Post by Ragingblues on Oct 17, 2007 15:56:26 GMT -5
Seekers: Mystical crystal skull to drop by Anaheim
www.ocregister.com/news/parks-crystal-skull-1895082-skulls-max
Purportedly ancient object, nicknamed 'Max,' is said by supporters to have mysterious powers. Skeptics claim it's a myth.
By GWENDOLYN DRISCOLL - THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ANAHEIM – Indiana Jones will hack his way through tropical jungles and villainous Cold War Soviets to find it. Orange County residents can merely travel to Anaheim.
"Max" – a crystal skull touted as an ancient South American artifact with mysterious powers – comes to Anaheim's Learning Light Foundation on Friday for a once-a-year, one-weekend-only communion with Orange County's new-age community.
The skull, and others like it, are the likely inspiration for the fourth installment of the heroic movie archaeologist Indiana Jones' exploits – "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" – due in theaters next May.
The skulls are also, some say, a tool for those seeking a path to higher consciousness. "I think he's here to help mankind to draw back together," said JoAnn Parks, Max's Houston-based owner. "He's here to inspire, to encourage one's spirit, to give insight."
Parks brings "Max" to Orange County every year to be viewed and – for a fee – communed with by those willing to pay $35-$50 for a private meditation session. In return, Max acts as "a tool of focus for people to tap deep within their own self and express self," Parks said.
Doubters say crystal skulls like Max tap more into people's credulity. "I think it's just a carving somebody did and … and it's taken on urban myth status," said Michael Shermer, executive director of the Altadena-based Skeptics society.
Park said she too was a skeptic – at first. The skull came to her more than 30 years ago as the result of a friendship with a Tibetan lama. Park's 12-year-old daughter was dying of bone cancer and the lama said he could help. Parks said she was initially didn't believe the lama's "woo-woo." "I said to myself, 'don't go back there. … He will turn you into a lizard and put you in a pot," she laughed. But doctors had told Parks that her daughter had three months to live, so she began to meet and pray with the lama.
Parks now believes that meditation extended her daughter's life for more than three years. The lama's parting gift to her was an 18-pound human-sized skull formed, Parks said, from five different layers of crystal. Parks says experts from the Houston museum have confirmed the skull to be one of just a few "ancient" crystal skulls said to date back 5,000 or more years.
"All the claims have been blown incredibly out of proportion," countered Marc Zender, a Mesoamerican archaeologist at Harvard who has studied crystal skulls. "These skulls have been produced quite easily since the 1880s. They've all been found to be carved with tools by a whole series of German workshops."
Skull supporters say that – in the absence of carbon dating or other methods to trace the skulls age – no one can be sure of Max's precise origin. Master Ho, a "psychic researcher" at Learning Light, hypothesizes that crystal skulls might be extraterrestrial in origin. "Max appears to be some kind of a crystal kind of a 'computer' for gathering information," Ho said. "I think part of his purpose is to help us learn (but) I'm not sure his purpose isn't partially to document and record human history."
What for? "I don't know," Ho said. "When somebody marks and tracks an animal, does the animal know why they do it? No. This is just one of the theories that…someone may be watching."
Parks said the skull communicates with her and others via almost indescribable psychic messages. "Trying to explain Max is like trying to explain an emotion," Parks said. "It just is." She believes the skull is capable of propelling those with "open minds" into an altered state where subconscious thoughts can be revealed and explored. "Max is like therapy to people," Parks said. "He brought me out of a deep dark pit after the death of my daughter that a human could not do."
Hollywood is hoping crystal skulls will propel Americans into the movie theater. Plot details of the latest Indiana Jones movie have been closely guarded. In September, however, an extra on the movie set told Oklahoma's Edmonton Sun that the plot revolved around Harrison Ford's famous character trying to find a priceless crystal skull in the jungles of South America while being pursued by the Soviet army.
Even skeptical academics like Zender said there may be a upside to the hoopla. Crystal skulls are "cool and kind of spooky," said Zender. "They're a neat hook and if they get people interested (that's great). I'm kind of hoping we get some increased undergraduate enrollment."
