word means here
The word brings to mind colored glows on esoteric photos. In Human Design, it describes a way of being with people, with no color and no photo. Nobody has ever measured an aura, and no study backs the system. The term is still a handy shortcut for the first impression you leave.
Ask three people who know you well to describe, in one sentence, the first impression you made on them. Do not mention Human Design beforehand. Then compare their sentences with the description of your aura and with that of another type. Note which one fits better.