CRYSTAL SKULLS, A FANTASY OR A PHENOMENON?

On May 22nd of this year [2008] the new Indiana Jones movie will be released in the theaters. The movie is called “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls”. Those who have seen the earlier Indiana Jones movies know that he is always looking for special objects that have a certain power, like the Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara  Stones (also known as Siva Lingam stones) and the Holy Grail. They are either mystical objects of legends that people have be searching for a long time, like the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, or existing stones that in the movie have been given additional magical powers. Now the subject is crystal skulls. Are they truly objects of power or are they a legend that for many people belongs to the category of fantasy?

Crystal skulls as a phenomenon
The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are single objects that people may have read about. Crystal skulls, however, are known by an increasing number of people. People have seen one or more of the skulls that are called ancient or even have in their possession a recently carved crystal skull. Nowadays it is quite easy to buy a crystal skull. They are available in most crystal, metaphysical or new age stores and can be bought through on-line auctions like eBay. They are carved from different types of crystals or stones and vary in size from 1 inch to 8 inches and sometimes even larger. The crystal skulls are used for meditation, ceremonies and even healing. The number of people that are now familiar with crystal skulls is fastly growing. Crystal skull events and symposiums are held increasingly often. They started in the America, but are now also held in Europe. This year alone there will be events in Spain, Arizona (Sedona), Belgium and Hungary.

There is a difference between the previous subjects of the Indiana Jones movies and the new one on crystal skulls. While the Ark of Covenant and the Grail are enigmatic objects that most likely normal people will never see and Sankara stones as they were presented in the movie are unknown to most people, crystal skulls are an existing phenomenon. Although the content of the movie is still shrouded in mystery those connected to crystal skulls believe that interest in the phenomenon will increase. The NBC is shooting a two hour documentary on the subject that will be aired on the SciFi Channel on May 18 at 9pm EST and rumors say that more documentaries and even books on the subject are in the making. So what are these crystal skulls?

Different types of crystal skulls
In general two types of crystal skulls are recognized: the contemporary skulls and the old/ancient ones. The crystal skulls you can buy in stores and elsewhere are contemporary crystal skulls. These crystal skulls have been carved recently and they are like blank slates. Because crystals can store information, the new “caretaker” can consciously or unconsciously bring “new” information into these crystal skulls.

This is different with the crystal skulls that are called old or ancient. These crystal skulls have been carved in the past, sometimes a thousand or even thousands of years ago. They have been found during digs or have been in the possession of indigenous people for many generations. These crystal skulls are seen as sacred objects. They are often used in special ceremonies. These ancient crystal skulls have been found mainly in central and South America, but are known also from North America, Africa, Tibet, China and most likely from many other places. Because the ancient crystal skulls have been used in many ways, like in ceremonies, for healing, during initiations, for meditations and often have been at many sacred places, they contain a lot of information. Some believe that in addition information has been programmed into the crystal skulls, often through special protocols

Some of these crystal skulls are available to the public. Examples are the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, Max, ShaNaRa, Rainbow, ET and Synergy. People who have met these crystal skulls all share that these meetings were powerful, special and often change their life completely. Each crystal skull is reportedly different. They are all special and remarkable, but amongst them one that stands out most for me is the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull.

The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull
There is no other crystal skull that has been described, studied, looked at and has been subject of books and documentaries as much as the Mitchell-Hedges Skull. The reason may be that it has been around and available longer than any other crystal skull. Although there are two crystal skulls that are known for a longer period, the British Museum skull and the skull in the Parish museum (the Parish skull), these skulls could be seen in the museum, but were not available for research and for the public in the same way as the Mitchell-Hedges skull.

Another reason this skull attracted so much attention is its physical beauty. It is made of very clear quartz and is very special in its carving. It is believed to be anatomical correct and is made in the image of the skull of a woman. It has lenses built in, which gives a special effect when light shines through it in a certain way. It differs from the other ancient crystal skulls because it has a detachable lower jaw.

According to the story the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull was found in 1924 in Belize in Lubaantun, which means “city of the fallen stones”. F.A. Mitchell-Hedges led an archeological expedition that was excavating this Mayan site. It was his adopted daughter Anna Mitchell-Hedges who discovered the skull on her 17th birthday.
When her father died Anna became the caretaker. She has traveled extensively with the crystal skull until the mid 1990’s allowing many people to connect with it. People also came to her home to see the skull. Anna Mitchell-Hedges passed away on April 11th, 2007 on the birthday of the current caretaker, Bill Homann, after having lived a remarkable life that lasted 100 years and 100 days. Following Anna’s wish, Bill is dedicated to make the crystal skull available to the world.

More than any of the other ancient crystal skulls the Mitchell-Hedges skull seems to be part of the legend of the crystal skulls.

The Legend of the 13 Crystal Skulls
Many Native tribes in the Americas believe that there were, or are, 13 original skulls. According to the legend they were a gift to mankind from 12 different races of star people (Star Nations). These skulls will help mankind in their evolution of consciousness. It is believed that once mankind is ready they will come together to create an information field that will help to make a shift in awareness. The 13th crystal skull unites the information of the 12 into a unity that will allow this shift to happen. Whether the legend is literally true we will not know until the moment the gathering of skulls happens.

The purpose of the Crystal Skulls
It does not really matter whether a skull is ancient, old or contemporary. All crystal skulls have the same potential. They can help us to expand our awareness and to see who we truly are. One characteristic of crystal skulls is that they are reflectors: they reflect to us who we are like a mirror. Are we willing to look into this mirror to truly see ourselves?

Another characteristic is their ability to store information. Technology discovered that it is possible to store a whole library into a crystal the size of a sugar cube. Just imagine how much information can be stored in a crystal skull like the Mitchell-Hedges skull.

The main difference between contemporary, old and ancient crystal skulls is that old and ancient skulls already have a lot of valuable information stored in them. A way to train our abilities to access the information in the ancient skulls is to first learn to work with contemporary skulls. In our evolutionary process it seems that we are beginning to re-discover abilities that we have had in the past. Hopefully we will use these abilities to create a world of peace, love, joy and abundance.

Jaap van Etten, PhD studies subtle energies of human beings and of the Earth and the interaction between them. He also studies the role that crystal skulls play in this system. He is an international speaker and, together with his wife Jeanne Michaels, teaches workshops on these subjects. His book “Crystal Skulls, Interacting with a Phenomenon” was recently published. For more information visit http://www.lemurantis.com.