ANTINOUS PRIESTS CONVENE WORLDWIDE TO CELEBRATE THE LUPERCALIA

ANTINOUS worshipers on both sides of the Atlantic tonight celebrated the Lupercalia.

Taking part via Zoom were priests and worshippers from North America, South America, Europe and Africa. They watched and participated as Flamen Antonius Subia officiated at ceremonies held in the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

Hadrian and Antinous would not have known the precise origins of the Lupercalia  ... the ancient rite of spring when young nobles stripped off naked except for fur pelts and ran around the Palatine Hill flinging rawhide strips at females.

But Antinous might well have visited the cave-like grotto ... the Lupercale ... at the foot of the Palatine Hill. 

The cave-like structure was found a few years ago and experts are carrying out an extensive archaeological dig at a site which they believe is the ceremonial site of the Lupercale grotto where the caesars honored Romulus and Remus.

It is intriguing to think that Hadrian and Antinous took part in the rites in this subterranean chamber.

For centuries, the cave-like grotto was revered as the sacred site where the "She-Wolf" suckled the orphans Romulus and Remus. Young nobles called Luperci, taking their name from the place of the wolf (lupa), ran naked from the Lupercale grotto around the bounds of the Palatine, and used strips of hide to slap the hands or buttocks of girls and women lining the route ... reenacting a prank attributed to Romulus and Remus as randy teenagers.

Here is how Flamen Antonius Subia explains its significance for the Religion of Antinous:

"The Lupercalia is the festival of the wolf mother of Rome, and sacred festival of Antinous Master of Hounds.

"The Lupercalia remembers the she-wolf who raised Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Venus and Mars, who later founded the city of Rome.

"The wolf-like nature of the twins and of the Roman character was imparted through the milk of the wolf-mother.

"The spirit transferred through the loving milk of the ferocious mother is celebrated on this day, and is integral to the concept of Antinous the Hunter.

"Antinous took his place at Hadrian's feet, and accompanied him bravely and loyally through the forests and lived by the Emperor's side for seven years, which is equivalent to the life of a strong hunting dog."

In conclusion, Antonius says:

"The Canine nature of Antinous is celebrated on this day and is seen as an allegory for the Priesthood of the Religion of Antinous.

"This is a time of renewal and restoration, a time to set new forces loose in our lives, and let go of old faded energies. 
May Antinous flood our hearts with his power and presence and may the gods be with us!

Ave Antinous et Roma"

ANTINOUS RUNS IN THE LUPERCALIA IN MARTIN CAMPBELL'S BRILLIANT NOVEL

THE brilliant novel about the life of Antinous "The Love God" by Martin Campbell describes how Antinous joined Roman Patrician youths in running the Lupercalia on 15 February 127 AD as "luperci" runners. 

As part of the ancient ritual, a priest sacrificed a dog and a goat and  then smeared their blood on each boy's forehead. Here is the passage from the book (edited for space):

"Hadrian wiped each boy's forehead with wool saturated in milk, stating, 'Romulus and Remus were saved by Lupa who howled her joy at receiving a fresh kill from the Gods. In return Romulus and Remus laughed for joy at receiving fresh milk from the teats of Lupa'."

(Then the priests wrapped the goat's skin around each boy's waist as a loin cloth.)

"This was perhaps the worst part for Antinous. He felt pretty sick as the warm, still bloody skin was tied around his precious nether regions.

"The boys now had to run around the edge of the inner city walls using the strips of goat skin to fake flog as many people as they saw. Each person flogged would receive luck and fertility for the coming year.

"Antinous found no shortage of willing subjects. There was much hilarity. Some offered hands, others offered naked behinds … some attractive, some distinctly not. The latter got the biggest laughs … particularly if they were older men or plump ladies.

"It took Antinous two hours to 'run' a very short distance. Everyone wanted to be flogged by him specifically.

"It was clear that although this was, in theory, a fun event, to be whipped ritually by Antinous was taking on a more serious meaning.

"Women in particular seemed to be calling out to him with some desperation as if calling out to a God...."

Martin Campbell's book "The Love God" is available in paperback or Kindle: CLICK HERE.

ANTINOUS AND THE LUPERCALIA

EVEN Hadrian and Antinous would not have known the precise origins of the Lupercalia  ... the ancient rite of spring when young nobles stripped off naked except for fur pelts and ran around the Palatine Hill flinging rawhide strips at females.

But Antinous might well have visited the cave-like grotto ... the Lupercale ... at the foot of the Palatine Hill. 

The cave-like structure was found a few years ago and experts are carrying out an extensive archaeological dig at a site which they believe is the ceremonial site of the Lupercale grotto where the caesars honored Romulus and Remus.

