PLATO'S CAVE

"PLATO'S CAVE" is an allegory for the spiritual darkness which imprisons most people .... who live in a cave and think that the shadows cast by a flickering flame on the wall are "reality" ... when in fact the shadows are made by tricksters. 

The cave people are bound by chains of their own making ... they could free themselves at any time ... yet they are afraid of sunlight because it hurts their eyes. 

But should we shun the light and stay in the cave with them? 

Antinous the Gay God says throw off your chains ... leave the cave ... open your spiritual eyes ... and become accustomed to the Light ....

THE BIRTH OF PLATO

SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON May 21st the Religion of Antinous honors Plato, Saint of Antinous, because May 21st is Plato's birthday, and no worshipper of Antinous could possibly forget HIS birthday.

The greatest of all western mystics and philosophers was born on this day in the year 427 BC. He was originally named Aristocles, but was called Plato by one of his teachers because of the breadth of his shoulders and of his speech, and we might also say because of the magnitude of his legacy of wisdom.

He was a follower of Socrates and the majority of his works are written as Dialogues of Socrates, wherein Plato elaborates his vision of the Universe, the inner workings of mankind, the complexities of human relationships, and the virtues of civilization.

All we know about Socrates is in reality only what Plato has told us of his teacher. Out of loyalty, Plato gave all personal credit to the wisdom of his divine teacher.

Plato founded the Academy in Athens that was dedicated to the love of wisdom and to the perfection of the minds and souls of young men. The image above is a mosaic from Pompeii showing Plato and his academy assembled under his famous olive tree.

Plato studied Pythagoreanism in Italy and made further speculation into the mathematical mysticism of the first philosopher thereby creating the model upon which western monotheism is based. The Platonic system was essentially a unification of the social inquiry of Socrates with the cosmic ramifications of the teachings of Pythagoras.

Here is how Flamen Antinoalis Antonyus Subia explain's the significance of Saint Plato:

"In the vision of Love that Plato expounded, Venus Urania, Celestial Love, is glorified as highest form of human affection, above the earthly requirements of procreation. The love between two men, what is innocently called Platonic Love, was considered by Plato to be the most divine form of relationship.

"Hadrian, in all ways the most Platonic of all Emperors, the veritable manifestation of the Philosopher King as glorified by Plato in The Republic, was demonstrating the meaning of Venus Urania, for all the world to see, in his passion for Antinous.

"For the beautiful light in which Plato illuminated the inner nature of homosexual love, he is venerated as a divine Saint of the Religion of Antinous."

CASTOR AND POLLUX

TWIN GODS OF HOMOSEXUALITY

TODAY the Sun enters the Sign of Gemini — the sign of the Twins Castor and Pollux, Gods of Homosexuality.  This is the zodiac sign which ushers in a special sacred time in the Religion of Antinous, for this is the time of year when the STAR OF ANTINOUS rises, after having been hidden below the horizon since the Death of Antinous at the end of October.

We honor the Dioscuri who were born as triplets with the beautiful Helen as their sister. The mother of the three was Leda who was seduced by Zeus who came to her in the form of a swan. Leda gave birth to an egg from which emerged Castor, Pollux and Helen. (Image by generous consent of ANDRÉ DURAND)

The identical brothers were inseparable, and had a deep affection for one another, for which reason they were often worshipped as gods of homosexuality. Helen was constantly being abducted and in need of rescue, which the brothers were usually successful in accomplishing, however, her beauty was eventually to lead to the Trojan War.

Castor was a skilled horseman, and Pollux was an unconquerable boxer. They took part in the voyage of the Argonauts, and with Orpheus they calmed a storm, for which reason they were worshipped as the protectors of sailors.

Later in the voyage, Castor was killed, and Pollux was so overwhelmed that he begged Zeus to accept his life in exchange for his brother's. 

Out of compassion, Zeus immortalized Castor and proclaimed that Pollux would spend half the year in the underworld and half the year in heaven with his brother. 

Together they were placed in the sky as the sign of Gemini.

The Divine Twins miraculously appeared in Rome to announce the victory of the Republic over the allies of the last king by watering their horses in the Fountain of Juturna in the Forum.

Flamen Antonyus has this further insight into Castor and Pollux:

"The sacredness of the Twin Gods, with their third twin sister Helen is found in Norse Mythology as the Alcis and as the twins Frey and Skirnir with their third twin sister Freya.

