Bagnall, (Reginald) Oscar (Gartside) (b.
1893)
British pioneer of aura research. Born March 28, 1893, in
Berkshire, England, he was educated at Malvern and Magdalene
College, Cambridge, where he read natural sciences (biology,
chemistry, and physics) and took his degree in science.
After the outbreak of World War I, he left Magdalene to take
a commission but was released from active service due to an injury.
He returned to Magdalene for advanced studies, working
as a schoolmaster and coaching young students for medical examinations.
While a professional biologist, he researched color, as a result
of which he became interested in the phenomenon of
human radiations. He experimented with dye screens in relation
to the mechanics of human vision and in particular the effects
of dicyanin, which had been studied by pioneer Walter J.
Kilner, author of the book The Human Atmosphere; or, The Aura
Made Visible by the Aid of Chemical Screens (1911).
Bagnalls own valuable book, The Origin and Properties of the
Human Aura (1937), is also a major study of the subject and validates
many of Kilners findings. Both Kilner and Bagnall
brought the phenomena, formerly limited to study by psychics
and occultists, onto firmer scientific ground. Since then, modern
interest in aura research has been stimulated by the discovery
of the Kirlian aura.
Sources
Bagnall, Oscar. The Origin and Properties of the Human Aura.
1937. Rev. ed. New Hyde Park, N.Y. University Books, 1970.
