Museum Membership

Since the dawn of time, stone, in its overwhelming magnitude and uncanny formations, has had a powerful pull on the human mind. Drawing on its seemingly timeless nature, the belief that stone holds the key to eternal life has, over the centuries, inspired our kind to perform remarkable feats of ingenuity and will, in our hope to glean for ourselves something of this everlasting quality.

Athanasius Kircher arrived in the Rome of Sixtus V as the ancient Egyptian obelisks, brought by Augustus and his imperial successors, were beginning to be unearthed from the Eternal City's surficial geology. Gazing upon these monumental pillars that, in piercing the sky, seemed to marry heaven and earth, Kircher was most affected by their hieroglyphic inscriptions, and was thus inspired to unravel this mysterious language, in which there are as many pictures as letters, as many riddles as sounds, in short, as many mazes to be escaped from as mountains to be climbed.

Astonishingly, Kircher was able to induce translations from a number of the Roman obelisks, and in 1666, he correctly predicted the inscription on the hidden side of one partially disinterred at convent Santa Maria sopra Minerva. While in subsequent years, Kircher's findings have come to be seen as but fanciful steps on the pathway to the understanding of this ancient language, his life-long effort to apprehend the full meaning of the highest mysteries of nature and Divinity, was made profoundly manifest in his passion for these powerful needles of stone.

As the Museum marks this, the end of its twenty-second year, we thank you, our members and friends - the courageous pillars of our unlikely institution. With your enduring support, we wil, like Father Athanasius, continue our efforts to unearth hidden meanings, and like the ancient Egyptian needles, persist in our striving for the heavens.

The benefits of a Museum membership for all levels include:

* A Museum membership card
* An etched brass label membership pin.
* 10% discount at the Museum Bookstore
* Unlimited free admission to the Museum for yourself and a guest.
* Invitations to special events.
* Members at the supporting level and above will receive a special gift.