Crystal Skulls

by Jaap van Etten

  Christianity and the Numbers Twelve and Thirteen

  It is interesting to summarize a text from Revelation, chapter 21 about the Heavenly City, the City of God. The city has twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes on them. Twelve angels stand at the gates, the walls have twelve foundations garnished with twelve precious stones, and in them are the names of the twelve apostles. The city is twelve thousand furlongs square, and the twelve gates have twelve pearls. The number twelve is used here symbolically of God’s perfect government. Twelve is mentioned nine times here. Note that the length, breadth and height are all equal, all twelve thousand furlongs. If we count this as three measures of twelve rather than just one, then the number twelve is mentioned twelve times in this passage of twelve verses.

  In that sense, it is interesting to see what the thinking in Christianity is about the number thirteen. If twelve is the perfect government of God, the addition of one will lead to less than perfect. There are many examples that indicate that thirteen actually refers to destruction. So thirteen became a number of ill-fate. How can a number in one tradition be sacred and in another tradition be a number of bad omen? Is there a reason why Christianity chose to focus on the number twelve as the number of disciples Jesus had instead of mentioning Jesus and his twelve disciples as a group of thirteen?

  Sacred Geometry and the Platonic Solids

  To understand the numbers twelve and thirteen, we need to first look at sacred geometry and specifically at the Platonic solids. Platonic solids are polyhedral, which means they have many faces. These polyhedral forms are only called Platonic solids when all the faces are equal, with equal sides and equal angles always meeting at the sides. There are five such forms, also called regular polyhedrals: the tetrahedron, the cube (hexahedron), the octahedron, the dodecahedron and the icosahedron.1 For our exploration of the numbers twelve and thirteen, we will focus on one of the five Platonic solids called the dodecahedron. This geometric shape has twelve faces, which are all identical pentagons. Each pentagon has five equal sides [see Figs. 37 and 38].

  Each Platonic solid is associated with one of the elements: the tetrahedron with fire, the octahedron with air, the icosahedron with water and the cube with earth. Of the fifth, the dodecahedron, Plato said: “… God used it for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven.” In general, it is said that Plato associated the dodecahedron with the universe.

  Fig. 37. An example of a dodecahedron. Photo © Amayra Hamilton

  Fig. 38. Another view of the dodecahedron. Photo © Amayra Hamilton

  Plato’s thought turns out to have more validity than people used to think. In an article in the scientific magazine Nature, cosmologists in France and the U.S. suggest that space could be finite and shaped like a dodecahedron. They claim that a universe with the same shape as the twelve-sided polygon can explain measurements of the cosmic microwave background — the radiation left over from the big bang — that spaces with a more mundane shape cannot. Actually they predict that the model consisting of twelve curved pentagons joined together in a sphere agrees most with their observations.2

  This implies much: There is an increasing acceptance that we live in a holographic universe.3 Based on the holographic principles, it is likely that many systems will have a relationship to this fundamental form of the universe: the dodecahedron. This may explain why the number twelve comes back so often in systems that form a functional and informational unit. In that sense, it is not surprising that also the original crystal skulls, which are believed to be a complete system of information, will be based on the same principle — will be based on the number twelve.

  The Function of the Thirteenth Element

  What remains is the question: What is the function of the thirteenth element? In my opinion, the thirteenth element is always the one that brings the twelve principles or aspects into oneness, into one functional whole. That functional whole is more than the sum of the twelve aspects. It brings the information of all twelve aspects onto a new level of knowledge, insight and consciousness. It is the transcending principle. Once we are able to connect to the thirteenth element, we expand into something new.

  That is why the number thirteen is sacred, because the thirteenth element helps us to transcend this reality into something new. Jesus represents this, and we call what he represents the Christ consciousness, which is the consciousness that is beyond the one we live in at the moment. The twelve disciples represent our current consciousness. It seems that the number thirteen is not a number of bad luck; rather, it is a sacred number. In that way, the Mayans are right. Understanding the principle of the number thirteen is key for the evolution of our consciousness.

  The twelve original crystal skulls all contain information that is very valuable. It can enrich our lives and help us to expand our consciousness. However, these twelve crystal skulls alone will not lead to our next evolutionary step. For that we need the thirteenth skull to transcend the information of the twelve skulls to a new level, creating a shift in consciousness. According to the legend, isn’t that what will happen when all thirteen crystal skulls are brought together?

  * * *

  1 Books that describe the Platonic solids and also place them in a larger context of sacred geometry are:

  * Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (London, England: Thames and Hudson, 1989).

  * Drunvalo Melchizedek, The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, Volume 1 (Flagstaff, AZ: Light Technology Publishing, 1999).

  * Richard Dannelley, Sedona: Beyond the Vortex (Sedona, AZ: The Vortex Society, 1995).

  Much basic information on the Platonic solids is also available on the Internet.

