Skull of Skulls: The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull

The most widely known and unique of the crystal skulls that have been unearthed on our planet, is the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull. Unlike other more stylized skulls, it is an extraordinarily accurate replica of a human skull, complete with a fitted. removable jawbone. No one can say for sure how it was created. Today’s most talented technicians would be unable to recreate it, made as it was, from a single, unusually large block of clear quartz crystal.

Measuring five inches high, seven inches long, and five inches wide, the skull weighs about twelve pounds and is the size of a child’s head, with nearly perfect detail. That much is clear. Almost everything else about it — its origins, how it came to light, and its purpose – is clouded in mystery and controversy.

Anna Mitchell-Hedges told this story of the skull’s discovery: In 1924, English adventurer and writer, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, was removing debris atop a ruined temple at an ancient Mayan city in what is now Belize. With him was Anna, his 17 year old daughter, who saw an object shining in the earth below. Anna found the exquisitely carved, polished skull with the jaw piece missing. Three months later, Anna found the jaw in an excavation a short distance from the original site. Yet some sources claim that Mitchell-Hedges purchased the skull at auction at Sotheby’s.

Reportedly, art conservator and restorer Frank Dorland was allowed by the Mitchell-Hedges estate, to submit the quartz skull to tests conducted at the Hewlett-Packard Laboratories at California. These tests, and others done by Dorland, revealed that the skull and jaw piece had both been carved from the same quartz block — and both were carved with complete disregard for the natural crystal axis in the quartz. Modern crystallographers begin by determining the axis of a crystal, to prevent breakage during the shaping process. The skull’s makers evidently used methods which made this unnecessary. They also apparently did most of the work without metal tools, as examiners have found no tool marks on the skull, except possibly around the teeth. The fact that the skull was created by unknown technology has led some to speculate on Atlantean, Lemurian or extra-terrestrial origins for the artifact.

The mysteries of the skull go beyond its creation. The zygomatic arches (bony arches along the front and sides of the cranium) act as light tunnels. Like fiber optics, they channel light from the base to the eye sockets, which are concave lenses and transfer light from below into the upper cranium. Within the skull is a ribbon prism and tiny light channels, through which objects beneath the skull are magnified and brightened. Thus, it seems to have been designed to be positioned over a shining light. This illuminates the whole skull, causing the sockets to appear as glowing eyes.

The makers of the skull also had knowledge of weights and fulcrum points. The jaw fits into two polished sockets on the skull, allowing it to move. The skull can be balanced perfectly where two minute holes are drilled on the sides of its base, where supports probably once held it suspended. So precise is the balance that a slight breeze causes the skull to nod up and down, the jaw, as counter-weight, opening and closing. The effect is that it is speaking.

But for what purpose? Dorland believes the skull was meant as an oracle, through the strange phenomena that have been reported to emanate from it. Observers report that the skull changes color, clouds over and then clears again. Some have seen strange objects reflected in the eye sockets, heard ringing noises emanating from the skull, or reported a strange glow surrounding it. Odors, sensations of heat or cold and even sensations of taste have been reported. Some believe the skull was used to stimulate and magnify psychic abilities, like the Urim and Thumim of the Old Testament.

Legends about the skull abound. F.A Mitchell Hedges was reportedly told by a Mayan priest, of a legend that thirteen crystal skulls were dispersed around the Earth, and must one day be brought together. The hit movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, drew on this story. Another legend about the Mitchell-Hedges skull told that it was used when a Mayan priest became too aged to fulfill his duties. The skull was employed to transfer the priest’s knowledge and wisdom to his acolyte. The old priest would pass away at the end of the transfer.

But Anna Mitchell-Hedges understood the skull to be an ancient tool for healing and a means of raising consciousness. To this end, she toured extensively with it in her lifetime and, before her death in 2007, obtained a promise from her protégé, Bill Homann, that he would continue her work. Homann says, "I gave my word… My word was that I would take the Skull up and make it available to people that felt the importance of it... Not everybody is drawn to the Skull, but some people are… and they come from all over.." Homann has toured much of the world with the skull and makes a point of bringing it to indigenous Wisdom Teachers such as Grandfather Martin, an Elder of the Hopi Nation.

Homann is also calling on indigenous people and others who may be in secret possession of similar power objects, inviting them to bring them together with the Crystal Skull. He speaks of a mysterious object called the "Crystal Orb," which has already been brought together with the skull – and another called the "Crystal Boy," which he hopes to acquaint with the skull.

Indiana Jones would be proud.