SO WHAT IS AN INDIGO CHILD?

The phenomenon of the so-called, Indigo Children is an amazing tale.  Parents, teachers and child care facilitators from all over describe the attributes of children currently coming of age as representing a fundamental paradigm shift over what we have traditionally thought about children, their aspirations, and their future.  The great challenge for the rest of us is to encourage this extraordinary development as if it were the hope of the future -- which it likely is, inasmuch as children are fundamentally the lifeblood of the community.

At the same time, we must recognize that traditional methods of dealing with children, or the horrific drugging of authority-questioning young people with Ritalin, et al, can only lead to grief for them and everyone around them.  What is needed is a whole new system of nurturing what many will not even understand, and allowing without fear the emergence of a new Hierarchy of Values, arriving in the minds and feelings of the children.

Variously called the Indigo and Violet children, the Children of Oz, or the Sun Eyed Children of the Marvelous Dawn, this generation of young people seems to be a new species of humanity arising on Earth today.  They think differently, their emotional bodies process feelings differently, their energy bodies are capable of holding stronger soul vibrations, and they have a new vision to share.  They do not fit into mainstream society. Many of them appear to have special psychic and healing abilities, and [they] need special support to control and develop these gifts. 

The Indigo children generally seem to range in age from the teens into the thirties. “Among other attributes, the children relate easily to the rush of images of modern movies and communications and have no trouble understanding everything -- their information processing abilities sometimes breathtaking.  They are very sensitive children in tune with the pace of technological and future change, have few self-worth issues, absolutely no fear of authority, frustrated by systems that are non-creative and ritual oriented, and they want to do things in new and better ways.  They sometimes seem antisocial, and do not respond to guilt-inducing discipline techniques in school or at home. [emphasis added]  

“Many of these children are gifted souls. They combine the weird, inventive and futuristic energies of Uranus with the inspirational energies of Neptune. They have all sorts of patterns by which their behaviors are indicated - probably the most obvious is what we call ADHD or ADD.  However, they ought not be diagnosed as hyperactive, dyslexic and suffering from neurological disorders.  The astrologer Donna Cunningham in her excellent article entitled The Ritalin Generation, describes them as children who may be ‘wired’ differently from the rest of us.  She suggests that rather than having ADD and being described as hyperactive, it is more likely the previous generations (the rest of us) are to be considered hypoactive by comparison (Mountain Astrologer, April/May 2001).  

“The children elected as ‘Indigo’ by authors Carroll and Tober, in their book, The Indigo Children [Hay House, 1999] may be the ones who can best adjust to the future as it’s forming now with its vast high tech and mind expanding possibilities.  Only they have a nervous system wired for the immense unfolding of the next few decades, processing and acting upon astoundingly large amounts of information in very short spaces of time. This is why the new movie and TV advertisements don’t leave them mind-staggered like they do many of us.  The Indigo Children can be described as creative, independent, brilliant and self-governing.  Unfortunately it also means they do not fit in with today’s education systems which to many of these children, seem as unfulfilling as a discarded old piece of rag and as frustratingly slow as can be with non-responsive, entrenched authoritarianism.

“Many then are seen as difficult and overactive and are drugged out with Ritalin, et al and other pharmaceutical prescriptions to keep them limited to the older standards. Give them enlightened teachers who don’t have issues with authority themselves and they will thrive. Lock their minds up and they will rebel or refuse to cooperate and drop out.

Hierarchy of Values

Abraham Maslow has created a table of the opposing values of what he calls the “Old Paradigm of Protection Values” and the “Emerging Paradigm of Grown Values”.   Maslow’s Hierarchy of Values is a   significant contribution in our understanding of where the human race might actually be heading.  There is the sense in the growth of the Indigo Children, and into 2012 A.D., that such changing values may constitute a major factor in the salvation of the planet Earth -- and that strange, often arrogant species which currently inhabits it.  There is also the connection to a male patriarchal mode of thinking as the “Old Paradigm” and a more balance male-female sovereignty in the future.  The Paradigm Shift is thus more than merely the technological features of Paradigms, but one involving the very personal view we have of ourselves and our societies.

