Wild Things: Indigo Rising: Magical Children Surfing the Chaos

The Indigos have emerged to knock down the old outdated systems! They are warriors and they are on a mission! They create chaos everywhere they go. They can sense dishonesty a mile away and are unable to conform to dysfunctional situations within their homes, schools and work places!

Insights of an Indigo Mom
A Breath of Fresh Air
by Jenny McCarthy

In the past, whenever I would hear the word “balance” I immediately thought of a person who could stand on one leg for as long as possible without falling over. I wish to God it was that easy. Women have always juggled more than they can handle. Now, on a daily basis, we seem to be taking on more tasks than we can possibly accomplish; not only with our work, but also in our quest for enlightenment.

Now that I’m a single mom, the pressures in my life seem to be greater than ever. Financial security, cleaning the house, raising a crystal boy, and managing a love life have made me exhausted and burned out at times. It seemed like I was balancing it all. Recently, I was amazed when I realized that nothing was actually in balance. I would usually turn all of my attention to one thing and obsessively take care of it, until I was so tired of it that I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew if I wanted to continue being enlightened, this part of my life had to change. Little did I know that the quest of helping my son and I was causing my life to become more unbalanced than it had ever been.

I was doing my usual research on environmental toxicities and found myself so obsessed with it that I once again lost sight of everything else. I learned about chemicals that are used in pajamas, such as flame retardants, and the toxic levels our children inhale throughout the night. I immediately got rid of anything that was flame retardant, including his mattress. This was followed by installing organic carpeting in his bedroom, and placing air filters in every room. Someone then told me I needed to change the paint in his bedroom to nontoxic paint. So I was at the store five minutes later buying paint that was edible, and then stayed up half the night painting the bedroom walls. I changed the pool water to Ozone, and even had a chakra balancing done on my house. What finally pushed me completely over was when I found out about electromagnetic toxicity. Computers, speakers, radio alarm clocks, even mirrors were giving off electromagnetic toxicity. If someone could have taken a picture of me during this time in my life they would have seen the bags under my eyes and a burned out looking 33-year-old woman. Sometimes it takes getting burned out to wake up and realize that even doing too much of a good thing is not always good.

Am I happy I did all of those things? Absolutely! In future columns I will discuss the details, but my message in all this is to stop and evaluate what is necessary for you and your family. Information we receive is important, but don’t kill yourself while trying to make your own environment into a feng-shui, nontoxic, green, spiritual sanctuary. Now, whenever my life becomes overloaded with information, I simply walk into my back yard and take my shoes off and stand on the grass and breathe. I’ve learned my sanctuary is my spirit and I go back to it and remember this comes first and all the rest will fall into place in due time.

I know most of you women who read this article are also on a quest for a better, cleaner world. Just be sure you take time for yourself, even if you must ask your husband to take the car pool this week, so you too can stand in your yard and breathe in some fresh air. A balanced mom can move through life with grace and peace. Thank God, I have finally found it. I hope you join me.

Jenny McCarthy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenny McCarthy was best known as host of the enormously popular series MTV's Singled Out. She currently is the New York Times bestselling author of Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy, and Childbirth and Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood, and her new book Life Laughs is about the comedic experiences with marriage, modern motherhood and moving on. She happily lives in California with her beautiful son Evan.

http://www.childrenofthenewearth.com/

Indigo–E.T. Connection: The
Future of Indigo Children
Beyond 2012 and Planet X

Marshall Masters
Are You an Indigo?
Book Detail — Look Inside
Indigos are awaking in great numbers to the gentle call of a living universe. Some are cherished and nurtured, but most are forced to struggle with the emotional pain of misunderstanding. Yet, each will feel the same need to explore their own 'Indigo-ness' and their own destiny of evolution and contact.

Indigos are here to help humanity achieve its oldest dream — universal harmony. They will do it by living in service-to-others in the hope of seeing humanity overcome its service-to-self failings. When that happens, our civilizations will no longer grow quickly, erode slowly and then die suddenly. Rather, they will last and they will know love.

“For those of us who recognize the strain of ‘Indigo-ness’ in us, it is compelling.”—John Overton, Indigo Elder

“A worthwhile contribution to the expanding literature on this topic." —Michael A. Cremo, Human Devolution, Forbidden Archeology Read More

As we evolve, off-world races will freely contract us, and Indigos will become our honest liaisons, for they will instinctively know friend from foe. All are born to this role, but not all are destined to fulfill it. This book is dedicated to those who do, and it offers helpful suggestions for future encounters.

Are You an Indigo?

The term "Indigo" describes the hue of the aura (life energy color) that surrounds an Indigo, according to psychic Nancy Ann Tappe, but this is not the only measure. An Indigo will also possess a high IQ, an indomitable sense-of-self and a strong psychic intuition. Born to a natural knowing of things, they quickly sense goodness, compassion, evil intent and crisis in others.

How do true Indigos define themselves? Through their feelings.

Do these questions sound familiar?

Am I a recent genetic freak of nature, as the "experts" suggest?
Why am I so out-of-sync with this materialistic, consumption-driven society about me?

Why, when all I crave is oneness with the universe, do others subjugate me with emotional abuse and drugs?

Is there any purpose to my life that can possibly justify all this emotional pain?
The true Indigo instinctively knows that the answers to such questions are found within. Only in this way, can they resonate completely. Regrettably, the quest within is all-to-often marked by the loneliness and emotional pain caused by those who do not understand Indigos, or worse yet, fear them. Still, each Indigo must eventually accept the responsibility of his or her own knowledge quest as no two are exactly alike.

