Characteristics of Indigos and Crystals (the New Kids)

Labels
About Indigos
About Crystals

Labels
Why the Labels?
New kids and Today's Children

Why the Lables? I know we all agree that labels are a pain.   They define people who are in and people who are out.   This is divisive and supports separation.   So in that sense, it is best to avoid them.   However, they do serve a purpose in helping us to communicate with each other.   One of the first things we do with our children is teach them labels.   This is a spoon.   I am your mother.   This is your school.   Words or labels help us to communicate.   They are stepping stones to higher collaborative thinking.

P.M.H. Atwater tells us in Beyond the Indigo Children (page 51):  The new children have been variously described as Indigos (because of the supposed color of their auras), Star Kids (because of their purported origination from other worlds), Crystal Children (because some say they are highly developed), and so forth – none of these claims hold up in the face of research, whether via scientific observation or by studying mystical/esoteric traditions or through summarizing visionary revelations.  “Indigo” and the other labels are now subject to serious challenge.
 
Atwater further tells us in Beyond the Indigo Children (page 53): Professionals in the field of child development and education, parents, and even the kids themselves, are having problems with the idea that certain character traits are the province of so-called “Indigos” (or “Crystals,” “Star” or “Sky” kids), when, in fact the majority of today’s children match those traits – without evidencing anything like a purple aura or being a hybrid from another planet, or possessing “god-like” wisdom  Being supersensitive, confident, highly intelligent, creative, nonconformist, extraordinarily psychic and spiritually aware, impatient, empathic, great at problem-solving, yet difficult to parent or educate – these characteristics are typical to fifth root race energy as it intensifies....What is happening now with our children, within ourselves, and in the world around us, is tied together as synchronized movements in the same evolutionary leap.

Atwater continues in Beyond the Indigo Children (page 53): Children born since around 1982 really are different, like no other generation of record.  If the hype about Indigos makes this point and no other, it ha done the world a favor and hopefully will help to engender an overall transformation in how we regard and teach children.  Surely it will inspire a forum whereby the children themselves can speak and be heard...for our youngest citizens truly have something important to say that is worth hearing.

New Kids and Today’s Children
Elayna.org subscribes to Atwater’s idea that distinguishing between the Indigo and Crystal children can be helpful at this time.  Since these New Kids are being born in larger and larger numbers and since they carry a different energy that requires different parenting and educating, it seems important to define their characteristics for ourselves, themselves, and everyone else.  Eventually, we believe, as does Atwater, that calling all the children who are born in the New Millennium, the New Kids or Today’s Children will serve our purpose.  So you will see the identifiers, New Kids and Today’s Children, used throughout this site. And you will also see references specifically to Indigos and to Crystals (and perhaps other such specific identifiers) in places where we feel it is instructive.
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About Indigos
Indigos’ Mission
Indigos’ Characteristics
People Who Could Be Indigos
Four Types of Indigos

Indigos’ Mission The authors of many of the Indigo books say that the Indigos' purpose is becoming clearer, and more urgent. Older Indigos tell me that a large number of the Indigos are waking up now to their purpose.   Many are awakening in their twenties, and some are awakening in their thirties, forties and fifties, as though they were cicadas growing and sleeping underground for years.  

They say their purpose includes waking us up to a full awareness of what we are doing to our planet and to each other.   They are to hold up a mirror to help us see clearly ourselves and our actions and their effects.   Basically, they are strong change agents.

Some also say they are here to help us to raise the vibratory frequency of everyone on Earth and the Earth herself, and that they are to hold a space to give all of us a leg up on attaining the next higher vibrational level if we chose to do so.

The following quote was said by Nancy Ann Tappe, in her interview in The Indigo Children by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober: At about age 26, 27, you're going to see a big switch in the Indigo Children.   The switch is going to be that their purpose will be here.   The older ones will get really solid in what they're doing, and the younger ones will come in with a clearance on what they're going to do in life. ( Tappe was the first person to publish on the phenomenon of the Indigo children, in her 1982 book Understanding your life thru color: Metaphysical concepts in color and aura,)

Meg Blackburn Losey describes the purpose of these children in her book, The Children of Now, this way:   The Children of Now bring possibilities of remarkable evolutionary change to our world.   They have a mission and an immense purpose, and they need our help. Their giftedness brings enlightenment to us, and their wisdom offers reminders of times and worlds we have forgotten. They are not only on a mission to teach us about greater reality from within their innocence and their clarity of truth; they are also the future of our world.   In fact, if we pay attention to the Children of Now, the future of humanity can change direction from the destructive way it is currently in to a much enhanced, much more positive reality - one that is more globally oriented and offers the highest benefit for everyone.

