Was the concept of Indigo Children a Rip-Off From China?

[bluedawg12]

Funny how one thing can lead a skeptical mind to another. Our discussion here on "Qi" lead to a comment that I read from skeptics about "special" Chinese children.

Was the concept of Indigo Children a Rip-Off From China?

Did it start there and spread to the west, rather than the statement, the IC are now found everywhere?

You decide. :evilgrin:

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/voyagers/esp_voyagers17.htm
The Indigo Children are not to be considered "superior or elite" in comparison to other humans, but rather viewed as living demonstrations of the dormant abilities that are NOW beginning to rapidly unfold among ALL HUMAN POPULATIONS.

Scientific communities in China, the US and other countries are now identifying small groups of infants and children that display rare abilities such as purging HIV, advanced genius and psychic/telekinetic abilities and other extra-ordinary attributes. These are the identified Indigo Children. Indigos can display some or all of these qualities and others not yet identified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children#Characteristics

Indigo children is a concept developed by Nancy Anne Tappe describing children who are alleged to possess special traits or abilities. Beliefs about indigo children range from their being the next stage in human evolution, possessing paranormal abilities such as telepathy, to the belief that they are simply more empathetic and creative than their non-indigo peers. There is no science or studies that give credibility to the existence or traits of indigo children. Many children labeled "indigo" are diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The concept was initially developed in the 1970s, gaining popular interest with the publication of a series of books in the late 1990s and the release of several films in the following decade. A variety of books, conferences and related materials have been created surrounding the idea of indigo children, which have been criticized for a means of making money off of credulous parents.

............

http://www.csicop.org/si/9607/china.html

In 1988 the first CSICOP delegation to China looked into the claims of several Qigong (pronounced cheegung)1 masters and their young proteges. These child marvels supposedly possessed what Chinese admirers call "special ability" or "extraordinary functions of the human body." They were said to be able to alter the shape or color of objects in sealed containers and perform a host of other minor miracles.

What the first CSICOP delegation (composed of most of the Executive Council at the time) found was that these children could not produce their effects under close observation. In short, the whiz kids and their masters were performing unsophisticated conjuring tricks (Alcock et al. 1988). Also, in controlled tests, the delegation found the vaunted abilities of the Qigong masters to diagnose medical ailments to be unsubstantiated.

Despite such failures, medical uses of Qigong have continued to gain popularity in China. Along with other facets of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it has become increasingly fashionable in the West as well. Most observers consider TCM's growing reputation in China in the decades following the Communist revolution (takeover in 1949) to have been due primarily to a mix of practical necessity and political expediency on the part of Chairman Mao Zedong. With fewer than 30,000 scientifically trained physicians in all of China (most of them concentrated in the large cities and suffering from politically suspect class backgrounds), the Communist revolutionaries were faced with an immediate need to be seen as "doing something" about the dismal state of medical care in China at the time. With the economy devastated, hard currency almost nonexistent, and hostility emanating from most foreign capitals, the new regime saw little hope of soon being able to afford Western medical technology and pharmaceuticals for a population that was already approaching 600 million. Thus the Communist Party began a concerted effort to convince the masses that TCM, like other aspects of Chinese culture, was not merely equivalent but superior to decadent "imperialist" alternatives. This of course carried the added political bonus of fostering national pride and solidarity among a war-weary and fractionated people.

But while TCM was being touted to the masses by the elites, top party and military officials cynically kept for themselves the best treatments scientific medicine could offer. According to Mao's personal physician, Li Zhisui (Li 1994), Mao himself relied on Western methods to treat his many illnesses (except for a few folk practices carried over from his rural childhood). Trained in scientific medicine at an American-run medical school in China, Li immigrated to Australia after World War II. He was working as a medical officer for an Australian shipping company in 1949 when he was enticed to return to Beijing. Shortly afterward, he was appointed Mao's doctor, the post he held until Mao's death in 1976. Li had no other patients than Mao, Mao's hypochondriacal wife, Jiang Quing, and a few other Mao family members and top party officials. For them, Li had the latest Western drugs, surgical techniques, and medical equipment at his disposal, and a well-equipped portable hospital that accompanied Mao and his entourage on their frequent, impulsive romps around the vast countryside.

