10 Bizarre Aspects Of The Indigo Children Movement

In the 1970s, self-described psychic Nancy Ann Tappe claimed that she had identified “Indigo children,” a breed of children that supposedly possessed indigo auras. Since then, other people have jumped on the bandwagon, combining reasonably good educational techniques with unwise medical choices and a truly bizarre worldview.

10 Nancy Ann Tappe

Nancy Ann Tappe claimed to have synesthesia (where the stimulation of one sense triggers another), which supposedly let her perceive human auras. Initially, she identified 11 distinct colors of auras. In the 1970s and ’80s, she also noticed the appearance of children with unique indigo auras. She determined that these children had features that would put them at the forefront of a global shift in human consciousness.

As reported on the Encyclopedia of American Loons website, Tappe believed that these children were the next step in human evolution: “The Indigo label describes the energy pattern of human behavior which exists in over 95 percent of the children born in the last 10 years. [ . . . ] This phenomena [sic] is happening globally and eventually the Indigos will replace all other colors.”

Tappe spent 40 years determining the common characteristics of Indigos, which she first discussed in her 1982 book Understanding Your Life Through Color. The Indigos are supposed to be relaxed, casual, technology-minded, high-energy, good with multitasking, and free from social norms. They can also be blunt, easily distracted in school settings, and androgynous. They believe they’re entitled to whatever they want, and they love junk food.

Indigos are supposed to have confidence, insight, and psychic powers. Aware that they’re “special,” they are also antisocial and have trouble with established authority or rigid social expectations. According to believers, this is due to the Indigos reestablishing a connection with the cosmic consciousness.

9 Edgar Cayce

The rise of the Indigos was supposedly predicted by American occultist Edgar Cayce, although that’s a generous interpretation. When writing of a mysterious storage chamber buried beneath the Sphinx, Cayce once warned: “This may not be entered without an understanding, for those that were left as guards may NOT be passed until after a period of their regeneration in the Mount, or the fifth root race begins.”

Cayce derived the idea of the root races from Theosophical race theory, although he doesn’t appear to have followed it. According to Theosophy, there was first a gaseous race which reproduced by fission, then an asexual budding race, then a hermaphroditic “sweat-born” race, then a sexually reproducing race of giants, and then the Aryan race. That would make the Aryans the fifth race, but Cayce seems to indicate that the fifth root race still hasn’t emerged.

Cayce believed the fifth root race would begin to fully emerge in the period from 1998 to 2015, which ties in rather nicely with Indigo theory if the kids began to be born in the 1970s and ’80s. Indigo children advocates Peggy Day and Susan Gale latched onto Cayce’s apparent misuse of Theosophical theory for their own belief system, writing an entire book on the subject.

8 Lee Carroll And Kryon

The big boost in the Indigo children theory came with the 1999 publication of The Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober. Carroll had worked in the technical audio business in San Diego for 30 years. But he had a spiritual awakening when he came into contact with a spirit called “Kryon of magnetic service.” Kryon has apparently come to our world to help us calibrate and balance our electromagnetic field, so we can move forward as a civilization. Kryon has also provided key information about the Indigos.

According to Carroll and Tober’s book, many children diagnosed with ADHD or ADD aren’t suffering from learning disabilities. Instead, they are Indigo children who need special care, not pharmaceutical drugs like Ritalin. The book contains advice on how to encourage Indigos to read and states that most Indigos can see angels and other spirits of the ether.

In the wake of a movie, documentary, and video game related to the Indigo concept, Carroll and Tober wrote a follow-up book in 2009. Although they claimed they would avoid sensationalism, they soon abandoned issues of parenting and education in favor of human energy fields and interdimensional consciousness.

7 Indigo Categories

By 1999, Tappe was claiming that Indigos could be categorized into four basic types: Humanist, Conceptual, Artist, and Inter-dimensional or Catalyst.

Socially and physically active, Humanists are effective communicators who are casual and fun. Supposed Indigo Humanists include Barack Obama, Princes William and Harry, and the characters from the TV show Friends.

Artists are described as dramatic, intuitive, creative types who usually work in the arts. They are often high maintenance. Venus and Serena Williams, Eminem, and most working in Hollywood are Artists.

In contrast, Conceptual Indigos are less social. They prefer more structured environments, such as those in technology, design, and mechanical processes. Highly methodical, Conceptuals deal poorly with interruptions. Computer programmers and game designers are described as Conceptual Indigos.

