WARREN LEE WILLIAMSON JUNE 2, 1939 - MARCH 13, 2012

BROTHERS,

(as Warren always saluted us) 

Today we remember our dear gay wizard friend Warren Lee Williamson, born on this day in 1939, and who  succumbed to bone cancer at a hospital in Dallas on March 13, 2012, leaving behind Bob, his life's companion of 45 years. 

I want to send out a huge blessing from the bottom of my heart to the Wizard Warren on the occasion of his birthday!
I know that he is sitting there on the deck of the ANTINOUS BARQUE OF MILLIONS OF YEARS,
watching the hot young ancient Greek sailors manning the oars,
sipping champagne from an old fashioned (Marie-Antionette) glass,
on an Egyptian chaise-lounge next to Hadrian and Antinous and Lucius and all the rest of the sacred gays,
when suddenly our prayers will waft up from down below (or where ever it is that we are)
And the ship's DJ will announce over the amazing speaker system that it's Warren's Birthday!
The whole ship will freak out...a disco ball will drop from the mast...and confetti will shoot from the cannons!

He is the first of the NEW BELIEVERS IN ANTINOUS to check in with his boarding pass for the Barque of Millions of Years.

May Antinous give the Blessed Wizard Warren a special First Class seat with a window.

I love the Wizard Warren...he always had something right out of the cosmos to say,
...he gave me a tremendous boost of confidence when I was feeling out of my mind.

Warren was the holy grandfather of the Religion of Antinous...he was a magic presence among us,

We still continue to feel the ripples of his magic course through us even now.

The Blessed Wizard Warren is now the first of us to stand before ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD!

I know that the Wizard will sit down with Antinous and explain to the ancient boy-god,

what all our modern crazy madness is about (because Antinous must surely be confused)

...and then, with a wave of a divine hand, Antinous will restore the Wizard Warren to his pinnacle of eternal youth,

And in that perfect state of bliss, Antinous will reveal all the mysteries of HOMOTHEOSIS

That can only be known to those who have shed their mortal flesh forever.

I hope to join them there one day on the ship of millions of years.

The Wizard Warren was the 1st champion of the FIRST ANTINOUS GAMES,

He won with a beautiful story and a Haiku poem.

There were other great submissions, of course,
...but it was obvious to me that Warren's submission was something deeper
Than a devotional tribute to Antinous might usually be,
but it had what I can only describe as A VOICE OF MILLIONS OF YEARS
and this is why I insisted that Warren be named the winner.

In Memory of the Great Wizard, I want to share these two emails that were sent by Warren in 2006 during the First Sacred Games,
They are wonderful to read because it is only now that the uncanny VOICE OF MILLIONS OF YEARS
Is clearly obvious.

The Wizard Warren Lives Forever!

ANTONYUS SUBIA

______________________________________

April 13th 2006

Brothers:
I do not know whether I should relate this evenings occurrence, or
just keep it to myself. I choose to tell you; think of me what you will.
I went to church this evening, Thursday before Easter, not because I am a christian but because I love the music. Arriving late, I sat at the back.
I don't know when I first noticed Him, but it was with disapproval.
In the pew in front of me, but at the other side of the sanctuary,
stood a young man, probably 17 or 18 years of age. I felt that he was too casually dressed for such an occasion; he wore a rock style T-shirt, short pants and what we used to call in the old days (1970's) "Jesus boots', the roman style lace up sandals. During the service I kept feeling myself drawn to him; I purposely tried to look away.
He seemed familiar. And I loved His curly hair; He seemed Mediterranean.
As the sermon droned on I kept hoping he would look back at me, and then he did! It was as if someone had slapped me in the face. I was stunned! It was Him........It was Him. I knew....I knew it was Him.
He smiled and my heart stopped. I stood for the hymn not even aware I was doing so. It was by Bernard of Clairvaux. During the second verse his eyes never left me and I realized I was singing it to Him.

What language shall I borrow,
To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
Let me be thine forever.
And, should I fainting be,
Oh, let me never, never,
Outlive my love to thee.