For this reason, the author wrote this book in the hope of giving comfort to young Indigos, by sharing knowledge gained through his own quest. It is also to say to every Indigo, "Each of us follows a different quest, but we all feel and understand your pain. Put it aside and revel in your 'Indigo-ness' and know that you are not alone!"

http://yowusa.com/store/ietc/1.shtml

Indigo Society, Online Community for the Indigo Children Phenomenon

Indigo Society Launched

Los Angeles, CA, December 01, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- The New Age movement calls them the Indigo, Crystal or Rainbow children and adults. Researchers, authors, and teachers have tried to describe the Indigo Phenomenon with a variety of tests and lists of "symptoms," which include high intelligence, psychic and alternative healing abilities, difficulties adapting in traditional educational models, and those misdiagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome or ADD/ADHD. They are said to have deep and compelling eyes and children are said to possess wisdom "beyond their years."

The launch of a new group, Indigo Society, is looking to change these rather vague and even "gimmicky" ideas into a real world movement.

Indigo Society ( www.indigosociety.com ) is adding new members at record speed. Members include musicians, artists and photographers, programmers, those gifted in physics, mathematics disciplines, philosophy, geomancy, even in energetic healing, psychic abilities, and coupled with a synthesis and new understanding of world religions, mysticism, esotericism.

This is a defining moment in human history: people born with or "awakening to" their genius, a multidimensional and multidisciplinarian approach to problem solving. This genius, members of Indigo Society insist, is readily available in all humans and they are here to be at the forefront of this new awareness.

Members of Indigo Society are examining societal norms and values, such as consumerism, health and nutrition, healing, traditional education, the environment, interpersonal relations, architecture, politics, war and aggression, a philosophical approach to the truth of being human - giving a unique and promising advantage to societal problem solving in the 21st century. This will be a synergetic approach, which is sorely needed in our day and age.

What exactly is this all about? An evolutionary imperative in the face of world wide socio-political and environmental issues? A prophesied "special time on earth," an example of the potentials of human imagination reaching its 'outer limits'? Indigo Society is exploring these concepts and working to collectively state this "New Age Gimmick" is very much a real phenomenon, one that is full of hope and promise...and practicality.

The group's founder, Daniel Fischer, says it is about spreading a "New Awareness." This awareness promises to change the face of the world as we know it. Vague terms and idealistic promises heard before! What makes this group different?

One of the group's developers says that this will be the first group of its kind. A collective of children and adults who classify themselves as being Indigos, Star Kids, Crystals or other catchphrases -- are working to get past notions of 'specialness' and put that concept to the real world test: Doing Something.

She says, "This group is extremely focused on developing a vision and making a practical application of that vision to the real world. I am amazed at the level of maturity of these young people and their ability to approach these issues with an impressive level of awareness, wisdom and knowledge. We are looking forward to the projects these kids and adults would like to execute, and will do whatever it takes to support this vision to its completion."

This is an invitation to the media, investors, people interested in this phenomenon, those who classify themselves as Indigos, and group mentors to join the group and help spread this New Awareness on behalf of the Indigo Society.

http://indigosociety.com
Daniel Fischer
daniel@indigosociety.com

http://www.metagifted.org/topics/metagifted/indigo/

WATCH THE VIDEO

Super kids: Indigo kids debate

By: Ivanhoe Newswire

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Little Kai looks and talks like any other 3-year-old.

"I like to play chicken games and another game about tigers," he said. But his mother, Lon Bloomfield, says he has supernatural gifts ... and remembers past lives.

"Maybe about a year ago, he told me, 'Remember Mom, when I was your dad?'" Lon said.

Do you know a child like this?

Smart, intuitive, sensitive, strong-willed, and full of energy, they're often called "Indigo children" -- a popular label for kids who are especially gifted. Many psychologists and parents believe these children have psychic powers and are more evolved.

Smart, intuitive, sensitive, strong-willed, and full of energy, they're often called "Indigo children" -- a popular label for kids who are especially gifted.

Shannon Parsons says her four kids are also Indigos. "They're always talking about when they were in heaven and what they knew and who they knew," she said.

Her 7-year-old son Chandler frequently talks to an imaginary friend he says he met in heaven ... "We talk about everything in the world," Chandler added, "[like] what he did on his vacation."

Parapsychologist Nancy Ann Tappe was the first to describe these children more than 20 years ago. She says they're called Indigo because of the dark blue aura that surrounds them. And she believes Indigos are more evolved than past generations.

"They're straight-talkers," Tappe, formerly of San Diego State University and currently represented by Spelling Publishers, explained.

"They don't want to be talked down to. They'll catch you at three if you do."

She says you can recognize Indigo children by their large, clear eyes. Other Indigo traits:

• High IQs
• Self-confidence
• Resistance to authority

Tappe continued, "These children demand to be individualistic. It's not a request." She says scientists know humans and animals can evolve over time, but Indigo children are evolving at an unusually fast pace -- what she calls "quantum evolution."

But psychologist Russell Barkley, Ph.D., of Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, says Indigo is just a cover-up for behavior problems like ADHD or bipolar disorder. He said, "It is possible that some parents who have children with psychiatric problems would like them to have a label that is more socially acceptable, more uplifting and positive."

Dr. Barkley says there's no scientific evidence to support Indigos. "These kinds of nonsensical and lunatic fringe ideas literally do prey on the desperation of other people," he said. "And in that sense, I find them morally reprehensible."

But many parents do believe their kids have special gifts. Integral Elementary School/Rainbow Kids Integral Preschool in La Jolla, California -- one of a few emerging schools designed specifically for Indigo children -- has more than 100 attendees.

"They need more stimulation because they're two steps ahead of where we are," Integral Co-Founder Carla Gerstein, said.

Shannon and Lon's children all attend the school. They say their children need to be treated differently.

