In reading a powerful article (I Am Adam Lanza's Mother) by a woman who has a son with a personality disorder, possibly something similar to that which, it is being assumed, Adam Lanza was afflicted, I came across a comment stating:
The hard truth , is this country has experienced a swell of acute mental dysfunction in particular group. That group being 13- 27 yr old males. This has occurred simultaneously with key changes in our societal norms. An emasculation of young male children,increase in loss of male mentoring or fathering, an increase exposure to violent themes at a young age ( video , movie , etc) a systematic desensitization of human traits a severed sense of empathy , a culture that glorifies attacks on the very values our founders knew would support families, and communities.(Part of a comment by bekahlyons (2.06pm) 16 Dec.)
Among the very long thread of comments, of which I read only a part, there are several other contributions from parents of young adults with a similar disorder to that described in the original piece, all of those I read involved young people (mainly males) of this same age group. A bell kept annoyingly ringing in my head
That age group (they are now 13 - 27) is also, roughly, the age group which, a few years ago, was associated with so-called Indigo Children. Not everything in the list below seems to fit, but some of it does. See this article Astrology of the Indigo Children by Arwynne O'Neil
It begins
#Introduction
The generation of children born from approximately 1983 to 1999 (broader estimates say 1978-2003) includes a special classification of individuals first identified by authors Lee Carroll and Jan Tober in their 1999 book The Indigo Children.
In this excerpt, the authors list several attributes they feel best describe those children:
• They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it).
• They have a feeling of "deserving to be here," and are surprised when others don't share that.
• Self-worth is not a big issue. They often tell the parents "who they are."
• They have difficulty with absolute authority (authority without explanation or choice).
• They simply will not do certain things; for example, waiting in line is difficult for them.
• They get frustrated with systems that are ritually oriented and don't require creative thought.
• They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like "system busters" (nonconforming to any system).
• They seem antisocial unless they are with their own kind. If there are no others of like consciousness around them, they often turn inward, feeling like no other human understands them. School is often extremely difficult for them socially.
• They will not respond to "guilt" discipline ("Wait till your father gets home and finds out what you did").
• They are not shy in letting you know what they need.
Every generation shares certain characteristics which can be attributed to the lengthy transits of the outer planets through the twelve signs; Uranus stays in each one for approximately seven years, Neptune spends about fourteen and Pluto, with its erratic 248-year orbit, takes anywhere from 10 to 25 years to move through any given sign. Each combination of these three planets lasts long enough to influence a vast swath of the world's population, imprinting upon each new personality the unique qualities of their time..................
There's a theory based on astrology further into the piece... starting:
"According to Richard Brown, the astrological signature of the Indigo Children is a combination of outer planetary conjunctions and their aspects to Quaoar between 1983 and 2002........"
I'm wondering if the particular differences noticed in a group of children once labelled "Indigo" might have developed in a much different way from that originally supposed. I should point out that not every person born in that time span was categorised "Indigo" - those children were a minority. The idea of Indigo Children wasn't widely accepted, it was thought to be New Agey, or pseudo-science-ish; or, quite often, complete hogwash, and it might have been just that. Still, throwing baby out with bathwater is never a wise move! Anyone have any thoughts on this, astrological or otherwise?
This is certainly an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteQuite a while back I found myself pondering this same thought when it comes to Indigo children. A number of blogs concerning them were on my radar when, at that time I found a strange, albeit solid (IMO) correlation between the Indigos and a new generation of children being born or/and developing what is known in psychological terms as NPD.
here's a taste...
here
wikipedia also explains it here..
here
...and the reason I found interest in this, at the time, is well,... because two of my own children are born during this "Idigo uprising" and I found it unable to ignore what I saw to be a strict correlation in the two phenomena.
The traits in common are easy to see.
NPD is a certifiable psychopathy right up there with psychoses of the highest order . I began to recognize it in my own kids...as well as some of their close friends...(Narcissists tend to flock together btw) It alarmed me then and still does to this day. Like so many parents of children with indications of NPD I often wondered "where I went wrong"...."I thought I did everything right" etc. But I came to the realization that trying to "manage" this phenomenon....either with a shift in parental patterns, gov't legislation or any other type of established norm was certainly an exercise in futility.
I believe strongly it IS cosmic....and since when can this current generation of matured individuals making up "mankind" as we know it control ANYTHING cosmic.
The new age will be well on it's own once we're out of the picture, and all we can do is our best now, to at least try and understand it.
Probably only for our own sense of comfort that understanding it may bring....but like I said.....the new age will have to fend for itself too. I hope they do a better job than we've done.
...here's another related article on the new "generation ME"..
here
DC ~~ Many thanks for your input on this, and the links. Another piece in the jigsaw, and one of which you have personal experience. I like your use of the term "cosmic" rather than astrological. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhether we call it NPD or Indigo-ism or some other description, there's a common link in the age span affected.
