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`Crystal
Skulls’ – from an original article that appeared in
Rainbow News in 1998 Their destination was Central America and specifically the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala. Trekking through the jungle with their guide, they first heard the story that would soon become entangled through the fabric of their own lives. The legend their guide told them was of mythical crystal skulls that the Mayan believed could `sing’ or `talk’ and were supposed to contain important information concerning the destiny of humankind. The couple barely gave the legend a second though as they continued on their travels. Then, just a few days later, whilst they were in a bar in Belize, a country neighbouring Guatemala, talk turned to buried treasure and, to Chris and Ceri’s absolute amazement, the barman proceeded to tell them how a crystal skull had been found in the lost city of Lubaantun – a Mayan name meaning `the City of Fallen Stones’ which lay deep in the jungles of Belize. The couple were stunned. The legend was in fact real! As documentary makers, they were instantly struck with the sensational nature of a story deserving to be told. Over the next year the couple researched the story, working to win a broadcaster to agree to fund and screen the program. They learned that according to an old Native American legend there were thirteen ancient crystal skulls with moveable jaws. They were said to contain information important not only for the future of the planet, but critical to the survival of the human race. According to the stories, at some stage all of the crystal skulls would be rediscovered and brought together so that their collective wisdom could become available – but this would only happen at a time when humanity had evolved to a moral and spiritual level so as not to abuse this great knowledge. Mayan elders claim that the crystal skulls were left behind by their ancestors who had travelled from star clusters with them. They believe the skulls possessed telepathic qualities. In researching their documentary Ceri and Chris travelled to visit with people holding the five crystal skulls discovered to date. They listened to stories of how the skulls had changed the lives of those around them and even heard information supposedly channelled from the skulls. Ceri: “I’d always thought that crystals were really flaky and new age and definitely not for me. Initially we approached the crystal skulls very much from the story point of view - `Wow, this is amazing, it would make a really good film’. “What clinched it for me was when I first saw the image of a skull. We went to a site where one was discovered and there was a little black and white picture of it. I found myself really staring at it. The skulls seem to have this magnetic effect on people – I’ve noticed it with other people too. It’s hard to take your eyes off them.” The couple travelled to Canada to meet with 89-year-old Anna Mitchell-Hedges, daughter of British explorer Frederick Mitchell-Hedges who had originally excavated the lost city of Lubaantun in 1924. The story ran that in a fabulous discovery when she was just a teenager, Anna was lowered into a Mayan pyramid and found a crystal skull. From Anna, Ceri and Chris learned that in the late 1970’s leading scientists from Hewlett-Packard crystal laboratories in Santa Clara, California had carried out extensive tests on the skull. Polarized light tests showed the massive cranium was made from just one piece of crystal and the jawbone was carved from the same piece of rock. The scientists said the workmanship on the skull was such that it would be almost impossible to reproduce, even with the most advanced of modern tools. Chris and Ceri continued their travels, talking with each holder of a skull, hearing incredible stories of the skulls and how they were dawn into people’s possession. They also met psychic, Nick Nocerino, an Italian American considered an authority on crystal skulls. Nick first saw a crystal skull reflected back to him in the bathroom mirror at his home as an eight-year-old, a phenomenon which terrified him. Nick now holds a skull known as Sha Na Ra. Later, the couple’s trail of investigation took them to the heart of a specially called meeting of indigenous people of North America. This meeting was aimed at getting the message out to as many people possible that the were currently seeing their ancient prophecies come to pass and that the world, and humanity, were in grave danger. In 1996, Ceri and Chris finally managed to get their documentary on the crystal skulls (The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls) to air on the BBC. The program has subsequently been shown on television channels around the world. Last year Chris and Ceri produced their book, The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls, published by Thorsons. I met with them during a brief trip they made to New Zealand in December, en route to a stay in Byron Bay to undertake their next writing assignment. The skulls had led the couple away from stable life and jobs and put them on a completely new track in their lives. From holding few if any spiritual beliefs, the couple now say they hold this aspect of their life in high regard. Says Ceri: “Initially we were pretty sceptical and saw the whole thing in a tongue-in-cheek way. But as we got more involved we really began to see there was something to these objects, something much more than we ever imagined.” They laughingly say the skulls “saw they coming”. Chris: “When we attended the tribal gathering in Guatemala and interviewed the high priest of Maya who had called the gathering, speaking through a translator he told us that we would publish an important message for humanity. “At the time we were making a film and thought our translator had made a mistake. We had no intention of writing a book at all. It wasn’t until six months later when we had much more information than we could put in a 50-minute documentary that we decided to do the book … and later remember what he had told us.” They say the indigenous leader and shaman, Don Alejandro Cirilo Oxlaj Peres, was the most incredible person they had ever met. Chris: “He is like this shaman figure. He managed to pull people together from all over the Americas – Alaska, Argentina, a whole spectrum of people and brought them all together in a little village in Guatemala. He had no money, no resources and yet it all happened. “Apparently he finds people in his dream and knows where they are. He was told who needed to attend. One pueblo elder who was invited was at home one day when there was a knock at his door and there was this tiny little Mayan guy standing at his backdoor. “The elder didn’t know Don Peres, had never heard of him, didn’t know where he came from … but Don explained to him about the gathering and informed him he was to be the co-coordinator for North America!” What conclusion have the couple come to after their years of research on the skulls? Ceri: “That the future of humanity is on a knife edge. What the Mayans say is that the world has been created and destroyed several times previously and 2012 is the end of the current world. Another world will follow, but whether it will include humanity is a matter that is up to us. “The elders are driven to get the message out. At the gathering they said everyone must take this message and spread it across the world … that all the people of the world must unite to save mother Earth. They are very, very keen that no one should be left behind. “They say we are at the `time of the awakening’. It is the end of two cycles in the Mayan calender, the long count of 26,000 year cycle of Venus. The year 2012 marks the death of Venus and the birth of Plaedies. The Mayans say their earliest ancestors came from the Plaedies.” Chris: “Time is of the essence. It’s going to take such a huge change in the way the world works and we’ve only got 13 years left. The message we got with the crystal skulls is the need to start to see the connection between everything … that everything you do, every action and thought goes out beyond yourself and then comes back. “We have to go beyond a spirituality that just makes us personally feel better, it has to be more than that. It’s about taking responsibility for our actions, changing the things we are doing on a day-to-day level that harm the earth. If we all just do a little bit, it will make a huge difference.” Ceri: “The whole model we have in the western world in terms of progress and development is completely unsustainable. We have to find a completely new way. The Native Americans say we live in a waking dream. We are all living a certain dream, but it seems to be the wrong dream … our collective dream is taking us so far away from where we should be.” Chris: “For me, what matters is what we learnt from what the indigenous people say about the skulls. For them the skulls are our hope for survival beyond 2012 and that by listening to the prophecies we will change the consciousness of humanity.” Ceri:
“They describe this as the world of separation and the way
we live our lives has become increasingly separate – separate
from each other, separate form our families, the separation between
us and the natural world. The connections in the way we approach
life have been broken. The fact that we are all connected is very
much the message of the skulls.” |
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