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Without going into any further details of his case, I prescribed a remedy and arranged to see him again in a months time. I met his Mum a while later at the school and she told me how he'd been at his Nan's and had fallen asleep on the sofa a few days after taking the remedy. Because he was so quiet and dead to the world, Nan got worried that he'd actually died.............he'd never done this before, but I knew this meant the remedy was starting to heal him. As this boy had been brought to me for Homeopathic treatment, I didn't automatically draw up his Birthchart but after his second follow-up, something about him made me ask his birth-time and I looked at his chart. During this particular month, I visited a Healing Fair in Bath where I live and was drawn to buy a book called The Indigo Children. The book came home with me, and stayed there. I now don't lend it, I advise people to buy their own copy!

The book described so accurately this particular boy and his problems, that I then bought 'The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children' by Doreen Virtue, so I could offer his Mum some hope and explain that this boy isn't a challenge, the system looking after him is..........Then I compared his chart to others in my collection and noticed a striking similarity with certain children's charts I had treated recently and some I had treated quite a few years before. Then another boy from the first boy's class was brought to me and HIS chart had the same configuration and so did my son's, who is also in the class, in fact over 10 children in this year all had similar charts. This set me on a mission that still intrigues me to this day.

Now things were beginning to make some sense, and not being an Indigo myself, I found it exciting to be able to offer some hope to ADD and ADHD children and those with the characteristics that Doreen had identified :
Strong-willed
Born in 1978 or later
Headstrong
Creative, with an artistic flair for music, jewellery making, poetry etc.
Prone to addictions
An 'old soul', as if they're 13 going on 43
Intuitive or psychic, possibly with a history of seeing angels or deceased people
An isolationist, either through aggressive acting-out, or through fragile introversion
Independent and proud, even if they're constantly asking for money
Possesses a deep desire to help the world in a big way
Wavers between low self-esteem and grandiosity
Bores easily
Has probably been diagnosed as having ADD or ADHD
Prone to insomnia, restless sleep, nightmares, or difficulty/fear of falling asleep
Has a history of depression, or even suicidal thoughts or attempts
Looks for real, deep and lasting friendships
Easily bonds with plants or animals

I then contacted Sarah Wood, the President of The Indigo Network to see if this was just a local phenomena or was it world-wide? The Indigo Network She advised me to post my questions on her website and people could reply to me. They have been sending me their Birth-data for over a year now and I was not surprised to see, that every person who KNEW they were an Indigo, had this same planetary shape to their chart.

So what planetary patterns were happening while these Indigo's were being born?

I took my computer on a lengthy journey from 1977-1998 and discovered the following.

In September 1977 the major planets had moved into the following signs:
The Red blobs are where the planets were at any given time that I programme into the computer, the yellow blobs are where the planets are on the date I make the chart.So for the purposes of understanding the SHAPE of these charts, only look at the red blobs....
These charts were made in Dec 2006 for any Astrologers that might be reading this and were added AFTER I wrote this article.

These are the 'glyphs' or symbols that represent each sign, so when you're looking at the charts, you'll know which is which.
The Sun , The Moon , Mercury , Venus , Mars , Jupiter ,
Saturn , Uranus , Neptune , Pluto

Nep-13 degrees Sag,Uranus-9 degrees Scorpio,Pluto-14 degrees Libra, Sun-21 degrees Virgo, Saturn-24 degrees Leo, Jupiter-3 degrees Cancer.

As you will notice, all the signs follow on to each other. This was when the first Indigo's began to be born. These are the early Indigo’s and the heavy planets are close, but in separate signs. By 1981 the first conjunction occurs, with Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter being in Libra. By 1983 Jupiter has caught up with Uranus in Sagittarius. In 1989 Uranus, Saturn and Neptune are all in the signs of Capricorn.

I have discussed the implications of these conjunctions with Donna Cunningham and she is working on a piece explaining this in much more detail. Donna Cunningham's Biography

Now what if you were born at this time and all your personal planets were in these same signs? What would make you different (or the same) as others?

First of all you will be focused in certain areas, very focused. You’d know how to operate the Playstation, but you might have problems tying your shoelaces or remembering to wipe your feet...... Your chart shape would be called a 'Bundle' or a 'Bowl' and you would have interests that need to be expressed otherwise problems happen.

In my practice I have noticed that 'Indigo Children' have birth charts that are rather unique. All their planets are located on one side of the chart i.e. 6 houses or less (of 12) are occupied and 6 (or more) are empty, meaning their energies are strong in certain areas, and non-existent in others.

In 'The Bowl' shape, all the planets are concentrated within one half of the chart. Reflecting the shape of this pattern, 'Bowl' types are said to be immensely self-contained and resourceful but they also tend to be 'one-sided', so their life's challenge is to integrate the empty half of the chart.

