Indigos in Hawai'i: a phenomenological study of the experience of growing up with spiritual intelligence.

There is a special group of children around the world who have high intelligence and intuition, healing abilities, and a strong spiritual connection with God, yet these children are often mislabeled as having behavior disorders. Little is known from scientific research about the Indigo phenomenon in America, although many countries, especially among indigenous populations, are familiar with Indigo-like children. The purpose of studying these children when they are adults is to better understand these children when they are older and advance behavior health sciences by increasing awareness of the Indigo phenomenon and learning about their lived experiences. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 10 adult Indigos (> or = 18+ years old) on the island of Oahu, Hawai'i (7 females, 3 males; mean age = 52.4 + SD). Through in-depth semi-structured personal interviews, the experiences of these adults were analyzed and interpreted to identify the common experiences faced during childhood, what worked for their assimilation into society, and recommendations for parents, educators, and health professionals on how to work with Indigos. Bioenergy field (aura) photographs of each participant were also taken. Statements related to the phenomenon were placed into themes, coded, and categorized as the investigators reached a consensus of common themes. Seven primary themes and nine secondary themes emerged from the findings. The primary themes were: grandmother/mother had a similar gift; guided by a higher power to heal self and others; felt "different" or misunderstood; did not openly share their unique abilities; having challenges with partner relationships; history of abuse/violence or frequently disciplined; and use of intuition at work and/or school. Secondary themes included: Using Hawaiian and cultural healing methods; everyone has a degree of intuition and the use of intuition to know when to see a doctor or not; various unique abilities from body and multiple careers; mental health institutions, and financial struggle. Self reports on participants' life purpose, their unique abilities, and being misunderstood were also collected. It was concluded that Indigos felt mislabeled or misunderstood throughout their lives in spite of their belief that their life purpose was to help humankind.