"[Kai] does not do well if I order him around," Lon said. "So, I've gotten in the habit of talking to him almost like an adult."

They say raising an Indigo is a challenge, but it's one they're prepared to take on -- even if others aren't convinced. "You can be a skeptic all you want, but they're here," Shannon added. "They're here. They're now, and it doesn't matter what you call them. They're different and everybody knows it!"

Special gifts or special problems? That's for you to decide.

http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=95606&SecID=2

What is an indigo Child?

As a summary, here are the ten attributes that best describe this new kind of child, 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 "system busters" (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.

and... just in case you heard otherwise from other "indigo" sources, the designated word "Indigo" has nothing to do with the color of an aura! It is the result of scientific observations by a woman who has the brain disorder called synesthesia.

http://www.indigochild.com/readthis.html

Who are these Indigo and Crystal Children?
Am I one? How can I help my own child who seems to be one?
Indigo and Crystal Phenomena: ADD and ADHD Children
by Lisa Whatley

Natural Therapies
Aromatherapy, herbals, acupuncture, magnets, support wraps & other holistic remedies now sold on-line at Natural Health Shop.

Who are these Indigo and Crystal Children? Am I one? How can I help my own child who seems to be one?

There are many things that we can do to help these new breed of children, but the most important thing to know is that the Indigo/Crystal phenomenon is the next big step in our human evolution. We all are, in some way or another, becoming more like the Indigo and Crystal people. The more one chooses to consciously work towards change, the faster the results will be for that individual. This new breed of children (which truly isn't all that new, just massive amounts now) has come to show us the way as we have forgotten. They are our mirrors. Which simply means they mirror what is inside of us, all that needs to change in order to evolve or raise our consciousness. They have come here to help change the vibrations of our lives and to create peace, balance and harmony.

Therefore, the Indigos have emerged to knock down the old outdated systems! They are warriors and they are on a mission! They create chaos everywhere they go. They can sense dishonesty a mile away and are unable to conform to dysfunctional situations within their homes, schools and work places. Gone are the days of threatening "wait till your father gets home," or "you'll be suspended," the Indigos don't care! They have inner-lie detectors and will not be manipulated nor fall for hidden agendas. They are very head strong and do not like to be told what to do, nor do they want to do it your way. If we do not break out of our old control habits, threat habits or any other destructive behavior, they will show us that we must learn new methods in order for peace to prevail! This is done through heart connections, with love. They simply do not have the ability to disassociate from their feelings and pretend that everything is okay. They respond the best to all situations when they are treated like a respected adult. If we are acting childish in a manipulating, hurtful way, they will mirror back to us our own behavior. This causes more frustration within ourselves than it does within them! Their goal is for US to change, not them. Their horns toot "Treat others as you would want to be treated!" They are not shy in letting you know exactly what they need. Watch them. They have no hidden agenda. They are our teachers!

The Indigos are creating chaos with the end result being a peaceful, loving world. Many, but not all Indigos are labeled by the medical world as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or more commonly known as ADD/ADHD because they can't be still, they can't focus, they bore easily, they are impulsive and they do things super fast. Giving them medication is not the answer! That is once again a control factor not to mention all the detrimental health problems including death that occurs from these types of medications. Indigo and Crystal children are extremely intelligent and need their minds stimulated with things they enjoy to do. They have amazing memories and are gifted souls with an evolved consciousness. They need to be taught in a different way, through subjects they love that stimulate their whole beings! We are moving beyond the mind and into the heart. These Indigo children will not conform to the old ritual text book teachings. This system is old and needs to be replaced. They are trying to show the teachers of the school systems that they need a new way of learning. This is beginning to happen.

How can you tell if you are an Indigo? A good way to "test" yourself is to answer the following:

Are you always searching for your greater purpose in life but feel like the world isn't set up for your kind?

Do you feel wise beyond your years?

Do you have trouble conforming to the ways of society?

Do you feel out of place in today's world?

Do you perceive the world very differently than most people around you?

Do you have strong intuition about certain things that most others do not?

Do you often feel misunderstood when you try to talk to people about what's real?

Do you feel like you were born to accomplish a special mission in life?

Do you feel isolated and alone in your beliefs?

Misunderstood by family? Perhaps the black sheep of the family?

Do you feel anti-social unless you are with people of like mind?

Are you emotionally sensitive?

Did you have a difficult childhood?

Do you often feel disempowered by too much authority?

If you can answer yes to these questions, then you are most likely an Indigo. If you want outside validation than you may want to find a person who has honed the gift of clairvoyance, the gift of seeing what most people do not. The clairvoyant person while looking at you or tuning into your energy field, will be able to tell if you are Indigo or not by the color of your aura which is the invisible energy field surrounding your physical body. You can also have an aura photo taken to see for yourself your own colors.

So what can I do to help my child?

Through my own experience, I have learnt that it is extremely important to have harmonious energy within our environments, to stay grounded and keep shielded. I believe if this small piece of advice hit mainstream schools it would make a huge difference in all the kids' temperaments! I am an Indigo/Crystal and a single mom or four Indigo/Crystal children and know first hand that if the energy within our home is 'off' the children are wild! They will be much more aggressive towards one another, more fighting, crying and very restless. They have more temper tantrums and mood swings and refuse any kind of authority! When the home is energetically balanced, they are much more relaxed, calm, gentle and peaceful. Ahh, normal kids!

Leaving our energetically balanced, sacred space to go out into public places, un-protected is a living nightmare! The change within my children's temperament is like watching Jekyll and Hyde! Onlookers or unaware people would perceive this to be children that are wild or have had way too much sugar or more commonly "the mother has no control." My oldest child especially is affected. He's ten and has been diagnosed as 'ADHD.' When we finally get back inside our vehicle and start the drive home, they all will have begun to calm down. (I have adjusted the energy of our vehicle to be harmonious as well.) Not long after we have entered our house, usually they have begun to 'crash'. It's similar to a sugar high, they are at their peak of explosion in public because of the denser energies and when they get back into their own frequency they start to burn out because of the chaos their bodies have experienced! Talk about detrimental to their health. I have provided a list of things below that work wonderfully well for us in creating our sacred environment and other things to empower my Indigo/Crystal Kids.

BREATHE! Breathing moves energy. When they are frustrated, scared, hyper, etc. ask them to Stop and Breathe deeply. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Tell them to really exert the out blow, like blowing out your anger! Make it fun and do it with them.

Smudge your home to help clear the distracting vibrations. This needs to be done immediately after a blow up of any sort and on a regular basis. Make it part of your house cleaning routine! I smudge a lot, sometimes daily depending upon what the kids have picked up from school. This truly makes an amazing difference!

Staying 'Grounded' is very important. There are many methods of how this is done. I personally like something that is fast and easy to do. Intention and visualizing are quick easy methods and can be done in a second at anytime, without anyone even noticing! The first thing I do is ask Gaia (Mother Earth) her permission for my grounding cord to enter the core of her being. Then I visualize a clear cord or clear rope coming from my root chakra (tail bone area) and entering Gaia. It grows in length, and continues to grow until it has been fully anchored into the core of Gaia. This grounding cord releases negative energy and also brings in positive energy. Set your intention to send all the negative energy down this cord, physically exhale, releasing it into Gaia. After the negative energy has all been released, with intention bring up the positive life-giving earth energy with a physical inhale. Thank Gaia and do not worry that this will hurt her, it doesn't! Have your kids make a monkey chain cord. It's the intention that works!

Staying 'Shielded' is also very important. Indigos and Crystals are extremely sensitive. Their highly tuned energy fields pick up negative emotions and environmental energy from their surroundings like a sponge which cause severe mood swings. Imagine being in a room where there are four depressed people, three angry people and the room itself has not been energetically cleared from all the emotional yuck for years! The Indigo unknowingly will pick up all this energy and take it on as their own! And people wonder why they are labeled as ADHD! Teach them to create and surround themselves with the "bubble of white light" protection every morning! This repels the negative energy around them but allows the positive energy to enter. The bubble would look like a soap bubble with them inside of it.

EXERCISE. It is important for exercise to remain a part of all of our lives, but this also helps the Indigo/Crystal Children to rid themselves of excess energy as their nervous systems are wired differently than others. Excellent exercise outlets to release what they are holding in their emotional, mental, physical and spiritual bodies are: Martial Arts, Yoga, Karate, Tai-Chi, Dance Classes, Running, Skipping, Gymnastics: Anything they love that gets them moving!

Bring nature indoors. Lots of beautiful plants, rocks, crystals, waterfalls, aquariums etc.

A quiet space with no electrical equipment in the room. This is a room for them to just BE. Do whatever they love to do in their quiet time. Be it art work, read, puzzles, Lego blocks, etc.

Nightly baths in sea salt. Be sure to drink extra water as this pulls toxins from the physical body and also clears negative energies from the energetic body.

Put sea salt on their names with their permission. The salt pulls out all the negative energies that no longer serve them. Let this sit for 24 hours, and then dump the salt into the toilet.

The removal of all artificial scents is a must! Use only the highest quality oils and unscented beeswax candles.

Play dolphin, orca, and angelic relaxing music. Screaming chaotic music is only going to disturb their energy.

Keep all electrical stuff out of their bedrooms. They simply can't tolerate the very dangerous electromagnetic waves these devices send out. This will help them sleep deeply and peacefully.

Be honest with them at all times with no manipulation about all things, toning it down to their age level. If you don't you will have a war on your hands!

Reiki Energy Healing, Sound Healing, and other alternative healing methods are recommended for healing, balancing, rejuvenating and empowering not just Indigos but all of us!

We are moving into a wonderful new world where peace will reside! That's a beautiful thing.

Lisa Whatley www.InfinityLightHealing.com an Indigo/Crystal Adult, Master Energy Facilitator, Writer, Mother of four Indigo/Crystal children and Spiritual Ascension Life Coach interweaves body, mind and spirit into her work. Lisa's spiritual path and connection with God has led her to a place of knowing that all things are possible! She has helped many people change their lives using the same self-empowerment teachings that helped to transform her own life, helping them find peace, joy and stability. She currently offers energetic sessions for DNA Activation, Clearing, Healing, Balancing, Spiritual Growth, Enlightenment and Life Coaching. She resides in the beautiful countryside of Northern Ontario, Canada.

http://www.indigochild.net/

Edgar Cayce on the Indigo Children
Understanding Psychic Children

Peggy Day and Susan Gale
Paperback - 186 pgs

According to American mystic Edgar Cayce, groups of amazing and unusual individuals would begin to incarnate on earth late in the twentieth century and beyond. They would come to be called Indigo Children.

These children can be categorized into three different groups:
Psychic, Indigo, and Crystal, each having his or her own amazing gifts and talents.

This book shows how these children can be recognized and nurtured as the special people they truly are. The authors also share research and stories about these incredible souls and discuss the many facilities and groups that work to cultivate the children.

http://www.edgarcayce.org/indigo_children_books.htm

Alien-ated Youth
They're the next step in human evolution. But they're just like everybody else.

BY DYLAN OTTO KRIDER

Jeff Fitlow

At first glance, they look like perfectly ordinary first-graders scribbling feverishly on the blackboard, but there is something striking about the boy's deep blue eyes that suggests a maturity well beyond his years. Jake's in advanced classes and already reading at a third-grade level. Jan is the quiet one, but has a presence that immediately draws attention. Her predilection is toward art, though at the moment she is choosing to write math equations on the board, erasing them as soon as she's completed each of her computations.

Jake's mother is a teacher at this Baytown-area school, and worries that he may be ostracized by his peers if word ever gets out about his special gifts. "He questions everything because he wants to know," she says as her son draws a picture of a lollipop tree. "The questions he asks are not even age-appropriate."

These children tend to know things without ever being taught or told. Jake's companion Jan "can use a compound bow very well," says the girl's grandmother, Jill Spence. "She can shoot a BB gun; she goes fishing." It just came naturally to her, Spence says. She can't explain it.

They go by many names, such as Star Kids, Indigos or Crystalline Children. Whatever they're called, believers say this group of prodigies started appearing about 30 years ago and may now make up as much as 90 percent of the population under ten. They also exhibit strange side effects, like a higher resistance to pollutants but an increased sensitivity to sugar and food additives. These are babies born with an inherent knowledge of art, language and spirituality, possessing an impressive wealth of wisdom. Some will even go so far as to say these kids are not only prime candidates for the gifted and talented program, but the next step in human evolution.

Parents and those who study these children have been asking themselves why here? Why now? Theories about their origins range from spirits entering from other planes and dimensions to chosen ones delivered from heaven. Some even suggest aliens have been abducting and manipulating the DNA of these children and their parents to prepare us for when they make their presence known. The one thing all these groups do agree on is that the kids are out there, and they're coming to teach us a lesson.

The term Indigo Child was coined 17 years ago by Nancy Ann Tappe, a parapsychologist who developed a system for classifying people's personalities according to the hue of their auras, described in her 1982 book, Understanding Your Life Through Colors. According to her, auras have been entering and exiting Earth throughout history. For example, aura colors such as fuchsia and magenta disappeared from the gene pool 100 years ago (though she was recently shocked to find a fuchsia living in Palm Springs). It stood to reason that a new life color was about to make an appearance.

Tappe was unable to find the new color scheme until a baby was born with a heart murmur at a children's hospital in San Diego whom she recognized as being dark blue. The child died six weeks later, but more and more indigo-colored personalities began to appear in the '80s, and their numbers were clearly rising.

But it was the 1999 book The Indigo Children, by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, that popularized the idea of the next generation. Carroll was an economics major who ran a technical audio business for 30 years until a visit to a psychic prompted a New Age midlife crisis. He found religion and started traveling around the world giving "self-help" seminars. Accompanying him was Tober, a practitioner of metaphysics and hands-on healing as well as a jazz singer who had toured with Benny Goodman and Fred Astaire. The genesis of the book came when they began noticing similar accounts of strange behavior in children from teachers, counselors and psychologists who attended their seminars. As they began to look into these occurrences, they found kids were indeed being born with an "unusual set of psychological attributes" and displaying "a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before." Using a collection of essays and interviews from experts in the field -- mostly counselors working in such New Age areas as Angel Therapy and alternative medicines -- the book focuses on raising an Indigo Child. Some of the main attributes they describe are a sense of "deserving to be here" and "knowing who they are," difficulty with authority, a dislike of activities that don't require creative thought and a feeling of royalty (and acting like it).

The peculiarities of Jake and Jan (their families asked that their real names not be used) were apparent from an early age. As a toddler, Jan sometimes spoke using her own language. Instead of "cookie," she would say "cookah" and refused to call a sandwich anything but a "phonic." Odder still, she didn't begin speaking until she was three years old. For Jake's part, he had trouble grasping the concept that he was not in charge. "He has to be told," Jake's mother says. "He doesn't think he needs permission." Spence noticed a similar idiosyncrasy in her granddaughter. "You have to coax her to do her homework," she says.

As proof of Jan's exceptional talent, her grandmother pulls out an example of her artwork, a crayon drawing of a rainbow, stick family and M-shaped birds flying in the sky. "Most all of her pictures are rainbows," Spence says, noticing a theme running throughout her work. She feels that must have something to do with Jan's ability to see auras. She also points out the plant Jan drew with watermelons, pears and other fruit growing on it. "God told her that was how plants were going to grow."

Jan doesn't quite agree. "I just made it up," she says. Like many Indigos, she's very shy about discussing her abilities. Once she has drawn for a few minutes, Jan feels comfortable enough to talk. She admits she feels she's different "when Satan tries to come in my head." Most of the time, she says, Satan tries to come in at night. (Indigos often receive their visions through dreams.) Jan shrugs when asked what sorts of information she receives, and continues to draw. She says she knows she's an Indigo because "my mother told me."

Jake found out he was an Indigo when his mother read a book on the subject. His mother's psychic recently told him he might even be higher than that, something called a Crystalline Child. "I think she was telling me so I could understand him better," she says. What he needs to do in this world, she says, is to learn to be human. "Once he can conquer that, then he can teach and he can heal, and that's the struggle." The hardest part about raising an Indigo, she says, is not getting the chance to be parents. She starts to recount one epiphany she had when her son realized some insects he caught had a mother and father.

"You said that," Jake objects. "You're the one who said it had a mother and father."

"I wasn't in your classroom," his mother says.

"You told me."

"He's always talking about God," Jake's mother continues. "But it's not questioning -- he knows." Yet she had never taken him to church. What's more, he remembers his past lives. "He's always talking about his other mother, his other fathers and siblings, and he'll tell you how they died," Jake's mother says. Just the other day, Jake said he didn't want to hurt her feelings, but that his other mother was prettier.

