Skull Magic:

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Skull Magic: The Kapala practice and its function in Tibetan

rituals. Having chosen the right skull, it is important to handle it

with due care and circumstances. The " Jewel-bowl " (rin chen thod pa)

should never be left empty or lying upside down, otherwise the

beneficent qualities of the skull will be useless for the bearer.

Should the practitioner have been lucky enough to find a skull still

attached to a corpse before the rig pa, or consciousness, has left

the body, he should wrap it immediately into a piece of human skin.

For the cleansing process the head may be buried in mud or clay, put

into hot springs for three days - according to a modern method -

boiled in hot water with plenty of soda. When the skull is such

freed from all flesh, the top of the cranium is cut off with a bone

saw above the sutura squamosa. After washing it in alcohol, the

skull cup should be polished and anointed with a fragrant essence

such as saffron. It is now ready for ritualistic use. Silver inlay,

lid and pedestal made of precious metals which decorate many items

in museums and art collections are not specifically mentioned in the

texts. Such appliances made by silversmiths were originally reserved

for very rare one-piece skulls and only became fashionable in the

seventeenth century parallel to the expansion of monastic power in

Tibet. More important than any decoration is the proper treatment of

the skull for which one requires dam ngag, religious instructions.

As according to Tibetan belief, every skull has protectors (srung

ma) and Dakinis but also evil spirits (gnod byed), it could be

dangerous to possess a skull without instruction and only the right

treatment will generate the Siddhis and further the Four Kinds of

Activities (phrin las bzhi). According to the gTer ma of Sangs rgyas

gLing pa, a Kapala should be consecrated on an astrologically very

auspicious day. Then all sorts of obstacles are removed with smoke

and wrathful Mantras and some alcohol is poured out to the " Three

Roots " (rtsa gsum). The skull needs to be dried and anointed. After

that the Kapala is filled with small images of " Three Roots " , with

Mantras of deities, of the god of wealth, of protectors ect. The

names of all members of the Guru Lineage are put in as well as

personal whishes. Pieces of gold, silver precious stones, medical

ingredients such as camphor, nutmeg, sandalwood, musk, consecrated

Dharma medicines, ring bsrel of Lamas, different kinds of wheat,

fruits, flowers, pieces of tiger - leopard skin, silk as well as an

essential text on Mahamudra or rDzogs chen ect. are placed into the

skull bowl which is then wrapped in cloth. After an invocation of

the Ye shes pa into the Kapala, it is sealed and hidden in a shrine

closet, with the rang sa side showing to oneself. If one continues

to make proper treatment the Kapala will certainly qualify as

a " Whishfulfilling Jewel " (yid bzhin nor bu). Special Mantras are

connected with such skull practices, for instance OM RATNA

MAHAKAPALA SARVA SIDDHI PHA HUM HUM or - according to Grags pa rGyal

mtshan the Mantra OM KAPALA BODHICITTA OM AH HUM, which ought to be

represented 900,000 times in retreat. In this case the skull turns

into a support (rten) of enlightened motivation, Bodhicitta (byan

chub sems). Through these rituals the Kapala is turned into a direct

object of worship. In other cults belonging to the classes of Tantra

human skulls are used as offering vessels. According to rites on the

levels of Kriya and Caryatantra such as an Amitabha and Amitayus

offering feast, the skull cup is filled with sweet fruit juices as a

symbol for " lifespan, wisdom and merit increasing nectar " . In

rituals of the highest tantric order (Yogatantra and Anuttaratantra)