His eyes pierced to my soul, and his smile was more than I could bear. I kept thinking this was not happening.....it couldn't be! I have looked at his statues for years.....I know his visage well.......and it was Him.
At the moment the hymn ended he turned full front to me and I saw what rock band was emblazoned there on his T-shirt: OSIRIS RISING.
My knees went weak, and tears streamed down my cheeks. The woman next to me, thinking I had been overcome by the service, put her arm around me to comfort me.
The service over, I looked up to locate Him, to follow Him, but He was on the other side of the church and the crowd was thick. I saw Him move into the narthex and I pushed my way through the crowd to get there as quickly as possible. But of course, He was not there. He was no where to be found......and I looked for several minutes. I asked casually if anyone had seen the 'young man', but no, no one remembered seeing Him.
I left sadly, yet strangely content. Because I know deep inside it
was Him. So I know He is watching; He is more than myth, much more.
And I shall never forget that smile as long as I live. Antinous lives! 

-----------

(Following Submission to the First Antinous Games)

April 21st 2006

Dear Brothers:

Believing that the time of Antinous has truly come, that he is no longer a local phenomenon only, but has taken his place with the eternal Olympians, I offer the following haiku poem to His honor and for the glory of His games throughout the world.

"Antinous Epiphanios"

Maundy Thursday's King, 
Brazen, Antinous smiling,
Osiris Rising!

Also, a sad note. I attended both Good Friday and Easter services,
searching each face, hoping that He would be there. But, of course,
He was absent, as I reckoned He would be. I will keep searching,
but I knew it was but a single epiphany. He is indeed Antinous
Epiphanios!

I appreciated, so much, your comments. And I asked myself the same questions you did...........what would I have done had I met Him? I have no answer; I only felt compelled to touch His hand, to be with Him for a moment.

Glory to Antinous and peace to the Ecclesia Antinoi!

ANTINOUS VIVIT, AVE!

WE PRAISE GILBERT BAKER CREATOR OF THE RAINBOW FLAG

ANTINOUS embraces Gilbert Baker ... creator of the rainbow flag. He was a civil rights activist, army veteran and self-taught tailor. He created the symbol of the LGBTQ movement 40 years ago. He would have celebrated his 66th birthday during Pride 2017.

Gilbert Baker is a Saint of Antinous!

Antinous abraça Gilbert Baker ... criador da bandeira do arco-íris. Ele era um ativista de direitos civis, veterano do exército e alfaiate autodidata. Ele criou o símbolo do movimento LGBTQ há 39 anos. Ele teria celebrado seu 66º aniversário durante o Pride 2017 .

Antinous abraza a Gilbert Baker ... creador de la bandera del arco iris. Era activista de los derechos civiles, veterano del ejército y sastre autodidacta. Creó el símbolo del movimiento LGBTQ hace 39 años. Habría celebrado su 66 cumpleaños durante el Orgullo 2017 .

THE ANCIENT RENAISSANCE MAN IMHOTEP SET THE EGYPTIAN PRECEDENT FOR ANTINOUS TO BECOME A GOD

SOME 3,000 years before Antinous, the Egyptians deified another mortal commoner ... the ancient "Renaissance Man" Imhotep ... Egyptian magician, physician, scribe, sage, architect, astronomer, vizier, and priest.

Imhotep's many talents and vast acquired knowledge had such an effect on the Egyptian people that he became the first individual of non-royal birth to be deified ... setting a precedent for Antinous to attain the status of a god.

 Imhotep, or "he who cometh in peace," was born in Ankhtowe, a suburb of Memphis, Egypt. 

The month and day of his birth are noted precisely as the sixteenth day of Epiphi, third month of the Egyptian harvest (corresponding to May 31) but the year is not definitely recorded. 

It is known that Imhotep was a contemporary (living in the same time period) of the Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, Zoser (also known as  Neterikhet) of the Third Dynasty. But estimates of the era of his reign vary by as much as three hundred years, falling between 2980 and 2600 B.C.E.

Imhotep's father, Kanofer, a celebrated architect, was later known to be the first of a long line of master builders who contributed to Egyptian works through the reign of King Darius the First (522–486 B.C.E. ). His mother, Khreduonkh, who probably came from the province of Mendes, is known today for having been deified alongside her son, an Egyptian custom.

