Rosicrucian Museum - San Jose

Yesterday, I got tired of hanging out 

at the Trauma Center, 

so I took a morning for myself. 

I went to the Rosicrucian Museum here in San Jose.  

I had visited this little museum about 20 years ago, 

and it has really changed and been updated. 

There is a wonderful collection of Egyptian artifacts 

and art to be seen here!

Here is a sample of what you might see, 

including the lovely grounds.

Definitely worth a visit.

Price is around $9 regular,

$7 for seniors,

and FREE for AMORC members.

For those interested in Alchemy, 

they have a wonderful room with displays 

on the Magnus Opus (Great Work) 

and a cool spoken meditation you can listen to. 

It has displays on:

Calcination

Dissolution

Separation

Conjunction

Fermentation

Distillation

Coagulation

Peaceful reading room

Inside the tomb

Alchemist's Study

1) Alligator and 2) Bull Mummy

Lots of cat mummies!

Ushabtis, or "Whisperers" placed in the tomb would talk to the dead and guide them

I'm pretty sure this is my friend, Chance!

Child's Sandals

Coptic Jars

The Emerald Tablet

Translation - A Great Truth!

I love these face jars!

Beautifully painted funeral mask.

Of all the items I've seen in museums all over the world,

I'm always blown away 

by the glass objects.

We tend to think of people living 

so many thousands of years ago

as being like "cave-men,"

when in fact they were as or more evolved

as we.

These are a beautiful hand blown glass pitcher and vase.

They are so delicate and perfect!

This is a set of glass measuring cups!!!

More glass items

Below is a wooden head rest for sleeping,

what we would call a "pillow."

It looks too high to be comfortable,

but if you imagine a sleeping mattress 

would probably be 4-6 inches thick

with this snugged up next to it,

it makes the head rest the perfect height.

Wooden Head Rest for Sleeping

Anubis, Egyptian god and guide into the afterlife.

Below are some artist's paintbrushes.

If you look closely,

you can see the "brush" part is on both ends. 

These were made of sticks bound together,

and the brush part on these is either animal hair or feathers

(I can't remember), held together and on the stick with bitumen,

a tar-like substance.

I imagine they worked beautifully!

If you do a search on 

Ancient Egyptian Paint Brushes

you can see better examples.

Glass eyes were place over the dead person's eyes so they could find their way.

Oil lamps

Brass mirrors - these worked just as good or better than our mirrors today when finely polished.

Sekhmet, Lion Goddess of War and of Healing

Sekhmet with Solar Disk

Sekhmet is an interesting Goddess.  

Do a Google Search for more information.

There were many musical instruments in the museum.

Below is a sistrum,

a percussion instrument usually associated with women,

but in this case,

found in the tomb of a Priest.

Perhaps he was transgender.

There are several entrances on the museum 

and surrounding buildings.

All are beautiful!

I couldn't get a good photo of the main entrance

because there were school buses parked 

at the curb.

The grounds are very pretty. 

Lots of blooming and very fragrant flowers!

I loved the statue below!

Students of BOTA or Tarot 

will recognize this as the Magician,

with one hand pointed toward the SOURCE

and the other in to the GARDEN,

complete with red roses and white lilies

which will soon be blooming.