<snip>

Among New Agers in Europe and North America, there was an eagerness to embrace the "natural" and "holistic" philosophy they perceived in TCM. It fit nicely with their desire to replace the scientific worldview with mystical beliefs and, in particular, their willingness to credit virtually any healing claims, providing they are ancient or hail from exotic places.

http://www.inlightimes.com/archives/2001/08/f1-super-psychic-children.htm

The Super Psychic Children, are one of the most amazing of all groups of children. Some people believe that this group and the Indigo Children are the same. Even Jan Tober expressed this belief. But I am not convinced. In fact I see a tremendous difference between them. Only the Super Psychic Children can see with parts of their bodies other than their eyes. This seems to be their most consistent trait, and one which Indigo Children are not able to demonstrate. On the other hand, many children are actually in training programs where they are successfully learning super psychic abilities, even though they were not born with them.

In their recent book, China's Super Psychics, Paul Dong and Thomas Raffill, recorded the events as the Chinese government watched the unfoldment of these gifted children from 1974 until about 1990.

Arthur C. Clarke, in his book, Childhood's End, foretold the birth of a new race of super psychic children. Through a worldwide mindlink with each other, these children were able to make planetwide alterations in all physical systems. That book was the conceptual basis for the film 2001! Coincidence? Fiction? You decide.

The superpsychic children are perhaps the most unusual and charismatic race being born today. Their dramatic abilities distinguish them from the other two races with their sensational demonstrations. These children are able to do things that most people thought could be done only in movies with computer graphics. What is so amazing of all is that it is real. If these children don't change our world, nothing will. These children are able to demonstrate that whatever they think becomes reality.

Paul Dong and Thomas E. Raffill wrote China's Super Psychics. It reports what has been transpiring in China around these new psychic children who have begun to emerge since 1974 with the young boy who could see with his ears. Actually, the Chinese government claims that these children, when blindfolded, could see either with their ears, nose, mouth, tongue, armpits, hands or feet. Each child was different and their vision from these unheard of areas was perfect. These tests were not just a percentage right some of the time; they were flawless.

I first spoke about these children in 1985 when I mentioned the article about them in Omni magazine. Omni was invited to come to China to observe some of these children and write an article about them. Omni assumed that there might be cheating involved, so when they were given some of these children to test, they conducted their examinations in a way that ruled out any possible cheating. They left nothing to chance.

http://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Super-Psychics-Paul-Dong/dp/1569247153
China's Super Psychics (Paperback)
by Paul Dong (Author), Thomas Raffill (Author)
5 new from $94.92 8 used from $84.89

"The book mentions how there are many more women (girls) who have these "special powers" than men (boys). This is not all that surprising because it is generally considered that women's "heart centers" are more open than men's and Love is the highest feeling vibration, Love is the essential quality of this Infinite Energy.

The author then mentions how they have noticed that with most children these "special" powers begin to diminish after puberty. This may also not be surprising because a certain leakage of energy occurs due to loss of blood (menstruation) in women and loss of semen (in men) and I might add that for this reason, there are special practices in Taoist Alchemy to prevent these leakage and to preserve the energy. After all - all of these special abilities are based on "playing with energy" - opening the channels within to let it flow, generating it and directing it. Focusing upon - meditating upon the Source of All of this Energy is one way to connect with it and let it express - different forms of qigong energy cultivation and manipulation exercises are another. " - satisfied reader.

http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_3283.shtml

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[bluedawg12]

1. The ‘Super Psychics’ of China - Pt. II

http://www.psychicchildren.co.uk/1-3-ChinasSuperPsychics.html
The ‘Super Psychics’ of China, have been recognised and nurtured by their Government for the last 25 years. Corresponding to the time frame of the Indigos, and recognised by Nancy Ann Tappe in her early research, the phenomena in China has reached a critical point. Paul Dong and Thomas E Raffill, authors of China’s Super Psychics, state that millions of dollars have been spent researching EHF, or 'Extra Human Function' in these children. Schools and research centres are widespread throughout the country. By 1997, 100,000 of these Children had been recognised. No research has revealed the numbers at present, but it is clear the numbers are increasing rapidly.