It is intriguing to think that Hadrian and Antinous took part in the rites in this subterranean chamber.

For centuries, the cave-like grotto was revered as the sacred site where the "She-Wolf" suckled the orphans Romulus and Remus. Young nobles called Luperci, taking their name from the place of the wolf (lupa), ran naked from the Lupercale grotto around the bounds of the Palatine, and used strips of hide to slap the hands or buttocks of girls and women lining the route ... reenacting a prank attributed to Romulus and Remus as randy teenagers.

Here is how Flamen Antonius Subia explains its significance for the Religion of Antinous:

"The Lupercalia is the festival of the wolf mother of Rome, and sacred festival of Antinous Master of Hounds. 

"The Lupercalia remembers the she-wolf who raised Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Venus and Mars, who later founded the city of Rome. 

"The wolf-like nature of the twins and of the Roman character was imparted through the milk of the wolf-mother. 

"The spirit transferred through the loving milk of the ferocious mother is celebrated on this day, and is integral to the concept of Antinous the Hunter. 

"Antinous took his place at Hadrian's feet, and accompanied him bravely and loyally through the forests and lived by the Emperor's side for seven years, which is equivalent to the life of a strong hunting dog. 

"The Canine nature of Antinous is celebrated on this day and is seen as an allegory for the Priesthood of the Religion of Antinous."

Antonius goes on to explain that the Lupercalia festival is a purification rite, cleansing the way for Spring, nourishing the winter spirit of the dormant wolves within so as to fuel the ruthless courage of Roman warriors. A Dog and a Goat were sacrificed, and the young noble youths raced around the city naked except for goat, or wolf skins, whipping any girls or women who they encountered.

Antonius explains, "The Festival is also sacred to Faunus, the Roman Pan...the one who 'drives away the wolf from the flock.'...we usually think of Pan as Goat-horned and cloven hooved, but 'the one who drives away the wolf'...could quite possibly be a sacred Dog. Lupercalia is therefore quite possibly a dog festival...and it is interesting to note that it falls almost exactly opposite the calendar from the rise of the Dog Star."

Antonius elaborates by adding, "For me, Lupercalia is a time of cleansing and light...the lighted lamp that precedes the coming dawn of Spring...a preparation for the Flowering....

"So a celebration or ritual to observe the Lupercalia should focus on purification. ..self-purification primarily, but also the purification of the home, and surroundings. A cleansing of negative, stagnant, dusty, mildewy, settled, sedimentary influences that we are ready to clear away...from within and without."

He also outlines rituals for purification and cleansing which members of the worldwide Religion of Antinous will be performing this weekend.

Antonius says the Lupercalia harkens to the most ancient of rites of Spring, and he says the cleansing must come from within.

"And then look into your soul, observe your interactions...make changes for the better...be kinder, more polite, or just simply be friendlier to people...and do something strictly for your own pleasure," he says in his Lupercalia Epistle.

He stresses, "It is really a matter of deep and meaningful concentration on cleansing your mind and heart of negative internal influences...so as to strengthen your fortifications against external negative influences."

DID ANTINOUS MEET ST. VALENTINE? BOTH IN ALEXANDRIA AT THE SAME TIME

IT is a little known fact that there is a connection between Antinous and the original St. Valentine ... Valentinus of Alexandria. Hadrian and Antinous visited Alexandria in the year 130 AD ... and could possibly have crossed paths with the man who would one day become one of Christianity's most misunderstood saints.

Here is how our own Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia explains our own special view of Valentine's Day ... the Day of Love:

"Valentinus was the Gnostic Father who was a bishop of the Catholic Church. He tried to change orthodoxy by introducing the Gnostic speculation.

"Valentinus was from Alexandria and was there, studying with his teacher Basilides, when the court of Hadrian and Antinous arrived.

"He believed that Love was the creator of the universe, and the cause for the fall of Sophia (wisdom) ...

"He believed that Jesus came to reverse the fall of Sophia, that Jesus was the consort of Sophia, the Aeon called Christos.

"The love between them was the reason that Jesus descended to save the world. Valentinus began his teaching in Rome, and gained so much support that he was even nominated for the Papacy but lost by a narrow margin.

"Eventually exiled for heresy, the Gnostic Father formed his own rival church that became an influential and widespread Gnostic sect, influencing Gnostic thought down to our own time.

"Because Valentinus was a witness of the Passion of Antinous, and because he attempted to change the Catholic Church, we sanctify his name and venerate him on this sacred day of Eros, the Day of Love."

THE FEBRUARY FAUNALIA IS PERFECT FOR VALENTINE'S EVE LOVE MAGIC

FEBRUARY 13th is the Eve of St Valentine and, of course, a day for all sorts of love magic. (Image above entitled "Cupid's Kiss" is by Felix d'Eon.)