These changing values may also be available to anyone ready to make their own personal Descent into the Underworld, either in the form of experiencing a spiritual initiation or inadvertently (i.e. unconsciously) taking the path, blithely unaware.  In either case, it still gets you where you least expect it.

Old Paradigm of Protection Values		Emerging Paradigm of Growth Values
Safety:  Avoiding risk.  Protection via external restraints and constraints; Rules, burglar alarms, and borders to define the places safe from danger, "us" versus "them"; survival is a goal.		Spontaneity:  Freedom, Willingness to risk and move into the unknown, Survival is assumed.
Comfort:  Avoiding pain, threats to belief systems, or contradictions; Strive to maintain the status quo at all costs.		Meaning:  Willingness to confront life as it is, including uncomfortable contradiction and/or paradox.  Tolerance of ambiguity.
Image:  Meeting or exceeding cultural expectations; Conforming to norms and fitting oneself to the "job description"; Status and role valued.		Authenticity:  Meeting or exceeding one's own expectations; Willingness to diverge from cultural norms out of integrity and/or curiosity.  Flexibility;   Acceptance of other's nonconformity.
Self-control:  Ability to restrain one's emotional responses and control of the situation.  Repression of anger, fear, sexuality, sentiment.  Self-indulgent, an anesthetic against fear for people.		Self-knowledge:  Awareness of feelings and their role in behavior; Transformation of fear and anger thru self-understanding and trust; Inner confidence  from having let go of illusions and survived fear.
Ego defenses:  Protection of one's self-image by making others wrong or by rationalizing one's behaviors and beliefs.  Feeling right or righteous.		Vulnerability:  The "transparent self" that acknowledges its weakness and draws from its strong points.  It does not identify with the ego's need to be perfect.
Permanence:  Effort to memorialize or freeze the past. Longevity, preservation of traditions, long-range commitments, repeating and recalling past triumphs.		Potential:  Recognition of the dynamics and flux of life, the impossibility of holding the present moment; Belief that change represents possibility, a future whose capacity to surprise is relished, not feared.
Information:  Having answers, facts, training, experience, data; Being sure.		Insight:  Asking the right questions, eager to learn; Acceptance of uncertainty.
Adjustment:  Human beings are seen as limited in what they can accomplish; Effort if futile; Poverty, starvation and war are inevitable. Belief in human limitations, which excuses from effort.		Aspiration:  Human beings have built great cathedrals, flown to the moon.  Any of us might accomplish something beyond the ordinary; belief in unlimited human potential.
Power over others:  Being boss, top dog, judge, authority, or being helpless, manipulative, flattering, coercive.		Power with others:  Cooperation, mutual support, communications, alignment.
Feeling superior to others:  More attractive, intelligent, successful and/or harder working.  Protection from feeling inadequate by being special.		Feeling connected to others:  Total acceptance of oneself; Identifying with all human traits.
Freedom from responsibility:  Sense of impotence,Scapegoatology; What ever happened was the fault of others, social forces, and/or fate.  Feelings of Woundology.		Freedom in responsibility:  Sense of one's personal self-empowerment.  Past choices acknowledged, and sense of being able to choose in the future.  Power to change based on taking responsibility.

Clearly, we’re dealing with some very special children.   In many respects, the optimism of the world lies in the reality of a new species arriving on the third rock from the sun.  And just in time.  But it is essential that we get out of their way and let the new Paradigms arrive.

10 attributes that best describe the Indigo Child

• 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  don't 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 don't require creative thought.

• They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like rebels (nonconforming 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 you know what they need.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Because Indigo children are born knowing everything, they have easy access to the whole spectrum of what is known in the paranormal or psychic world. Because they know-and know that they know-they are less willing than others to filter out or deny these alternate realities. Many of these children sense the technology of the future. To them, our civilization seems as barbaric and superstitious as King Arthur's court. 

MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED