HOW A PLASTER HEAD OF ANTINOUS IS MADE

HERE are some stunning photos of how a plaster head of Antinous is made, using a silicone form and water and plaster ... and craftsmanship. CLICK HERE for the artisan's explanation.

THIS LIFE-SIZE MARBLE HEAD PROVES ANTINOUS SHARED A TEMPLE WITH THE GODDESS DIANA

Archaeologists discovered this rare, high-quality marble portrait head of Antinous during excavations at the ancient city of Teos, located in modern-day Seferihisar, Izmir, Türkiye not far from the site of ancient Smyrna, a city which Hadrian and Antinous visited in 129 AD.

The portrait head fragment was unearthed in the southeast corner of the temple within the city's agora (market square). The temple itself was originally dedicated to the goddess Diana along with the goddess Roma and Emperor Augustus. 

This artifact is one of the few marble portraits of Antinous of this size found in Anatolia. Its specific placement within an existing imperial sanctuary indicates that the citizens of Teos actively integrated Antinous into their civic imperial worship. 

The ongoing excavations ... spearheaded by Ankara University and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ... have continually yielded immense historical data from the site.

Alongside the Antinous portrait, teams have uncovered 13 distinct inscriptions and new statue bases, expanding modern understanding of Teos's political and religious landscape during the Roman period.

Teos is known for hosting the Guild of Dionysian Artists, an association of poets, actors and musicians, in the third century B.C. The city's strong artistic tradition earned it a reputation as a center for the arts in antiquity.

ANTINOUS IN HIERAPOLIS CITY OF SACRED PROSTITUTES

IT in November of the year 129 AD that the Imperial entourage of Hadrian and Antinous arrived in the sacred city of Hierapolis in Asia Minor (Turkey) on what would be one of the last festively upbeat stops on the emperor's fateful final tour of his sprawling empire.

Hieropolis was the City of the Sacred Prostitutes, including gay prostitutes.

Today only scattered ruins remain, including those of the amphitheatre which was built in honor of the Divine Hadrian's visit in late 129 and early 130. 

But in its heyday, Hierapolis was a city of 100,000 inhabitants and was noted for its fine temples and, above all, for its healing thermal springs ... hot springs which to this day continue to draw people seeking healing relief.

Apollo was the chief god of Hierapolis, along with Pluto, whose healing energies fed the miraculous thermal springs which were famed throughout the Roman Empire.

But the most extraordinary temple in this Sacred City of Temples was indeed the Temple of Astargis, a Hellenized form of Astarte-Venus.

The Temple was famous (or "infamous" in the view of early Christians) for its sacred prostitutes, the "hierodules", who were priestesses of the love goddess.

The Bible mentions Hieropolis briefly as an iniquitous site of whoredom and wickedness, an obvious reference to this Temple. The Christians did their worst to convert the city. Paul came here. 

And the Apostle Philip proselytized in this city for three years before finally being stoned to death. He was buried in Hieropolis.

Recently, archaeologists identified the Plutonium (Pluto's Sacred Cave) as the legendary  GATEWAY TO HADES of ancient mythology.

Like the thermal waters seething in the Plutonium, Hieropolis was a seething hotbed of religious turmoil.

Hadrian and Antinous arrived in Hierapolis to a joyous welcome.

Because of his devotion to the Goddess Venus, Hadrian most certainly would have visited the Temple that was the center of a large, wide-spread cult ... the Temple of Astargis, a Hellenized form of Astarte-Venus ... the temple of the sacred gay prostitutes known as "hierodules."

The temple was an imposing edifice whose portals were flanked by towering phallic sculptures. Inside, the temple catered to every sexual persuasion.

Yes, there were also homosexual sacred prostitutes, who likewise served the goddess to the best of their ability.

Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA believes the connection between their office and the function of Antinous as the lover of Hadrian may have facilitated his initiation into their cult. Thus, Antinous may have been an Honorary Sacred Prostitute.

In the words of Antonius: 

"Hadrian and Antinous paid homage at the Temple of Atargatis, a Hellenized form of Astarte-Venus, known to the Romans as Dea Syria, in the city called Hieropolis, or the Holy City. The ancient temple of Atargatis was famous for its sacred prostitutes, the hierodules, who were priestesses of the love goddess that served as sexual vessels for the adoration of the men. 

"There were two giant phallus statues in front of the temple like obelisks, which bore an inscription saying that they had been erected by Dionysus on his way to Ethiopia.

"Once a year two devotees would climb to the top of the phalluses and remain there without sleep for seven days in the same way that Simeom Stylites climbed his column to be closer to the gods. 