An Indigo young woman told me that somehow, eons ago, we got way off track as humans.   She told me that we humans made a collective choice to get off track back then, and that the Indigos are here to remind us that we can make a different collective choice now to embody love --- and that we must do this now.

Chapman and Flynn in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Indigo Children tell us (page 201): Indigos are going to change the world, and they already have.  They will challenge us with out-of-the-box thinking.  They will inspire us because of their wise souls. Indigos will create a world in which everybody wins.

Indigo Adult authors, Jaffe and Davidson in Indigo Adults describe their purpose this way (page 16):  The task of the Indigo Soul Group is to recognize and externalize the new.  It begins by recognizing and honoring the new paradigms, values, and energies that are within us.  Then, through inner work, to embody this in our psyches and our lives by becoming fully the people that we know we can be.  And lastly, it is to find the courage to express, to build, and to externalize into form the New that we contain.

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People Who Could Be Indigos Jaffe and Davidson in Indigo Adults say, (page 7): Indigo energies and Souls began coming onto the planet around the early 1700’s.  These early incarnators have the toughest job of ‘breaking the ice’ and bringing in the first of the new energies.  They have ushered in the industrial revolution (1650-1830), electricity, scientific thought, and the new ideals of liberty and freedom. 

Authors Chapman and Flynn list historical figures in their list of people who could be Indigos (page 9), including:  Ben Franklin, Joan of Arc, Leonardo DaVinci, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, aviation innovator Howard Hughes, Robert Frost, writer Henry David Thoreau, poet Emily Dickenson, aviator Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Lewis Carroll, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, physicist Richard Feynman, and author and humorist Mark Twain. 

Authors Chapman and Flynn also list living people who they say many experts consider to be Indigos.  These include (page 9):  Apple founder, Steve Jobs, film maker George Lucas, film maker Steven Spielberg, comedian Robin Williams, medical intuitive and author Caroline Myss, and Olympic speed skater (and first place winner of Dancing with the Stars) Apolo Anton Ohno, and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

 However, in Jan Tober's interview with Nancy Ann Tappe in The Indigo Children, Jan asked, "And the people who feel they're Indigos - do they have the same traits as Indigos or not?"   Tappe answered, "They have the same consciousness as the Indigo. ... They will have some of the similar traits, but more important, the Indigos have their own traits."   Tober also asks Tappe, "Many who are in their 40s and 50s feel that they meet all the Indigo criteria.   Could it be that they are forerunners to the Indigos?"   Tappe answers, "These people are violet."   Tappe distinguishes people by their auras, though she also tells us (page 127-129), "It's not the hue or shade; it's the matrix within it."

Most people agree that the Indigos started coming in greatly increasing numbers in about the 1980's.   In The Indigo Children by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, the authors quote (page 10) Nancy Ann Tappe as saying, "My statement is that 90 percent of the children under ten are Indigos." This book was published in 1990, which means that Tappe would say that in 2007, 90% of the young adults in their twenties are Indigo.

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Indigos’ Characteristics 

Clearly, not all Indigos have the same characteristics.   I list these characteristics as though they were absolute.   They are not. As one adult Indigo told me, "Absolutes are good for learning, but bad for living."    If you or your child have many of these characteristics, though, it is likely that you are, or he or she is Indigo.

• Not Demi-gods
• Indigos’ Appearance
• Systems Busters / See Whole Systems
• Truth Seekers and Educational Systems Busters
• High Intelligence
• Learning Styles / Easily Bored
• Strong Sense of Self / Willpower / Royalty / Independent
• Difficulty with Rigid Authority
• Queuing is Torture
• Intuitive/Highly Spiritually Aware
• High or Low Emotionality / Empathic
• Gifted and Talented
• Distractible / Hyperactive / Somewhat Depressed / Sleep Problems / Misdiagnosed with ADD, ADHD, Bi-polar Disorder
• Escapism
• Sense of Being Protected
• Effect Electrical Systems

Not Demi-gods:   All of us are special in our own ways.   Indigos tell me that they are not demi-gods.   Some have psychic abilities, but not all of them do.   They do not all have a special talent or gift, such as music, art, singing, etc.  They are not here to use some special power to save the world by themselves.   They are humans and are here to do what everyone is here to do.

