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
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| Peaceful reading room |
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| Inside the tomb |
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| Alchemist's Study |
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| 1) Alligator and 2) Bull Mummy |
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| Lots of cat mummies! |
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| Ushabtis, or "Whisperers" placed in the tomb would talk to the dead and guide them |
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| I'm pretty sure this is my friend, Chance! |
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| Child's Sandals |
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| Coptic Jars |
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| The Emerald Tablet |
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| Translation - A Great Truth! |
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| I love these face jars! |
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| 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!
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| This is a set of glass measuring cups!!! |
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| 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.
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| Wooden Head Rest for Sleeping |
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| 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.
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| Glass eyes were place over the dead person's eyes so they could find their way. |
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| Oil lamps |
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| Brass mirrors - these worked just as good or better than our mirrors today when finely polished. |
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| Sekhmet, Lion Goddess of War and of Healing |
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| 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.
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