"Hadrian would have visited the Temple because of his devotion to Venus and because the temple was the center of a vast cult of the goddess Dea Syria that had spread all throughout the world reaching Rome and North Africa, and Gaul. 

"There were homosexual sacred-prostitutes, who served the goddess, and the priests of the temple were transgender eunuchs like the Galli of the Great Mother Cybele with whom they had much in common and may even have been a denomination. 

"Apollodorus of Rhodes writes of them as mendicants who traveled together as beggars and they were seen by Augustine of Hippo in North Africa doing their ecstatic dances playing drums and cymbals.

"Though it is clear from his heroic proclamation at Heliopolis that Antinous was a willing lover of Hadrian, he was accused of being Hadrian's sex slave by the early Christians, and so Antinous has been connected to prostitution from the very beginning.

"We recognize and praise the connection between Antinous and the sacred prostitutes of Atargatis, and by extension the sacredness of all sex-workers today who serve a sacred function.  Throughout history, LGBT youth have turned to prostitution, porn, and online sex-work as a means of survival, once they were victimized by the law and outcast by society. But now, through the internet, it has become acceptable and to Religio Antinoi a sacred act.

"We honor the ancient cult of Atargatis of Hieropolis out of love for the sacred female and male hierodules and for the transgender mendicant priestesses who spread the cult of the goddess to the world.  May Antinous the god of prostitutes bless and watch over his people."

MEXICO'S FIRST SAINT OF ANTINOUS IS VICTIM OF HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE

ON November 2nd, Día de los Muertos (All Souls Day), worshippers of Antinous in Mexico City solemnly honour the first martyr saint of Antinous in Mexico: Jorge Fernandez Martínez, a victim of homophobic violence.

Our sister group Epithimia Antinous at the TEMPLO DE ANTÍNOO MÉXÍCO hold a Día de lost Muertos vigil for him during ceremonies at the sanctuary of Santa Muerte in Tultitlán near Mexico City.

This tradition began in 2016 with the first funeral ceremony in the name of Antinous to be held since ancient times.

Jorge Fernandez Martinez was brutally murdered by unknown assailants near his home in the Mexico City suburb of Tultitlán.

Forensic tests showed he had been tortured, raped and asphyxiated. His broken body lay undiscovered for days.

Grieving neighbors who had known and loved him for nearly 20 years held a wake and asked for dignified funeral services conducted under the auspices of Epithimia Antinous with Pride Tultitlán Committee and Estamos Contigo.

The rites were held at the famous Shrine of Santa Muerte (Our Lady of Sacred Death) in Tultítlan led by Enriqueta Vargas.

Our brothers and sisters at Foundation Epithimia of Antinous Mexico says: 

"We were honored to officiate in the funeral ceremony for the repose of the soul of this beloved person in our community, Señor Jorge Fernandez Martinez, an active member member of our because Antinous abhors hate crimes.

"We share these images of the temple, the funeral and texts shared by Adolfo Voorduin Frappe and White White Fernandez , whom graciously thank for attending the rites. We thank Santa Muerte International and the godmother Enriqueta Vargas, for their loving support," the statement says.

In Hollywood California FLAMEN ANTONIUS SUBIA announced that Jorge Fernandez Martinez became a Martyr Saint of Antinous during ceremonies on Foundation Day in October 2016.

'ANTINOUS PANTHEON' IS ANTINOUS IN THE GUISE OF MANY GODS

WHEN Hadrian fell in love with our god, he brought Antinous to Rome and cultivated the beautiful youth into the flower of perfect manhood. 

It was during this time that the greatest building of Hadrian's reign was completed, the Pantheon, the magnificent domed Temple of All Gods. 

It was completed and consecrated in 126 AD, and Antinous was certainly present for the ceremony.

After all, he was the chosen favorite of Hadrian and attended Our Pontifex Maximus at the high altar of the only Roman Temple that has remained intact. 

At the start of our Liturgical Calendar's New Year in November we celebrate the glory of the Pantheon, and its builder, and know in our hearts that the divine spirit of Antinous fills the great sacred space beneath the dome.

When Hadrian commissioned the proliferation of images, he portrayed Antinous in the guise of many gods, all of them beautiful boys who died savage deaths for the benefit of mankind.

In these boys we see the mystery of Homo Deus, the gay god, the beautiful one who is sacrificed because his seed does not fall within that chamber from which life comes.

All these dying-boy-gods are Our God who we celebrate as Antinous Pantheon, the many-splendored god of beauty, Antinous who is All Gods, Antinous Uranus.

We offer our reverence to the full pantheon of the gods, and to the Cosmos Our Mother, through Antinous Our Love and Our Lord.

TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERATOR

ANTINOUS the mortal is dead. Antinous the God is born! 

On this day, October 31st, we surrender ourselves, body and soul, to the joy of Lord Liber, and join in the festival of Halloween, spreading the Love and Liberation of Antinous to the world of the living and the dead. This is the second day of the Ecclesiastic Year.

The festival of Antinous Liberator, the New Dionysus, is the place from which life comes and all love-joy with the ever-present specter of Our Lady death by its side.

The New God Antinous Liberator, sets us free with a wave of his hand. 
He destroys the bondage that holds our immortal spirit prisoner to the cycles of life and death, as the chains of time and matter fall of their own accord.

In benediction, Antinous Liberator confers the flame of Homotheosis upon the hearts of his chosen lovers so that we may indulge and burn in the ecstasy of being One with HIM.

We are free from the masquerade of the spirit in this world of illusion, we are unclothed before him. 

From his lips we drink the winged intoxication of the flesh and abandoned all reason and logic at his feet.

Antinous stands upon the crescent of the Moon. He passes through the Arches of the spheres, the 7 Archons bow down before HIM.

The god-power of Antinous shines over the face of darkness. The Spirits of the Dead awaken to dance as the wine of freedom flows down into the spider-heart of Tartarus.

As Dark as events in the world may become ... a powerful light is shining stronger for Gay, Bi, Lesbian and Transgender people everywhere in the world!

Every day, more and more of us come together,

Every day, the fire of Antinous spreads

His name becomes less a strange, unheard of and difficult to pronounce name from Ancient times ... and more a realization that once there was a time when being gay was a sacred state of being, and that there was a god who represented us, and spoke on our behalf to the immortal powers.

Antinous is with us again ... his power is growing stronger in our hearts.

Antinous is within all of US!

The Blessing of Antinous is with us all!

The Arisen Antinous has Come Again! 

Ave Antinous!

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

NEW SAINTS OF ANTINOUS FOR 2026

NEW saints of Antinous were announced by the Hollywood Temple of Antinous tonight during Foundation Day ceremonies shared globally with worshipers from around the world via Zoom.

Foundation Day commemorates the founding of the city of Antinoopolis by Emperor Hadrian on 30 October 130 AD on the shores of the Nile where Antinous had died a few days earlier.

That was 1,896 years ago, and Foundation Day marks the beginning of our liturgical calendar ... Happy New Year 1896!

After weeks of deliberations, FLAMEN ANTONIUS SUBIA announced the following New Year's List of SAINTS OF ANTINOUS for the new liturgical year.

SAINTS OF ANTINOUS

LESLIE FEINBERG was an American butch lesbian, LGBTQ+ rights activist, and the author of Stone Butch Blues, frequently considered an essential work for the LGBTQ+ community and labor organizers. She died on November 15, 2014.

GUY HOCQUENGHEM was a French writer, philosopher, and gay liberation theorist. Hocquenghem's 1972 book "Homosexual Desire" is today considered the founding text of queer theory. Hocquenghem also wrote works including "The Wrath of the Lamb," an experiment in millenarian and apocalyptic narrative; "The Atomic Heart," written in response to his deteriorating health and espousing a philosophy of dandyism, gnosticism, and Epicureanism; and Eve, a narrative combining the story of Genesis with a description of changes to his body from AIDS-related symptoms. He died from AIDS-related complications on August 28, 1988.

DAAYIEE ABDULLAH was an American Imam, scholar, and activist. Daayiee Abdullah was, after the murder of Saint Muhsin Hendricks and until his own death on August 3, 2025, one of only five openly gay Imams in the world and the first openly gay Imam in America. In 1979, he was a coordinator for the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. In 2011, Abdullah created an LGBTQ-friendly mosque in Washington D.C, called Masjid Nur Al-Isslaah ("Mosque for Enlightenment and Reformation"), and, in 2015, he founded the Mecca Institute, a self-described "inclusive and progressive" Islamic seminary.

ABU NUWAS was a gay classical Arabic poet, a Muslim mystic, and the foremost representative of the muhdath poetry that developed during the Abbasid Caliphate. His lyric poetry, which is mostly homoerotic, ridiculed heterosexual propriety and the condemnation of homosexuality. He earned the favour of the Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid, who allegedly had a homosexual relationship with Jaʿfar the Barmakid, and his successor, Al-Amin, who fell madly in love with a male slave named Kauthar. Abu Nuwas died in 814 in Baghdad. He (like Harun) also features as a character in a number of stories in One Thousand and One Nights. In 2007, the Abu Nawas Association, which aims to decriminalise homosexuality in Algeria, was founded.