They do come here with a purpose, though. 
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Appearance:   Some people can identify Indigos by recognizing their wise demeanor.   Even as infants, they look at you through wise old, mischievous eyes.   Those who can see auras will recognize their indigo colored aura.   They come in all sizes and shapes.
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Systems Busters / See Whole Systems:   One of the ways the Indigos are going about achieving their purpose is challenging the status quo.    They question the systems they encounter.   Many of them see whole systems and think in whole systems from an early age.   They are here to help us to become more aware of the systems that we take for granted.   They start with their parenting systems, their family systems, their playmate systems, and then move on to their educational systems.   They have warrior energy.
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Truth Seekers and Educational Systems Busters:   Because they see no purpose in learning some of the things our school systems try to teach them, or they see untruth in what they are supposed to learn, they question it and so bring it to our awareness.   Because few adults listen to them when they do this, many Indigos drop out of school.   Here's an astounding statistic:   A Time magazine special report (April 17, 2006) stated that 30% of America's high school students will leave without graduating.   Some Indigos do poorly, or do just enough to get by and get their degrees.    Some also get into it and excel in school if they have a wise, creative, flexible teacher who takes an interest in them.
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High Intelligence:   Many Indigos are classified as having superior intelligence.   Their abstract thinking is often obvious at a young age.   Many are able to read at a very early age.
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Learning Styles / Easily Bored: Many Indigos learn best through project-based learning and learning that uses all their senses. They do well in smaller classes and with one-on-one help from their teachers.   Some teachers are able to respond to their needs by giving them special projects. (One Indigo told me that her wise teacher had her working on a special individual project to research AIDS when she was in the first grade!)
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Strong Sense of Self / Willpower / Royalty / Independent:  Because they are strongly independent, critical and sometimes outspoken, they are described as "systems busters." They are not easily influenced.   Often they are angry.   They know their own minds and keep their own counsel.   Some seem to act like royalty - entitled to be here and listened to.   (Doreen Virtue in her book, The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children, describes an Indigo as independent and proud, even if he constantly asks for money.)   And they get their feathers ruffled when they aren't listened to.   Some Indigos feel similar to the Greek's Cassandra, who had a curse on her that enabled her to be able to prophecy clearly what was going to happen, but could not get anyone to listen to her.   
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Difficulty with Rigid Authority / Truth Seekers:   Indigos have a very difficult time responding obediently to authority figures who expect them to do things because I said so.   They need to be told the reasons why they are being asked to do something, and to understand the logic.   They definitely do not respond to guilt trips and other manipulative devices.   They can tell very quickly when someone is lying to them, and anyone who does lie to them quickly loses all their respect.   They are truth seekers; sometimes they are direct and honest to a fault.
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Queuing is Torture:    Many Indigos have a very difficult time waiting in line for anything. back to top

Intuitive/Highly Spiritually Aware:  Many Indigos are highly intuitive and spiritually advanced. Some (not all) are psychic or clairvoyant (hear voices, or see angels or people who are not in physical reality, such as departed relatives....) Some may have learned to hide this ability, or have not developed it because it was distained by adults.  I’m aware of Indigo adults who have used their strong spiritual connection to become healers, using therapies like Reiki to bring through healing energy to those who are ailing.
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High or Low Emotionality/Empathic:  Indigos are highly sensitive to their own and others’ feelings.  They can display this empathic sensitivity and compassion in polar opposite ways, though. Some display their emotions readily, and cry easily. Others appear cold and even callous because they have learned to shield themselves from showing their high sensitivity, and you will rarely see them cry.  Some tend to cry at every movie; some tend to cry at none.
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Gifted and Talented:   Many Indigos are classified as gifted and talented by our school systems - but not all of them are recognized this way.   Often, they have a special talent, such as music, writing, art - but not all of them do.   If they have a special talent, they often discover this talent at a very early age.   Other times, this talent is not recognized until they are older.
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Distractible / Hyperactive / Somewhat Depressed / Sleep Problems / Misdiagnosed with ADD, ADHD, Bi-polar Disorder: Some Indigos display high distractibility and are very active. Some have difficulty sleeping, disturbed sleep, nightmares or rage.  Some Indigos experience symptoms of depression and some have suicidal thoughts. Some hear distracting noises in their heads that impair their sleep and even daytime functioning.  Because of their high activity and distractibility, many are misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or bi-polar disorder.   Some are treated for these disorders and given dangerous Class II substances like Adderal and Ritalin, which create havoc with their minds.
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Escapism:   When they are not listened to as children and youth, Indigos’ natural response is rebellion.   Some drop out of school.   Some of those who have not developed spiritual means of coping, such as meditation and yoga, turn to drugs to rebel and escape reality. (It's no secret that drug use is climbing alarmingly in our society.) Marijuana is popular as an escape because of its meditative effects.   Some use LSD.   Other Indigos spend a lot of time alone in their rooms.   Some are fortunate because they hook up with other Indigos and form a support group with each other - to the exclusion of other people.   Indigos also tend to turn to alcohol to escape.   And some use heavier drugs.   Unfortunately, some even escape by committing suicide. Fortunately, when Indigos awaken to their purpose and who they are as they get older, and when they find their tribe, they don't need these forms of escape any longer.     Some may continue to use drugs, but not as an escape, but for the meditative effects.
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Sense of Being Protected:   Many Indigos tell me life stories that include living under a kind of protection.   They can screw up like other kids but seem frequently to avoid serious consequences or being caught.   Or they are caught and get off with a light amount of consequences.    The police raid a party they are attending, and the Indigo had left five minutes earlier....that kind of thing.
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Effect Electrical Systems: Some Indigos have a disturbing effect on electrical systems, such as street lights flickering or going out when they pass by them, or computers acting strangely when they are near them