"The symbolism of brotherly love, and of sacrificing one's life for the immortality of a brother is at the heart of the Religion of Antinous, and is an example of the sacrifice that Antinous is said to have committed for the prolongation of the life of Hadrian. The Dioscuri are Antinous and his "rival" Aelius Caesar, and they are also seen in the two brothers of Hadrian's court, Macedo and Statianus Caesernius, who were servants, protectors, confidants, lovers, friends, witnesses and first priests of Antinous.

"The Sacred Star of Antinous rises during the sign of the brothers Castor and Pollux."

PETER WILDEBLOOD

SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON May 19th, the Religion of Antinous honors our Saint Peter Wildeblood, a British journalist, novelist, playwright and gay-rights campaigner, who was born on this day in 1923.

He became one of the first men in Britain to declare publicly that he was gay, when he was arrested and put on trial in a headline-making case in 1954. 

He was sent to prison on a conviction of "conspiring to incite acts of gross indecency and buggery." 

His case created such an uproar that it helped to lead to the 1960s reform of anti-gay laws in the UK.

In the uptight post-war years of the early '50s, Wildeblood had made something of a name for himself in the theatre and as a roving reporter for a major newspaper, London's Daily Mail, when he happened to meet a 23-year-old RAF corporal named Eddie McNally in Piccadilly Circus. 

Although Eddie McNally was not Peter Wildeblood's type, they developed a relationship over time. In the summer of 1952 they arranged to go on holiday together at Edward Montagu's beach hut on the English coast. John Reynolds, who was also an airman and a friend of Eddie McNally, also joined them.

About 18 months later, on Saturday, January 9, 1954, Peter Wildeblood was arrested at his home and his house was searched. He was charged with conspiring with Edward Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers to incite Eddie McNally and John Reynolds to commit indecent acts.

The police tipped off the press and the story was headlined in all the Sunday newspapers the next day. Eddie McNally and John Reynolds became witnesses for the prosecution.

The media went on a feeding frenzy and his picture was plastered all over the front pages for weeks. One paper retouched his photos to make it appear that he was wearing lipstick. He was vilified in public. He later described one incident when a woman recognized him being driven past in a vehicle.


"That night, a woman spat at me," Wildeblood wrote later. "She was a respectable looking, middle-aged, tweedy person wearing a sensible felt hat. She was standing on the pavement as the car went by. I saw her suck in her cheeks, and the next moment a big blob of spit was running down the windscreen.  

"This shocked me very much. The woman did not look eccentric or evil; in fact she looked very much like the country gentlewomen with whom my mother used to take coffee when she has finished her shopping on Saturday mornings. She looked thoroughly ordinary, to me. But what did I look like to her? Evidently, I was a monster."
 
What so troubled the decent people of the day was not that homosexual practices went on — everybody knew they always had and always would — but that anybody would openly declare himself to be "a homosexual." 

He was in the news constantly until his conviction and sentencing to 18 months in prison. Because he was (understandably) depressed, he was considered suicidal and was transferred to a dire hospital for the criminally insane where the squalid conditions affected not only his mental health but also his physical health.

He was released after 12 months and immediately launched a personal crusade to overturn anti-gay sex laws in Britain. He lobbied in Parliament and wrote articles and a book entitled Against the Law which outlined how gay people can be entrapped and harassed in their own homes for consensual activity among adults which does not affect anyone else.
 
His three main points were that homosexuality between consenting adults in private ought not to be against the law, that prison only encourages homosexuality, and that in the squalor of prison hospitals there was no attempt at rehabilitation. 

While writing this he bought a small drinking club in Soho which attracted a mixture of types on the fringes of society. This provided material for his fictional autobiography about the club, A Way Of Life.

It was a surprise success and encouraged him to write more novels and plays which were hits on stage in London's West End in the late 1950s. In the '60s he became a well-known TV scriptwriter and producer. In the '70s he was lured by Canadian television with a lucrative contract, and emigrated to Canada, where he adopted Canadian citizenship and was responsible for numerous hit productions over the next 16 years.

When he retired in the 1980s, he went to live in a wooden Edwardian cottage in Victoria on the western coast of Canada which had a stunning view over the Juan de Fuca Straits to the Olympic Mountains above Seattle. He suffered a series of debilitating strokes in the mid-'90s which left him speechless and quadriplegic. He learned to communicate via a computer using movements of his chin. He suffered a final stroke and died November 13, 1999, at the age of 76.