  2 This information is summarized on the Internet in an article “Is the Universe a Dodecahedron?” (http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/18368). The article was originally published by Jean-Pierre Luminet, Jeffrey R. Weeks, Alain Riazuelo, Roland Lehoucq and Jean-Philippe Uzan, “Dodecahedral Space Topology as an Explanation for Weak Wide-Angle Temperature Correlations in the Cosmic Microwave Background,” Nature 425 (October 9, 2003): 593.

  3 Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 1996).

  Chapter 11

  The Legend of the Thirteen Crystal Skulls: An Integrated View

  In this chapter, I give my personal views on the legend of the thirteen crystal skulls and on crystal skulls in general, based on many years of study, meditation, dowsing and interaction with clairvoyant people and others interested in the skulls. Please connect with this view and feel whether you resonate with it as a whole or in part.

  Crystal Skulls Were Brought to Earth to Help Humankind

  Most of the stories on crystal skulls have in common the belief that there are crystal skulls that have been brought or sent to Earth. These skulls contain information that is special and important for the human race. What exactly that means may vary among different views, but in general it is believed that this information is being given to humankind by a higher consciousness as a tool to support humans in their evolution.

  Mostly it is believed that the higher consciousness consists of twelve extraterrestrial civilizations, and I support this belief. I have found that there are twelve portals that function as doorways between Earth and twelve places in the universe. These twelve doorways are connections to higher levels of consciousness. It is interesting that Bashar calls crystal skulls “doorways.”1 When we talk about the original skulls, the question arises whether they are truly physical skulls or whether they are indeed doorways allowing energy and thus information to pass through. Several crystal skull researchers have already mentioned that the original skulls are etheric, or are moving in and out of physical form.

  It is my feeling that the original skulls do not exist in physical form on Earth, at least not at this point in time. In my opinion, they are information/consciousness units we can connect with to help us to move into higher levels of consciousness (the shift). Only when we have pull
ed all aspects of our being together can we access this level of information/consciousness that we call “the thirteen original crystal skulls.” The number thirteen reminds us that we can only reach that state of consciousness (oneness) when we can connect to all twelve elements at the same time. Then we become one with the thirteenth or central skull and experience the fullness of all twelve information systems, allowing us to transcend to another level of awareness.

  Other Systems of Twelve

  This may seem like an extraordinary idea, but there are other systems that function in a similar way. In chapter 6, we looked at the effect of the crystal skull Sam on Earth energies. The lines we looked at form a complex grid system that can be defined as our collective (un)consciousness. There are twelve grid systems that represent twelve levels of our consciousness. If we master all twelve levels and integrate them into one functional whole, we have mastered the level of consciousness that belongs to the reality we live in, which is often called the third-dimensional consciousness. We master this level of consciousness when we are like the thirteenth crystal skull: we bring all twelve systems into one functional whole. Once we are able to do that, we transcend this consciousness into the Christ consciousness.

  These two examples show us that all these systems are based on the same principle: that of the Platonic solid, the dodecahedron. All of this is part of sacred geometry. Drunvalo Melchizedek mentions that the Christ consciousness grid — the matrix that holds the Christ consciousness — is based on the dodecahedron with icosahedral caps [see Fig. 39].2 An icosahedral cap is like a five-sided pyramid with a regular pentagon as its base. The five sides of the icosahedral cap and the five sides of the pentagon are all of equal length [see Fig. 40]. There are twelve sides on a dodecahedron and consequently there are twelve icosahedral caps. Again we find a system that is based on the number twelve.

  Fig. 39. The Christ consciousness grid: a dodecahedron with icosacaps. Photo © Amayra Hamilton

  Fig. 40. An icosacap: an equilateral pentagon with five equilateral sides on top. All ten sides have the same length. This example was made from copper wire that was soldered together by the author. Photo © Amayra Hamilton

  It is the human consciousness that has the ability to integrate the twelve levels or aspects of the mentioned systems. This is similar for the crystal skulls. The original crystal skulls form a system of thirteen. Although there are thirty-six portals as described earlier, fundamentally that does not change the principle. There are twelve triads, which means twelve groups of three crystal skulls. They form twelve units, each with a characteristic energy and information that is induced by or connected with an extraterrestrial civilization that has a higher consciousness than currently exists on Earth. Once we are able to fully connect and integrate this system of thirteen original crystal skulls, a new human being will emerge: an enlightened human who has integrated the twelve different aspect of consciousness into oneness.

