We all share a distinctive aura which others may perceive and use to identify us. Our vampiric signature is most obviously expressed in the auras of priests and least obvious in the auras of concubines. We may also perceive this aura as well as the auras of others. This perception occurs on the subtle level and enables us to gain information about those around us.
Essentially, the aura is the subtle body where it extends beyond the limits of the physical body. As we constantly tread upon the threshold of spirit and matter, our subtle bodies are much larger than those of ordinary folk, and they extend far around us, depending upon our self-mastery, energy level, and level of power.
The aura can be perceived in several relatively thin layers of almost-light which extend just beyond the skin. If you look for actual, physical light extending around the body like a halo, you will miss the subtle nuances of the actual aura.
The aura can be perceived as light or color, though it is really neither of these things. In truth, light and color are merely the best metaphors was can devise in order to describe and interpret something which layers over physical reality from the subtle like a double-exposure.
The aura may appear textured, most often like a liquid -- oily, rippling, misty. It is not static but fluid and is constantly though subtly changing. It can be perceived through touch as warmth or as a subtle tension or pressure that is almost there beneath your fingers.
Its essence is subtle and thus our experience of it is subtle. Perception of the aura is ultimately something which must be intuited, perceived by insight more than with our ordinary senses.