Tuesday, March 30, 2004

The Mithraic Mysteries

"Closed for six years, the planetarium at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum has reopened with a show on the skies of 2020 B.C., the cusp of a celestial shift that spawned one of the major competitors of early Christianity.

The star show "The Mithraic Mysteries'' explores a secretive ancient religion that has been a particular enigma for archaeologists and historians. It takes viewers through the steps that led a San Francisco scholar of ancient religions to theorize that changes in the night sky formed the basis for Mithraism, practiced throughout the Roman Empire in the first centuries A.D.

The reinauguration of the planetarium at the popular San Jose tourist attraction -- with its Egyptian revival buildings and gardens and mummy- and artifact-filled museum -- is the first of many renovations this year at the 77-year-old Rosicrucian Park complex. Planned renovations include an authentic 18th-dynasty Egyptian Peace Park that will have a small temple, viewing dais, sycamore fig, grape arbor and dhoum palms surrounding a reflecting pond."

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