Has anyone ever heard of the crystal skulls?

Question

What do you think they will tell us when we find all of them? And how do you think people centuries ago made them when they are hand made and would have taken hundreds of years to create one?

Answer 1

Yes, I first read about these as a kid in one of those "Amazing Facts" kind of books, which talked about how people could see images in them and how they caused people to hear strange noises.

I don't know if we'll ever find all of them, because millions of them are still being made for the New Age trinket market, as well as for the museum replica market.

A crystal skull is a stone carving in the shape of a human skull. The sculptures vary in size from a few inches to life-size. Some are made of pure quartz crystal, but many are made of other types of stone found in abundance on Earth. Some stone skulls are genuine artifacts from Mesoamerican cultures such as the Aztecs and are known as skull masks or death heads.

But the crystal skulls that interest New Agers are extraterrestrial in origin or, supposedly, come from Atlantis. They allegedly are endowed with magical powers such as the spontaneous production of holographic images and the emission of weird sounds.

And, despite the fact that replicas are easily made and are available from a variety of sources, advocates of the paranormal nature of crystal skulls like Nick Nocerino claim that no one knows how these skulls were made and that they are impossible to duplicate. Nocerino is the founder of the The Society of Crystal Skulls, International. His society uses psychometry, remote viewing, and scrying as part of their research methodology.

The myth of crystal skulls as extraterrestrial and extra-powerful seems to have begun with F. A. "Mike" Mitchell-Hedges (1882-1959) and his adopted daughter Anna. Their creative fictions have been uncritically promoted by Frank Dorland, author of Crystal Healing: The Next Step, and Richard Garvin, author of The Crystal Skull: the Story of the Mystery, Myth and Magic of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull Discovered in a Lost Mayan City During a Search for Atlantis (1973).

The myth has been carried on by Ellie Crystal, who likens the quest for crystal skulls to the quest for the Holy Grail, and Josh Shapiro, co-author (with Nocerino and Sandra Bowen) of Mysteries of the Crystal Skulls Revealed.

"I personally feel that the Crystal Skulls are not only here to share ancient knowledge and wisdom, but to assist in awakening our race to higher spiritual laws and understanding of itself....If the Crystal Skulls were not brought by extraterrestrials then certainly we must conclude their [sic] have been civilizations much more technologically or spiritually advanced than our own today."
--Joshua "Illinois" Shapiro

The most famous crystal skull is the Mitchell-Hedges "skull of doom," allegedly discovered by a 17-year old Anna Mitchell-Hedges in 1924 or 1927 while accompanying her adoptive father on an excavation of the ancient Mayan city of Lubaantun in Belize, where the elder Mitchell-Hedges believed he would find the ruins of Atlantis. However, evidence collected by Joe Nickell proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Mitchell-Hedges bought the skull at a Sotheby's sale in 1943 for £400.

This clear quartz skull is about 5.25 inches high and weighs about 11 pounds. It superficially resembles stone skulls made by the Aztecs. The Aztec skulls are stylized, however. The Mitchell-Hedges skull is realistic with a detachable jaw.

Much of the occult and sinister legend surrounding the so-called skull of doom originated with Mitchell-Hedges, who claimed that the
Skull of Doom is made of pure rock crystal and according to scientists it must have taken over 150 years, generation after generation working all the days of their lives, patiently rubbing down with sand an immense block of rock crystal until finally the perfect Skull emerged. Claimed Mitchell-Hedges:

"It is at least 3,600 years old and according to legend was used by the High Priest of the Maya when performing esoteric rites. It is said that when he willed death with the help of the skull, death invariably followed. It has been described as the embodiment of all evil."

However, the man who had put the piece up for auction, Sidney Burney, denied that Mitchell-Hedges found the skull. So did the other people who were on the Lubannatun expedition. Mitchell-Hedges himself never mentioned the skull until just after he bought it in 1943!

Anna has continued the hoax and made a few dollars over the years by putting her skull on display, claiming it came from outer space and was kept in Atlantis before it was brought to Belize. She is still in possession of the skull, but seems to have tired of the publicity and has retired it from public viewing.

In 1970, Anna let Frank Dorland, a crystal carver, examine her skull. Dorland declared that it is excellent for scrying and it emits sounds and light, depending on the position of the planets. He claimed that the skull originated in Atlantis and was carried around by the Knights Templar during the crusades. He claims they had the skull examined at a Hewlett-Packard lab.

D. Trull uncritically reports that the lab found that the skull

The lab found that the skull "had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if they carve "against the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods."

To compound the strangeness, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had been carved with metal instruments. Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours adding up to 300 years to complete."

Dorland's claims formed the basis of Garvin's book on crystal skulls.

The questionable origin of the Mitchell-Hedges skull has not deterred belief in the skull's mysterious properties. Rather, at least 13 other skulls have mysteriously appeared over the years. Some of these skulls are claimed to have magical origins and healing powers.

However, a study of several crystal skulls by the British Museum in 1996 indicates that the only magic involved in the creation of these skulls was in keeping their fraudulent origin a secret.

The study concluded that the skulls were made in Germany within the past 150 years. The recent origin explains how they were made with tools unavailable to the ancient Mayans or Aztecs.

Using electron microscopes, the researchers found that two of the skulls possessed straight, perfectly-spaced surface markings, indicating the use of a modern polishing wheel. Genuine ancient objects would show haphazard tiny scratches from the hand-polishing process.

A similar result occurred in 1992 when the Smithsonian received a crystal skull from an anonymous source who claimed it was an Aztec skull that had been bought in Mexico City in 1960.

Research by the Smithsonian concluded that several crystal skulls popular with the New Agers originated with Eugene Boban, a Frenchman of dubious character. Boban dealt in antiques in Mexico City between 1860 and 1880, and seems to have acquired his skulls from a source in Germany. Jane MacLaren Walsh of the Smithsonian concluded that several crystal skulls held in museums were manufactured between 1867 and 1886 ("Crystal Skulls and Other Problems," Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington DC, 1996).

Other so-called ancient crystal skulls have had histories as dubious as the Mitchell-Hedges skull. For example, a skull called "Max" was supposedly given to the people of Guatemala by a Tibetan healer. Another pair of skulls, known as the British Skull and the Paris Skull, was allegedly found in Mexico in the late 19th century by mercenaries. They are very similar and one may have been the model for the other. The Paris skull is said to represent Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of the dead. It is not alleged to have any occult powers, however.

from the Skeptics Dictionary

Answer 2

Yes, I have read a lot about them. It is claimed that there are 13 such skulls in the world. The finding of the first skull is in controversy. Still the skulls remain a great mystery.What were the tools by which these were carved out, what was the purpose served by these skulls, were they really power transmitters, transmitters of any other kind of energy, a tool of shamans, a piece of decoration, an object for occult practices,an exhibit in anatomy classes ? No one so far has come out with any plausible explanation. I read that one such skull has been examined at NASA lab under their powerful microscopes to find any tool marks on it, but none were found.Carving a skull on a piece of crystal is more difficult than carving on granite.Crystal skulls are indeed mysterious till date.

Answer 3

i've got considered countless shows on them. authentic now in basic terms a handfull have been revealed, and have "related" themselves to human beings that may not area with them. The human beings which will communicate approximately them say that the skulls "proportion" issues with them mentally. the belief is proposed that as quickly as all 13 come collectively they are going to be the equivalent of a great workstation, probably revealing the beginning of humankind or its destiny.

Answer 4

yea that is some very interesting stuff