The 'Bundle' is rare, and reflects a narrowness of vision and experience. 'Bundle' types tend to channel their energies into issues related to the occupied section at the expense of the rest of the chart. This shape describes the specialist in his or her field or, negatively, the obsessive personality. And because a 'Bundle' chart has no oppositions, the person who's chart it is, will have more difficulty seeing things from others perspectives, unless the 'other's' are fellow Indigos.

A 'Bundle' or 'Cluster' or a 'Stellenium' is not an especially rare shape, 30% of my clients have this configuration. What is rare, is having Neptune and Uranus conjunct (in the same sign). This only ever happens approx once every 170 years and last happened in 1821 in the sign of Capricorn before that in 1650 in the sign of Sagittarius and will next occur in 2165 in the sign of Aquarius.

From 1978-1989 the bundle of planets stayed together, various outer planets moved a little and at certain times of each year, personal planets clustered with the biggies.

So, what does a cluster feel like? What does a cluster look like from the outside? What do cluster charts have that Splays of Grand Trines don't?
Well, they have an intensity and from my observations they also have a complete and natural understanding of their peer group and their generation. We all know what it feels like to be out on a limb and not recognised by others. The child born at the wrong time, the wrong place, the wrong era really. Well, Indigos don't suffer that. They were born in exactly the right year/month/day location. We all choose our parents in the planning stage before we were born (see Judy Hall's "Hands Across Time") and maybe Indigos are a little more astute at doing this. Indigos understand fashion, latest gadgets, popular music, popular TV soaps/programmes. They know what is 'cool' and what is not. Why? Because their outer planets are all together with their personal planets.They're not usually interested in history or old out-dated ideas. (God forbid that they should like folk music!...)
I'm heavily into folk music and my Indigo son barely tolerates this. In fact he was more interested in the Punk Era, circa 1977-1979 when the outer planets were first lined up from Leo to Sag.............but I digress.

So, let me show you some examples of Indigos that I have treated. To accurately display the full implications of an Indigo Chart, you need to use Equal-House System.

Born Oct 26, 1993, 3.15am, Bath, UK.

Here we have the typical one-sided chart. All the planets are below the horizon indicating someone who understands themselves well, but isn't so good at socialising and mixing with others. All the planets are in 5 houses. Neptune and Uranus are conjunct in Capricorn.
There are no oppositions.
When reading an Indigo Chart, because all the planets are so near together, you have to look to see which planet is nearest the Sun. That'll be the one that has the most influence.
Jupiter is one side of the Sun and Mars is the other making a child who is expansive on one hand and a little fearless/aggressive on the other..........but he has Moon in Pisces making him emotional, empathetic and sensitive. Plus he's a Scorpio, so don't try telling him what to do. What a combination! Because Mars is so near the Sun this child would do best at physical, active, sporty pursuits rather than totally desk bound activities..........and with Venus on the Ascendant, he has charm!

10th December 1985, 5.30pm , Dublin, Ireland.

Next we have the chart of a young lady who contacted me from the Indigo website. As you can see she is very clustered with all her planets squashed into 3 houses with only Jupiter on his own.

This child, 5th Feb 1997 , 8.02 pm, London,

....was brought to me with eczema and her mother had a whole host of problems when we started treatment. As you can see she has 7 planets in the 5th house, Mars on the Asc , Saturn in the 7th and Pluto in the 3rd. This young lady needed to be guided..........not instructed. In fact, even in Nursery, she was telling the other kids what to do!

This young lad was born 23.3.98 in Maidstone Kent at 7:39am.

His mother told me: "Recently I went to see a spiritualist as I was fed up with school accusing him of having ADHD and suggesting Ritalin use. The lady said G was an Indigo child, looked after by my father his own angel who died 2 years ago." He has all his planets above the horizon, Uranus conjunct Neptune and again Mars and Jupiter either side of his Sun.

So, if you have the 12 characteristics that Doreen lists AND a Bundle or Cluster chart, in my humble opinion, you ARE an Indigo.

Now, what makes living with/teaching /parenting an Indigo difficult, is their concentration of energies in one place. Provide them with an outlet for them. Look at Flower Essences or Homeopathy. Let them take exercise, eat well, play, mix with friends, write poetry, play music, create. To get the best from your child who has a cluster chart shape, allow them autonomy. They’re wiser than you anyway, so you might as well let them make some decisions themselves. Allow them to choose certain actions in their lives and to be guided by their feelings.

After all, none of these children has ever been brought to me for their lack of self-esteem, it's generally round the other way, too confident, too self-assured......

e-mail me at mary@maryenglish.co.uk

If you would like to order a Birth-chart for yourself or your child,or a copy of my latest book How to Survive a Pisces please email me at the above address.

Two good books to read in tandem with this article are
The Indigo Children by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober
Indigo Children
The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children by Doreen Virtue
Care & Feeding
If you want to get a free chart go to Astro.com