Perhaps we are just now beginning to recognise some of the most negative results of whatever the cosmic lightning bolts were that formed the "Indigo" generation; positive results (if any) could take longer to become apparent, as the generation reaches full maturity. Many of us won't be around to observe that, as you point out. We can only hope that hope they will actually have their opportunity to make a world comfortable for themselves and their unique psychological makeup.
Many of the Indigo's attributes listed were said of my "hippie" generation (baby boomers)...we were quite shocking considering the time. Many societal norms were broken at that time and I'm sure that the older generations thought the end of days were close. The main action occurred from 1965 through 1975. The peaceful hippies were sharing stage with peaceful racial change, such as Martin Luther King's, and the women's movement. The establishment tossed tremendous violence into the "peace" mix.
ReplyDelete1969 brought the "helter-skelter", Charles Manson murders...many other serial murders...other atrocities...rise in terrorism. Most Americans began locking their doors for the first time and felt innocence was lost.
The astrological influences of anyone born 1983 through 2000 are unique, as are all time periods. Astrology is all about potential energy. The environment influences that energy, but it's always dependent upon the individual to determine how to employ their "stars".
I've met some very incredible, positive, gentle young adults from the Indigo birth time period. I have likewise encountered their opposites and the in-betweeners! All of these individuals have been born into a far different existence than when I entered slower-paced world and it has to have an influence on their self-determinations.
From Dane Rudhyar:
(http://www.khaldea.com/rudhyar/astroarticles/uranuspluto.php)
"There was a conjunction of Uranus and Neptune at Capricorn 2°59' on March 22nd, 1821 (near the time of the death of Napoleon); the next one will occur on the 19th and 20th degrees of Capricorn in 1993. In 1821 Neptune had not yet been discovered, just as in 1850 Pluto was still unknown when Uranus came in conjunction to it in the last degrees of Aries. Thus one might say that a fully conscious awareness of the great process of all-human planetary change which began in the 18th century will not take place until 1993 when Uranus begins its new cycle with Neptune. What is happening today [mid-1960s], as Uranus starts its new cycle of relationship with Pluto, is that the very foundations of man's collective mentality are being transformed; for Pluto represents indeed the planetary aspect of mind, the one mind of Man."
Our natural world has become polluted in many ways, one being the synthetic, biochemical contamination. Many of the babies born in the Indigo time period were exposed to who-knows-what-all, but it is now known that some of the contaminants are known estrogen-like compounds...hormone disruptors. My niece, born in 1992, began her menses by the age of eight. Hormone disruptors and other chemical adulterants are known to permanently alter brain biochemistry. Add electro-magnetic wave pollution, which has grown exponentially over the past several decades. We may be in new territory with births occurring in the past few decades. Remember Rachel Carlson's "Silent Spring"? We failed that wake-up call.
mike ~~ I do agree that, as you say, it's all about potentialities, and that every generation has it's own unique "trade mark", yours, mine, and the one in question here.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have thought of bringing up this topic had I not read the comments under article to which I linked in the post, and I didn't even read the whole thread. So many parents said they had similar experiences and some troubles with their offspring's personalities.
I then remembered the last two dreadful mass murder events and their perpetrators: James Holmes and Jared Loughner whose background stories and personalities sound uncomfortably similar to Adam Lanza's.
I agree that it's a minority of the generation in question who display the negative potentialities of their personality, possibly coming to the fore due to family background, environment, especially the environmental issues you mention in your last para., also genetics.
I certainly do not wish to condemn a whole generation, just point out that there does seem to be "something" happening. That "something" must have several causal factors - perhaps astrology is one, environmental degradation, the flawed society into which they've grown is another common to all; individually there will be additional factors too.
"key changes in our societal norms"
ReplyDeletesomething not mentioned there is the use of antidepressant drugs to treat 'moody' youngsters and the drug's correlation with psychotic behaviour
Peter Hitchens in the Daily Mail mentions it in connection with the most recent event.
JD ~~~ Yes, indeed! Yet another possible factor - I think some of the comments at the linked article did mention that issue. Apparently such drugs are looked on by some as "an easy fix", and they probably end up doing more harm, exacerbating the problem.....vicious circle!
ReplyDeleteI suppose if you're afraid your kid will kill you in your sleep, you'll try anything.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great book called Disconnected Kids by Dr. Robert Mellilo, who runs the Brain Balance Clinic in Chicago. He works w/severely dyslexic, autistic, ADD/ADHD, etc. and approaches it from an neuro-electrical perspective, much like a previous poster who mentioned electromagnetic energy. Have you read Zapped by Ann Gittleman? Another book that points to research that we're, essentially, frying ourselves/brains w/all the technology. Interesting stuff, if you're inclined to read around.
Well I do think that, even if there are deep, very very deep problems in American Society as in the rest of the world, anyway a certain astrological “signature” is highly probable. In fact, not any societal disorder gives way to such reactions...