In saluting Saint Peter Wildeblood, the Religion of Antinous honors the beacon of courage and hope which he represented in an age of darkness and despair for gay men everywhere. Everyone advised him to remain quiet, and yet he chose to speak out. He did not choose to be exposed but, placed at the mercy of events, he chose to become their master.

His book was a courageous act of defiance against the kind of injustice which the straight world called justice. 

"Very faintly," he wrote, "as though at the end of a tunnel, I could see what I must do. I would make a statement ... I would simply tell the truth about myself ... I would be the first homosexual to tell what it felt like to be an exile in one's own country. I might destroy myself, but perhaps I could help others."

ANTINOUS THE MODERN ART ICON

ANTINOUS is the star of a new exhibition of modern art by JEFF KOONS at a major Chelsea art gallery in New York City.

A five-foot-tall plaster replica of the head of the Vatican Museum's Braschi Antinous statue looks demurely aside as a bright blue gazing ball rests atop its Dionysiac crown.

It is a highlight of the "Jeff Koons: Gazing Ball" exhibit at the David Zwirner gallery on West 19th Street in Chelsea.

With the “Gazing Ball” series at Zwirner, Mr. Koons returns to the human figure for the first time since the works that featured him and Cicciolina, who was then his wife, in flagrante delecto. But it is idealized. Each sculpture is a blazing white plaster cast — very pure — of a Greco-Roman sculpture.

The show resembles the plaster-cast collections that were once de rigueur at museums. Besides the Braschi Antinous, it includes the Farnese Hercules, which is eight and a half feet tall and an inflatable snowman that is nearly eight feet tall.

The New York Times critic wrote: "That each has affixed to it a mirrored blue ball that you might find in a suburban birdbath almost reduces the sculptures to yard ornaments, but it also gives them a visual, contemporary spark — the reflective blue is a perfect foil for the absorbent white."

A gazing ball is a mirrored sphere typically displayed atop a conical ceramic or wrought iron stand as a lawn ornament. Its size ranges from 2 to 22 inches in diameter, with the most popular gazing ball being about 12 inches (33 cm). Gazing balls were glass but can now be stainless steel, ceramic, or stained glass.

Unlike hanging friendship balls or witch balls that have a loop, gazing balls have a stem so they can securely sit in a stand. Larger sizes are difficult due to the glass weight.

Gazing balls originated in 13th century Venice where they were hand-blown by skilled Italian craftsmen.

Bavaria's King Ludwig II, who is a Saint of Antinous, adorned his Herrenchiemsee palace with lawn balls. Thereafter, they became a fixture of European gardens and are associated with Victorian era English gardens in particular.

"Jeff Koons: Gazing Ball" runs through June 29 at David Zwirner, 525 West 19th Street, Chelsea; (212) 727-2070, davidzwirner.com. 

NOT ANTINOUS THE GOD

BUT ANTINOUS THE SATURN MOON CRATER

THE STAR OF ANTINOUS is well known. And many people are aware that there is also an ANTINOUS ASTEROID ... but few people have heard of the ANTINOUS CRATER.

It is located on one of the moons of Saturn, the moon named for the Titan sea goddess Tethys, daughter of Uranus and Tellus/Gaea. The Antinous Crater is located at the bottom of this photo taken by the Cassini probe in a flyby. The bigger crater is Penelope.

This crater was named in 1982 after the "OTHER" Antinous — the infamous Antinous of Homer's Odyssey and the Iliad. That is obvious from the association with Penelope. It is highly possible that our God Antinous was in fact named for Homer's Antinous.

For the Ancients, names were not a matter of coincidence. A person's name MEANT something. Nomen est omen — a name is a sign. So why was Antinous given the name of someone who is generally considered to be a scoundrel?

Homer's Antinous was one of the "Suitors of Penelope," the group of moochers who showed up at her doorstep while her husband Odysseus was off fighting the Trojan wars and attempted to woo her and abscond with as much of Odysseus's fortune as they could before he returned — if he EVER returned. 

After all, he had been gone for years. Their argument was that he was a "dead beat" spouse and that he had abandoned Penelope and, at any rate, was most probably dead.

 Antinous was the craftiest of the suitors and plied Penelope with costly gifts. 

Then at last — at long last — Odysseus returned in the disguise of a beggar. 

Only his faithful dog recognized him. Penelope did not! 

