Where did the idea of the Salt Monument come from?
What is the purpose of the Salt Monument?
What is the Daily Observance?
Where is the Salt Monument?
What is the Sanctuary of Humanity?
When do you do the Daily Observance every day?
Can I visit? Can I bring a group?
How do you know how many people are born and die in the world each day?
What happens as the population increases?
Can the Salt Monument hold a grain of salt for everyone in the future?
How much does the Monument weigh?
What is the Salt Monument made of?
Who fabricated the Salt Monument?
Is the Salt Monument associated with any organization, religion, or belief?
Why was salt chosen to represent humanity?
Did someone count all those grains of salt?
Who conceived of the Salt Monument?
What is the "Guardian at The Salt Monument"?
How is the Salt Monument funded?
| Where did the idea of the Salt Monument come from? |  |
The idea was born quite simply from love for humanity and a quest to include every single person without exception. Initially conceived unmemorably sometime in the 1980s, there is no grand story of its conception. It was just an idea to represent each person as a single grain of salt and hold all that salt in a clear cube. Several years later, the first salt count was conducted in order to begin to estimate the total mass of salt. At that time, 2,700 grains of salt were painstakingly counted, resulting in the shocking revelation that it would take over 1,500 pounds of salt to represent humanity! The idea was further developed in the fiction book, Extinction, A Story of Our Future, by Margot Weiss, published in 1996. Thereafter the design and engineering of the actual Monument was begun.
| What is the purpose of the Salt Monument? | |
Ultimately the intent of the Salt Monument is to affect our world from the heart. It is an organic symbol of our global family for the purpose of inspiring wisdom and perspective on the great questions we face as one humanity. The Monument serves as a focal point of global awareness and foresight. It can be utilized in innumerable ways, including: general education about the human race, population, history, past/present/future world events; environmental, political, planetary perspectives; human rights; compassion; universal spirituality; personal celebration, grieving, dedication; perspectives on and transformation of personal self; microcosmic/macrocosmic perspective. (See Radical Compassion)
| What is the Daily Observance? | |
The Daily Observance at the Salt Monument is a contemplative session to bring focus to the actuality of all humankind. During about ninety minutes, a combination of narrative and music concentrate our attention to varying perspectives. These include: consideration of the present physical existence of seven billion individuals; the reality of our planet and all life: heartful awareness of those who are in circumstances of suffering; remembrance of those who have come and gone before us; and the underlying unity of all people. Also during the Observance every day, each person in the world who was born and who died that day is specifically honored and commemorated in an actual flow of grains of salt.
(See Daily Observance)
| Where is the Salt Monument? | |
The Monument is located in East Boulder, about 40 minutes from Denver, Colorado. It is currently housed in a private facility, which is open to the public by appointment. A permanent public sanctuary is in planning.
| What is the Sanctuary of Humanity? | |
The place where the Salt Monument is housed is referred to as the Sanctuary of Humanity. For a comprehensive presentation of the ideal Sanctuary (including photographs, architectural plans, computer-generated visualizations, and descriptive/contemplative narratives) see Sanctuary of Humanity.
| When do you do the Daily Observance every day? | |
There is no set time at which the Observance occurs each day; the time varies depending on visitors' schedules and seasonal considerations. An open house Observance occurs on Sunday afternoons.
| Can I visit? Can I bring a group? | |
You are welcome to visit the Salt Monument, whether to just experience it and explore the Salt Perspective exhibits or to attend the Daily Observance. Groups are also welcome. Just contact us via email or at P. O. Box 1542, Boulder, CO 80306 to arrange a date and time. (See Events and Publications)
| How do you know how many people are born and die in the world each day? | |
The figures are based on averages supplied by organizations focused on world population. Currently, it is estimated that approximately 369,755 people are born and 150,885 people die each day (June, 2008). The actual number of people each day varies, of course. Similarly, the precise number of grains of salt added and removed each day also varies. We utilize the most reliable sources of international population information, the International Programs Center and the United Nations Population Fund. See Technical Information for more details.
| What happens as the population increases? Can the Salt Monument hold a grain of salt for everyone in the future? | |
The Salt Monument could hold up to 14 billion grains of salt, far more than even the highest projection of the total population of humanity. The Salt Monument is designed to be maintained in perpetuity, throughout all generations of humankind from today and henceforth, however many of us may come and go.
| How much does the Monument weigh? What is it made of? Who made it? | |
Altogether including the salt, the cube, and the base the Monument currently weighs a total of about 2,500 pounds (1,134k). The cube is made of plexiglass and was fabricated by a plastics firm in Denver. These questions are answered in further detail in Technical Information.
| Is the Salt Monument associated with any organization, religion, or belief? | |
The Salt Monument has no affiliation whatsoever with any organization, religion, belief system, or group. It is dedicated to the inviolable right to existence of each and every human being. The Salt Monument is a non-profit organization, 501(c)(3), registered in the State of Colorado.
| Why was salt chosen to represent humanity? | |
For every reason, salt is remarkably suitable for a monument to humanity. This is explained in detail in Why Salt?
| Did someone count all those grains of salt? | |
No. If you could count five grains of salt every second (which would be impossibly fast), and did that every single second of every single day, it would take you 39 years to count a grain for every person alive today! Altogether about 16,000 grains of salt have been counted at various times and those counts were used for micro-analytic scale weigh-ins to arrive at average weight and volume measurements. See Technical Information for details.
| Who conceived of the Salt Monument? | |
The Salt Monument was conceived and designed by Margot Weiss, who also originated and developed the Daily Observance practice. As Guardian at the Monument, she has personally conducted the Observance every day since September 17, 1997. People refer to her as a philosopher, mystic, artist, and writer. She refers to herself as one grain of salt to another.
| What is the "Guardian at The Salt Monument"? | |
The Guardian at The Salt Monument is a person who has made a lifelong, irrevocable commitment to serve at the Monument as a daily, constant witness to the reality of the family of humanity. The Guardian conducts the Daily Observance of the world births and deaths every day, without exception, during their post as Guardian. The Guardian lives full time at the Monument to fulfill these responsibilities. The current Guardian at The Salt Monument is Margot Weiss. A successor, the next Guardian, is currently being sought.
| How is the Salt Monument funded? | |
The Salt Monument was founded as a Colorado non-profit corporation [501(c)(3)] in November, 1997. To date, it has been supported by donations of individuals; no other sources of funds have been utilized.
Please visit the Donations page to learn more about how you can make a tax deductible donation to the Salt Monument.
