Answer
“Indigo children” is a New Age designation for people who appear to have certain spiritual gifts starting in childhood. The term was coined by parapsychologist Nancy Ann Tappe, who claimed that some children have indigo auras. She later self-identified as a synesthete (someone whose senses combine in unusual ways, such as associating numbers with colors) and said that she saw indigo when she met these children. Others refined the idea, and there are now probably as many definitions as there are people who identify as “indigos.”
Long ago, the theory is, people started to think more than they felt. Some rebelled against this trend, intuitively knowing how to be more in tune with the universe through their emotions. These rebels gave birth to children who had a memory of the collective consciousness. And these people gave birth to indigo children.
In New Age belief, indigo is one of three levels of so-called “star children” and represents the first step of the evolution of humans into a more spiritually aware state. The first indigo children are said to have been born after World War II, and the population grew in the 1970s. The next level is “crystal children,” and finally “rainbow children.” Star children supposedly herald the arrival of the Age of Aquarius, which values love, brotherhood, unity, and integrity. They also have a part in the advent of the new Mayan Great Cycle.
In the New Age Movement, indigo children are characterized by a strong sense of self and a realization that the world is wrong. They greatly resist established cultural norms that contradict their understanding of the world and their place in it. Some have psychic and supernatural healing abilities; some converse with spirit guides. Because they see the world is wrong but feel too separated from that world to fix it, they tend toward depression and anxiety, and may appear narcissistic. They are creative and have a strong sense of personal integrity, but they bore easily and are prone to addictions and insomnia.
According to many New Agers, Crystal children, most of whom were born in the 1990s or later, have even greater psychic and telepathic abilities than indigos. The highest evolutionary step, according to New Agers, is Rainbow children, whose auras will encompass all colors. No Rainbow children have yet been born, however.
Both modern psychology and the Bible have responses to the concept of star children. Psychologists believe that kids identified as “indigo” probably actually have ADD or ADHD. Their inability to conform to cultural norms is because of chemical imbalances in the brain, not because they are in tune with greater spiritual truths. Star children may be on the autism spectrum. Another theory is that the parents of star children justify their kids’ rebellion against societal norms by identifying them as a special (and more highly evolved) class of people. A more derogatory term used by observers might be snowflakes.
The Bible does not acknowledge the existence of indigo children. The Bible does say that God gives some of us particular artistic skills (see Exodus 35:30–35). Levels of intelligence and discernment vary among the members of any generation. It is true that this world is broken (Romans 8:22; 2 Timothy 3:13), but it doesn’t take a psychic connection to the universe to see that people abuse each other and the world we live in.
The ideas propagated concerning star children encourage a strong and dangerous connection to the spirit world. Spirit guides are not benevolent deities but demons bent on our destruction. In fact, any spiritual power or “gift” that does not come from God comes from demons. It’s very possible for some people, even children, to be more sensitive to the work of demons, but that isn’t something to be celebrated. We should protect children from these powers they don’t understand and can’t fight, not encourage them to delve more deeply.
It’s also dangerous for parents to encourage children in their rebelliousness. We should not indulge foolishness or rebellion just because a child, indigo or otherwise, claims to have a different view of the world. The Bible says that many of the characteristics assigned to star children are sins that will precede the end times, including pride, arrogance, disobedience to parents, lack of self-control, conceitedness, and love of pleasure instead of love of God (2 Timothy 3:1–5). Paul describes these individuals as “having a form of godliness but denying its power,” and says, “Have nothing to do with such people.”
GotQuestions.org doesn’t presume to diagnose or offer treatment options for conditions such as ADD, ADHD, or autism. We know that children are a blessing (Psalm 127:3; Matthew 19:13–14). We celebrate God’s creativity and power as He creates people with gifts, talents, wisdom, and discernment that can be used to benefit others. And we join with those who mourn this fallen world and who know intuitively that we were intended for something better.
Unfortunately, the concept of indigo children ushers in the attributes of arrogance, narcissism, and direct demonic activity and wraps it all up in a New Age bow. This is simply evil. Those who truly understand the universe will find their identity in Christ, the Creator of the universe (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:15–17), not in made-up labels that justify sinful behavior. As Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