ReplyDeleteWhat surprises me the most me is that: Those last generations made no attempt, absolutely no attempt, to solve or at least **face** these societal problems on their own plan: The society itself...
All is in the individual and individually conceived and faced, with absolutely no way of solution.
In fact, the problems of the society can be faced on the level of society only, not into the individual level...
But in and on this plan, we cannot but see the influence of a mental bombing of generations inside the capitalistic society that today is spread all over the whole world...
And the actions of lobbies and secret groupings that highly conditioned, and still condition, our societies all over the world...
Look up Type three indigo. Type three indigos have two polarized souls or avatars within the one body. Their purpose is to try and integrate the opposites and repair 12 strand dna. Their soul choose this in order to help humanity at this time. This is a special time in our history, a lot of special souls are here at this time to help with the transformation from dualism to unity consciousness. A lot of individual and collective negativity is coming up for clearing and healing.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~~~ Many thanks for the recommendations - the books sound interesting - I'll seek them out.
ReplyDelete:-)
Chomp ~~ I think previous generations were too close up to the situation to see what was happening (apart from a few individuals with intuitive insight). This degradation of society has happened in centuries past, to other empires - we are starting to "connect the dots" now - but only some of us.
ReplyDeleteI agree that societal ills cannot be addressed individually, doing so can make a person feel better about themself, but little more.
Great description, Chomp - "mental bombing" - that fits very, very well!
Natural balance, in capitalism and politics generally will prevail - eventually, I believe, but it could take several more generations. Rectification of the situation cannot happen overnight when it has taken decades and centuries to get to this state of affairs.
Anonymous #2~
ReplyDeleteWill do! Thank you. It sounds a tad "out there", I have to admit - but it's best to discount nothing - nothing at all.
anonymous #2 ~~~ Re Indigo Type 3 - I found this on a Tribe message board, part of a longish contribution by "RJ" - I'll leave the link here - not sure it'll work for a message board though.
ReplyDeleteThe clip comes from 2005 by the way:
At times it may seem as if the child has an "evil twin" that emerges, a dark side of the personality that is capable of extreme thoughtlessness and cruelty. Indigo 3's are usually the ones responsible for going on shooting sprees in schools.
"http://indigochildren.tribe.net/thread/7cb27228-05b0-4b2c-80b4-26d5c43afb07
That is definitely spooky!
Anonymous #3 ~ Well, yes, sometimes I feel exactly that way myself (my last paragraph of the post touches on it).
ReplyDeleteRegular commenters here are not deluded, I'm certainly not a New Ager, nor, I trust, an American narcissist, yet I do like to keep a completely open mind, and try not to ignore any possible links, even highly suspect ones.
Indigo Children was a label attached to kids whose parents sensed a definite difference in them - whatever the network of causes, and they were a tiny minority as far as I can tell. New Age people did try to expand the concept and that harmed it in my view.
Alright - we'll dump the Indigo label, even dump any possible astrological input. Still... there's a small group of young adults for whom multiple adverse factors of 20th/21st century society, especially in the USA, have deeply affected and possibly left damage, to the point of making some of them dangerous.
How's that?
There's one thing this generation has had access to, that no other had - the internet. Access to stuff no child (nor, most adults) should see, read, or interact with. Film and television are competing to outdo the violence that abounds in freely available video games (as yet, they haven't even come close!) The damage that graphically violent media is doing to young minds by desensitizing them, coupled with an overabundance of ill-used 'antipsychotic' drugs with little known long or short term effects, is a large part of the problem rearing its ugly head today. Couple that with a gun crazy society (they want to arm teachers now!) where kids can get guns as easy as chewing gum, and you've got the recipe for the disaster that is Sandy Hook. Frankly, those who bleat, "What went wrong?" make me sick. Look at yourselves, America, - at what you've become - and it'll be painfully obvious.
ReplyDeleteLet's not blame 'cosmic' interferences for something that lies fairly and squarely at the feet of American society.
RJ Adams ~~ The factors you mention, as well as a few others mentioned above, must all feed into the network of causes for this and several other recent tragedies.
ReplyDeleteSome of us suspect there's more though.
If those important factors were the whole story events such as last week's would be happening at least once an hour, every day, every week, every month. There's something extra affecting some - a certain small section of young (teens and twenties) males in particular.
Those who choose to think there's something in astrology (not necessarily everything the text books say, in my own case) but something outside of what we fully understand, I/we think that the extra factor might possibly be related to
a) the particular span of years when these young men were born, and b) narrowing it down further, the individual times and places of their birth - something in their natal charts making them potentially dangerous, when exposed to the other mix of factors to which we're all exposed.....this American way of life.
I'm not "blaming" cosmic inferences, RJ - I'm using everything I know from experience to try to make sense and reason of this and other, similar, tragedies.
When all's said and done though, the single factor which could have prevented much of the damage is the easy availability of military style weapons in this country. Remove, or strictly limit THAT factor, and these affected young males would much pose less of a danger.