In Ancient Rome, February 13th was the start of one of the two feasts of Pan called the FAUNALIA (the other starting on December 5th) ... and it was originally the start of the Ancient Roman festival of LUPERCALIA, which was concerned with fertility, lust and passion ... semi-nude boys chasing virgins around the walls of Rome, whipping their bottoms with thongs dripping with white goat's milk.

It is possible that Hadrian and Antinous encountered Valentinus during their stay in Alexandria in 130 AD, or at least heard of this controversial figure.

Valentinus was a Gnostic firebrand who believed that Love was the creator of the universe, and the cause for the fall of Sophia (Wisdom). He believed that Jesus came to reverse the fall of Sophia, that Jesus was the consort of Sophia, the Aeon called Christos.

The love between them was the reason that Jesus descended to save the world, according to Valentinus, who defied the Christian sect of radicals who created the simplistic concept of hell and damnation for those who did not accept their beliefs.

He said there is no hell ... aside from the hell we create for ourselves on this earthly plane ... and that Love is the key to heaven ... not fear of eternal hellfire and brimstone.

Valentinus began his teaching in Rome, and gained so much support that he was even nominated for the Papacy ... but lost by a narrow margin. Had he become pope, Christianity would be very different today ... and so would Islam.

But the hellfire-and-brimstone brigade triumphed and ... as they would do so often in centuries to come ... they branded Valentinus a heretic ... condemning him to suffer the torments of hell for all eternity. (Image at left: Dancing Fauns by Carlos Barahona Possollo)

One story says that when St Valentine was waiting in prison for execution he cured his jailor's daughter of blindness and they fell in love ... a metaphor for Sophia (Wisdom) and Amor (Christos) uniting in Gnostic mysticism.

After he had been executed it was found he had left a message for the girl, scratched into the wall of his cell: "Always your Valentine."

He was dead and gone, burning in (non-existent) hell. But he was too influential and too popular to be disregarded entirely ... so he was canonized ... perhaps the only Catholic heretic to become a Catholic saint. 

His detractors cloud the issue by saying he was never properly canonized and is only a "folk saint" like St. Nicholas. 

Others insist there were many man named Valentinus so the heretic and saint could be different people ... but the Gnostic teachings of them all are heretical.

So one of the most popular saints is a heretic ... condemned to eternal hellfire and damnation ... because he insisted that Love, and not Fear, is the key to eternal life.

If you are a Protestant, of course, you don't believe in saints. You risk hellfire and damnation if you buy a Valentine's Day box of chocolates or allow your children to share Valentine's cards at school with their classmates.

If your Protestant Sunday School class even mentions Valentine's Day, Martin Luther will spin in his grave.

If your Roman Catholic Sunday School honors St. Valentine ... you are honoring a heretic ... worse, a Gnostic mystic.

If you are a pagan, perhaps you celebrate the Faunalia and the Lupercalia.

Regardless what you do ... you're going to Hades as far as many fundamentalist evangelical Christians are concerned.

So if you're going there anyway, you may as well try a little Valentine's Day Eve love magic. Here's what you do:

To dream of your lover, fasten a bay leaf to each corner of your pillow and one in the centre. Then when you lie in bed with your head on the pillow say seven times:

"Sweet angels in my dreams tonight
"My true love's face, reveal the sight
"Send me a Valentine imbued with love
"Both true and constant may he prove."

Count up to seven between each repetition of the spell ... and your dreams will be "ominous," as the Pagans and the Gnostics would say.

RAISE A GLASS TO THE DEAD DURING THE ANTINOUS FEAST OF CUPS

ANTINOUS traditionally is identified with Dionysus, god of ecstatic transcendence over death ... and 12th February is Choes Day or the Day of Cups, a feast dedicated to Dionysus. In ancient Greece the purpose of this festival was to become as drunk as possible as quickly as possible. Also, the spirits of the dead were said to be allowed out of Hades to visit those of their loved ones who were receptive to their spirits. So today is a good day to try spirit communication, or at least to light a candle and remember loved ones who have died ... or to raise a glass and simply enter an altered state.

NOW YOU CAN SEE THE TOMB OF OSIRIS JUST AS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PILGRIMS DID

THE 11th of February is the Feast of Wasir (Osiris) in Egypt, which we commemorate because Antinous has always been equated with Osiris as deity of transcendence over death. 

During this festival the Statue of Osiris was transported down the Nile to visit his tomb in Abydos and then returned in triumph to the temple.