Jake runs into the school bathroom, slams and locks the door. "I'm not making fun of you," his mother calls after him. If she doesn't talk about him, she explains through the door using her most soothing voice, "there won't be other people who understand who you are, and who Jan is, and what it's like to try and help." After a few moments, she says that Jake probably feels she's betrayed his trust, since he doesn't want other people knowing about his gifts. "His teacher can't teach him. His speech teacher can't teach him. His occupational therapist can't teach him."

Jackie Brahm, a local "medical intuitive" who counsels Indigos, says it's not uncommon for their parents to have no control over them. Because they're so advanced, the kids don't feel like they have to obey. According to Brahm, this is why many Indigos get misdiagnosed as having ADD or ADHD. "They don't know how to process all the energy that's coming through, so they overload and react fairly badly to it."

Through her practice, Brahm has been able to hone her abilities for spotting these special children, and says she's been seeing an increasing number of them in public places. She found one three-year-old Indigo recently at a museum, critiquing one of the paintings on the wall. When the mother asked her how she could know, the girl explained that she used to be a "master." But when the mother asked if she would like to take up painting and demonstrate some of the abilities she learned in a past life, the girl thrust her hands on her hips, and said, "I told you, I was a master, I don't need to do it again."

Similarly, Jan refuses to do her homework because it's boring. She often objects by saying, "I know already. You don't have to tell me."

"They do not agree with the way society runs things," Brahm explains. "They think we're kind of stupid, that we've screwed things up." Brahm says that behavioral problems usually lie with the parents. To help, Brahm suggests including the children in the decision-making process, even allowing them to determine the punishments they should receive for infractions.

Kevin Krull, an adjunct assistant professor who runs clinical research on cognitive deficits at Texas Children's Hospital, sees a potential danger in misdiagnosing kids as Indigo. Youngsters with ADD who are not treated, he says, can experience declines in IQ and academic performance, and they have an increased rate of drug use.

Though Krull admits there has been a recent increase in children's IQ scores, there are a number of explanations, such as greater access to computers, the way tests are administered, and better nutrition and education. In general, he hasn't noticed any peculiar trends among children other than a slight curvature in their spines due to the increased use of backpacks.

Krull agrees that teaching kids they are capable and special can be positive, as long as they are not taught they're better than anybody else. Giving a child too much leeway or too little guidance can cause problems because the last thing to develop in the brain is the ability for abstract reasoning and planning, he explains. Some people don't fully develop that until the age of 30, he says. "Children don't have the ability to take all of the knowledge of life into account." For that, they need parents to guide them.

Behavioral problems sometimes develop in children as a result of the unrealistic expectations of their parents. Krull has seen many parents complain that their kids aren't reaching their full potential because they're bored in school. But he says this is often because children might decide that not doing homework is better than doing their best and getting only average grades. They often become underachievers, rebel or internalize their frustrations until they become depressed. "Everybody's child is gifted according to every parent," Krull says. "But most are normal, unfortunately."

Back at the Baytown school, Jake finally wanders out of the bathroom and walks straight over to the chalkboard. "I'm just not going to talk to anyone anymore," he says. "My mom is lying." The reason he's upset, he says, is his mother broke her promise not to tell people his secrets. "Remember I told you I had a girlfriend?" he says. She told his best friend, after promising not to.

"As a parent, he's my biggest teacher," Jake's mother says. "We're not raising him. He's raising us."

If the older Indigos are any indication, the future of these children is very much in doubt. Spence's daughter, who was an Indigo, had Jan at the age of 15. Because of her daughter's problems with drugs and alcohol, Spence took over rearing Jan when she was only six weeks old. Brahm's son, who is one of the first Indigos, was at the head of his class until the ninth grade, when he began to feel like he couldn't continue functioning in normal society. He stopped participating in school and started to fail his classes, eventually turning to drugs and alcohol.

"He took 100 hits of acid and opened up the whole universe," Brahm explains. Now he's an auto mechanic with a wife and two Indigo kids. Though working on cars doesn't appear to be the career that will bring the human race to the next state of consciousness, Brahm now believes her son's main purpose was simply to bring her grandchildren, who are the real teachers. She admits that her son and daughter-in-law, a fundamentalist Christian, don't agree that he's an Indigo.

Jay Batten is the mother of a 19-year-old restaurant manager who also will not admit being an Indigo. "He's a football player," she says, suggesting he might fear it's too sissy to admit his true nature. Indigos are also highly susceptible to peer pressure. "Mostly he just thinks I'm strange," she says. She believes her 12-year-old daughter will be the real teacher.

Brahm says that when Indigos become teenagers, they often lose many of their abilities as they attempt to conform. Unless they're raised correctly, a lot of their spiritual knowledge is lost.

The main sanctuary for Indigos and their families is an eclectic store in Galveston called Janet's Planet, which sells everything from books and furniture to cats and crystals. Batten works in the store, and she and Brahm offer New Age classes there. Owner Janet Dee has been known to have a soft spot for homeless kids, whom she often lets hang out in the store. Almost all of them, she says, are Indigos. One homeless Indigo youth, William Wolf, has a lot of "bad energy," Dee says, and sometimes he has to be asked to leave the Planet. (She confirms she's referring to the store.) Wolf once told Dee that all "cats and Jews" should die. "I own cats, and my good friend is Jewish," Dee says. She has been doing her best to show Wolf a "more joyous path."

"One fucking negative thing appears in the Houston Press, and I will personally track you down and beat the living shit out of you," Wolf says before wandering off toward the back of the store.

"William's a little intense," says Justin English, a 19-year-old who frequents the shop.

"Justin's one of our Indigos," Dee explains.

"What's an Indigo?" English asks, though he seems to like the idea.