Antinous did not recognize him either and, thinking he was just a homeless street schizo, attacked him with a chair to drive him off.

Later on, during an archery tournament, Odysseus "accidentally" shot Antinous and killed him.

As with much of the Odyssey and the Iliad, it is hard to tell who the "good guys" are and who the "bad guys" are. Homer's Antinous is not exactly a saint, but he in't really guilty of any crime either.

Penelope is the guilty one. As so often in Greek mythology, the women are treacherous and untrustworthy (just think of Pandora). One small detail which you probably did not learn in school was that Penelope had sex with Homer's Antinous and with ALL the other suitors. 

FLAMEN ANTINOALIS ANTONYUS SUBIA explains:

"And the resulting child from that pan-sexual tryst was born a little monstar with horns and hooves. He was called Pan because he was the son of Antinous and ALL the suitors. Penelope couldn't look at him, so she abandoned him, and he was taken in by Mercury, who absolutely adored the little monster.

"Ah yes, Penelope gave birth to Pan in Mantinea!"

Mantinea/Bithynia is the ancestral homeland of our own Antinous. So the name was of regional origin.

But that is not all because, in actual fact, Homer's Antinous was associated with magic. He was something of a wizard. 

According to legend, Homer's Antinous possessed the fabled Mirror of Vulcan/Hephaestus, which enabled him to peer into the past and the future.

So the name Antinous was always associated with myth and magic, even in ancient times. Hadrian, who was fascinated with all things Greek, would have recognized the association between young Antinous and the ancient Greek myth and magic.

As for the fabled Mirror of Vulcan/Hephaestus — that is the stuff of Antinoian myth and magic for a future blog entry ....

ANTINOUS HELPS YOU HONOR

THE SPIRIT OF YOUR HOME

 

EVERY home in Ancient Rome had a special niche or devotional area known as a "lararium" for honoring the spirit of the household.

Today we tend to move from one house or apartment to another with little or no thought to the spiritual element of the structures we inhabit. We are spiritually poorer for that.

The Romans knew that each structure built by the hand of mankind is imbued with a spirit.

And they knew that this spirit grows and prospers ... as the people who reside there grow and prosper ... the spirit is a spiritual reflection of the people who live there ... and it assists and nurtures "its" residents just as they assist and nurture it.

This is the Spirit which loves to build a comfy nest, a place to call one's own. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home for this Spirit. It is the Spirit of the special place which is your home, whether it be a rented room or a sprawling mansion. This Spirit invites you to step inside, close the door behind you, kick off your shoes and revel in being Home.

The lararium in every Roman home was a niche in a part of the house where people would congregate ... it was a place for prayers and offerings to the spirits not only of the house itself but of all those who had ever lived there.

This image above shows the Roman fresco from the lararium of the house of Iulius Polybius in Pompeii. We love the fact that this fresco is located on a wall adjacent to the kitchen of the house ... the one room which is vital to everyone in the house ... the room from which food and sustenance issues forth.

The fresco shows an enormous serpent coiling forth from the earth to entwine itself around a sacred altar. To our eyes this alarming image seems hardly the thing you would want to see at the door to your kitchen.

But the Romans recognized that this serpent is the Agatho-Daimon (Blessed Spirit) " In Greek, "daimon" means "spirit-being" regardless whether that being is beneficial or detrimental to humans. It was only later that the Christians literally "demonized" the word daimon, so that the modern word "demon" only ever refers to an evil spirit.

Agatho Daimon is a decidedly beneficent spirit, rendered often as a serpent. And in this fresco this beneficent spirit is blessing the altar ... and the feminine being in red wrap is the "genius" or spirit of the household itself. 

Behind her stands a male spirit holding a cornucopia of plenty.

On either side are large figures (perhaps ancestors) pouring libations of wine or holy oil. The smaller figures (child-like household spirits) are making music and serving food ... creating an atmosphere of hospitality.

Antinous was often compared to Agatho Daimon, and is often portrayed with the Serpent in his hand, as in the famous Berlin Antinous-Agathodaimon statue pictured here.

Perhaps you live in a small rented room. Perhaps you live in a grand house. No matter! Honoring the spirit of your home helps to center you and give you a firm home base. By nurturing the spirit of your home, you nurture your own inner spiritual home.

May Antinous Agatho-Daimon ... Antinous the Blessed Spirit ... bless your home ... and you!