Mucalinda features a displaying cobra coiled under and rising up behind a crystal skull, giving support and protection. This wonderful single piece sculpture is carved from a black agate specimen from Brazil which has been shaped and polished to a glass-smooth finish. The black agate is colored with white. gray, and iron stained orange areas, and shows a few small quartz crystal druse lined vugs, including one just above the left eye socket of the crystal skull. Faceted green garnet gems are set for the eyes of the cobra, and a sterling silver tongue flicks from its closed mouth. The Mucalinda crystal skull and snake sculpture are carved with the amazing attention to detail that is characteristic of the fine art produced by Skullis. This one of a kind sculpture measures 5.0 x 3.3 x 5.8 inches (125x83x148mm) and weighs 2.42 pounds (1099g).

It is said that shortly after attaining enlightenment, the Buddha was meditating on the experience of the happiness of freedom when the sky became clouded and brought seven days of overcast, rainy, and cold weather. Mucalinda, the king of the serpents, coiled about the Buddha and spread his hood over him to protect him from the elements. At the end of the seven days, the weather cleared and the Buddha completed his meditation. Mucalinda uncoiled and stood in human form before the Buddha and bowed reverently before him.

The Buddha shared his insights from his meditation:

When we are accepting and content with where we are and what we are experiencing, without resistance or the desire to be in control, we will experience true happiness. To see the world and our lives for what they truly are, free of the illusions we create, is to attain happiness. When we are focused on expressing love and compassion, and have no negative thoughts or wishes for all beings, we will find our happiness. Happiness is also found in regulating our emotions and releasing the control they have over us, and the greatest happiness we can experience comes to us when we release our desire to define ourselves and our life experience with our egos.

The Mucalinda crystal skull and snake reminds us that we can choose to be happy, or we can choose to be resistant. Regardless of the situation we face, how we react, and consequently what we feel and experience, is completely our own choice. The Mucalinda black agate crystal skull and snake sculpture inspires us to choose to experience happiness.

The serpent is a symbol of royalty and power, wisdom, health, wealth, primordial life force, and the search for balance. As a symbol of duality, the serpent also represents lust, greed, and temptation. The snake represents the assertive power of masculinity as well as the nurturing, mothering power of creation, this often being depicted as a serpent encircling the earth. The snake has been a symbol of secret knowledge, cunning, rebirth and renewal, and transformation. The snakes tendency to withdraw in colder weather, and return again at the call of the sun has given it the associations of connecting to shadow worlds and of moving in synchronization with natural forces. Snakes also symbolize water, emotion, love, benevolence, loving harmony between the physical and the ethereal, the kundalini spiritual energy within the body, balance, equanimity, union, and rejuvenation and regeneration. Snakes can be considered to be a representation of being impulsive while also being careful to consider the outcome of one’s actions.

Agate has long been used as a stone of protection, to stimulate analytical capabilities and precision, for providing for perceptiveness to situations, and for awakening ones inherent talents and adroitness. It is also used to avert, and protect from, lighting and stormy weather (physically and metaphysically), and it is considered to be very effective for the protection of children, especially protecting children from falling.

It has also been used to produce inspiration from, and connectedness to, the spiritual worlds. Agate raises one's consciousness, builds self-confidence, and assists one in choosing one's friends carefully. Agate provides strength, helps us to have patience and courage, and its calming effect allows for finding inner peace.

Agate has been used to promote marital fidelity and stability within ceremonial activities, for balancing body, mind, emotions, spirit, and yin/yang energies, and as a stone of harmony and unification of all people. Agate symbolizes benevolence and good will, with these originating from the nurturing energy within the stone. Agate can alleviate hostility, irritability, and boredom, while enhancing one's generosity, responsiveness, and receptivity. Agate is often used as a gazing tool for divination and meditation. It assists in examination of the self and the learning situations that bring about growth. Agate also assists in abating stress and anxiety.

Agate is used to bring prosperity on all levels, and is considered an excellent stone for artists and students, as it amplifies creative and intellectual thinking.

Agate heightens and intensifies energy, sharing it when it is required, and storing energy when it is not needed, enhancing one’s durability and endurance. Agate gives one emotional strength, alleviates fears, and dispels envy and desire through the grounding of emotions. Agate teaches acceptance of one's thoughts and feelings which helps one to overcome the emotions one desires to be free of. Agate's nature of bringing harmony allows for removing and releasing bitterness, resentment, ill will, and the desire for vengeance and retaliation, teaching one to learn and practice forgiveness. In this way, agate heals and improves relationships.

Agate transforms negative energy to harmonious energy which cleans and balances the aura. It harmonizes the energy of the body with the energy of the Earth, grounding and strengthening one's connection with the planet.

