Are Crystal Skulls Real?

Below is an article I wrote for Crystal Age last year – I am happy to bring it to my Supernatural Wonders readers this week!

There is a legend of thirteen ancient crystal skulls from the Mayans lost civilization, that when united will bring universal knowledge. There are today real crystal skulls in existence that range from a few inches in diameter to life size. They are in the possession of various owners, the remainder on exhibition in the British Museum, the Smithsonian, and the Musee de l’Homme in Paris.

Believers in the supernatural consider crystal skulls to be much more than simply interesting artefacts. They look to the skulls as objects of divination, that can be used similarly to crystal balls for scrying and seeing into the future.

There is still great controversy amongst believers and sceptics as to the origins of the skulls. Believers will say that they are thousands of years old, possibly relics of lost civilizations like Atlantis. Sceptics say they are fakes, carved not much longer than a few hundred years ago.

The British Crystal Skull

Famous Crystal Skulls

The most famous of the skulls is the The Mitchell-Hedges Skull. This skull was discovered in the 1920s by British adventurer Anna Mitchel Hedges, allegedly beneath a Mayan temple in Belize. According to Anna, the Mayans told her that this  quartz skull was used to ‘will death’. Anna has also claimed that she has used this skull for healing.

Art restorer Frank Dorland studied the skull for six years, claiming the sound of a choir singing coming from its structure. Dorland also said while gazing into the skull, he was able to see shifting images. Dorland took the skull to Hewlett-Packard researchers who determined that it was carved from a single piece of crystal.

Made from cloudy quartz, the British Museum crystal skull is of similar size to the Mitchell-Hedges skull though less detailed. The museum acquired it from Tiffany & co in 1898. The skull is supposedly from Mexico, of Aztec origin.

The skull kept in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris is half the size of the previously mentioned skulls, and was also thought to be Aztec, donated to the museum in 1878 by Alphonse Pinart.

Larger than any of these is the 9 inch high, 8 inch long skull now in the Smithsonian Institution in the USA. The museum received the skull in the mail in 1992 with an anonymous note stating that it was an ‘Aztec crystal skull’ and ‘purchased in Mexico City in 1960′.  Several other, smaller skulls also exist in museums. These include the clear quartz ‘Texas Crystal Skull,’ the ‘ET’ skull made from smoky quartz and found by a Central American family.

The Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull

Crystal Skulls – Ancient Wisdom?

Those who believe in the supernatural qualities of crystal skulls point to the piezoelectric properties of quartz crystal as evidence of the skulls’ power. Devotees assert that the skulls hold the history of the earth in their structure, rather like computer chips. All that is needed is the correct method of reading this information. Today, crystal skulls are very popular as ornaments and, depending on what crystal they are carved from, are said to be useful for scrying and divination.

Are the thirteen skulls true supernatural objects or are they recent fakes? It is a fact that skulls figure prominently in Mexican and Central American culture, therefore some of the skulls could indeed be ancient artefacts. Are they doorways into the past or future? Until their complex codes can be deciphered, we can only speculate.