The Aesthetic Experiences of Aura, Awe, and Wonder: Reflections on Their Nature and Relationships

The aim of this essay is to examine the semantic nature and linkage between the experiential phenomena of aura, awe, and wonder, central to matters of the aesthetic experience. In aesthetic commentary these terms are generally used rather loosely, often independently of each other and, most often, without regard to the connections between them. It would seem worthwhile to examine the nature of each of these terms to move toward understanding them and their mutual relationships. The conclusions drawn are that the aura effect appears to operate universally at the cognitive level of the aesthetic experience while those of awe and wonder appear to be special cases operating at the affective level of the aesthetic experience, wherein our appreciative dispositions, bearing them, take form