The 13 Crystal Skulls

[Guest Spectral Collapse]

... Does someone wanna enlighten me as to exactly what this album is referring to? Is it something in real life or is is fictonal. Is it referring to actual archeological discovery? Some book? Writings of some crazy bum? Some ancient mayan prophecy? Whoever can give the complete lowdown on this please do... i'm extremely curious

[Strumpling]

look it up on this fancy "information superhighway."

 

www.google.com

 

-=- Matt/Strumpling -=-

www.metacrawler.com

[Guest K]

"Crystal skulls are stone carvings in the shape of human skulls. 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 come from Atlantis. They allegedly are endowed with magical powers such as the spontaneous production of holographic images and the emission of weird sounds. Today, millions of skulls, made of various types of stones and metals, are manufactured in a variety of sizes for the New Age paratrinket market, as well as for the museum replica market. 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 Nocerini 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.

 

the skull of doom

 

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. The 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.

 

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 (F.A. Mitchell-Hedges).

 

The age of the object, as well as the other claims made about its making and history, were fabricated by Mitchell-Hughes. The man who owned the piece, Sidney Burney, and those who were on the Lubannatun expedition, denied that Mitchell-Hedges found the skull. Mitchell-Hedges himself never mentioned the skull until just after he bought it in 1943.

 

Anna has continued the hoax. Even though there is no evidence that she was even at Lubaantun when the discovery was supposedly made, she has maintained that Burney only had the piece on loan from her father until he could pay off a debt he owed Burney. If so, why didn't her father just pay Burney back instead of bidding for the item in an auction? Anna has received some attention 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

 

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.*

 

More skullduggery?

 

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 Mictlantccuhtli, the Aztec god of the dead. It is not known to have any occult powers, however.

 

The Mayan Skull and the Amethyst Skull were allegedly found in Guatamala early in this century. "Nick" Nocerino claims he met a shaman in 1949 while traveling in Mexico who led him to a Mayan priest who said he was authorized to sell the skulls because the village needed money for food. Nick didn't buy them, but he studied them scientifically and found some startling things such as "its true origin is cloaked in mystery"* and it had the power to give him hours of meaningful visions.*

 

There isn't a shard of evidence that these crystal skulls are mysterious in any way. What is mysterious is their continued popularity and the continued mythology as to their origins and powers."

[Guest homsy]

check out the following link:

 

http://www.crystalskullsociety.org/

 

enjoy...

[Guest homsy]

check out the following link:

 

http://www.crystalskullsociety.org/

 

enjoy...

[Guest russ]

wow! it of course was utter bullshit, but i had no idea there was such a story of bullshit behind the bullshit. i for one am totally against the new age wankers and their new age bullshit, and i don't see why the trance scene tends to gravitate towards that nonsense. after i got back from hungary, and still in a state of awed wonder over the eclipse, i run into some prominent visual artist in the scene, and he starts blabbering on how powerful an eclipse is and how it restructures the DNA of those who witness it and other such nonsense. embarassing that the scene embraces this garbage if you ask me.

[Insejn]

http://www.mm2000.nu/sphinxg.html

 

here you go folks.

[Guest dam10n]

nice one russ.

 

ommmmm

 

 

 

)

[Guest AtomikElf]

well, hehe, my opinion on the "13 crystal skulls" is that they chose a rrrrrrrrrreally sh!t theme.

it's a cd trying to say what?? there are 13 crystal skulls with untold information in them......bullshit......and who cares anyway??

i can't believe so many people bought into it (including me) - but now those cheesy samples kinda bother me when i listen to the cd.

hehe, okay, while i'm on this rant......i think the worst track is the doof track, while so many people love that track (???) first he makes a pretty shitty track, then he messes it up more with the cheesy samples, and then he uses shakta's sample "membrane that exits between the physical and the spiritual......etc".

 

*end rant*

 

but i like the alien project song, logic bomb, gms, and absolum songs ::

[Järsimähäiriö]

Ummm, if I may just cut right in here? Thanks.

 

Doof's is absolutely the best track on that album IMO.

 

"13 Crystal Skulls" is just about as stupid a theme as they (hopefully) come, and cheesy as, eh, a Big Mac? Or something. But the music is good anyway.

[Guest bugbread]

The cheese in goa doesn't bother me because I always take it as tongue-in-cheek, but every once in a while I meet a goa-head who really believes in auras and whatnot, and become extremely embarassed.