This represented the triumph of Osiris over death. An effigy of Osiris was removed from his temple and processed along the Nile to the jubilation of crowds lining the river banks.

Not many people realized that there is a symbolic Tomb of Osiris which was a pilgrimage site for millions of Egyptians over the centuries.

Many Egyptians even designed their own tombs to be a REPLICA TOMB OF OSIRIS.

Just as people make pilgrimages to the Ganges, Mecca, Lourdes and other sites today, the Ancient Egyptians made pilgrimages to Abydos to make offerings.

Many pharaohs also built symbolic tombs at Abydos in addition to their actual tombs in Thebes, Memphis and elsewhere.

Now you can visit the most sacred ... and most mysterious ... temple in Egypt at night and even explore the fabled Tomb of Osiris.

Desperate to boost tourism, Egyptian authorities have improved the long-neglected Temple of Seti at Abydos ... where for thousands of years, Egyptians made pilgrimages to pay their respects to Osiris.

The Temple of Seti is now outfitted with lighting to enable visitors to see it in all its glory at night, Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim said in a surprise announcement.

In addition, the subterranean Tomb of Osiris ... called the Osireion ... has been drained of water and cleared of reeds and waterlilies and is included in tours of Abydos, he said.

Most tourists bypass Abydos, which would be unfathomable to the Ancient Egyptians, who considered it the most Sacred City.

In a way, Abydos was the Ancient Egyptian Mecca or Lourdes ... a place where pilgrims converged for prayers and meditation and to attend the annual Passion Plays which explained the cruel death and mutilation of Osiris and the grief of Isis and the miraculous resurrection of Osiris as Egyptian god of Victory over Death and King of Eternity.

The Tomb of Osiris is a subterranean chamber fed by an underground channel from the nearby Nile, which created a moat inside the chamber. The chamber was accessed by priests via a long, dark passageway.

A mound of earth covered the tomb, symbolizing the original mound which rises out of the cosmic depths in the Egyptian creation myths. 

The mound, which is a feature of illustrations in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, is thought to be the inspiration for the first pyramids.

But that raises the controversial issue of the true age of the Tomb of Osiris, an issue hotly disputed by experts.

The Temple of Abydos was begun by Pharaoh Seti, but completed by his son Rameses the Great after his father died befored it was finished. It features exquisite reliefs in amazingly bright colors. 

Most importantly, from the viewpoint of Egyptologists, one entire wall along a long passage provides a list of all Egyptian pharaohs from the beginning of their history in chronological order.

The temple was largely neglected until the 1950s when a self-taught English Egyptologist named DOROTHY EADY helped with restoration efforts. 

Using insights she claimed to have gleaned from a past life incarnation as a priestess at Abydos, she led archaeologists with uncanny accuracy to the location of such things as the temple library.

She became official Keeper of Abydos and was instrumental in piecing together fragments of bas relief stones ... so that Abydos is now one of the most completely restored Egyptian temples. 

Many books and films have been made about her. Witty and full of life, she loved to regale visitors with tales of her past life.

She brazenly observed ancient rituals at the temple to the astonishment of her Islamic neighbors ... she lived at Abydos year-round for decades.

With her winning smile and encyclopedic knowledge, she won the respect of scholars.

Dorothy Eady, affectionately called Omm Sety by her friends and neighbors, never returned to England, dying in old age at her beloved Abydos.

The Osireion (also spelled Osirion or Osireon) is outside of the temple, behind it. It was discovered by Flinders Petrie and Margaret Murray by chance in 1902. For more than a century, experts have argued over the age of the Osireion. 

Some experts insist it was built in the 19th Dynasty by Seti or Rameses, making it 3,300 years old. 

But others point out that the stone work is similar to the Sphinx Temple at Giza ... which would make it at least 4,500 years old.

The Osireion draws New Age pilgrims who flock to the site in the footsteps of the Egyptians of ages past. 

But the derelict state of the Osireion meant that visitors had to stumble across rocks and sand dunes and then climb down a steep ramp to a veritable swamp overgrown with bullrushes and waterlilies.

In this photo, the reeds have been cleared, but often it is totally overgrown.

Priest Hernestus has vivid memories of leaving his tour group and heading off alone ... finally finding the Osireion ... descending the rickety and slippery ramp ... and being confronted by a toothless Egyptian man who popped out of the reeds, brackish water up to his hips, brandishing a machete.

Hernestus thought, "Well, what better place to die than the Tomb of Osiris?" But it turned out the man was trying to clear some of the undergrowth and only wanted baksheesh (pocket money) to help feed his family.

Nonetheless, the Osireion is one of the eeriest and most mysterious places on Earth ... and you will now be able to pay a proper pilgrimage to it ... as the Ancient Egyptians did.