Indigo children

For the 2012 lm, see Indigo Children (lm).

on the subject, including two English feature lms in

2003[11] and 2005, and a documentary in 2005 (both
the latter were directed by James Twyman, a New Age
Indigo children, according to a pseudoscientic New
[12]
Age concept, are children who are believed to possess writer).
special, unusual and sometimes supernatural traits or Sarah W. Whedon suggests in a 2009 article in Nova Reabilities.[4] The idea is based on concepts developed in ligio that the social construction of indigo children is a
the 1970s by Nancy Ann Tappe[5] and further developed response to an apparent crisis of American childhood
by Jan Tober and Lee Carroll. The concept of indigo in the form of increased youth violence and diagnoses of
children gained popular interest with the publication of a attention decit disorder and attention decit hyperactivseries of books in the late 1990s and the release of sev- ity disorder. Whedon believes parents label their children
eral lms in the following decade. A variety of books, as indigo to provide an alternative explanation for their
conferences and related materials have been created sur- childrens improper behavior stemming from ADD and
rounding belief in the idea of indigo children and their ADHD.[7]
nature and abilities. The interpretations of these beliefs
range from their being the next stage in human evolution, in some cases possessing paranormal abilities such 2 Claimed characteristics
as telepathy, to the belief that they are more empathetic
and creative than their peers.
Descriptions of indigo children include that they:
Although no scientic studies give credibility to the existence of indigo children or their traits, the phenomenon
Are empathetic, curious, and strong-willed
appeals to some parents whose children have been diag Are often perceived by friends and family as being
nosed with learning disabilities and to parents seeking to
strange
believe that their children are special. Critics view this
as a way for parents to avoid considering pediatric treat Possess a clear sense of self-denition and purpose
ment or a psychiatric diagnosis. The list of traits used to
describe the children has also been criticized for being
Show a strong innate subconscious spirituality from
vague enough to be applied to almost anyone, a form of
early childhood (which, however, does not necessarthe Forer eect.
ily imply a direct interest in spiritual or religious areas)

Have a strong feeling of entitlement, or deserving to

be here

Origins

Other alleged traits include:[8][10]

The term indigo children originated with

parapsychologist and self-described synesthete and
psychic Nancy Ann Tappe, who developed the concept
in the 1970s. Tappe published the book Understanding Your Life Through Color in 1982 describing the
concept,[6] stating that during the mid-1960s she began
noticing that many children were being born with
"indigo" auras[7][8] (in other publications Tappe said
the color indigo came from the life colors of the
children which she acquired through her synesthesia[9] ).
The idea was later popularized by the 1998 book The
Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived, written by
husband and wife self-help lecturers Lee Carroll and Jan
Tober.[10] In 2002, an international conference on indigo
children was held in Hawaii, drawing 600 attendees, with
subsequent conferences the following years in Florida
and Oregon. Several lms have also been produced

High intelligence quotient

Inherent intuitive ability
Resistance to rigid, control-based paradigms of authority
According to Tober and Carroll, indigo children may
function poorly in conventional schools due to their rejection of rigid authority, their being smarter or more spiritually mature than their teachers, and their lack of response
to guilt-, fear- or manipulation-based discipline.[12]
According to research psychologist Russell Barkley, the
New Age movement has yet to produce empirical evidence of the existence of indigo children, as the traits
1

4 DISCUSSION AS A NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT

most commonly attributed to them are closely aligned

with the Forer eectso vague that they could describe
nearly anyone. Many critics see the concept of indigo
children as made up of extremely general traits, a sham
diagnosis that is an alternative to a medical diagnosis,
with a complete lack of science or studies to support
it.[8][13] The lack of scientic foundation is acknowledged
by some believers, including Doreen Virtue, author of
The Care and Feeding of Indigos, and James Twyman,
who produced two lms on indigo children and who offers materials and courses related to the phenomenon.
Virtue has been criticized for claiming to have a Ph.D.,
despite this being awarded by California Coast University, a then-unaccredited institution sometimes accused
of being a diploma mill.[12]

overmedicalization of children are legitimate but even

gifted children with ADHD learn better with more structure rather than less, even if the structure initially causes
diculties. Many labeled as indigo children are or have
been home schooled.[8] Many children labeled as indigo
children have the same identifying criteria as those children who have experienced being raised by a narcissistic parent, and are considered to have been emotionally
abused.[14]