Now to get on to the incredible mind bending abilities some of these Children have. Let’s start with some gems from the book Chinas Super Psychics .One skill the children were able to develop was ‘psychic writing’, a technique where they were asked to imagine some written words on a blank piece of paper inside a closed pencil case. The case would be opened a short time later and on it were the words written in pencil. A girl from Shanghai called Xiao Kiong was the first to demonstrate this ability and so in 1981, EHF researchers at Yunnan Wenshan Teachers’ College in Yunna Province selected 5 children with EHF for further training. It was soon found that when blindfolded, these children were able to see with their ears, nose, mouth, tongue, armpits, hands or feet. These tests were not right just some of the time, they were flawless. American new-age magazine Omni got involved when the tests were set up to check there could be no cheating.

From a stack of books one was selected, then opened at random and a page was ripped out and crumpled up in to a small ball. It was placed in the armpit of one of the children - and the child could read every word on the page perfectly. After many more tests Omni magazine became convinced these kids were for real. But Omni were not the only ones present. Zhu Yiyi, editor of Shanghai’s Nature Magazine, a prestigious science journal also witnessed these events.

On another occasion, a thousand people were sitting in an auditorium and were each given a rose-bud. A six-year-old girl came on stage and with a silent wave of her hand; the thousand rosebuds would slowly open to fully blossom into beautiful roses before the eyes of the astonished audience. Another child would take a sealed bottle off a shelf at random and place it at the centre of a table. After a few moments the pills passed through the glass bottle and settled on the table. In many cases, the child would then take another object, such as a coin, put it on the table and it would pass back into the sealed bottle. There are many more stories like these in Chinas Super Psychics, but lets now look into the ‘Children of the Blue-Ray’.

[bluedawg12]

2. Beyond Indigo's : Children of the Blue-Ray

http://www.psychicchildren.co.uk/1-4-ChildrenOfTheBlueRay.html

Children of the Blue-Ray

In the 1988 book Notes From The Cosmos, Gordon Michael Scallion wrote a chapter about the Blue-Ray Children. Scallion is an established psychic and modern-day prophet, often compared to Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce. He is probably most famous for his ‘future maps’ of the world and his accurate predictions of Earth changes. He was popularised in Bob frissells books, Nothing in this Book is True and Something in this Book is True.

Scallion knew about these children since the early eighties, but did not really know what the significance was. It wasn’t until1988 that during a session with a client he went into trance and the information came out. He described the Blue-Ray children as the forerunners of the new root race (the Crystals?), who were from the ‘mental’ plane of existence, whose colour vibration was ‘blue’. He explained that they were the souls from the ancient land of Lemuria, whereas the Indigo’s are predominantly Atlantean. According to Scallion, the Indigo’s layed the groundwork for the Blue-rays, which enabled them step into their roles as teachers. The Indigo and Blue colours are very close in the colour spectrum and this can be seen as a natural process of movement through subtle vibrations.

Scallion emphasised that these Children ‘evolve’ very quickly: “They are teaching others by the age of four or five. By the time they reach their twelfth year, the Blue Ones would be equivalent to an average adult who has spent perhaps twenty-five years as a teacher”. They also have telekinetic powers, a ‘knowing’ of their mission on Earth and many traits associated with all the other categories of Children. Here is a list of the Blue-Ray characteristics from Notes from the Cosmos:

1. Blue Ray Children have dreams that are highly evolved, and they begin dreaming and remembering dreams at a very early age.

2. They have an affinity for languages of all types. Many speak more than one language, if exposed, by age three.

3. They are determined, and at time can be quite stubborn (much like the Indigo’s).

4. They invent pretending games in which they take on the role of healer, using laying on of hands.

5. They are drawn to water, more than any other setting. They often stare into space at length, especially when near rivers, oceans or even the blue sky.

6. They have an understanding of how animals feel and think. They explain this to others in a matter-of-fact – “Don’t you know?”- manner.

7. By the time they reach their teens, many have a desire to go to other countries – often attempting to urge their parents to take them, or going so far as to plan their own trips.

8. Their personalities seem to fluctuate between two extremes – from being serious, single-minded and focused (like the Indigo Children), to being dreamy-eyed and distant (like the Crystal Children).

[moggie]

8. Blue-Ray children? Seriously?

Do they get much sharper pictures?

