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Kapala skull cups Introduction
In 1888 Rockhill published his translation of the Tibetan manuscript on "The Use of Skulls in Lamaist Ceremonies". The reactions by scholars such as Andree, Collin or Laufer were representative for the school of "Kulturmorphologie" as they tried to establish a historical connection between the skull cults of different peoples in prehistory, antiquity and the Middle Ages. Their interpretation of the Tibetan use of skulls included references to pre-Buddhist ancestor cults and head-hunting practices. If we now examine reports in Sanskrit literature we find
the earliest account in the Dasha-Kumara-Carita text of the sixth century
which mentions the use of skulls in Tantric rituals especially in connection
with the cult of Shiva as Kapalabhrta or Mahakala, the Great Destroyer.
Such usage was also reported by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in the
seventh century. In the twelfth century Ramanuja comments on the system
of Kalamukha as follows: The very word "Kapala, translated a 'bowl', 'vessel', 'begging bowl' and also 'skull' implies already its specific ritualistic function. What the Buddhist tradition concerns it is interesting to note, that in the Vinaya the use of a human skull as an almsbowl was explicitly forbidden. Only with the spread of the Vajrayana system in India and Tibet did the humans skull gain its importance as a ritualistic implement. As for the Tibetan sources, there is first to mention a text written in the twelfth century AD by the Sa skya scholar Grags pa rgyal mtshan entitled "The Inner Offering Bowl in the Guhyamantrayana". It enumerates eight characteristics of a skull suitable for Tantric rituals, such as the "Feel of it", its shape, colour, the number of sections, good and bad marks on the surface of the cranium ect. Furthermore there is a text called "The Harmful and Richness bestowing Characteristics of Skulls", among the gter chos texts discovered by Sangs rgyas gLing pa (1340-1396). This text includes instructions for a specific Kapala ritual. In the fifteenth century Ratna gLing pa (1403-1478) discovered among the gYang gsang bLa med gTer chos another important ritual text called "The Pith Instructions for the Siddhis of a Jewel Kapala". These two gTer ma texts are included in an dbu med written ancient manuscript which contains as well a highly interesting story history on Kapala based on oral tradition. During field studies in Darjeeling 1981/82 and in Tibet
1987 Loseries-Leick interviewed several traditional bone carvers, Lamas
as well as sNgags pa Yogis on the subject. These investigations proved
that the oral tradition on skull cults is still alive in Tibet as well
as in exile. Their survival is most likely due to the fact that the
relevant practices belong to a group of the highest Tantric teachings,
the Anuttaratantras, and are therefore kept secret. Loserier-Leick also
verifies that the oral tradition largely tallies with the instructions
given in the above mentioned written documents.
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The proper way of examining a skull
Although, as mentioned above both male and female skulls are utilized, it is important to be aware of the original owner's gender. In order to determine the sex of a decomposed skull the texture and sutures are examined (female skulls have a thinner texture near the ear and the vein imprints are deeper). If that will not yield a positive result a curious practice is reported: only a female skull will produce a special "tinkling sound" when the examiner urinates into it. Before embarking on a detailed examination of the physical features of the skull, the Tantric practitioner has to check the "Feel of it". Does it feel heavier than it looks? Has his emotional pattern changed since he handled the skull? If he should feel 'overwhelming joy, loving kindness and relief of burden then the skull may be considered a "Precious palace" and no father examinations are necessary. The next investigations concern the skull's shape since it is related to the four kinds of activities which can be preformed with the aid of the skull. An oval shape is useful for pacifying activities, a square one is enriching, if the shape is triangular, it is destructive, if simi-circular, it is controlling. If the shape is undefined, it is completely neutral. If it is distorted, one should get rid of the skull. The gTer ma text by Sangs rgyas gLing pa contains additional classifications. It mentions skulls formed like a barley grain, a belly-shaped skull, a jewel-like skull, a Vajra-shaped (useful to increase one's lineage), a lotus and an elephant shape which are said to be able to fulfill particular desires for wealth, power, love ect. Also of importance for the ritualistic value of a skull is its colour. All five types of colour are found and they can have a variety of faults, such as bluish tings or frostiness. Yellow is like gold, varying to gold-nugget and to pinchbeck. Brown is like garnet, varying to gem-like and to coral. White is similar to conch, varying to swallow grey and to ashen colours. But only a proper skull will "gleam and sparkle brightly" if viewed from a distance. As to touch, the surface must be smooth and soft. It should not