2.1

2.3 Relation to autism

Indigo as an alternative to diagnosis

Retired professor of philosophy and skeptic Robert Todd

Carroll notes that many of the commentators on the
indigo phenomenon are of varying qualications and
expertise, and parents may prefer labeling their child
an indigo as an alternative to a diagnosis that implies
poor parenting, narcissistic parenting, damage[14] or
mental illness.[15] This is a belief echoed by academic
psychologists.[13] Some mental health experts are concerned that labeling a disruptive child an indigo may
delay proper diagnosis and treatment that could help the
child or look into the parenting style that may be causing the behavior.[8][12][14] Others have stated that many
of the traits of indigo children could be more prosaically
interpreted as simple unruliness and alertness.[13]

A 2011 study suggested parents of children with ADHD

who label their children as indigos may perceive problematic behaviors emblematic of ADHD to be more positive and experience less frustration and disappointment,
though they still experience more negative emotions and
conicts than parents of children without a diagnosis.[16]

Crystal children, a concept related to indigo children, has

been linked to the autistic spectrum. Proponents recategorize autistic symptoms as telepathic powers, and attempt to "[reconceptualize] the autistic traits associated
with them as part of a positive identity. Autism researcher Mitzi Waltz states that there may be inherent
dangers to these beliefs, leading parents to deny the existence of impairments, avoid proven treatments and spend
considerable money on unhelpful interventions. Waltz
states that Parents may also transmit belief systems to
the child that are self-aggrandizing, confusing, or potentially frightening.[1]

3 Commercialization
2.2

Relationship to attention-decit hyper- The concept of indigo children has been criticized for
activity disorder
being less about children and their needs, and more

Many children labeled indigo by their parents are

diagnosed with attention-decit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)[13] and Tober and Carrolls book The Indigo
Children linked the concept with diagnosis of ADHD.[10]
David Cohen points out that labeling a child an indigo is
an alternative to a diagnosis that implies mental illness,
which may appeal to many parents.[13] Cohen has stated,
The view in medicine is that ADHD is a defect. Its a
disorder. If you're a parent, the idea of 'gifted' is much
more appealing than the idea of a disorder.[13] Linking
the concept of indigo children with the distaste for the
use of Ritalin to control ADHD, Robert Todd Carroll
states The hype and near-hysteria surrounding the use
of Ritalin has contributed to an atmosphere that makes it
possible for a book like Indigo Children to be taken seriously. Given the choice, who wouldn't rather believe their
children are special and chosen for some high mission
rather than that they have a brain disorder?"[15] Stephen
Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of
California, Berkeley, states that concerns regarding the

about the prots to be made by self-styled experts

in book and video sales as well as lucrative counseling sessions, summer camps, conferences and speaking
engagements.[12][17]

4 Discussion as a new religious

movement
Nancy Ann Tappe originally noted that one type of Indigo
child (the interdimensional child), despite being seen as
a bully, was expected to lead new religious movements.[18]
One Pagan author, Lorna Tedder, anecdotally notes that
every Pagan woman she knew who had or was going to
have a child believed their child was an Indigo child.[19]
S. Zohreh Kermani explains that Despite their problems
with authority, uncontrollable tempers, and overbearing
egos, Indigo Children are many Pagan parents ideal ospring: sensitive, psychic, and strong willed, but also

3
notes the concept is less about the childs psychic abilities than the parents own hopes and desire for distinction from the less-evolved masses.[19]
Daniel Kline, in an essay titled The New Kids: Indigo
Children and New Age Discourse, notes that the magical
belief that the innocence of children equates to spiritual
powers has existed for centuries, and that the indigo child
movement is rooted in a religious rejection of sciencebased medicine. In particular, he claims that Nancy Ann
Tappe derived some of her ideas from Charles Webster
Leadbeater (her main innovation being emphasizing the
connection between children and the color indigo), and
that the New Age adoption of the concept is a reaction
against diagnoses of ADD, ADHD, and autism. Kline
also discusses how Carroll and Tober have tried to distance themselves from religious beliefs about indigo children in order to maintain control of the concept (even recanting their previous armations about auras), and how
skeptics and New Agers alike both make rhetorical appeals to science (despite the latters rejection of it) to legitimize their ideological beliefs regarding the existence
of indigo children.[20]

