Skullduggery in Paramus

Recently, my husband came home, very excited, because he was invited to a small gathering of people in Paramus who would be meditating with, and attending a lecture on, a crystal skull from Mexico. Steve was invited because he is psychic. While I am not, I decided to tag along, anyway.

Naturally, the first thing I did when I found out we would be attending this event was to research crystal skulls. That was a bit of a buzzkill. Two crystal skulls, one at the British Museum and another at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, have been determined fakes. The crystal quartz from which they were carved apparently came from Brazil or Madagascar, which were too far from Mesoamerican Indians to legitimately end up in their burial sites. The fake crystal skulls also showed evidence of workmanship with metal rotary blades which, it would seem, were not in use in ancient times.

“Study the past if you would define the future.”—Confucius

However, to be fair, the skull my husband would be communing with was verified as being carved from quartz that is indigenous to the area of Mexico in which it was purported to have been found. It has a more primitive appearance than the highly polished, well sculpted ones that used to grace some of the world’s finest museums. Is it a Mesoamerican artifact? Who knows.

History of the Crystal Skull

Many years ago in the Yucatan region of Mexico, a teacher traveled by bicycle from village to village tutoring the local Mayan people on how to read and write Spanish. Eventually, he moved his family to Mexico City, but he never forgot his old home. Wanting to share the culture of the area, he began organizing tours back to Yucatan, guiding visitors through archaeological sites. As the years passed, his travel business flourished.

Steve holds a smirking Pancho, The New Generation crystal skull.

One day, during a tour to Oaxaca, a mysterious man approached him with a large skull carved from pure quartz crystal. The skull was hollow, about 10” in height and weighed about 15 pounds. Everyone was fascinated by the piece.The man revealed to the tour guide that the skull had been found at a sacred site of the Zapoteca Indians. He had five smaller skulls made out of precious stones and other artifacts. The tour guide acquired them all. For many years, the crystal skull was kept in the private home of the family.

Eventually, the crystal skull migrated to the United States to reside with the eldest grandson, Mario Bojorquez, who inherited its guardianship. Mario and his family affectionately named it “Pancho.” It is also referred to as The New Generation skull. Mario travels around the country giving discussions about the indigenous Mesoamerican cultures of Mexico and crystal skulls.

“Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.”—Confucius

According to an ancient Mayan legend, when mankind is at the brink of destroying itself and the planet, 13 crystal skulls will come together with the purpose of giving humanity an ancient message that will prevent it from totally annihilating itself and the world. Good timing! If Pancho is a genuine artifact, then that would make him about 2,500 years old, and the Zapoteca Indians might have used him in ceremonies for creating unity within the tribe.

Meeting Pancho

Our appointment with Pancho was 3:30 p.m. in room 142 of the Courtyard Marriott in Paramus, New Jersey. Not the most mystical of venues—perhaps even tawdry—but that's where we met. Mario showed us to the room where the smiling crystal skull was set up on a coffee table surrounded by dozens of equally gleeful, smaller skulls carved out of various precious stones. Indigenous flute music played in the background.

Steve makes eye contact with Pancho.

Steve and I sat opposite the skull on a couch and stared at it. It stared back. After seeing we were settled, Mario left the room so we could have some alone time with Pancho. Steve placed his hands on the skull and immediately went into a meditative state. He lifted the skull so he could view him eye-to-eye for a while. When he quietly placed the skull back on the table, I thought I would take my turn giving our jovial friend a lift and see what happened. He was surprisingly heavy. Holding him aloft was like hoisting a bowling ball with two eye sockets and teeth. A novice meditator, I closed my eyes and saw a few fleeting images. We were told we could ask him questions, so I did. The answer came in symbols that were not immediately meaningful to me.

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”—Confucius

Steve did a bit better and had full-length, epic messages to relate. Right before our half hour was up, he said he felt like the crystal skull downloaded a flood of information to him, but that it might take him a while to interpet all that he had gotten. Oddly enough, the experience seemed to instill him with a lasting sense of self-confidence and personal peace. I took a few snapshots, wished Pancho well and said good-bye. Mario said it was likely that Steve had had some involvement with the skull in a past life.

Perhaps while Steve was living that life as a Zapoteca Indian 2,500 years ago in the Yucatan, I was hanging out in Zhōu Dynasty China, decked out in a fine silk robe and dishing philosophy with Confucius and his disciples. Or maybe not. No matter. At the very least, paying our propers to a disarmingly grinning crystal skull took us out of our typical Wednesday afternoon work routines—and was other-worldly more entertaining.