DAVID McREYNOLDS was a prominent American peace activist. Called a hero of the anti-war movement, David McReynolds was a staff member with the War Resisters League for 40 years and was twice a candidate for President of the United States, running on the Socialist Party USA ticket in 1980 and 2000. He was America's first openly gay presidential candidate and, in 1958, one of the first gay candidates to run for Congress. McReynolds died on August 17, 2018.

JOSÉ PÉREZ OCAÑA was a Spanish gay performing artist, painter, and LGBTQ+ rights activist. A central figure in Barcelona's counterculture during the Spanish transition to democracy and standing out as an icon of opposition to Francoism and its social conventions, his artistic endeavors are considered pioneering sexual and gender disobedience practices. He died on September 18, 1983.

AMELIO ROBLES ÁVILA was colonel during the Mexican Revolution who lived openly as queer and a transgender man from the age of 24 until his death at age 95 on December 9, 1984. He insisted on being treated as a man, sticking his gun in the face of individuals who misgendered him until they acknowledged him as such. In 1970, he became the first person assigned female at birth to be recognized as a male veteran by the Mexican government.

MARIE EQUI was an American lesbian, anti-war activist, and medical doctor who devoted herself to treating working-class and poor patients and regularly provided birth control and abortions at a time when both were illegal. She became a political activist and advocated for women's suffrage, an eight-hour workday, and the right to free speech. She died on July 13, 1952. In August 2019, Equi was inducted into the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood which notes LGBTQ+ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields."

JUNIPER BLESSING (September 22, 2006 - May 10th, 2026) was a talented 19-year-old transgender woman, artist, and atmospheric science student whose life was cut tragically short. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she graduated from the New Mexico School for the Arts as a gifted vocalist with a magnificent five-octave range before attending the University of Washington in Seattle. Remembered by her loved ones as a uniquely compassionate, brilliant, and fiercely loyal individual who was "pure love." On the evening of May 10th 2026 she was stabbed to death more than 40 times in the basement laundry room of her student housing building. While police determined there was no evidence of a hate crime, and believe the murderer, who turned himself in three days later, to have schizophrenia and mental psychosis, the extreme violence of her death suggests that hatred was involved. Her sudden and violent death sparked profound grief and community memorials across the country.

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT (14 September 1769 - 6 May 1859 ) was a visionary Prussian polymath, naturalist, and explorer whose monumental work laid the foundations for modern geography, ecology, and meteorology. Traveling extensively through the Americas and Central Asia, he pioneered a holistic view of nature as a single, interconnected global force ... an insight that profoundly shaped the development of environmental science. Humboldt was also a deeply empathetic humanitarian who fiercely condemned colonialism and slavery wherever he traveled. While his public life was defined by scientific triumph, his private letters and lifelong, deeply affectionate partnerships with men, including the soldier Reinhard von Haeften, reveal that he was gay, living out his intense emotional and romantic attachments entirely within a close-knit circle of male companions.

PETER GEORGE DOYLE (June 3, 1843 - April 19, 1907 ) was an Irish-born American transit worker best remembered as the longtime romantic companion, muse, and lover of poet Walt Whitman. Born in Limerick, Ireland, Doyle emigrated to the United States as a child and later served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, during which he was wounded at Antietam and briefly imprisoned. In 1865, while working as a 21-year-old streetcar conductor in Washington, D.C., he met the 45-year-old Whitman on a stormy winter night, sparking an immediate, profound intimacy that spanned nearly thirty years. Doyle’s working-class background and youthful energy deeply inspired Whitman’s poetry, positioning him as the primary muse for the homoerotic "Calamus" poems in Leaves of Grass. He faithfully nursed Whitman after the poet suffered a debilitating stroke in 1873, and though Whitman's subsequent relocation to New Jersey restricted their daily contact, the two maintained an impassioned correspondence until Whitman's death in 1892. Doyle spent his later years working for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and his preservation of Whitman's affection-filled letters ... later published as Calamus in 1897 ... provided invaluable, historic insight into the true emotional and sexual nature of America's foundational poet.