the skull is filled with alcohol as the " Inner Offering " (nang gi

mchod), symbolizing the " Five Kinds of Fleshes " (sha inga) and

the " Five Kinds of Nectar " (bdud rtsi lnga). Within this system of

Anuttaratantra skull cups are used as well for offering in two

seperate vessels " Blood " (rakta) and " Semen " (bdud rtsi) to the

Protective Deities (chos skyong). While strong black tea added with

special " Rakta pills " serves as a substitute for " Blood " , white

alcohol mixed with " Dharma medicine " (chos sman) transforms

into " Semen " . During empowerment rites into Higher Tantras one could

receive the " Secret Initiation " (gsang dbang) by means of nectar out

of a skull cup which clears all obscurations of energy, bestows the

experience of " Great Bliss " (bde ba chen po) and qualifies one for

Sambhogakaya. In certain meditations belonging to the category of

Anuttaratantra class one's own skull serves as an essential support

(rten) during the visualation process (skyes rim). During the

practice of gCod for instance, or in the visualation during the

empowerment rite for the Sadhana of Milarepa, one's own skull serves

on an immaterial level as a cooking vessel in which one's own corpse

boils and transforms into limitless nectar which satisfies high and

low. Or in another context one's own skull is visualised containing

the Organs of the Five Senses objects as an offering to wrathful

divinities. Further the Kapala is meditated on as an important

implement of many protectors and divinities belonging to the Highest

Tantras. Filled with blood it is the symbol of wisdom (shes rab) and

matches the hook knife (khri gug), the symbol skillful means

(thabs). In the esoteric Tantric tradition, a carefully chosen and

prepared skull is much more than a ritual object. A powerful Yogi

will be able to use a consecrated jewel skull for all kinds of

visionary and prophetic purposes. He may read in its lines the state

of his own inner realization as well as his kkarmic obstacles with

greater clarity than in his palm. According to an oral instruction

given by a Tibetan sNgags pa one can use a skull for prophetic

purposes in the following way: The vein imprints inside the skull

signify obstacles by which the person whose skull one bears, was

affected during his lifetime. Positive marks in the skull

demonstrate the qualities of the deceased. Bone is considered to be

alive, therefore the good and bad marks of the deceased will

influence also the bearer of the skull and could be of dire

consequence to him. A tantric practitioner however will use the

karmic power of the skull as a means to enlightenment by mentally

transforming the Kapala into his own Mandala. The tree of life

corresponds now to his own lifespan counted as hundred years

starting at the root, his year of birth. The branches of the tree

turn into the four elements which are connected to the five wisdoms

and five passions. Any negative mark in the skull is then analyzed

and identified in the Mandala. By drawing lines to the trunk of the

tree, the year of occurrence of obstacles can be detected. Further

by connecting the mark to the nearest branch its element is

discovered. The nearest bending twig on that branch signalizes the

dominating passion of the obstacle. The position of the nearest

uprising twig on the same branch indicates accurately the year in

which the obstacle transformed in wisdom will be overcome. In such a

way a skillful Yogi is aware of his outer and inner obstacles by

using a skull. On quite a different level oral tradition knows of

the use of skulls for black magic purposes. So for instance, in

order to generate a dispute between two parties, one could avail

oneself of two skulls from men who both died in a quarrel, fill them

with appropriate spells and tie them up with string. When these

skulls are buried on a path trodden by the two parties, they will

certainly turn against each other. As a counter-action the skulls

need only be turned in the opposite direction. A whole skull is used

as a medium for entering into contact with the shi 'dre, the ghost

of the dead. For this the sorcerer recites particular Mantras which

make the ghosts of the dead speak. Then the sorcerer may use the

shi 'dre as his servant for all sort of destructive magic. Human as

well as animal skulls are also used in connection with exorcism and

protection against evil: in order to avert or to counteract the harm

caused by all various classes of sri demons, the most efficacious

method is to perform the Great Rite against the sri. For this one

has to bury or set out a nine-sectioned Kapala at a crossing, filled

with slips of poisonous paper inscribed with magic spells and the

drawing of a lings, which contains all evil and harm caused by the

sri. The paper must be tied up with a five colored ribbon. In case a

nine-piece Kapala is not available, nine different kind of animal

skulls must be provided: of a yak, dog, camel, vulture, marmot, cat,

fox, jackal and a mouse. Summarizing the essential points, human

skull cups are used in three different ways. It is used as a direct

object of worship as a " Jewel bowl " or " Whishfulfilling Jewel "

representing the " Palace (gzhal yas khang) of the " Three Roots " . In

this connection it is also used as a support for Bodhictta. It is

used as a ritualistic implement as an offering vessel in rituals of

the four Tantra Classes: Kriya and Caryatantra: for nectar

increasing lifespan, wisdom and merit. Uttara and Anuttaratantra:

for the " Inner Offering " , for offering " Blood and Semen " , for

bestowing the " Secret Empowerment " . as a medium for prophetic

purposes for black magic for exorcism and protection against evil.

It is used on an immaterial level as a support for visualization. as

a cooking vessel for one's body offering as an offering vessel for

the Organs of the Five Senses as an implement of wrathful deities

and protectors. As for the symbolism of the skull: It symbolizes

Wisdom (shes rab), Great Bliss (bde ba chen po), Self sacrifice (lus

sbyn); its symbolism embraces the Absolute (don dom) beyond all

dualistic concepts; on the level of relative reality (kun rdzob gi

don) it is a symbol of impermanence. A skillful Yogi will use it

with transcendental awareness " out of which he drinks with self-

abandoning pleasure the one taste of Samsara and Nirvana " , to speak

in the Doha language of Siddhas.