(Originally published in Fringe! Starseed)

Do you ever feel as if you are different from other people? As if you’ve come from a place much higher? Have you ever dreamed of another world, a better world, with a better you? Perhaps the life you have now isn’t your first one. Your soul is a gift from the sea of stars, carried on waves of cosmic light, a Starseed.

Starseeds are a modern spin on a decades old new-age belief. Those who think they are Starseeds believe they are souls from a higher alien intelligence who chose to come and be born into this life on Earth. Depending on what race of alien soul a Starseed has determines their lineage; there is a whole classification system for characteristics.

Agarthan Seeds

Named for the fabled hidden city of Agartha, located somewhere in the hollow Earth, these people believe they were once residents of that mysterious city of giants that possessed technology and scientific understanding far superior to the modern day. They feel it is their duty to help humanity safeguard the environment and reverse the effects of “bad” technology, such as nuclear and fossil fuels.

Pleiadian Seeds

Said to incarnate from beings from the Pleiades star system, located in the constellation of Taurus. Often called an “Old Soul,” someone wise beyond their years. Empathetic to those around them and frequently use art to convey a message, Pleiadians claim to be the most common Starseeds among us today, and its said circles or geometric patterns are their birthmarks.

Lightworker Seeds

Lightworker Star Seeds are one of the more metaphysical. They don’t have a planet or species but instead are the incarnation of a celestial frequency. One that focuses on spiritual liberation and awareness, spreading kindness and understanding. They are considered vital to what believers call the Ascension.

The community agreed upon a dozen more types, and all share a common characteristic: a profound sense of loneliness and othering. They don’t relate to this life and experience a deep feeling of Saudade, a yearning for a life that could never be again or never was. In the beginning, Starseeds often suffer from depression and anxiety, alienation, and a lack of purpose.

Then, they are awakened.

According to the community, awakening can come from any number of things. The most common trigger is encountering another Starseed. Through a physical or telepathic gesture, this person triggers memories of the young seed’s past life. These manifest as dreams from the alien soul inside them, and these messages guide them to their higher purpose in life.

Awakening can also be caused by simply hearing about or looking up Starseeds and, less commonly, through other new-age practices such as tarot card reading or astrology.

Once awakened, the new Starseed realizes that they are here to help guide the people of Earth and help them achieve a higher state of being. All the suffering they experienced in this life was something they decided to take on in order to help others. They often speak of lowering and increasing “frequency.” Not frequency as in sound but more spiritual or mental. In this sense, actions can cause humanity, as a whole or on an individual level, to lose or gain progress toward Ascension.

Ascension is the end goal for the Starseeds on Earth. Only when they have finally cleansed the world from the negativity that has held humanity back from reaching a higher plane of consciousness can their mission be complete. At that point, humanity would ascend and be given new bodies in another dimension.

As their purpose in life is revealed, many report that the memories become more like visions, real communication. They are visited by members of their race's leaders, a council they themselves were once a part of. These leaders check on the progress of the mission and offer guidance. Those who claim to have encountered these council members express a feeling of overwhelming love and support.

Then there are the star families.

As Starseeds once had another life, they can sometimes visit and see members of that past incarnation’s family. Some have reported having wives, husbands, and even children waiting for them to return once they complete their mission on Earth. One reported visiting their star father and being moved to tears by the connection with him, a connection they hadn’t felt before since they never knew their earthly father.

On these worlds, they are seen as martyrs, saviors of humanity, and lauded for choosing to be reborn into the suffering of the world and try to end it. Starseeds are, in essence, defined by that one core belief: that they chose to live here in this life and gave up something much better in order to help others.

At this point, it is important to look at the similarities between Starseeds and the phenomenon of "kinning.” A term originating on the internet, “kinning,” describes people who identify as various Otherkin. Otherkin believe they are actually some variation of animal, such as wolves or cats, only trapped in a human body. This belief is not limited to real animals either, as many identify as dragons or other mythical beasts. A notable community, one that presents the best examples of this belief, are Furries. (Members can be found in full fur suits, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, customized to match their other selves.)

Some Otherkin also feel they are soul-bound with a fictional character, such as the protagonist of a video game or anime. They use the concept of alternate realities or the multiverse to explain how their souls can be shared with a character out of reality. They develop elaborate “head cannons,” detailed memories that came to them in dreams or visions. Most of these head cannons become more and more intricate, sometimes even incorporating little rituals that make the person feel more connected with their fictional, other self.

As mentioned, Starseeds are just the latest spin on an old, new-age practice that started in the 1930s with Semyon Davidovich Kirlian and an accident. Kirlian, a soviet scientist, was working on photographic plates when he made a surprising discovery. He placed an object, sources aren’t sure what, onto one of these plates and accidentally ran a high electrical current through it. He found that an image of the object had been burned onto the plate and that the image had a colored field around it.

The first photograph of an aura.

A machine was made to capture Kirlian photography, and the new-age movement ran wild. Officially, the light captured around the object is corona discharge, ionization of the air to the point where it breaks down and allows for conduction. However, with Kirlian photography, it was discovered that the color of the corona discharge changed when used on people. From there, the colors were dubbed auras, and people began to give characteristics and traits to the different shades.

This resulted in the indigo child movement of the early 2000s, where indigo auras were unique souls sent to Earth for a special purpose. It isn’t hard to see the evolution from that to the Starseed of today; most lists even include indigo children as types of Starseeds.

We all search for meaning and comfort in this life, as long as it doesn’t add to the sorrow of the world, who can say for sure what is true in this endless universe? In the end, we are all made of stardust.

Sources

[Center of Excellence- “What is a Starseed?”; YouTube: The Alchemist]

Starseed

Human Monsters: Joseph LaPage, The Horror Of New Hampshire

Crackhead Jimmy In A Squirrel Skirt: The first chapter