Many homeless Indigos do drugs and steal, Dee explains, because they just don't know how to adapt to society's strange, alien ways. Brahm recounts the time she counseled a little Indigo boy who wanted to shoot people because he didn't think anyone could stop him. Brahm explained to him that yes, he could shoot people, but he'd be put in jail. "They don't put little kids in jail," the boy said, but Brahm told him that oh, yes, they do. As long as they understand there's a consequence for everything they do, Brahm explains, they behave. Just be careful to phrase it as an explanation, not an order.

Not all Indigos have such a rough time. Rachel Stegall is 26 years old with a bachelor's degree in marine biology and works in a lab at University of Texas Medical Branch. With Brahm's help, she discovered that she was one of the early Indigos. "I always felt I was different," she says. "I always felt more comfortable in nature than with people." She always had a fascination with things from the past, particularly medieval weapons, and yearned to return to the Middle Ages because she wanted to "remember someplace that was happy." She also loved to collect crystals, stones and fossils, and without anyone having to tell her, she instinctually knew that if she put the stones on her cat while it was purring, the vibrations would heal bones. "I always knew I had knowledge I didn't have," she says. "I'm starting to let it fill in."

Discovering she was an Indigo made everything seem to fall into place. "It makes me believe in myself more," she says. Last summer during a boat trip to the Amazon, she decided her purpose was to teach people about protecting whales and the tropical rain forest.

If there's a message she could pass on to other Indigos, it would be that it's "okay to be who you are and to do what you are here to do. That you have a purpose."

As to whether an alien intelligence is behind these unusual children, everyone involved is much more coy. "Nobody really knows," Batten says. "This is a really interesting question."

"I'm guessing maybe alien," Jake's mother says. Brahm might have mentioned something about her son coming from the planet Pleiades. "I don't know. I don't understand all of that."

"I don't know where souls come from. I don't remember," Brahm says, but she will say there are "six places on my genes that are not technically human." Any chance of getting a look at some of that blood work? "I'm not letting them take blood again. I will not become the object of investigation. I worked at a hospital. I know what they do."

The introduction to Carroll and Tober's book An Indigo Celebration, published last year, proclaims somewhat incredulously that readers of their first book "actually concluded that we were promoting the fact that these new children on Earth were space aliens!" A brief browse through their Indigo Children Web site certainly shows how people might have come to that conclusion.

There's a link to the sister site www.kryon.com that gives a better idea of the kind of self-help seminars Tober and Carroll are conducting. The site contains transcripts of messages channeled through Carroll from a higher being named Kryon. Carroll is credited as one of only nine channels in the world working "in the service of Kryon." Each channeling begins with the greeting "This is Kryon of Magnetic Service," directed to his followers, whom he refers to as Lightworkers. The messages contain instructions for communicating with spirit, healing and reaching the next "level." Carroll is also the author of several Kryon books, including Don't Think Like a Human.

A competing but similar proponent of the idea of highly evolved children is Richard Boylan, a retired social worker and hypnotherapist who works with what he calls Star Kids. He thinks the proponents of Indigos are noticing the same phenomenon but have taken it a bit too far with the New Age stuff. Boylan instead believes parents are being abducted by aliens and having their DNA manipulated to create enhanced offspring capable of telekinesis and ESP. He's seen absolute proof, but as so often happens in these cases, it's been locked away in some secret government lab. He doesn't suggest doing DNA tests on any Star Kids because any irregularities are so subtle that they can be recognized only by an expert. And as so often happens in these cases, the expert is dead of cancer. (Or was that really the cause of death?)

Some believers have integrated the competing theories by claiming Crystallines, Indigos and Star Kids are all different stages of evolution.

Michael Shermer, the editor of Skeptic magazine and author of Why People Believe Weird Things, says that aliens have become the newest popular religion, fulfilling many of the same needs. People turn to weird ideas, he says, because they want to believe in something that transcends the ordinary, gives certainty in an uncertain world, or helps them deal with their own mortality. "It comes with having a big cortex," Shermer says. Our brains are designed to find patterns, and sometimes we just connect dots that aren't there.

Comfort may be one of the things Spence has gotten from her belief in Indigos. Though she always believed in some form of metaphysics, what prompted her to seek out Brahm for a psychic reading was her brother's suicide. Brahm gave her some relief, doing a "clearing" of the house so that her brother's spirit would know it was okay to pass on. During their first meeting, Brahm informed Spence that her brother was probably an Indigo, which was why he had such problems dealing with our world. After hearing more about Spence's difficult daughter, Brahm determined that both Spence and Jan were probably Indigos as well. Brahm told Spence that her granddaughter had wanted to be raised by her all along, but had to "go through Mommy" because Spence couldn't have children anymore.

Shermer says psychics and healers can feed the human desire to reconcile with a loved one who has passed on, or can comfort someone by telling her that her raising her granddaughter was "meant to be." In the same way, parents believing that their child is an Indigo might fulfill their wish to have special, gifted kids. These groups tend to be intentionally vague about the specifics so that potential converts can find whatever might fill an emotional void in their lives. Although these ideas may provide peace of mind, Shermer doesn't buy the argument that they aren't harmful. "What's the harm in doing drugs to avoid reality?" he asks. In the end, it's always better to believe harsh truths rather than comfortable lies.

So if these kids don't necessarily do better in school, don't necessarily perform any better at work or live any happier lives, what is it about them that makes them "advanced"? What's the difference between an Indigo and some kid who just doesn't like to do homework or follow directions?

"If they seem to have a light in their eyes," Dee says.

"You just know," Spence says.

"I see how the kids turn around and either do what they're told or accept the punishment," Jake's mother says. "I'm around other kids all day long. They're so normal. They follow directions, they will conform, they will do what society expects them to -- they are kids. They do and talk and play. They don't question everything, they don't research everything." She doesn't know how to put it into words, she says, but it's really easy once you know how to recognize it. "You would have to live it to truly understand it."