be pale nor rough and grainy. All convex bumps should be on the outside and all concave crevices on the inside, so that the skull looks like "an elephant's back". It should have lines on the outside at the height of the ears which resemble an elephant's trunk and the cutting line around the skull should be demonstrate a bone texture of even thickness. Highly estimated is a skull with a "Brahma hole", the physical sign of yogic attainment achieved by transference of consciousness at the moment of death (pho ba). If no perforation is clearly visible a water test may be preformed. If water is poured into the skull bubbles, the "Brahma hole" is considered to be present. Such skulls are believed to contain the yogic powers of the deceased which will transmit to the skull holder. Of immediate interest to the examiner is also the number of sections. Skulls with one to six and nine sections are mentioned but it is the one-sectioned skull which is considered the most valuable because of its great rarity. It is also said that one-sectioned skulls are those of highly realized persons, of Bodhisattvas, whose sainthood remains in the skull as a living inspiring force. Therefore one-sectioned skulls are the most suitable offering vessels for Tantric cults. If one comes across such a skull, one should not keep it for oneself, but should offer it a saint like teacher who will make the best use of the skull for the welfare of all sentient beings. By the merit of such an offering, the blessings of the skull will thus return to oneself. In such a way one avoids harm caused by mishandling the skull due to lack of personal power. To qualify as a dum pu gcig pa a skull must show one of two characteristics: a) it must show no visible suture lines at all or b) have a small gap (the length of at least one barley corn) between the suture lines thus uniting the two halves. The teeth of the sutures which are called "pearl teeth" must be fine and well fitting. Translated into western understanding of anatomy, these "sections" of skulls are enclosed "Knocheninseln" (bone islands), usually considered as a normal kind of variation. However concerning the capacity of its personality bearer no research has been done so far in Western medical science. |
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According to Grags pa rGyal mtshan a skull deteriorates with its growing number of sections, a circumstance which he connects to the Indian cast system: a one piece skull is a ksaitreya who controls all people, land and property. A two-sectioned skull is a vaishya, it works for the king and knows how to amass food. A three-sectioned skull is a brahmin, it stimulates the realization of Mantra. A four-sectioned skull is a shudra and thus amasses an entourage. A five-sectioned skull is an outcast, it is a skull cup suitable for a fierce person as it wins disputes. Six or more sections stimulate illness. They are known to be inauspicious and should be abandoned. However, for destruction Mantras, for causing hail, for causing enemies, obstacles and inauspicious demons, one uses the ill-omened six-sectioned, seven-, eight- or nine section skull cup. The Tibetan manuscript Thod pa'i lo rgyu mentions strange encounters with skulls in ancient India where the particular value of the skull with one, two, three or more sections was mainly communicated in dreams. In such a way a herdsman gained control over the country and turned into a Bodhisattva with the help of a one-piece skull; the possession of a two-piece skull made a beggar king, a three-piece skull stopped a famine, a four-piece skull turned a sinful man into a practitioner of Dharma and so forth. But let us return to the description of the skull's features. Inside at the front it should have a sharp ridge like a Garuda's peak or a tiger claw which will enable one to pick up the skull at this point on one finger. The vein imprints on the surface should be deep and shaped like a "blossoming tree". Much emphasis is laid on the distinction between one's own place and the enemy's place. For this one divides the skull-cup in the middle crosswise, half way from the front to the back, across the line of pearl teeth. On the outside, the frontal line of pearl teeth is considered as the division. On the inside, the division is considered from the supra-oracular plates. The side of the rang sa should be smooth and full of auspicious signs, such as swastikas for attaining realization, a mongoose for increasing the heads, an umbrella for associates, a throne for respect and so forth. Worm holes, burn marks and the like are considered bad if situated in one's own place and good if they are in the enemy's. The left side of the skull is called the "human side" (mi sa), the right side is the "possessions" (nor sa). Grags pa rGyal mtshan subdivides each side into many small sections of a finger's length (sor). They stand for the owners life force, wealth, magic power, personality and so forth respectively. At the "place of descendants" one may recognize the quality of wives, sons, pupils ect. In the same manner the enemy's side is examined where all positive marks are of dire consequence for the bearer. (FIG 1) |
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The Kapala practice and its function in Tibetan rituals.