[Guest russ]

bugbread,

yeah i occasionally have a laugh at the tongue-in-cheek side of things too. the 13 crystal skulls is certainly in that direction, but don't underestimate the power of a lifetime of high-wattage lsd trips on the mind of raja ram. i've heard him blag on and on about some pretty silly @!#$ (with usually a bit of wisdom lurking beneath). but to me the music doesn't need the tongue in cheek aspect--it just brings it down. tracks that reach sublime levels and which can hit people in a way even beyond what the artists imagine, come crashing down to the mundane as soon as the samples come in. Doof's skull track is the perfect example of this. the soaring arpeggio melody style is usually not for me, but i've never heard it done better than in that track. it took my head off when i heard it on a big rig. but then those samples....uuuhgggghghg....just kills it, and we leave the sublime for the ridiculous.

 

i guess my point is this:

 

pseuodo-spiritual spoken nonsense has a tendency to suffocate the genuine unarticulated spirit that lies within.

[Guest russ]

bugbread,

yeah i occasionally have a laugh at the tongue-in-cheek side of things too. the 13 crystal skulls is certainly in that direction, but don't underestimate the power of a lifetime of high-wattage lsd trips on the mind of raja ram. i've heard him blag on and on about some pretty silly @!#$ (with usually a bit of wisdom lurking beneath). but to me the music doesn't need the tongue in cheek aspect--it just brings it down. tracks that reach sublime levels and which can hit people in a way even beyond what the artists imagine, come crashing down to the mundane as soon as the samples come in. Doof's skull track is the perfect example of this. the soaring arpeggio melody style is usually not for me, but i've never heard it done better than in that track. it took my head off when i heard it on a big rig. but then those samples....uuuhgggghghg....just kills it, and we leave the sublime for the ridiculous.

 

i guess my point is this:

 

pseuodo-spiritual spoken nonsense has a tendency to suffocate the genuine unarticulated spirit that lies within.

[Guest ironmonkey]

There's plenty of mysticism and far out stuff in this genre.

 

That's what happens when you mix the cannabis, psilocybin and lsd in with the beats. I don't think this album is trying to relay any mystical message, its just good music.

 

There are all kinds of weird ideas floating around out there. Take christianity for example.

 

And yes, the Doof track is the best track on the album that is filled with great tracks.

[Guest macbeth]

somebody should put this as a sample on a track.. =)

 

pseuodo-spiritual spoken nonsense has a tendency to suffocate the genuine unarticulated spirit that lies within.

[Guest russ]

glad you liked it, but maybe a bit much for a sample:)

[Guest KS]

yeah i was a cynic like you guys until one day i was sleeping in my bed and a mysteriously clad crystal skull suddenly appeared in front of me and told me the secrets of life.... he then turned into the female goddess athena.. and then i woke up, realizing that it was only a dream/....

man this ultra spiritual @!#$ is bollox, it always has been... but nevertheless guys like gil have a basic program like the way he constructs his set etc., and occasionally there is some wisdom in the lines... i agree with everyone else here, that this overhyping of mysticism and spirituality is quite dumb... but then again, it is someones perception, so who the hell are we to judge them... but this mysticism with music started off a long time ago, we should blame the beatles (or actually mcartney and lennon) for this,.. look i am indian, and after doing a study of what they were talking about, it turns out that they were just doing it for a publicity stunt.. george harrison though understood the differences between the west and the east much better than the others....

anyway guys i think the beauty of art lies in justification rather thanin judgement, and i think that anyone who portrays a forced message to other people is doing wrong...

and btw... guys the doof track is amazing,, why? because it ain't done like most other tracks.. the arpeggio melody is done really well, try and do what he did, just try it.. percusssion and production is all easy if you break it down, but i have been trying to make quality music for some time now and after hearing the new doof track i am puzzled and amazed at how he combines melodies, reverb, sd and high hats to produce a harmonius melodic hypnotizer... if you want to break it down, even your most complex act used someone else's invention to make thier music.. reaktor, cubase, logic etc., atre all apllication programs, hence the sound coming out of them can always be replicated... so by saying arpeggios are basic, you are opening a pandora's box, whereupon people can say oh this track is also so simple.. for eg. intact instinct - chicago coin's cinema (this track is so simple to make, just drop the third bassline hit by one note once every 2-3 loops and you have the song's trademark groove. so let us not overananlyze everything, be ambigous and chill..