Jan is still drawing trees and suns on the chalkboard, and erasing them as soon as they're finished. She is asked what she likes to do most in school. "To play," Jan answers.

"Tell them what you said you missed about kindergarten," Jake's mother says, wanting to demonstrate her child's remarkable gifts one last time.

Jake doesn't like first grade, he says, as he plays with a plastic dinosaur. What doesn't he like about it? "Um, um, um," he stutters. "Homework."

"What is it you liked about kindergarten?" his mother asks again.

"I was just a little kid, Mom," he snaps.

He liked all the playtime, she says, because it was unstructured and gave him the ability to learn at his advanced pace. During playtime, she says, he could study the things he wanted to, without being confined to the same rote assignments as the other children. It bores him, she explains, because he's so far beyond that.

"I didn't realize that first grade was going to be like this," Jake says, as he stares remorsefully down at his Tyrannosaurus. "I didn't know nobody gets to be kids."

Ah, the wisdom of children. Adults can always learn something from them. All they have to do is listen.

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Junk food, TV and the internet 'are poisoning childhood'

Video games blamed for turning children into 'mini-adults'
Children are being deprived of the right to grow up at their own pace by a combination of advertising, junk food, pressures at school and TV and video games, experts have warned.

Youngsters are being turned into nothing more than "mini-adults" and are increasingly susceptible to depression and developmental problems as a result, they claim.

The group of renowned psychologists, academics, teachers' leaders and authors say that action is needed now in order to prevent the death of childhood.

The 110-strong lobby group wrote a letter to the Daily Telegraph asking that the Government intervene before children suffer irretrievable psychological and physical damage.

They say politicians have failed to appreciate how damaging the modern world has become to children's development.

They wrote: "We are deeply concerned at the escalating incidence of childhood depression and children's behavioural and developmental conditions.

"Since children's brains are still developing, they cannot adjust… to the effects of ever-more rapid technological and cultural change."

The group is made up of, among others, the authors Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson, Baroness Greenfield, the director of the Royal Institution, and leading child-care expert Penelope Leach.

They claim the needs of children have remained unchanged while the world around them has speeded up and increased its academic and social expectations.

Their letter continued: "They still need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives."

The letter blamed marketing forces for making children "act and dress like mini-adults" while television and video games exposed them to material that would have been considered unsuitable on years earlier.

The letter was passed round the lobby group by Sue Palmer, a former head teacher and author of Toxic Childhood, and Dr Richard House, senior lecturer at the Research Centre for Therapeutic Education at Roehampton University.

Mrs Palmer said that "children's development is being drastically affected by the world they are brought up in".

"I think it is shocking. We must make a public statement - a child's mental and physical growth cannot be accelerated," she added. "It changes in biological time, not electrical speed. Childhood is not a race."

Her comments are supported by research from Professor Michael Shayer at King's College, London.

His studies found that cognitive skills in 11-year-olds were two to three years behind the average levels of 15 years ago.

The group's letter went on: "In a fast-moving, hyper-competitive culture, today's children are expected to cope with an ever-earlier start to formal schoolwork and an overly academic test-driven primary curriculum."

Michael Morpurgo, former children's laureate, added that a "target-driven education system… has put children into an academic straitjacket from an early age which restricts creativity and the enrichment of childhood".

He described video games and Internet sites as "toxic" influences on juvenile minds.

Mrs Wilson commented: "I don't think children use their imaginations any more. We are not valuing childhood."

Other signatories on the letter include three former education secretaries, Baroness Williams, Baroness Shephard and Baroness Morris.

Baroness Greenfield has already set up an all-party group in the Lords to look at the effects of technology on children.

Around one per cent of children aged five to 11 and three per cent of adolescents aged 11 to 18 are thought to suffer from depression in any one year - with 80,000 of those aged five to 16 suffering from serious depression.

Meanwhile the number of obese children has doubled in the last decade.

One in four aged 11-15 are obese, with almost half of girls officially classified as obese or overweight.

The Food Standards Agency is currently demanding a ban on television advertising of junk food before the 9pm watershed.

I am a doctor and avid gamer myself. Video games and junk food are definatly (at least partially) to blame for the incredible obesity epidemic that is affecting most developed countries. Combined with a fear of letting kids play outside due to crime and you have a bit of a mess. But, as in all things, moderation is the key. I much prefer my children to play vid games as opposed to TV but it must be limited and reasonable and outdoor or physical play must be emphasized. I have advised some parents to look into the physical video games (like dance dance revolution or DDR) as a "trick" to get their overweight kids to exercise and it has been successful in some cases.
Video games are interactive and stimulating and there is no junk food advertisiting, TV appears to be much more damaging when taken in excess as compared to video games.

- Neal Spears Md, Smithville, TX USA

Some people simply aren't fit to be parents. This was the same as it was 50 years ago.

How is the government going to control that?

- Luther Heggs, CT, USA

Every Christmas season when the videogame commercials really start up on TV, I am horrified by the death/destruction/torture/annhiliation themes of the games being advertised. Why do parents buy this excrement for their kids? Why do parents buy any videogames for their kids? Easy babysitting? Parents have the power to get this stuff out of their homes. Your kids won't hate you forever because you got rid of their videogames. Turn on the stereo and dance with your kids (introduce them to the music of your youth which is better than the new music out there now). Play board games. Dust the living room together. Childhood is short enough as it is. Don't make it shorter with too-early exposure to computers, videogames, adult programming. Computers aren't going to make your kids smarter. It actually makes them less willing to work for the knowledge.

- Laura, Nashville, TN USA

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