My name is Joshua Shapiro (American born in Chicago) and in April of 1983, I  walked into a metaphysical bookstore in San Jose, California and saw a picture of an almost human-sized Amethyst Crystal Skull. When I gazed at this picture, I felt a strong and powerful vibration throughout my entire body and heard in my head the words, “What is this skull doing out now?” Within an hour, while I was still in the same bookstore speaking to the owner, a powerful earthquake hit a city in California not far from us and the table with the pictures of this crystal skull was shaking as well. With an inner and outer confirmation, my journey with the crystal skulls had begun.

Now almost 20 years later, having given over 200 presentations in the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia and all over Europe (10 different countries),  I have some important things to tell you about the crystal skulls.

What  is a Crystal Skull? – These are skull-shaped objects made from various types of quartz crystal (clear, amethyst, smoky, rose, etc.) Within these there are three main types recognised by the crystal skull community:

New or Contemporary – skulls manufactured by modern carvers of which thousands upon thousands now exist (and this has only really started to explode since the middle part of the 1990’s). These skulls come in all shape and sizes (one skull  is well over 100 pounds or 50 kilo) and are being primarily carved in Brazil and China. Lots of then are being sold on E-Bay.

Old – a crystal skull carved a hundred to a thousand  years ago. Most of these are discovered within or near ancient ruins in Mexico or Central America. Many  are in the care of  descendants of indigenous people throughout the world. Usually with “old” crystal skulls we  find some type of tool mark left by the carver, as in the case of new crystal skulls.

Ancient -- a crystal skull created 1,500-2,000 years ago to whenever (they could be hundreds of thousands of years old). There are only a few crystal skulls that are today considered "ancient". As we have no techniques at present that can definitely date a crystal object (carbon dating only works on organic matter and this is not generally found co-existing with the skulls) the main concentration has been in examining them under powerful microscopes to see if tool marks can be detected. Those officially awarded the title "ancient" are those in which none has been found. The only explanations at present as to how such a skull was created was 1) that it was laboriously rubbed down by sand, using different grades ranging from sharp to fine; 2) that earlier civilisations had and used laser technology; 3) that earlier civilisations knew how to use thought projection to create solid objects; 4) that they were objects left on this planet by 'gods' or other-worldly visitors with technologies we know nothing about; 5) that they are artefacts originating in the fabled civilisations of Atlantis, Lemuria, Hollow Earth and the like.  Of these only the first is acceptable to the rational mind of the average individual on earth today.

It is my personal belief that a true understanding of ancient crystal skulls can be found within the traditions of indigenous cultures. There is definitely a connection with the Maya and Aztec culture, and we have information from Native American sources of crystal skulls linked to their sacred prophecies. Also we know that descendants of certain tribes have in their possession crystal skulls which they are protecting until such a time as the world is ready to receive them.

History of the Crystal Skulls – The public first became aware of the crystal skulls during the latter part of the 19th century. At this time, many museums became interested in displaying antiquities from past civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Mesoamerica, etc …). 

Thus it came about that in 1878 the Musée de l’Homme  in Paris displayed a clear quartz human-size skull, as did the Museum of Mankind in London in 1898.  These are known respectively as the "Paris" skull and the "British Museum" skull. They were both purported to have come out of Mexico during the 1860s during the French occupation, and were said to have been acquired by "soldiers of fortune", who subsequently sold them on. Fuller information can be found in our book "Journeys of a Crystal Skull Explorer".

During the early part of the 20th century, more crystal skulls were discovered, usually connected with ancient Mesoamerican ruins.

The most famous of these is the Mitchell-Hedges skull, named after the explorer and adventurer, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, who discovered it in Lubaantum, an ancient Mayan city in Belize in 1924. It is human size, clear quartz, with removable jaw. He gave it to his 17 yr old adopted daughter, Anna, in whose possession it still is today. Other examples are given below:

ET: discovered by a Mayan family near Guatemala while digging on their property in 1906; purchased by Joke Van Dieten in 1991 through a crystal store near Los Angeles, is the only human size ancient crystal skull made from smoky quartz. ET travels the world and was shown at a major exhibition of Mysterious Objects in Vienna in 2001.

Max: 18 lb (9 kilo) clear quartz crystal skull purportedly discovered in a Mayan tomb in Guatemala between 1924-926. Gifted by a Mayan Shaman to a Tibet trained lama in 1970, used in a healing center in Houston, Texas and then upon the lama’s death, given to Carl and Jo Ann Parks, who tour with it primarily in the USA. 

Ami – an ancient amethyst crystal skull. This has a circular indentation in the temple and a white squiggly line that cuts the skull in half as it travels the full circumference of the piece. Its history is unsure, purportedly it was part of a collection held by the Mexican President Diaz from 1876-1910, but there is a contradictory report that it  was discovered in the Oaxaca area of Mexico and  handed down by an order of Mayan Priests. Now it resides in San Jose, California with a group of businessmen who are offering it  for sale at an astronomical price.

There are other crystal skulls  believed by their caretakers to be ancient or very old, but these four are accepted to be so by most people.

Why do we believe are the Crystal Skulls to be important? 

It would take a  book (which we have written) to  answer this question, so I will give here a few ideas or thoughts for the reader:

They are the computers of the ancients, containing important information to help humanity pass through its current series of challenges to take us into a new Golden Age.

They were a powerful healing tool used  by ancient civilizations such as the Maya or the Aztecs.

People's lives have been profoundly affected after they have been in the presence of an ancient crystal skull (healing of all types of illness, expansion of spiritual awareness, clearing emotional or mental blocks,  positive life changes) and we are now witnessing this type of phenomena happening in connection with new crystal skulls.

Has Any Research Been Done into the Skulls?

Some interesting work has been done by the Crystal Skull Society International  for almost 60 years. Additionally, in 2001,  the World Mystery Research Center (based in the U.S. and Holland) was formed in order to focus on two aspects related to crystal skulls:

1) To use various electronic devices to  provide proof and understanding why the energy or presence of a crystal skull affects people in such a powerful manner, using such devices as meridian based machines, EEG, lecher antenna and Kirlian machines sensitive to recording and displaying the Aura.

2) To examine secret codes contained within the crystal skulls in the form of images that come out using a special process of analysis (reversal images developed by the Mayans) and with reference to the Bible Code

Final Comments:

I believe the crystal skulls are some of the most important ancient artefacts which exist today. I believe they hold key information to bring to our world a time of perfect peace and harmony by the year 2013 (or in the ‘Year Zero’, December 21st, 2012 as stated by the Mayans).

Regardless of where you believe these skulls originated  they are now helping many people awaken to their true potential and to realise we are all members of the same spiritual family who need to unite  to create a world of peace and harmony. 

Thank you for reading and listening. Desy and I will  continue our personal journey and odyssey all over the world, guided by the presence linked to these special crystalline friends. And if any of you would like us to bring  our crystal skulls to your part of the world, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you.