That list of characteristics is pretty underwhelming:

1. Blue Ray Children have dreams that are highly evolved, and they begin dreaming and remembering dreams at a very early age.

This is the only one on the list which is genuinely interesting. I think kids under the age of ten are generally thought (by dream researchers) to have fewer dreams than adults, and those fairly unimaginative. See here, for example. So, if you have a very young child who is having and recalling lots of vivid dreams (what's a "highly evolved" dream?), that is unusual. But on the other hand, young kids often have vivid waking fantasies, and adults can find that a bit unsettling, so perhaps parents treat these fantasies as "dreams" because that's more comforting?

2. They have an affinity for languages of all types. Many speak more than one language, if exposed, by age three.

That's completely unexceptional, in multi-lingual households. Before the age of three is probably the optimal time for learning a second language! (A depressing thought for us middle-aged people struggling to learn another language: I may never reach the level I want, with my calcified brain).

3. They are determined, and at time can be quite stubborn (much like the Indigo's).

And much like normal kids!

4. They invent pretending games in which they take on the role of healer, using laying on of hands.

Gosh, I've never heard of kids playing doctors and nurses before!

5. They are drawn to water, more than any other setting. They often stare into space at length, especially when near rivers, oceans or even the blue sky.

Sounds normal to me.

6. They have an understanding of how animals feel and think. They explain this to others in a matter-of-fact – "Don't you know?"- manner.

In other words, they anthropomorphise animals, fantasise about what their pets think, and have trouble distinguishing between their fantasy and reality. Normal for young kids.

7. By the time they reach their teens, many have a desire to go to other countries – often attempting to urge their parents to take them, or going so far as to plan their own trips.

Normal, surely. I don't like travel myself, for various reasons, but I'm aware that that's weird. I dunno, maybe Americans regard foreign travel as exotic, but here in Europe a teenager who doesn't want to see more of the world would be regarded as odd.

8. Their personalities seem to fluctuate between two extremes – from being serious, single-minded and focused (like the Indigo Children), to being dreamy-eyed and distant (like the Crystal Children).

Normal.

Seriously, how could anyone regard this list as exceptional?

If you're wondering why I've revived a weeks-old thread, it's because of a thread elsewhere on DU yesterday where someone announced that s/he's an Indigo, "more reasonable & evolved than most" people. When someone says "look at how exceptional my child is", I can make noncommital noises of agreement, but when someone says "look at how exceptional I am", what's the correct response?

[LeftishBrit]

9. That just sounds like being 'children'

Children do dream - though they may find it harder than adults to describe their dreams. Brenda Mallon's 'Children's Dreaming' is an interesting non-technical book on the subject.

They have an 'affinity for languages' - that's how we become verbal beings, and what distinguishes us from other animals, and most of the foundations of language learning are established before the age of 3. If they are in multilingual communities, they generally learn more than one language. This may seem remarkable to monolingual Anglophone adults, but is normal in many communities. (A British Asian friend of mine speaks four languages fluently, and two reasonably well. A non-English Europaean student of mine speaks three languages like a native, and one fluently but with an accent. Etc.)

Almost all children are stubborn and determined, or at least go through stages of being so!

Almist all children play pretending games (if they *don't* it is a warning sign for problems); and the healing role is a common in such games. In woo-oriented families, I daresay the pretend-doctor with toy stethoscope and make-believe pills gets replaced by the pretend-healer laying on hands - but it's the same principle.

Water play is a favourite activity with many children.

Most children, like many adults, are interested in animals. Anthropomorphism is usual in early stages of development, and cultural influences determine whether it does or doesn't later get replaced by a greater differentiation between humans and animals.

Most teenagers - at least in Europe - hanker after foreign travel. Financial and other circumstances determine whether and how they can put this into practice, but I am very surprised that anyone would see it as peculiar.

Alternating between focused attention and daydreaming is pretty usual in children and adults.

[moggie]

10. You use longer words than me!

I feel validated! :-)

[LeftishBrit]

11. Yes, our posts seem to be pretty similar..

I'm a researcher in child development so in some places was quoting studies; but for most of it, you don't need any research, just to have met a few kids!

I'm amazed at how easily people succumb to this rubbish.

Wasn't there one post where Dropkickpa claimed to have an Adamantine Child - again, giving typical childhood characteristics? Perhaps this Blue-ray writer was plagiarizing her!

