Things from our world have energy that 'wavers'. Scouts from the inorganic beings world have energy that 'fizzles', and 'as a rule of thumb' the energy from scouts further away have more and more sizzling in their energy.

Don Juan tell Castaneda to focus his attention only on three types of scouts. The first type is from the inorganic beings realm, the second type seem as if they are about to burn, and the third type generally hides behind images of friends, relatives and parents. This third type should be avoided, as 'they are sheer poison'. They are called 'deadly'.

Scouts, and energy in general, have different colours.

Energy from our world have a 'whitish' glow on top, but underneith it has a layer of chartreuse followed by an amber layer.

Blue energy, as in the 'Blue Scout', doesn't sizzle, it wavers like energy from our world. Blue energy, however, does not exist naturally in our world.

The two first types scouts are pink or reddish, and the deadly type is bright orange.