Indigo children

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Indigo children is a term used within the New Age movement to refer to children who are alleged to possess paranormal attributes such as the ability to read minds.

The Indigo child concept was first publicized in 1999 by the book The Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived, written by the husband-and-wife team of Lee Carroll and Jan Tober.^[1] Carroll insists that the concept was obtained via conversations with a spiritual entity known as Kryon.

The reason for the use of the adjective "indigo" is not universally agreed upon: some sources link it with an early researcher into the phenomenon, who was synesthetic. It has also been claimed that these children appear with an indigo-hued aura.

1 Environment and evolution
2 Characteristics
3 Reasoning
4 Claimed Indigo abilities
5 Critical interpretations
6 Scientific investigation
7 Education
8 Commercialization
9 In fiction
10 References
11 External links

[edit] Environment and evolution

The Indigo Child movement believes that the children in question are born with an empathic connection to Earth and others' thoughts. However, due to natural limits in infant communication, Indigo children's supposed abilities (empathy, telepathy, extra-sensory perception and extra-normal perception) are often suppressed by negative parental or societal influence. The Indigo Child movement therefore encourages parents to support those children in whom can be seen traits which are often labeled as negative by mainstream authorities but as positive by the Indigo Child.

[edit] Characteristics

Carroll and Tober identify ten attributes that they assert describe Indigo children[1]:

They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it).
They have a feeling of "deserving to be here," and are surprised when others do not share that.
Self-worth is not a big issue; they often tell the parents "who they are."
They have difficulty with absolute authority (authority without explanation or choice).
They simply will not do certain things; for example, waiting in line is difficult for them.
They get frustrated with systems that are ritually oriented and do not require creative thought.
They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like "system busters" (non-conforming to any system).
They seem antisocial unless they are with their own kind. If there are no others of like consciousness around them, they often turn inward, feeling like no other human understands them. School is often extremely difficult for them socially.
They will not respond to "guilt" discipline ("Wait till your father gets home and finds out what you did").
They are not shy in letting it be known what they need.

In her article^[2] Wendy H. Chapman (enlightenment teacher at and Director of Metagifted Education Resource Organization [2]) says that Indigo children will also display many of the following:

Have strong self esteem, connection to source
Have an obvious sense of self
Refuse to follow orders or directions
Get bored rather easily with assigned tasks
Are rather creative
Display strong intuition
Have either strong or no empathy for others
Develop abstract thinking very young
Are gifted and/or talented, highly intelligent
Are often identified or suspected of having ADHD
Are frequent daydreamers
Have very old, deep, wise looking eyes

Critics point out that these traits are not unique, and are observable in most children (see Critical interpretations below).

[edit] Reasoning

Adherents believe that this new type of child has come forward for a reason; most often suggested is that they will improve the world in some way. The changes generally discussed involve bringing peace, toppling corrupt institutions, and a shift from allopathic medicine to a greater understanding of more natural alternatives. Indigo children are said by proponents to be more in touch with something called the "Universal Truth", and do not tolerate or understand behaviors or systems that are not in harmony with it.

Indigo children are sometimes said to possess an extreme longevity, but given the birth dates above, experimental verifiability of this belief is impossible.

[edit] Claimed Indigo abilities

Many discussions of Indigo children in New Age literature (including Kryon literature) claim that Indigo children are born with part of their DNA activated that most people do not have activated. Some claim that it is junk DNA that they utilize to "swap out" higher-dimensional information, giving them special abilities.

These abilities are said to include purging HIV, advanced genius and psychic/telekinetic powers^[3]^[4] speaking to the dead.^[5] Further claimed abilities include:

Highly intelligent.
Often very creative.
Developmentally advanced in reading, walking, talking, etc.
Psychic/intuitive abilities.
Multi-dimensionally awareness; they perceive a broader range of reality.
Telepathic abilities.
They sense and feel energies from people or other living things (aura reading).
Telekinesis, etc. Moving objects with their mind energy and thought.
Awareness of scientific, historical, anthropological and spiritual knowledge not consciously learnt. Sometimes called 'knowledge bombs'.
Awareness of past lives.
Extremely empathic to all creatures, not just humans but animals and plants.
They can communicate with the unseen world, spirits and angels.
Multi-dimensional healing abilities.
Manifest unusual artwork, languages and scripts.
Dual consciousness; feeling part human and part extraterrestrial.
Have a sense of mission or higher purpose.

