Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The Skull of Doom
In reading Mysterious World, which I acquired yesterday, I came across the story of the Skull of Doom, an eerie-looking, life-sized, crystal replica of a human skull. It was found in Central America by Anna Mitchell-Hedges on her 17th birthday.
The skull is of unknown origin (crystal can't be carbon-dated), but was probably used by Mayan or Incan priests in some ceremonies. It weighs five kilograms and was crafted from a single piece of crystal.
Reading about it reminded me of when I was much younger and had a little glow-in-the-dark plastic skull, which I frequently used to try to give my sister a fright, in the typical spirit of an older brother. I would hold the skull to a light, making it glow, and sneak into her room making the skull appear to be floating towards her, frequently accompanied by hooo-hooooo! sounds.
I think the glow-in-the-dark skull bears a startling resemblance to the mysterious crystal skull and might even have been inspired by it. Then again, perhaps I was one of those priests, in a life a long time ago, using it to inspire awe and fear into unbelievers.
Image reproduced without permission from The Society of Crystal Skulls, International.
The skull is of unknown origin (crystal can't be carbon-dated), but was probably used by Mayan or Incan priests in some ceremonies. It weighs five kilograms and was crafted from a single piece of crystal.
Reading about it reminded me of when I was much younger and had a little glow-in-the-dark plastic skull, which I frequently used to try to give my sister a fright, in the typical spirit of an older brother. I would hold the skull to a light, making it glow, and sneak into her room making the skull appear to be floating towards her, frequently accompanied by hooo-hooooo! sounds.
I think the glow-in-the-dark skull bears a startling resemblance to the mysterious crystal skull and might even have been inspired by it. Then again, perhaps I was one of those priests, in a life a long time ago, using it to inspire awe and fear into unbelievers.
Image reproduced without permission from The Society of Crystal Skulls, International.