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Four Types of Indigos

The characteristics of these four types of Indigos are from Lee Carroll's and Jan Tober's book, The Indigo Chidren: The New Kids Have Arrived. Carroll and Tober credit Nancy Ann Tappe with being the first person to publish a description of the phenomenon of Indigos, which she did in her 1986 book, Understanding your life thru color: Metaphysical concepts in color and aura.  

These descriptions are from Jan Tober's interview with Nancy Ann Tappe, as published on pages 10-12 of The Indigo Chidren: The New Kids Have Arrived.  I find these descriptions very helpful in determining whether a person is indeed Indigo, and they will assist parents to determine how best to support the development of their Indigo.

• Humanist Indigo
• Conceptual Indigo
• Artist Indigo
• Interdimensional Indigo

Humanist Indigo
•  Hyperactive
•  Extremely social - talk to anyone, anytime.   Friendly.
•  Very strong opinions.
•  Awkward in their body.
•  Play with all their toys at the same time.
•  Easily distracted.
•  Ferocious readers.
•  Going to work with and serve the masses.
•  Tomorrow's doctors, lawyers, teachers, salespeople, businesspeople, politicians.

Conceptual Indigo
•  More into projects than people
•  Not clumsy in their body
•  Often very athletic as children
•  Control issues - mostly trying to control their mother if boys; their father if girls
•  Tendencies toward addictions, especially drugs in their teenage years
•  Tomorrow's engineers, architects, designers, astronauts, pilots and military officers

Artist Indigo
•  Much more sensitive
•  Oftentimes smaller in size, though not always
•  Creative
•  Between ages 4-15, may pick up 15 different creative arts - pick it up, put it down
•  In teenage years, will select one and become the artist in it
•  Tomorrow's teachers and artists, surgeons, researchers, actors, musicians

Interdimensional Indigo
•  Larger than all other Indigos
•  At one or two years of age, you can't tell them anything.  
   They say, I know that...I can do it. Leave me alone.
•  Can be bullies because they're so much bigger and because they don't fit in like
   the other three types of Indigos
•  Will bring new philosophies and new religions into the world

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About Crystals

Crystals' Mission
Can Indigos Evolve to Be Crystals?
People Who Could Be Crystals
Crystals' Characteristics

Crystals' Mission: Crystals have a noticeably different energy from Indigos. Many agree that the Indigos’ are blazing the trail and the Crystals are walking on it. The Indigos’ are the warriors and the Crystals are the healers who come after them. The Indigos’ cause waves; the Crystals calm the waters again. 

Chapman and Flynn in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Indigo Children (page 24):  Often a Crystal will be born into a family with an Indigo child.  One child will be the leader in the family and the rebellious spirit, while the other may be the peacemaker in the family.  Can you guess which is which?  The first is the Indigo and the second one is the Crystal.  I have met parents who tell me that they have one of each and that the Indigo arrived first.