[9] Tappe, NA. All About Indigos - A Nancy Tappe Website. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
[10] Tober J & Carroll LA (1999). The Indigo Children: The
New Kids Have Arrived. Light Technology Publishing.
ISBN 1-56170-608-6.
[11] Indigo. Box Oce Mojo. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
[12] Hyde, J (2006-03-09). Little Boy Blue. Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
[13] Jayson, S (2005-05-31). Indigo kids: Does the science
y?". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
[14] Namka, Lynne (2005). Selshness And Narcissism in
Family Relationships. AngriesOut.com. Retrieved June
14, 2014.
[15] Carroll, RT (2009-02-23). Indigo child. The Skeptics
Dictionary. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
[16] Lench, H. C.; Levine, L. J.; Whalen, C. K. (2011). Exasperating or Exceptional? Parents Interpretations of Their
Childs ADHD Behavior. Journal of Attention Disorders 17 (2): 14151. doi:10.1177/1087054711427401.
PMID 22166469.

At the 2014 University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas,

anthropologist Beth Singler discussed how the term in- [17] Anderson, L (2003-12-01). Indigo: the color of money.
Selectsmart.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
digo children functioned as a new religious movement,
[21][22]
along with Jediism.
Singlers work focuses in the [18] Seeing the Indigo Children by Benjamin Witts, in the
Indigo movement as a part of an overall discussion on
Skeptical Inquirer (Volume 33.4, July / August 2009)
wider moral panics around children, parenting, the diagnosis of conditions such as ADHD and autism and con- [19] Kermani, S. Zohreh (2013). Pagan Family Values: Childhood and the Religious Imagination in Contemporary
spiracy theories about Big Pharma and vaccinations.[23]
American Paganism. NYU Press. pp. 6667. ISBN 9780814769744.

References

[1] Waltz, M. (2009). From Changelings to Crystal Children: An Examination of 'New Age' Ideas About Autism.
Journal of Religion, Disability & Health 13 (2): 114128.
doi:10.1080/15228960802581511.

[20] The New Kids: Indigo Children and New Age Discourse by Daniel Kline, in Asprem, Egil; Granholm,
Kennet (2014). Contemporary Esotericism. Routledge.
pp. 351372. ISBN 978-1317543565.
[21] Have Jedi created a new 'religion'?, By Tom de Castella,
BBC News Magazine, 24 October 2014

[2] Krider, DO (2002-12-19). Alien-ated Youth. Houston

Press.

[22] Jedi and witches and indigo children! Oh my!". www.

festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-01.

[3] The Doctors Dictionary by Joseph C Segen MD

[23] Cambridge Faculty of Divinity: Beth Singler

[4] Stenger, Victor J. (June 1998). Reality Check: the energy elds of life. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
[5] http://nancyanntappe.com/ Who was Nancy Tappe?
[6] Tappe, NA (1986). Understanding your life through color:
Metaphysical concepts in color and aura. Starling Publishers. ISBN 0-940399-00-8.
[7] Whedon, Sarah W. (February 2009). The Wisdom of
Indigo Children: An Emphatic Restatement of the Value
of American Children (PDF). Nova Religio 12 (3): 60
76. doi:10.1525/nr.2009.12.3.60. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
[8] Leland, J (2006-01-12). Are They Here to Save the
World?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

6 External links
Indigo children at DMOZ

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

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Indigo children Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children?oldid=670366530 Contributors: The Epopt, The Anome, Frecklefoot, Kwertii, Gabbe, Ixfd64, Karada, Skysmith, Eszett, Charles Matthews, Timwi, Martinphi, , Lumos3, Moncrief, Altenmann,
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Eep, Perey, Poccil, RedWordSmith, Rich Farmbrough, Wrp103, Vsmith, Dusoft, Neurophyre, Ben Standeven, Superbass, Adambro,
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7.3

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