[edit] Critical interpretations

Some critics feel that it is possible to use the traits assigned to Indigo children as an observation of social trends, rather than as a signifier of a new race or form of consciousness. One such trend is more and more children are viewing magical/mystical TV shows and media that use new-age interpretable language. Coupled with how children feed off the media in their own natural fantasy play, such mystical make-believe could be unintentionally falsely re-interpreted as signs of preternatural knowledge, maturity or "higher consciousness".

An example of this emerged in a 2006 article in the Dallas Observer which covered the Indigo Child phenomenon.^[6] The reporter observed an eight year old boy named Dusk quizzed by a man on his "Indigo" status:

"Are you an indigo?" he asked Dusk. The boy looked at him shyly and nodded. "I'm an avatar," Dusk said. "I can recognize the four elements of earth, wind, water and fire. The next avatar won't come for 100 years." The man seemed impressed.

However, readers of the Dallas Observer wrote to inform the editor that Dusk may have been drawing on the Nickelodeon children's show Avatar: The Last Airbender. This highly rated television show features a twelve-year-old boy who is the reincarnation of the Avatar Spirit, has the power to manipulate (or "bend") earth, wind, water and fire, and was once frozen in suspended animation for 100 years. These similarities were not noted within the article, and the editor of the Dallas Observer later admitted they were not aware of the possible connection until several readers brought it to their attention.^[7]

Some skeptics are concerned that Indigo children might really be children who have special learning needs. They may have autism, Asperger's syndrome, non-verbal or even behavioural learning issues; by labeling children as "Indigo" such children do not get the services they need to succeed.

[edit] Scientific investigation

Skeptics point out that the Indigo movement seems to lack verifiable evidence to support its claims. Because of this, it is considered pseudoscience. Although some of the authors of Indigo literature have degrees in psychology, Indigo Child is not a recognized term in the field of psychology.

Indigo literature frequently talks about "university studies" and "interested scientists," but give no actual citations. However, according to scientists such as Russell Barkley, Indigo children are often the offspring of New Age parents. Exposed to New Age thinking, it would be unsurprising if the children possess a greater tendency to use New Age language than earlier generations. Having been told that the vast majority of children are now Indigos, New Age parents in fear of suppressing this special generation may be encouraging antisocial behaviors. It has been observed that many of the traits of Indigo children could be more prosaically interpreted as simple arrogance and selfish individualism.

Critics have also voiced concern that teaching children that they are Indigo will encourage children to adopt sociopathic behaviors, such as a sense of human superiority, alienation, and a "bizarre" paranormal identity. (See Indigo:The color of Money)

[edit] Education

Educators, generally, have not embraced the Indigo Child supposition. Some alternative educators have accepted the Indigo concept, and have related their mission to the needs of Indigo children.^[1]^[8] Philosophies that resonate with Indigos' style of learning may include experiential education, multiple intelligence strategies, project-based learning, unschooling, and student-centered learning^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Commercialization

There has been significant commercial value in book and video sales, donations, speaking engagements, and one-on-one counseling session fees to parents of "Indigo" children. In "Indigo: the color of money", an article on Skepticreport.com, Lorie Anderson has pointed out the potential commercial value of the "Indigo" concept for James Twyman, author of the video documentary, The Indigo Evolution. Numerous other commercial websites offer indigo-child-themed goods for sale such as books and new-age healing devices as well as videos and other media.

[edit] In fiction

Thirty years before the Indigo movement, the science fiction novel Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke featured the children of Earth beginning to display high intelligence and telekinetic abilities for the purpose of transitioning mankind to a higher plane of existence.

In 2003, a movie Indigo was released. The movie has grossed $1,190,000.^[9]

In the arcade-adventure computer game Fahrenheit (also known as Indigo Prophecy), an Indigo Child, Jade, is thought to be a prophet destined to bring some powerful truths into the world.

In the episode "The Unusual Suspect" of the television series CSI, a 12 year old girl named Hannah is said to be an Indigo Child. She claims responsibility for a murder of which her brother has been accused.

A film scheduled for March 23, 2007, release by New Line Cinema entitled The Last Mimzy featured two fictional children who develop abilities. The promotional website explains the concept of Indigo children briefly, tying the children featured in the film to this concept.

In the ABC Hit TV series Lost, the character Walt Lloyd played by Malcolm David Kelley shows abilities proper of an Indigo Child, including psychometric clairvoyance.

[edit] References

Redman, Deb (2001). "Investing in Adult Understanding of Special Children." Chicago: Project Legacy.
Lancaster, Dianne (2002). Anger and the Indigo Child. Boulder: Wellness Press.