[moggie]

12. Exactly

Just meet a few kids, or rememember your own childhood and the kids you played with. I'm beginning to suspect that this crowd are not actually human.

[bluedawg12]

13. Nothing is as convincing as half truths or full truths spun

into an alternative explanation. Take the familiar and give it a new meaning.

They are pretty much just describing kids in general.

This is one of my fav's:

6. They have an understanding of how animals feel and think. They explain this to others in a matter-of-fact – “Don’t you know?”- manner.

"So, Billy, what is Spot doing?"

"Oh Spot wants to go outside to play with catch the ball."

Fascinating. Or is Billy looking to go out and play? Either way, a common thing for kids to do.

"Look daddy, Sylvester is sad."

Projection?

[mr blur]

3. I dunno, but I'm getting sick of this seemingly-endless stream

of delusional drivel. I'm beginning to think there's no hope for humanity.

[bluedawg12]

4. There probably isn't.

It's just a hunch, but it seems we are an unsustainable species.

Again, just an opinion off the top of my furry little doggy noggin, but we seem to take out of the system more than we allow to replenish.

What is interesting, since this is a skeptics forum and we tend to look at topics that invite skepticism, is what need is being met by these alternative systems of spirituality and science.

I am again, speculating, or as we used to call it in the old days, just discussing things, but our main religions have left people with a sense of incompleteness and so alternative systems, like these theories about special human beings, or the other thread I just posted about the young disabled woman being tauted as:
"You are to teach the Universal and Spiritual Laws of Creator," say's that people are not only willing to admit that this particular individual is some present day version of someone's late grandmother, but that there is a Universal and Spiritual Law ( not sure which laws those are), a Creator ( OK common belief) and that this is just the person to teach just such laws as those, by just that Creator, just at this point in time. Obviously, the appearance of these very new belief systems suggest somethings, among them, that the "Big Three" religions and even the other established religions seem to leave unmet spiritual needs.

Then, on a scientific level, it suggests that for all of the amazing breakthroughs in science, people are still just as likely to believe in alternative forms of "cures". There have been some things about this that I have read that suggest that what is missing in modern medical encounters is exactly that "placebo" effect, that shaman-like confidence in what may appear to be a too clinical, harried, over worked health care professional.

On a cultural level, too, we live in uncertain times, people may have a base line sense of insecurity (loss of jobs, economy, war, the ones we know and discuss more on political terms) and on top of that, it may be easier to believe that eating frogs, because they live in a cool habitat may lower the body temperature (1) than to deal with a sudden new potential pandemic which may or may not be a false alarm.

Then, there is the over arching financial motive driving many of these so-called movements. True, traditional medicine is profit based, pretty much like everything else, but, it may seem cheaper and less stressful to believe your child who possibly has diagnosable ADD, does not need "those doctors" and those awful meds, when we can order an audio tape for $19.99 that helps us visualize aura's.

Still, less money spent on the wrong remedy, is still money lost. That, among other concerns, makes skeptics feel frustrated.

It was very painful debating with rightwing climate change deniers, in the past, on other forums, thinking and accepting that time was ticking, the planet was being damaged and in the highest levels of government for eight years, funds were being spent to disprove anthropogenic climate change and data in support of it was suppressed.

Things are moving so fast with the large human population, more mobile than ever, with information dispersed at the speed of an electron, with mankind's presence in almost every remote part of this planet, that, I wonder what good old terra firma will look like in 300 years?

I asked that question a few years ago, in casual conversation with about 15-20 adults, all serious people with grown families, all having seen the last 50-60 years of earth history first hand, and not one person thought, of this rather staid and traditional group of people, that mankind would be around.


I can see where skeptics feel frustrated, at the same time, I can also see where regular people are coming from, things are very confusing, very complex and pretty unstable in the world.

There! That should cheer you up! :hi:




References:
(1)http://skepticblog.org/2008/11/09/tcm-ii/

[realisticphish]

5. Thanks, 80's!

seriously, the self-help stuff is what I think started all this.

[realisticphish]

6. funny that I've never heard of this

"HIV purging" that our scientific communities are apparently documenting

[bluedawg12]

7. I've never heard of it either.

What is "HIV purging?"