  The Twelve Star Systems

  In chapter 8, I gave a list of the twelve types of consciousness that are connected to these twelve portal triads. Is there any support for the names I have mentioned? I have searched for it, but there is not much to be found. Many times people mention that the crystal skulls have something to do with twelve extraterrestrial civilizations, but they do not mention the names or origins of these civilizations. Michael Kant mentions Pleiades, particularly in relation to the Mitchell-Hedges Skull and in relation to the morphocrystallic sciences, and Jamie Sams mentions the Pleiades, Sirius and Orion.3 But as far as I am aware, there is one other person who has linked the twelve skulls to extraterrestrial civilizations. Kathleen Murray talks about these civilizations in her book The Divine Spark of Creation: The Crystal Skull Speaks. According to Murray, there are twelve colors, and each color is connected to a crystal skull, and each of these colored crystal skulls is connected to different star people (extraterrestrial consciousnesses).4

  In Table 7, I compare the names of the star systems that I feel the original skulls are connected with through the portals, to Kathleen Murray’s connections between the star systems and the twelve colored crystal skulls. I am not suggesting that when we use the same names we are necessarily referring to the same energies, but feeling into the colored images that come with her book, there is a high probability. For one skull, she does not give the name of the star people. From the eleven names she mentions, nine names are similar to the names I have found. Sometimes we use different names or focus on a different aspect of the same star system. For example, she mentions Aldebaran, whereas I mention Taurus. However, Aldebaran is a star in the Taurus constellation. In the second case, she mentions Lyra, which is part of Vega, while she gives a star map that includes both Cygnus and Vega, and I mention Cygnus only.5

  Therefore, I consider nine cases similar. The ones that are different are indicated in the table by italics. For the two systems that are different, there is another aspect that’s similar. Murray mentions that the qualities that belong to the red skull are “Transmutation” and “Transformation,” and I have given the quality of “Transmutation” to the Hawaii portal [see Table 6]. For that reason, I have placed them next to each other. The results seem to indicate that Murray and I have tapped into the same source of information on the star systems.

  Table 7. List of portals and connected star systems based on the findings of the author and those of Kathleen Murray6 when she connected with the twelve rays and the connected star system. When the system she mentioned is different from mine, the names are indicated in italics.

  A General History of the Crystal Skulls

  I do not believe that the original skulls have a physical form. This brings up the question: Which skulls were the first crystal skulls to have a physical form and how many are there? For me, the answer is simple: The first physical crystal skulls are the singing skulls, the crystal skulls that are the size of a human skull and have a detachable jaw. I believe the Mitchell-Hedges Skull is one of these. I also believe that the total number of these crystal skulls is fifty-two. I share the idea of fifty-two crystal skulls with Don Alejandro and Bashar. After the singing skulls, many other crystal skulls were carved. It is in my opinion possible to give a general history of the crystal skulls.

  First there were the portal skulls, or original skulls. When the density of our physical reality increased — which means the frequency of the consciousness of humankind decreased — there was a need to create physical skulls. Initially they were created through methods we call morphocrystallic generation and morphocrystallic transformation. In this way, fifty-two singing crystal skulls were created.

  The number fifty-two is important, because it is four times thirteen. I feel that at that time in Atlantis, four groups of thirteen crystal skulls were created. “Why four groups?” one may ask. From a historical perspective, all information on Atlantis is based on the story described by the Greek philosopher Plato in two of his dialogues: Timaeus and Critias. There is no other written record. All current stories about the lost continent of Atlantis are based on the interpretations of these two written dialogues, on interpretations of Native stories and legends from all over the world or on channeled information. The discoveries of sunken cities in the seas along the coasts of many countries feeds the speculations on Atlantis and keeps the legend alive.

  Plato describes Poseidon, the holy and royal city of Atlantis, quite extensively. Central in this description by Plato is the geometry of the city, which has had a deep effect on those who connect with the story of Atlantis, because the essence of the layout of the city is a circle with crossing diameters. This is a powerful universal symbol — it divides the circle in four parts. This symbol has several names: it is called the Celtic cross, or even the Atlantean cross.7 It is also the basic aspect of the medicine wheel, as used in many Native American traditions.

  In essence, this symbol represents beliefs about the universe but also about the human being. It represents the four creative powers of the universe, the four eleme
nts, the four directions, the four main aspects of a human being (the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical) and the four races, represented by the colors red, yellow, black and white (the colors connected with the four segments or the four directions vary in different traditions).

  In my opinion, the four groups of singing crystal skulls represent those four aspects, the four arms of the cross. This symbol can be easily expended into a circle with eight arms (spokes) and that of one with twelve arms. Then we are back to the circle of twelve with the central crystal skull in the middle. In that context, it is interesting that Jamie Sams describes in her book, The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers, a medicine wheel as follows: “The Thirteen sisters traveled to the site where the Earth Mother had directed them and found a medicine wheel that had a crystal skull sitting on each of the twelve stones that formed the outer circle, and one sitting on the stone in the center.”8

  The number thirteen can be seen as a spiritual and sacred number. The number four is the number of the Earth, of physical reality. It is for us human beings to bring these two aspects together: the thirteen and the four creating the fifty-two. The number fifty-two truly represents heaven on Earth — the spiritual and the physical into one. It is interesting that Mayan temples have fifty-two steps for human beings to use to go to the temple on top of the pyramid, moving from the physical to the spiritual.