Vizier under King Zoser

The office of the vizier in politics was literally described as "supervisor of everything in this entire land." Only the best educated citizen could handle the range of duties of this position that worked closely with the Pharaoh, or king of Egypt.

The capital city was Mennefer (Memphis) called the city of the "White Walls" for the enormous walls around the Temple of Ptah compound (right).

As vizier, Imhotep was chief advisor to Zoser in both religious and practical matters, and he controlled the departments of the Judiciary (court system), Treasury, War, Agriculture, and the General Executive.

There are no historical records of Imhotep's acts as a political figure, but his wisdom as a religious advisor was widely recognized after he ended a terrible famine (a severe shortage of food) that dominated Egypt during seven years of Zoser's reign. It is said that the king was failing in his responsibility to please the god Khnum, and his neglect was causing the Nile to fall short of a flood level which would support Egyptian farms. 

Imhotep, having a vast knowledge of the proper traditions and methods of worship, was able to counsel Zoser on pleasing Hapi, the the god of the inundation, allowing the Nile to return to its usual flood level.

The first miracle attributed to Antinous was a bountiful Nile inundation in the year 131 AD. 

Architect of the famous pyramid at Sakkara

 The Step Pyramid at Sakkara is the only of Imhotep's achievements that can still be seen and appreciated today. Its reputation is largely based on Imhotep's accomplishments as the pyramid's inventor and builder. 

This pyramid for King Djoser, also called "Netjerikhet" (Incarnation of the Gods), was the first structure ever built of cut stone, and is by far the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, the seven structures of the ancient world that were astonishing accomplishments for their time. 

It took twenty years to complete—not very long, given the newness of the idea and the state of structural science in the Bronze Age (between 3000 B.C.E. and 1100 C. E.), the period of development where metals, particularly bronze, were used for the first time.

Imhotep wanted the tomb to accommodate the Pharaoh's rise into the heavens. To do this, he planned to improve upon the flat, rectangular mastabas, or built-in benches, which were the traditional tombal structures. 

The pyramid was raised on top of the base mastabas in five smaller steps, one on top of the other.

He added a passageway on the north side issuing upward within the structure from a sarcophagus chamber (where the stone coffin holding the mummy is kept) seventy-five feet below ground. 

The total height of the pyramid and base is just under two hundred feet, unimaginably large for a single structure before Imhotep's design.

The project at Sakkara was designed in its entirety as a way for the deceased to perform the rituals of the jubilee festival, or Hebsed. The complex consisted of many other buildings, as well as ornamental posts some thirty-seven feet high. 

The protection of the king and his burial gifts—about 36,000 vessels of alabaster, dolomite, aragonite, and other precious materials—was the other primary function of the burial site.

The entire complex was enclosed within a stone wall about thirty-five feet high. Imhotep added several false entrances to throw off possible tomb raiders. As a final measure, the king's treasure was lowered through vertical shafts around the tomb into a long corridor one hundred feet below ground. The digging of just this corridor without machines of any kind is an amazing accomplishment by modern standards.

When Antinous and Hadrian visited Egypt in the year 130 AD, they stood atop the plateau at Sakkara and marveled at the achievements of Imhotep.

It is likely that Imhotep was the architect and master builder of many other projects completed during a forty-year period of the Third Dynasty, though none of them compare in size or stylistic influence to the burial site at Sakkara. 

Imhotep was also the author of an encyclopedia of architecture that was used as a reference tool by Egyptian builders for thousands of years.
 

Physician-magician, God of medicine

As a god of medicine, Imhotep was beloved as a curer of everyday problems who could "provide remedies for all diseases," and "give sons to the childless."

Members of the cult of Imhotep in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Dynasties (between 525 B.C.E. and 550 C. E.) would pay tribute to the God at his temple just outside Memphis. 

The temple also contained halls devoted to the teaching of medical methods, and to the preservation of the materia medica, which details the entirety of Egyptian medical knowledge which may actually have originated with Imhotep.

