by Manda Scott
In England, the White Horse of Uffington and Weyland’s Smithy (also spelled Wayland’s) are both uniquely powerful places to visit and are linked by the Ridgeway, which is currently classified as a long-distance path but has been part of the backbone of Britain for far longer than the bureaucrats of the current age. It is not actually possible to see the one from the other, but they seem to me to be linked in just about every other way and for the flow of the text I have made it so in the final scenes of the novel. There is also no tunnel apparent into the depths of the grave mound at the Smithy, although the local archaeological details record that one was found on excavation of the site. Both of these places are well worth a visit, with due respect to the ancestors who made them.
Bede’s College is fictional. It sits on the banks of the Cam at a place currently occupied by modern and costly flats that would be much improved if there were an ancient sandstone college there instead. The kernels of its history grew up from the early fourteenth-century colleges; Clare, for instance, was founded in 1326 by a granddaughter of Edward I, while Trinity Hall was founded in 1350 by the Bishop of Norwich for ‘the promotion of divine worship and of canon and civil science and direction of the commonwealth’. That said, I would emphasize that not one of the Cambridge colleges could ever be described as a ‘second-rate Plantagenet project’, nor has any been rescued from poverty by a massive bequest from a man arraigned for treachery. Academia being what it is, I have culled the concepts of Master’s Lodges, Courts, and the internal political structure – particularly the loyalty of graduates for their alma mater – as nearly as I can from life.
The remainder of Cambridge, its colleges, students and details of the city, are drawn from the memory of several happy decades spent living within easy reach.
For those of you interested in astrology, I have tried, in so far as possible, to keep the planetary aspects and transits accurate within the text. I have drawn up charts for all of the major players and the various end-dates and worked within the limits of those.
In the end, whether the ancients were right or not is a moot point, and if we’re all still here and untouched on Hogmanay 2012 then we can perhaps laugh off the predictions much as we did the hysteria of the Y2K bug and all that led up to it – except that I suspect the end-date is an approximation and was set to indicate a general time rather then a specific twenty-four hours, and there can be little doubt that we are living through a period in which man-made catastrophes assail the world.
You may believe that you wake up each day to news that exemplifies the heights of human achievement. I am inclined to think that if this is the best we can do, we’re in deep, deep trouble, and to hope that those people who believe that the next evolutionary step is spiritual are right. If they are, we need to get on with that evolution soon.
If the thirteen skulls come together to kick us forward into a transformation in consciousness that leads to a better, more sustainable way of living, I’ll be first in the queue for the paradigm shift.
Summer Solstice, 2007
Shropshire
UK
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The research for this book was enormous and a true bibliography would be unwieldy and unnecessary. I have appended those books that were of most interest or of most use, plus some of the more useful websites that give details of the various theories of past and present concerning the legends of 2012.
A proportion of the detail came from conversations with chance-met people with a specific interest but for whom I have no secondary back-up. I have been told, for instance, that the Hopi are recalling their people in time for 2012, but have no firm evidence. If anyone with any credibility has any better information, on this or any other part of the book, please contact me through the website www.thecrystalskull.co.uk
Calleman, Carl Johann: The Mayan Calendar, Garve Publishing International, 2001, ISBN 0-9707558-0-5
Calleman, Carl Johann: The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness, Bear & Co., 2004, ISBN 1-59143-028-3
Coe, Michael D. and van Stone, Mark: Reading the Maya Glyphs, Thames & Hudson, 2001, ISBN 0-500-05110-0
Drew, David: The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings, Phoenix, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7538-0989-1
Geryl, Patrick: The World Cataclysm in 2012, Adventures Unlimited Press, 2005, ISBN 1-931882-46-0
Geryl, Patrick and Ratinckx, Gino: The Orion Prophecy: Will the worlds be destroyed in 2012?, Adventures Unlimited Press, 2001, ISBN 0-932813-91-7
Hartmann, Thom: The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, Hodder Mobius, 2001, ISBN 0-340-822430
Jenkins, John Major: Galactic Alignment, Bear & Co., 2002, ISBN 1-879181-84-3
Jenkins, John Major and Matz, Martin: Pyramid of Fire: The Lost Aztec Codex, Bear & Co., 2004, ISBN 1-59143-032-1
Mercier, Alloa Patricia: The Maya Shamans, Vega, 2002, ISBN 1-84333-596-4
Morton, Chris and Thomas, Ceri Louise: The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls, Thorsons, 1977, ISBN 0-7225-3486-8
Pinchbeck, Daniel: 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Penguin, 2006, ISBN 1-58542-483-8
Rees, Martin: Our Final Century, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-099-43686-8
Stray, Geoff: Beyond 2012: Catastrophe or Ecstasy. A complete guide to end of time predictions, Vital Signs Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-9550608-0-X.
See also www.diagnosis2012.co.uk This is the website from which the book Beyond 2012 was culled. At the time of writing, this is probably the best of the websites devoted to the 2012 phenomenon, although, given that Google currently registers 60,000 hits to the search phrase ‘2012 mayan’, there may well be a few others I haven’t found that are almost as good.
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A thrilling collision of past and present: a race-against-time detective puzzle and
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About the Author
Over the past two decades, Manda Scott has brought iconic historical figures back to life, reimagined and rebooted for the twenty-first century. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize, nominated for an Edgar Award and translated into over twenty languages.
Manda’s bestselling Boudica series was recently optioned for television.
Also by Manda Scott
INTO THE FIRE
HEN’S TEETH
NIGHT MARES
STRONGER THAN DEATH
NO GOOD DEED
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE EAGLE
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE BULL
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE HOUND
BOUDICA: DREAMING THE SERPENT SPEAR
THE CRYSTAL SKULL
ROME: THE EMPEROR’S SPY
ROME: THE COMING OF THE KING
ROME: THE EAGLE OF THE TWELFTH
ROME: THE ART OF WAR
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First published in Great Britain
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Bantam edition published 2008
Bantam edition reissued as 2012: The Crystal Skull, 2009
Copyright © Manda Scott 2008
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