In Children of Now, Meg Blackburn Losey tells us (page 84-86): The Crystalline Children are fairly new on Earth.  They began arriving in 1997-1998.  The Crystalline Kids often come to their parent telepathically in dreams, or as a simple “knowing” before they are born.  This awareness usually comes to the intended mother of the imminent child.  The impending children often name themselves to one or both parents before they are conceived.  They often bring other specific messages to their expectant parents as well.... Immediately following their delivery, Crystalline babies are generally very calm and alert.  They look around the room slowly and deliberately.  Their eyes seem to carry the wisdom of the ages....They (the infants) are telepathically gifted and communicate very well if we listen to them.

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Indigo Children,(published in 2007) Chapman and Flynn tell us (page 24), Crystal Children are beginning only now to arrive.  They are here as spiritual healers – in other words, to temper the blow  as the Indigos come into their own and start to effect change.  Crystals have pure, white energy that may reflect all the colors of the rainbow much like a prism or quartz crystal, and they are here as soothers and healers – so the changes the Indigos bring can come about with more compassion, in a much gentler way.  Crystals are more even-tempered than indigos, while simultaneously being more fragile...as having a higher group consciousness, rather than the highly individualized expression of Indigos.  They are believed to be a powerful force for global love and peace.

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People who Could be Crystals
Of course, one can never know for sure which public or historical figures are or were Indigos or Crystals, but looking at these possible examples is potentially instructive as to the energy that they may carry, and how it differs from Indigos’ energy.

Crystals' Characteristics

Clearly, not all Crystals have the same characteristics.   However, if your child (or you) have most of these characteristics, and were born in or after the mid-to-late 1990’s, it is likely that you are, or he or she is a Crystal.

• Natural Healers
• Affectionate and Loving
• Intuitive Communicators / Late Talkers
• Spiritually Sensitive
• Close Bond with Nature
• Appearance of Crystals
• Dreamy and Talk about their Dreams at an Early Age
• Misdiagnosed as Autistic and Asperger's Syndrome
• Drawn to Crystals and Rocks
• Highly Sensitive Body
  

Natural Healers:   Many are natural healers.   Many can heal from afar; that is, they do not need to be in the presence of the person they are healing, or even to touch them.   They are natural helpers.   (A mother of an Indigo told me that when she takes her Crystal daughter skiing, she spends her entire day going from one downed skier to another, helping them get up.)
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Affectionate and Loving:   The Crystals embody the vibration of love that they are bringing to the planet.   They not only remind us of who we are - beings of love - they embody it.   They are gentle.

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Intuitive Communicators / Late Talkers:   Because they can communicate through telepathy, often they are late talkers because they don't need to talk to communicate.   One mother of a Crystal told me that the first time her child looked at her after exiting the womb, she clearly heard her say to her telepathically, "I'm here to teach you."

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Spiritually Sensitive:   Crystals have a highly developed spirituality.  

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Close Bond with Nature:   Crystals have a natural affinity for the plant, animal and insect kingdoms.   The Crystals can communicate with nature, and they go to nature for rest and rejuvenation.   (Many Indigos’ do this too.)   (One nine year-old Crystal I know adamantly refused to let her mother buy a Christmas tree because she could not stand to have the tree cut down.)

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Appearance of Crystals:   The Crystals have large blue eyes or large dark eyes.   They look at us from what appears to be a place of deep knowledge.   They appear wise.    They have an intense, knowing stare.

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Dreamy and Talk about their Dreams at an Early Age:   Many Crystals have the ability to communicate to the other side, apparently from birth.   Some have full access to their memories of life on the other side and/or of previous lifetimes.   (Good Morning America had a group of Indigos’ and Crystals and their parents on the show.   One of the children was fully aware that she was her mother's mother who had passed away.   And she had the memories to prove it.)   Because they are so in touch with the other side, they go there frequently and can have a dreamy look.   They may be called day dreamers - because they are!   (One very bright young Crystal I know started drawing spirals with both hands interchangeably when he was less than two years old.   He demanded to have a crayon and when his mother gave one to him, he immediately started intentionally drawing spiral after spiral.   He's done this for years.   It soothes him.)

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Misdiagnosed as Autistic and Asperger's Syndrome:   We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of Autistic children.   Crystals are very sensitive and vulnerable.   Some go deeply within to protect themselves.   They disconnect from their environment and people in it.   This mirrors the symptoms of Autism and Asperger's, so Crystals can be misdiagnosed.

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Drawn to Crystals and Rocks:    As they have an affinity for the nature kingdom, Crystals also have an affinity with all types of crystals and rocks.   Many also know their properties and how to use crystals and rocks to heal, change energy fields, and the like.

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