Ken
www.ocregister.com/news/parks-crystal-skull-1895082-skulls-max
Purportedly ancient object, nicknamed 'Max,' is said by supporters to have mysterious powers. Skeptics claim it's a myth.
By GWENDOLYN DRISCOLL - THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ANAHEIM – Indiana Jones will hack his way through tropical jungles and villainous Cold War Soviets to find it. Orange County residents can merely travel to Anaheim.
"Max" – a crystal skull touted as an ancient South American artifact with mysterious powers – comes to Anaheim's Learning Light Foundation on Friday for a once-a-year, one-weekend-only communion with Orange County's new-age community.
The skull, and others like it, are the likely inspiration for the fourth installment of the heroic movie archaeologist Indiana Jones' exploits – "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" – due in theaters next May.
The skulls are also, some say, a tool for those seeking a path to higher consciousness. "I think he's here to help mankind to draw back together," said JoAnn Parks, Max's Houston-based owner. "He's here to inspire, to encourage one's spirit, to give insight."
Parks brings "Max" to Orange County every year to be viewed and – for a fee – communed with by those willing to pay $35-$50 for a private meditation session. In return, Max acts as "a tool of focus for people to tap deep within their own self and express self," Parks said.
Doubters say crystal skulls like Max tap more into people's credulity. "I think it's just a carving somebody did and … and it's taken on urban myth status," said Michael Shermer, executive director of the Altadena-based Skeptics society.
Park said she too was a skeptic – at first. The skull came to her more than 30 years ago as the result of a friendship with a Tibetan lama. Park's 12-year-old daughter was dying of bone cancer and the lama said he could help. Parks said she was initially didn't believe the lama's "woo-woo." "I said to myself, 'don't go back there. … He will turn you into a lizard and put you in a pot," she laughed. But doctors had told Parks that her daughter had three months to live, so she began to meet and pray with the lama.
Parks now believes that meditation extended her daughter's life for more than three years. The lama's parting gift to her was an 18-pound human-sized skull formed, Parks said, from five different layers of crystal. Parks says experts from the Houston museum have confirmed the skull to be one of just a few "ancient" crystal skulls said to date back 5,000 or more years.
"All the claims have been blown incredibly out of proportion," countered Marc Zender, a Mesoamerican archaeologist at Harvard who has studied crystal skulls. "These skulls have been produced quite easily since the 1880s. They've all been found to be carved with tools by a whole series of German workshops."
Skull supporters say that – in the absence of carbon dating or other methods to trace the skulls age – no one can be sure of Max's precise origin. Master Ho, a "psychic researcher" at Learning Light, hypothesizes that crystal skulls might be extraterrestrial in origin. "Max appears to be some kind of a crystal kind of a 'computer' for gathering information," Ho said. "I think part of his purpose is to help us learn (but) I'm not sure his purpose isn't partially to document and record human history."
What for? "I don't know," Ho said. "When somebody marks and tracks an animal, does the animal know why they do it? No. This is just one of the theories that…someone may be watching."
Parks said the skull communicates with her and others via almost indescribable psychic messages. "Trying to explain Max is like trying to explain an emotion," Parks said. "It just is." She believes the skull is capable of propelling those with "open minds" into an altered state where subconscious thoughts can be revealed and explored. "Max is like therapy to people," Parks said. "He brought me out of a deep dark pit after the death of my daughter that a human could not do."
Hollywood is hoping crystal skulls will propel Americans into the movie theater. Plot details of the latest Indiana Jones movie have been closely guarded. In September, however, an extra on the movie set told Oklahoma's Edmonton Sun that the plot revolved around Harrison Ford's famous character trying to find a priceless crystal skull in the jungles of South America while being pursued by the Soviet army.
Even skeptical academics like Zender said there may be a upside to the hoopla. Crystal skulls are "cool and kind of spooky," said Zender. "They're a neat hook and if they get people interested (that's great). I'm kind of hoping we get some increased undergraduate enrollment."
Ken