Finally, Catalysts are intense, curious, usually large-bodied individuals who are said to create new paradigms, philosophies, religions, and ideas. But they are also prone to making strange noises occasionally. The smallest category of Indigos, Catalysts often seem detached, eccentric, and superior, but Indigo theorists believe that Catalysts may change the world one day.

6 Crystal And Rainbow Children

According to some theorists, the Indigos were followed by “Crystal children,” a new generation of gifted children who appeared on Earth from 1990 to 2010. Supposedly, these youngsters have access to even higher dimensions of consciousness and function as a kind of mass consciousness rather than as individuals. They have access to healing and clairvoyant powers as well as the sixth dimension of consciousness. For scale, Jesus Christ is said to be on the ninth dimension, with universal consciousness on the 13th dimension.

Crystals have auras that are “octarine”—a color with magical powers and pastel hues beyond the visible spectrum for humans. To people unfamiliar with these auras, they seem to be colorless (or “crystal”), but experts perceive the high frequency of the energy field.

In reality, octarine originated with the Discworld fantasy/comedy book series by Terry Pratchett, where the color signified the presence of magic, was described as greenish-yellow purple, and was only visible to wizards and cats.

Rainbow children, the third generation who are here to help us evolve, are usually born of the earliest Crystal children. Rainbows have no karma or previous incarnations. But they do have great healing powers, mastery of their emotions, and immunity against junk food. They are on the ninth level of consciousness and are psychic.

5 Blue Ray Children And Star Seeds

Related to the Indigos are the Blue Ray children, who have a different temperament and a blue aura with traces of violet. They are from a high plane of consciousness described as “blue.” According to Gordon Michael Scallion in his book Notes from the Cosmos, Blue Rays are descended from ancient Lemurian souls while Indigos are usually reincarnated Atlanteans. Blue Rays are noted for their complex dreams, affinity for language, attraction to water, wanderlust, and mood swings.

Having some telekinetic powers, Blue Rays are transformers who will guide humanity to new realms of consciousness. Usually born to dysfunctional families, Blue Rays are old souls who often have trouble with learning and communication on Earth. But they can see into other realms of existence and communicate with angels, spirits, and aliens.

Star Seeds have lived on other planets or in other dimensions. With extraterrestrial abilities such as healing and psychic powers, Star Seeds usually have a deep interest in space and science fiction. They are divided into different groups. Typical Star Seeds have a higher consciousness and have experienced between 5 and 50 lifetimes on Earth as a kind of training to get used to human existence.

Old Soul Star Seeds, a special breed that has experienced hundreds of lives on Earth since the dawn of humanity or the planet, are often prophets, shamans, kings, and queens. They have achieved a balance between their extraterrestrial nature and human experience.

Finally, New Star Seeds have an extraterrestrial consciousness but few or no previous lives on Earth. The most confused and unsure in human form, New Star Seeds are often mistaken for Crystal or Rainbow children.

4 CIA Experiments

Some conspiracy theorists accept the existence of Indigo children and their variants but refuse to believe that they’re wise old souls connected to the cosmic consciousness. Instead, these conspiracy theorists are convinced that Indigo children are the result of government experiments.

Supposedly, this began when neuropsychiatrist Andrijah Puharich met Indian mystic Dr. D.G. Vinod, who said he’d channeled a group of entities claiming to be the “Nine Principles of God.” Puharich was involved with MKUltra , the CIA’s mind control project, and was hoping to use New Age philosophy to trick New Agers into accepting the New World Order.

Later, Puharich worked at the “Turkey Farm,” a research facility that supposedly experimented on psychic children from seven countries. The goal was to determine if these kids were extraterrestrials who could be of military use. However, these experiments involved emotionally damaging mind control and hypnosis.

In 1987, the Turkey Farm was destroyed by arson, and Puharich fled to Mexico. Coincidentally, he had just filed for a patent on a hydrogen engine for cars, which supposedly angered the energy cartels.

The rise of the Indigo children concept among the New Agers was great for the CIA mind control researchers. They no longer had to search for potential psychic subjects because these subjects were now grouped together in convenient, often sunny locations. Agents posing as “helpers” could easily infiltrate such groups.

Some people believe that the traits of Indigo children are the result of psychological damage from mind control and supernatural experiments performed by government researchers under the guise of a kooky New Age parenting movement.

3 China’s Super Psychics

Another group of children commonly associated with the Indigos are the Super Psychics of China. According to authors Paul Dong and Thomas E. Raffill in their book China’s Super Psychics, the Chinese government has spent millions of dollars since the late 1970s to identify 100,000 children with the “Extra Human Function” (EHF) and to establish schools and research centers for these kids. Dong and Raffill also claimed that the ancient arts of Qigong and Chinese medicine may stimulate psychic abilities.