Imhotep's name was often grouped with such powerful deities as Thoth, God of Wisdom, Isis, the wonder-worker, and Ptah, a healer and the ancient God of Memphis. 

Although royal individuals were deified by the Egyptians, Imhotep is unique as the first non-royal man to be known by his own name as a god inferior in power only to Re (chief Sun-God). With that precedence in mind, the Egyptians had no objections to accepting Antinous as a God.

Imhotep was also a member of the great triad of Memphis, with Ptah, Imhotep's father among the gods, and Sekhmet, a goddess associated with childbirth.

It is a matter of debate today how much of Imhotep's reputation as a curer of disease stems from medical skill and how much comes from his command of magic and healing rituals.

More than 3,000 years before Antinous died in the Nile ... Imhotep set the precedent for deification of mortal non-royals in Egypt.

JOAN OF ARC, SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON MAY 30th the Religion of Antinous honors Saint Joan of Arc who was burned as a heretic on this day in 1431.

She was a peasant girl who led the armies of the King of France against the occupying forces of the English. She claimed to have been chosen by God to drive the English from France and deliver the country to her King.

Joan of Arc said that she conversed daily with Saints Catherine and Margaret and St. Michael the Archangel. Her greatest victory was the liberation of Orleans, where Charles, then Dauphin, was crowned as King of France.

She was later captured by the English and subsequently tried by the Church and burned as a heretic. The focus of her trial was upon the nature of her visions, which the inquisitors condemned as Demonic, and upon her refusal to wear women's clothing.

Joan of Arc was in essence the most courageous of all transvestites, whose insistence upon male dress and hair style, and occupation as a warrior was the excuse used by the Church for her condemnation and subsequent burning as a heretic. The Church however reversed this decision in 1909 by beatifying her, and then finally consecrating her as a saint in 1920.

Though she is a saint of the Catholic Church and a devoted Christian, it is for her courage as a transvestite and possibly as a sacred lesbian that she is included as a Heroic Martyr Saint of the Religion of Antinous.

JAMES WHALE, SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON MAY 29th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of Saint James Whale (22 July 1889 — 29 May 1957), the openly gay British-born director of such films as Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

His movies were modern parables about the cruelty of "normal" people towards "monsters" in their midst. 

All of those 1930s films are recognized as classics of the genre. Whale directed over a dozen films in other genres, including what is considered the definitive 1936 film version of the musical Show Boat.

He became increasingly disenchanted with his association with horror, but many of his non-horror films have fallen into obscurity. Whale was openly gay throughout his career, something that was very unusual in the 1920s and 1930s.

He tended to use gay actors who were friends of his, including Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger, Charles Laughton and Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester, who played the "Bride". Thesiger has tea (below) in mad-scientist garb. 

Bride of Frankenstein, in particular, is widely interpreted as having a gay subtext and it has been claimed that Whale's refusal to remain in the closet led to the end of his career.

James Whale's true genius was in making movies which made the audience sympathize with the "monster" instead of the "normal" people, who invariably were portrayed as ridiculous, comic fools.

James Whale's soaring career was dashed by homophobic studio bosses who objected to having a "pansy" directing major movies. He spent the last decade of his life as an outcast in Hollywood.

He "accidentally" drowned in his own swimming pool in the mid-1950s after having become a chronic depressive following a stroke.

His life was brought to the screen in the award-winning movie Gods and Monsters, which is a masterful adaptation of a very wonderfully written gay novel entitled Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram.

The book and the movie are about his final weeks of life with flashbacks to his childhood in poverty in northern England and his traumatic experiences during World War I and to his heyday as the toast of Tinseltown, and his plunge into obscurity — and his final plunge into the watery arms of Antinous.

It is a great irony that the only out-and-proud Hollywood director of the 1930s is remembered as a man whose name is equated with monsters.

ANTINOUS IN SMYRNA

PROCEEDING down the coast of Asia Minor, Antinous and Hadrian arrived in the port city of Smryna in May of 129, which was a major trading port between the interior and the Aegean sea.

