As I shared in my on-line story (that has been sadly neglected for awhile) entitled Crystal Skull Chronicles starting in 1990, when  I was visiting Peru in that year, I have had a vision in my mind of a blue crystal skull ... similar in shape and size to the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull (possibly with a movable jaw) and a very clear transparent sky blue.  The closest I have seen to this color is the color of water in a clear plastic container or there is a type of clear sky blue (transparent) topaz.  

The vision of this skull has never left me, since that fateful day in Lima, Peru, in September, 1990.  To recap: As I was having breakfast with my wife and 50 Brazilians ... all of a sudden, Marino Sanchez, a local Peruvian archaeologist and expert/author about Machu Picchu, who my wife invited to join us on part of our journey .... he stood up at our breakfast table and pointed at me and said in Spanish (of which my Vera translated for me), " Joshua knows where there is a crystal skull in Peru!! "  ...   I was startled ... "I DO?" and then after a few moments of pondering this idea ... I felt my body pulled to the Northern Part of Peru and saw an image in my mind of a tribal (or Indian) people in a jungle area, carrying a skull.  Then I chucked to myself, and thought  "knowing my luck ... its probably sky blue, my favorite color!" 

Well after nine years and many experiences later this image of this crystal skull has always stayed in my mind .... so of course the thought I have asked myself over the years is:  AM I CRAZY? ... is this just the wishful thinking of a crystal skull explorer that would like to have his own (old or ancient) crystal skull or is this crystal skull actually communicating with me? ... It is possible that perhaps this skull recognizes me on a soul level and perhaps I have worked with it in other lifetimes.  Only you the reader, can decide if such a skull exists or not.

So in 1997, the compulsion to visit Peru to find this crystal skull became so intense ... I literally couldn't stand it any more and also there were just too many other people I had met over the years that were inwardly seeing this same skull and describing it to me just the way I was perceiving it too! ... So what is a crystal skull explorer to do?  I WILL TELL YOU ... I quit my job (I was working for a telecommunication company at this time, this was in early September of that year) ... so that I did not have anything that required my immediately attention (meaning that I didn't have to return to  the U.S. by a certain time) and that I could just be in Peru, spending whatever time was necessary to be there without any worries or concerns!  Thus, on September 6th, 1997and I embarked on this mad adventure.  I did not know exactly where I would be going into the northern part of Peru, I just had a few clues and some visions ... 

I also felt it might be interesting to keep a detailed journal of this trip and thus, each day I would write down in a spiral notebook whatever happened to us, no matter how mundane.  My wife Vera, met me in Lima (she was guiding two people in Peru prior to my arrival) and then she traveled with me for  the first half of our journey as we visited Trujillo (to see Chan Chan, the ruins of the ancient city built by a pre-Inca culture known as the Mocha), Cajamarca (the home of the last Inca, the last Inca Emporer), Chicaylo (to visit another ancient Mochica ruin known as Sipan, famous for the discovery of the tomb of the Lord of Sipan), Piura (seacoast village where one catches a bus to --) and Huancabamba (high up in the Andes Mountains and the area where many key Inca Shamans are trained -- we learned this was my last destination when we spoke to an archaeologist in Sipan).  My wife did not go with me to Huancabamba as she left from Piura to go to Brasil but I did have another local guide, Oscar Loyola, who spoke English and went with me into Huancamba ... where we finished our journey on September 25th.  Although I did not find the blue skull, I had many incredible adventures and experiences and felt that I needed to return to these areas again ... I was not ready (as spirit told me) to see or work with this skull at that time.

A special area in the Mountains that Shamans take
people for ancient ceremonies near the sacred Lagunas

Again, in 1999, the urge came again to return!  So from August 16th to the 29th of this year, I returned and had three friends accompany me (Jenet from our crystal skull mailing list, who I met at the Crystal Healing Symposium in Sedona in May of 1999 organized by Dr. Chet Snow) and Edith and Eric who own Peru Mystic Tours in Lima, our dear friends and who we (my wife and I) work with to organize journeys to Peru.  

I also felt this second time I might be bringing a crystal skull with me, a new one (I had a vision in my mind of traveling with one) and this self-fulling prophecy came true when my wife bought me an almost (new / contemporary) human-size smoky quartz skull that was crafted in Brazil during our participation at the Crystal Healing Symposium.  This crystal skull had a chance to sit with some of the ancient skulls at the conference and participated in the Mayan Sunrise Ceremony.  My wife and I came up with the name Portal de Luz (is Portuguese, meanings Portal of Light, we gave it this name to honor the country where the quartz came from and the crystal was fashioned).  

So it seemed by August, everything was ready for the next trip.  I had also received emails from a women named Angela in Alaska who felt this blue skull might be in another part of the Andes Mountain so there was time to visit this new area and Sipan and Huancabamba again.  Again the blue skull was not discovered but more experiences and insights came and according to one Native American friend I have in Ohio (who has seen the blue skull psychicly) she predicted it will take three times before it comes out.  Possibly a third trip is planned for 2001.  Again in this second trip I took complete notes of each day (this time bringing a small portable notebook in addition to the crystal skull) so I could share my journal notes with others.

In the meantime, since returning from Peru (and Brasil) in September of 1999, I have begun to include my story and experiences from  these journeys for our crystal skull presentations.  I also share some of the slides and pictures we took while in Peru. (as some are shown on this web page).

I know there are a number of other people who also have a similar type of vision of other crystal skulls and I'm sure as we move closer to the Golden Age, more and more of these skulls will be coming out.  It just another interest piece of the puzzle which represents the crystal skulls.

Joshua Shapiro
Crystal Skull Explorer
(see the announcement of our new book below)