ERISHKEGAL GIANNA (GIA) BATHORY-VON ECSED (Born: December 30, 1980 - Died: December 22, 2023) was a civil rights, LGBTQ rights and Pagan rights activist who championed Gay, lesbian and trans rights for 30+ years and was one of the founding forces behind the Human Rights Campaign, the Kentucky Fairness Alliance and who spent her life supporting local LGBTQ communities until her death in 2023. She was the founder and Archpriestess of the Temple of Great Mother, America's first and only traditional pagan Temple. Trained in the Pythian Oracular tradition, as well as various forms of occult practices, she moved through the circles of the Ordo Templi Orientis, the Ordo Hermetica and was a devoted Maenad of Dionysus who reinstated the seasonal Bacchanalias, staged the Wild Hunts and Dionesuke celebrations in America, through her tireless campaigning to undo hundreds of years of misinformation and propaganda around the worship of Dionysus. She was a fierce defender of the Dionysian path, dedicating her life to the study, practice and worship of the God of transformation, liberation and ecstasy. She engaged in the walk of Elusis, entered the Mysteries of both Demeter and Persephone, as well as spending her life in the Mysteries of Dionysus. Her legacy is carried on by her Sister Christine and her Brother Cesare. She was much loved and adored by those closest to her. Her spirit now rests in the lap of the God she so beloved in life. We hope in her death she will receive the peace, love and comfort she was so often not afforded in life. Thank you for your consideration in placing her among those who devoted their lives to Antinuous-Dionysus-Bacchus. We truly feel this is a fitting final role for her.

T.E. LAWRENCE (August 16, 1888 - May 19, 1935), widely known as Lawrence of Arabia, was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat, and writer. During his pre-WWI archaeological work in Carchemish, Lawrence formed an intense, close bond with an adolescent Arab water boy named Dahoum, to whom he dedicated his autobiographical book "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," which includes vivid, emotionally charged, and homoerotic passages about male bonding in the desert, contributing to long-standing speculation about his inner life.

DOLLY PARTON (January 19, 1946 - August 25, 2026) was an iconic American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman known as the "Queen of Country."  was a longtime, vocal ally and icon for the LGBTQ+ community, consistently championing acceptance, kindness, and equal rights throughout her career.

WILLEM ARONDEUS (22 August 1894 – 1 July 1943) a Dutch gay non-Jewish artist and writer who led a group in bombing the Amsterdam Public Records Office in order to hinder the Nazi round-up of Jews, was executed with 12 others by firing squad. "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards," were his final words. 

FRIEDRICH ALFRED KRUPP  (July 17, 1787 - October 8, 1826) was the wealthiest industrialist in Germany. He died at his castle outside Essen. The official cause was a cerebral hemorrhage. The cause everyone in Berlin understood was something else.  For four years, Krupp had spent his winters at the Hotel Quisisana on the Italian island of Capri, where he hosted long elaborate parties for local Italian fishermen and boys at a private grotto on the cliff below the hotel. Italian socialist newspapers had begun naming him that fall.  His wife Margarethe had already gone to the Kaiser in October, asking him to intervene. The Kaiser had her committed to an asylum instead. Then on November 15, the German Social Democratic paper Vorwärts ran the full story. Krupp was the sole heir to the largest armaments fortune in Europe. He was dead within a week. Rumors began immediately and have never gone away.  Kaiser Wilhelm II attended the funeral personally and denounced "the lying press."

AGENOR DE MIRANDA ARAÚJO NETO, known as Cazuza (April 4, 1958 - July 7, 1990) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, and poet whose rebellious spirit and emotional honesty made him one of the defining voices of Brazilian rock. Through songs such as Exagerado and O Tempo Não Para, he challenged social conventions and expressed a fierce commitment to personal freedom. His openness about his sexuality and his decision to speak publicly as a major celebrity living with HIV helped confront prejudice during the AIDS crisis. He died at 32, leaving a lasting legacy of artistic freedom and LGBTQIA+ visibility. 

RENATO MANFREDINI JÚNIOR, known as Renato Russo (March 27, 1960 - October 11, 1996) was lead singer and principal songwriter of Legião Urbana, one of Brazil’s most influential rock bands. An openly gay artist, he gave voice to love, loneliness, identity, and social alienation, reaching millions of listeners across generations. Songs such as Meninos e Meninas offered an important point of recognition for young LGBTQIA+ people growing up in a society where homosexuality remained heavily stigmatized. He died at 36, leaving a musical legacy that continues to affirm the dignity of those who live and love outside conventional expectations.

CÁSSIA REJANE ELLER, known as Cássia Eller (December 10, 1962 - December 29, 2001) was a celebrated Brazilian singer whose powerful voice and unconventional stage presence made her one of the country’s most distinctive musical artists. She lived openly with her female partner, Maria Eugênia Vieira Martins, and their family became a landmark in public discussions about same-sex parenting and legal recognition of LGBTQIA+ families. After Cássia’s death, Maria Eugênia’s fight to retain custody of Cássia’s son brought national attention to the rights of same-sex partners and families. Cássia remains an enduring symbol of authenticity, lesbian visibility, and the right to love and build a family openly.