Agate stimulates the digestive system and relieves gastritis, the inflammation of the lining of the stomach. Agate is used to strengthen sight, promoting a state of good health for the eyes, and has also been used to diminish thirst. It is connected to the optimal health of the hollow organs such as the heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, and uterus, and is used to heal skin disorders. It has been used to alleviate itching caused by insect bites. Agate assists the heart and blood vessels, strengthening the heart and also healing emotional discord that may be blocking one’s ability to accept love. Agate has been used to cure fever and reduce the symptoms of epilepsy, and may help some people with somnambulism. Agate is also used to cleanse the lymphatic system and the pancreas.

Used in Egypt more than 5,000 years ago, garnet has been considered a sacred stone by the Native Indians of the Americas, the Aztecs, the Mayans, and African tribal elders.

Garnet promotes an open mind, ingenuity, and enlightenment, and is useful for the process of manifestation. It inspires one to bring concepts and ideas to actualization.

Garnet assists one to adjust to changes in one's environment, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes, and changes of others perceptions of oneself. It teaches patience and acceptance, and the importance of accepting one's obligations that accompany these aspects.

Garnet inspires one to devote oneself to one's personal needs and growth, to the needs and service of others, and to take action in regards to the beliefs and causes that are important to the individual when necessary. It encourages one to communicate and share one's personal feelings of love for another, both verbally and through loving actions.

It is an ideal crystal for dispelling negative energy and feelings which result from feelings of being rejected and deserted, helping one to understand the positive experiences that inevitably result from change and a seeming lack of regularity.

Garnet removes negative energy and changes it to useful productive energy. It brings harmony and equilibrium to the base and crown chakras, enhancing the flow of energy through the body and evenly energizing all areas of the body. It encourages the expansion and growth of the Kundalini spiritual energy, energizing and connecting the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical nervous systems, and assists one to adjust and harmonize with the experience.

Garnet enhances mental and emotional growth and learning processes by assisting one to gain awareness of one's emotions and the underlying attitudes and thinking patterns that encourage them. It encourages one to acknowledge and accept what is being kept hidden, and to redirect these energies toward a positive form of expression. Garnet helps this process of changing one's attitudes and how one reacts to life experiences, resulting in one's return to a balanced and stable perspective of optimism, and a loving approach towards oneself and towards others.

The energy of garnet is calming and stabilizing, providing reassurance, support, and peace. Within the energy field of garnet, one can find a safe space of solace and comfort in which to retreat during experiences of emotional turmoil and inundation. Garnet naturally deters discordant and chaotic energies and activity, both internally and externally. It removes the sensations of feeling overwhelmed, vulnerable, and confused, and promotes the redirection of one's attention to the stabilization of the emotional and physical connection to the spiritual body, inciting the mental process of restructuring one's positive and firm emotional foundation one truth at a time. Garnet provides strength and inspires perseverance through these difficult challenges. It brings one's physical, auric, mental, and emotional bodies into harmony with the spirit. Through the spirit it connects one with the higher consciousness of the universal whole, thereby helping one to understand the emotional turmoil is temporary and has a beneficial purpose in regards to one's growth and unfoldment.

Garnet is considered a powerful and effective crystal of healing, applying its inherent characteristics of bringing order and proper arrangement to the area of physical health. Garnet effectively promotes optimal health and all aspects of regeneration. It can be used to eliminate health issues at the first sign of symptoms. It is particularly effective for issues involving the health of the RNA and DNA structures, and cellular makeup and arrangement, as well as the blood, heart, lungs, bones, and the spine and spinal fluid. It us useful for regulating the absorption and proper metabolism of vitamins A, D, and E, along with magnesium, calcium, and iodine. Garnet is also effective for issues of bringing sexual energies into balance.

Silver, long associated with the moon and water, reflects and mirrors the soul, giving calm and balance. Used to “draw down the moon” during lunar ceremonies, it shares the moon energy and protects from negativity. Silver is considered to be directly connected with the spiritual aspects of life. Silver has long been used to work in combination with the energies of gemstones, absorbing, amplifying, and emulating energies of gems and enabling the fusion of the different energies and a smoother transference to the wearer. Silver allows the wearer to tune in to the energy vibrations and flow of the universe. Silver is associated with love, the emotions, and healing. Metaphysical and mystical uses of silver include enhancement of manifestation, good health, communication skills, perception, psychic and intuitive capabilities, connection between physical and astral bodies, and revelations in dreams.

NOTE: Skullis does not prescribe treatment for medical issues. Skullis offers information for reference to assist with the selection and understanding of crystal skulls, including this black agate crystal skull and snake with green garnet eyes and sterling silver tongue sculpture.