The city was a major source of the incense myrrh from which it is believed to have been named.  The incense was obtained from the sap of a tree said to have once been a maiden named Myrrha daughter of Cinyras who was the son of Venus.  Myrrha was turned into the tree which sheds the incense tears, and it was from this tree, like the incense, that the boy Adonis was born.

It is believed that the cult of Myrrha, also called Smryna, of Adonis her son and his tragic love affair with Venus were originally brought from Phoenicia to the port city and from Smyrna was spread to the Greeks.

Smyrna was one of the places where the wandering Homer is said to have lived and a temple of Homer was located in the city.

Their host in Smyrna was the sophist Polemon, one of the foremost intellectuals of the age, who was Hadrian's trusted advisor.  Polemon organized a Bull Hunt, or Tauromachy in the Hispanic style which he knew would delight Hadrian.

A bull ring was constructed, and a rare wild Aurochs bull was fought by beautiful young men.  Hadrian and Antinous may have entered the ring to fight the bull.

Hadrian being from Spain, where the bull has always been a sacred animal, introduced Antinous to the sacred Bull Fight where a young warrior must prove his courage against the wild ferocious beast.

Hadrian delighted in fast paced conversation with Polemon in archaic Greek and Antinous was expected to respond accordingly when addressed, and he seems to have made a good impression on Polemon because after the deification, Polemon was one of the earliest and most ardent proponents of the New Religion, one of our greatest advocates.

Polemon organized the Cult of Antinous in Asia Minor and instituted the building of temples and priesthoods.

He issued Antinous coins which show Antinous on the front and a bull on the reverse, each coin bearing his own name.

The symbolism of the bull on the coins is mysterious but may have a connection to the cult of Dionysus or may also suggest the Cult of Mithras which originated in Asia Minor and was at its greatest strength when Polemon issued his sacred Antinous coins.

It may also have been a commemoration of the bullfight held for Hadrian where Polemon first met the young man, soon to become a god, in which Antinous bravely fought the Aurochs bull. We remember Polemon as a Saint of Antinous who not only knew Antinous in life but was one of the foremost advocates who advanced our religion from the inception. 

Ave Antinous!

WE CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF COMUS GREEK GOD OF DRAG QUEENS

MAY 27th is the Greek festival of Comus ... the god of drag queens! 

Comus is the son of Dionysus which means that he is the son of Antinous, because Antinous is often depicted as Dionysus.

During his festival, the worshipers of Comus would dress in clothes of the opposite sex and have fun dancing all night. He is the god of cross-dressing, partying, comedy and comedians. 

Art above by Edmund Dulac shows Comus in red wig and green frock leading his followers in a wild dance in his role as the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. 

He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Bacchus. Comus represents anarchy and chaos. His mythology occurs in the later times of antiquity. During his festivals in Ancient Greece, men and women exchanged clothes. 

He had a wreath of flowers on his head and carried a torch that was in the process of being dropped. 

Comus was often depicted with Momus (illustration left), who was the deity of satire and mockery and who later became the familiar court jester.

Unlike the purely carnal Pan or purely intoxicated Bacchus, Comus was a god of excess. 

He is the god of drunken revelry, merrymaking, the source of jokes and comedy, especially anything which provokes a huge belly laugh. He is the god who makes a party go with a swing. 

His festival was a time of fun and frolics, with men dressed in drag and women sauntering about in male garb.

27 de maio é o festival grego de Comus ... o deus dos travestis! Comus é o filho de Dionísio. Durante seu festival, os adoradores de Comus vestir-se-iam nas roupas do sexo oposto e dariam o divertimento dançar toda a noite. Ele é o deus do travestismo, da festa, da comédia e dos comediantes. A arte por Edmund Dulac mostra Comus na peruca vermelha e no vestido verde que conduz seus seguidores em uma dança selvagem.

27 de mayo es el festival griego de Comus ... el dios de los travestis! Comus es el hijo de Dionisio. Durante su fiesta, los adoradores de Comus se vestirían con ropas del sexo opuesto y se divertirían bailando toda la noche. Él es el dios del travestismo, fiesta, comedia y comediantes. El arte de Edmund Dulac muestra a Comus en la peluca roja y el vestido verde que lleva a sus seguidores en una danza salvaje.