One reported ability was “psychic writing,” in which a blank piece of paper was placed inside a pencil case and an EHF child imagined words written on the paper. A short time later, the case was opened, and the words were supposedly written on the paper every time.

In 1981, researchers from Yunnan Wenshan Teachers’ College blindfolded five EHF kids and performed more tests, ultimately concluding that the children could see through their ears, nose, mouth, tongue, armpits, hands, or feet.

In another reported incident, a child read the words on a piece of paper that was ripped from a book, rolled in a ball, and placed in someone else’s armpit. Other feats included a girl who could cause 1,000 roses to bloom spontaneously and a boy who could pass a coin into a sealed bottle. These achievements were supposedly witnessed by the now-defunct sci-fi and parapsychology magazine Omni.

In their book, Dong and Raffill explain why China was interested in EHF:

It is because [Qigong] is popular in China today that thousands upon thousands of people with EHF have appeared there. There may be as many in China as the rest of the world put together. If a so-called “psychic war” ever takes place, China’s opponents face certain defeat. However, the Chinese government has many purposes for pursuing EHF research. Besides the military and security applications, it also has industrial uses (such as for mineral prospecting), medical applications, navigational and policing application, etc.

Similar rationales were given for parapsychological studies in the US, UK, and Soviet Union.

2 Demon Children

Some Christian fundamentalists have a different view of the Indigo phenomenon. Citing the Indigos’ paranormal powers and rebellious attitude toward authority, fundamentalists believe that Indigos are probably possessed by demons that share those traits.

One blogger reported seeing her neighbor’s Indigo child doing strange contortions and preaching in her backyard. But when the blogger came closer to check, the girl froze in place until the blogger left. Another time, the girl supposedly blew a whistle, turned 90 degrees, and prepared to blow the whistle again. The blogger claimed that this behavior was a way to use compass points to communicate with demons of the four directions, which is apparently important to witches and satanic rock bands.

Christian author Pat Holliday blames the rise of Indigo children on witchcraft or fantasy-based media, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Harry Potter movies, and the Lord of the Rings movies. Supposedly, through Time Warner and Disney, an international conspiracy of witches is exposing children to occult-based toys, games, books, and movies. Simultaneously, these witches are fooling parents with New Age nonsense as their children are harmed by demonic possession, nightmares, and psychic phenomena.

1 A Massive Scam

The problem with Indigo children (in all their forms) is that many of their traits could easily be applied to all children. Indeed, Nancy Ann Tappe claimed in 1999 that up to 90 percent of children were Indigo.

In general, the entire Indigo movement plays off the fact that parents with woolly thinking and rambunctious children would prefer to believe their kids are special space angels rather than brats or children with learning disabilities.

Many parenting techniques have been prescribed specifically for Indigos, such as immediate discipline, avoiding negative reactions, time-outs, and clear explanations. Most of these were developed in the early 1960s by behavioral psychologist Montrose M. Wolf before Nancy Ann Tappe ever noticed any strange hues in the auras of certain kids.

There are also many misconceptions about ADHD among the Indigo crowd, who claim their children can’t have learning disabilities because they score high on IQ tests (even though ADHD doesn’t affect intelligence). Rather than using conventional treatments such as appropriate medications, the Indigo crowd prefers biofeedback, blue-green algae, vitamin and mineral supplements, rapid eye technology, neuromuscular integration, and electromagnetic field balancing. Of these, only biofeedback has been somewhat validated by research.

Skeptics say that the whole Indigo phenomenon is clearly a scam designed by hucksters to separate the parents of problem children from their money. For example, James Twyman sells books and Internet courses on dealing with psychic children. He also charges adults $300 each to attend conferences on the subject.

Twyman has been known to convince kids that they have psychokinetic powers by sticking a light spoon to their forehead (easy enough if you have a sweaty forehead). He also charges parents for dodgy Brain Respiration training and blindfolded ESP tests that are easy to fake. Most egregiously, he uses severely disabled children who are unable to communicate as a way to demonstrate telepathic abilities to crowds, claiming to relay the poor kids’ thoughts.

Most believers of the Indigo children myth are good parents who want the best for their children. But a combination of magical thinking, a desire for one’s child to be special, distrust of the medical establishment, and a willing desire to pay money for magic tricks has created an entire movement of people who are teaching their kids that they are special space babies. And that can’t be good.

David Tormsen is clearly a Star Seed running disinformation for the Chinese. Email him at [email protected].