On the Hunt for ‘Fair Reporting’ on Indigo Children: The Next Stage in Journalism
The shop was impressively full of crystals, some almost the size of me, others that would easily fit into my pocket. The bubbly girl working behind the counter greeted me barefoot with a genuine smile. I had come to The Aura Shop in Santa Monica, Calif. seeking a photograph of my aura. Finally fed up with the misunderstanding of the term Indigo Children in correlation to a person’s aura, I decided to have my own aura photographed in an attempt to end the confusion uniting these terms.
It is confusing after all. Even the respected media company Vice, known for their immersion journalism, got it wrong. Here’s the deal… An aura is the atmosphere surrounding and generated by a person, place or thing. A person’s aura is photographed using electric sensors on specific acupuncture points on your hand which correlate to different parts of your body. A computer then interprets and plots this bio-data with higher frequencies being assigned warmer colors and lower frequencies with cooler colors.
Notice there is no trace of the color Indigo in my very yellow aura. The full-length report I was given was similar to reading an accurate horoscope about my general disposition and preferences. According to my aura photograph, I am easy-going, intellectual and self-aware. However, it did not diagnose me as an Indigo Child or not. For the record (even with my yellow aura) I am an Indigo Child.
The term Indigo Children was coined by self-help author Nancy Ann Tappe who, due to a brain disease called synesthesia, saw colors and tasted shapes. Tappe did not see auras. What she saw was specific to her brain and no one else could see it. She used her disease to help people identify strengths and weaknesses in their personality to enrich their lives. Originally, Tappe saw only 11 colors. In the 60’s and 70’s, she began seeing a 12th color which she described as Indigo and went on to note this color’s defining characteristics. When your aura is photographed, there are 17 possible colors you may register including indigo. An indigo aura does not make you an Indigo Child.
What does make you an Indigo Child? Unfortunately there is no medical test, but only a list of traits and behaviors that may resonate with you. Tappe’s motivation for sharing the colors she saw was to help. Understanding if the term Indigo Children defines you or not can have a major impact on your quality of life.
Here’s where I got motivated.
Reading the Vice article, On the Hunt for ‘Indigo Children’: The Next Stage in Human Evolution, author James Tennent contends that the term Indigo Children is used by parents to avoid the shame associated with the diagnosis of their child as ADD or ADHD. Tennent maintains if a child is considered a gifted Indigo Child rather than diagnosed as ADHD and medicated, the “adverse effects” could be “highly detrimental in later life.” He leaves no room for the adverse effects of medicating a child long term or the many alternative solutions to ADHD symptoms.
Tennent goes on to criticize the diagnosing of Indigo Children and praise the diagnosing of ADD or ADHD which is literally an identical method of observing traits and behaviors with the exception of an ADHD diagnoses being approved by a licensed doctor. He leaves out the part where most children are diagnosed by their teachers and rarely evaluated by a doctor other than asking the parent a few qualifying questions.
Psychology Today notes that the qualifying symptoms used to diagnose ADD or ADHD are “ordinary childhood behaviors.” Huffington Post joins the diagnosing debate calling the process “tricky,” and calls for more support for families. Forbes takes a risk noting the extremely profitable interest Big Pharma has in diagnosing children with ADD or ADHD and sentencing them to life-long daily medication. Natural News outlines the nominal rewards of ADHD medications and adverse effects including disqualification of future career options.
The treatment plan for anyone diagnosed as an Indigo Child is a healthy conscious diet, daily meditation and an improved environment. Anyone misdiagnosed as Indigo would still most likely improve their quality of life. Labels are inherently limiting and anyone looking to take advantage of the benefits can easily do so. From my experience, those folks usually don’t hang around too long, moving onto the next trendy, feel-good option. But for the ones who authentically resonate with the Indigo Children phenomenon, the self-realization is life-altering in the best of ways. Many of them are finally able to replace their Ritalin and Adderall prescriptions with trips to the farmer’s market.
In his Vice article, Tennet mentions several times his difficulty connecting with the Indigo Children community. A group of people sensitive to the intentions of others and often persecuted (such as being drugged into submissive behavior) may be difficult to infiltrate. Perhaps some chakra balancing and open heart meditations may help with future attempts. In the meantime, I decided to help Tennent out and asked some of the Indigo Children I know to send me childhood photos. Here are actual photos of Indigo Children without any Photoshop enhancements presented in Vice’s signature DOS & DON’TS style.
DO
DO
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DON’T
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DO
DO
DO
DO
Wide awake…