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: 1. 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.
Skulls are regarded as "karmic vessels" which contain the good and bad qualities of the dead person. The karmic force of the dead is still alive in the skull and thus will infect living beings on touch. Only with the proper religious instruction and Tantric transmission one is able to make skillful use of the power of skulls. Otherwise even the skull of a Bodhisattva may cause harm to the inexperienced bearer. The written sources on that subject indicate doubtlessly, that the use of skulls in Tibetan rituals is strongly influenced by Indian practice, particularly in its Tantric context. From ethnographic studies it is known that in ancient India the influences of local popular forms of belief may have played an important role for the origination of tantric cults; clearly recognizable is an affinity to thoughts which have been already expressed in the Atharvaveda. Without going further into studying the question of Tantric history in India, Buddhist as well as Hindu, we rather have to ask how far this strongly Indian influenced practice of skull rituals is rooted in the pre-Buddhist ideology of Tibet. What concerns the tradition of Bon, no such use is reported. In contrary, at the famous debate of bSam yas about 792 the Bon pos explicitly argued that their religion was "clean", because they do not make use of human bones and skulls for their rites such as Buddhist do. Nevertheless the very elaborate "Knochenkunde" which the Tibetans have developed within the frame of Buddhist Tantric thought, indicates an influence obviously founded on local pre-Buddhist beliefs as well, a hypothesis which still needs to be proven by revealing its underlying ethnoreligous concepts. So far we can only take into consideration certain points: The idea of the infectious forces of the skull remind the animalistic concept of Mana and Tabu, the belief to regard objects which are considered to be sacred or of sacral use, to be alive and capable of will power. For hunters like the Jakutes, Buriats and other Siberian tribes the bones of human and animals are considered as the last source of life which can recreate at will. Also one of the main characteristics of bear-cults in Siberia is its concept of equalizing bears with humans which includes sexual relations between the two. Excavations in Siberia produced Paleolithic settlements entirely built out of mammut and rhinoceros bones. Human skulls have been there obviously used for shamanistic rites, as the skulls of ancestors are "holy relics of the tribe - the source of mystic power, a legacy for the well-being of the tribe". Eliade noted also the obvious similarity between the shamanistic costumes and masks in Tibet. Tantric Buddhism in Tibet has assimilated and integrated successfully many aspects of regional popular beliefs. Therefore we can presume that the highly developed "Knochenkunde" in Tibet which excels in accuracy, detail and interpretation its Indian tradition, has been rooted in an already firmly established tradition of entirely Tibetan origin. We may presume an influence from Central Asia in connection with shamanism of hunting rituals, because a similar process happened in other scientific fields, such as medicine and astrology, where the local Tibetan tradition was enriched by the Indian and Chinese systems. This, however, is only a projective view. At present we are not able to determine in which way Tibetan skull rites are rooted in popular local ideology. The excavations so far done in Tibet, have produced only bone objects such as needles and spoons, dating back some 10,000 years. They are not evidence enough to substantiate theories about antiquity of human skull rites in Tibetan prehistory. Unless archeological research in Tibet has not produced clearer results, no further conclusion in direction of a cultural history on human skull rites in Tibet can be drawn, a project which - considering the material involved, "the cradle" of human thought - certainly deserves more attention. |
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