RIVER PHOENIX SAINT OF ANTINOUS

IN the early morning hours of Halloween day in 1993, River Phoenix died outside the Viper Room on Sunset Blvd.

He had ingested a fatal combination of alcohol, marijuana, cold medicine, a component of speed, heroin and valium. He was 23 years old.

His Dionysian indulgence caused him to collapse, convulse and then suffer cardiac arrest within a matter of moments. 

He was dead when he arrived at Cedars Sinai Hospital only some 45 minutes after taking his heroin.

He was one of the most beautiful people that the world has ever known, an Adonis of our time, an amazing actor and musician, whose films will forever immortalize his memory. 

One of his last roles was as a gay, drug-addict, prostitute in My Own Private Idaho, and it is said that his work on this film had such a profound effect on his soul that he was never again free from it.

He had not only turned to the use of heavy drugs, which he had before scorned, but he is also rumored to have taken up homosexuality, which he did not deny. 

Indeed the sensitivity and depth that he brought to the tortured prostitute, searching for love, is an intimation of the inner beauty and darkness of understanding that River Phoenix possessed. 

He had only just been chosen to play the role of the poet Arthur Rimbaud, another Saint of Antinous.

For his achievements in the cinema, for the abandonment of letting the dark god take over his life, and for the sorrowful tragedy of his death, which he embraced fully, almost prophetically, we name the spirit of River Phoenix among the blessed Saints of Antinous, because he was a living Dionysus, and because his final day on earth was the day that the Holy City of Antinoopolis was founded. 

It is fitting that such a beautiful creature as St. River Phoenix is the first Saint of the Ecclesiastical Year.

TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERATOR

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

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.

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.

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.
 

OCTOBER 30th YEAR OF ANTINOUS 1883

Ave Antinous the Arisen God!
 
On this night we celebrate the return of Antinous from the underworld, and the proclamation of Our Lord Emperor Hadrianus Augustus that Antinous had arisen from the underworld to take his place among the immortals of the celestial sphere.  We praise Antinous the New Osiris and celebrate his triumph over the forces of Death and Decay.  It is through his heroic victory that Antinous liberates all those who share in his mystery and partake in his sacred religion.

It was on this day, in the 13th year of the Reign of Divine Emperor Hadrian Augustus, In the 270th Olympiad, 884 years after the Foundation of Rome, in the year 130 of the common era, 1,883 years ago, in Egypt , on the River Nile, near the ancient city of Hermopolis , at a bend in the river called Hir-Wer, that Hadrian, as Pontifex Maximus, blessed and inaugurated the Holy City of Antinoopolis.  Our Lord Hadrian sent out a proclamation to the Senate and to the People of Rome that temples and shrines and images of Antinous were to be erected in every corner of the world, that a new priesthood was to be inaugurated and that Antinous was to be numbered amongst the Immortal Gods of Rome.  We who believe in the deification of Antinous, in obedience to the proclamation of Hadrian, concelebrate the extraordinary blessing which Our Emperor conferred upon Antinous.  That for all time, all Gay Men, and all who choose to partake in our belief, could share in the love that Hadrian felt for his Beloved Antinous.  And through the triumphant liberation of his return from the Kingdom of the Dead, that we will be given a place upon his Sacred Barque of Millions of Years.

Ave Antinous the Arisen God!

~Antonius Nicias Subia,
Sacerdote et Flamen Antinoalis

30 DE OCTUBRE DEL AÑO DE ANTINOO 1883

Viva el Antinoo Surgido , Dios !
 
En esta noche se celebra la vuelta de Antinoo Desde el inframundo, y la proclamación de Nuestro Señor emperador Adriano Augusto Eso Antinoo había surgido de los bajos fondos que tendrá lugar entre los inmortales los de la esfera celeste. Alabamos al Nuevo Osiris Antinoo y celebramos que se triunfo sobre la Fuerza de Muerte y descomposición . Es a través de estos heroica , generosa en Antinoo victoria que los que todos compartimos en este misterio y participar en estas religión sagrada.

Fue en este día, en el año 13 de la reina de lo divino emperador Adriano Augusta, en la 270 Olimpiada , 884 años después de la fundación de Roma, en el año 130 de la señora común , hace 1.883 años en Egipto , en la río Nilo, cerca de la antigua ciudad de Hermópolis , pero de bien -Ir llamaban al río , que Adriano, como Papa , el beato y la ciudad santa de Antinoopolis inaugurado . Nuestro Señor Adriano envió una pequeña parte de la Proclama al Pueblo de Roma y de la puerta del templo y Shriner e Imagen de rango Antinoo que se erigió en todos los rincones del mundo, un nuevo sacerdocio que iba a ser inaugurada y Antinoo que iba a ser numerada la inmortalidad entre los dioses de Roma. Creemos en Jesucristo, el inventor de Antinoo , en obediencia a la proclamación de Adriano , teniendo la extraordinaria Nuestras bendiciones que el emperador confirió a Antinoo. Que por todo temor , todos los hombres gay, y todos los que elijan participar en nuestra creencia , podrían compartir el Júpiter que Adriano sintió por ellos Antinoo Amado. Y a través de la liberación de estos triunfos , Retorno De Reino de los Muertos, que colocamos sobre ellos vendrá dada por la Sagrada barca de millones de años .

Viva el Antinoo Surgido , Dios !

~ Anthony Nicias sufrido
Priest Flamen Antinoalis

30 DE OUTUBRO DE 1883 ANO DE ANTINOUS

Salve o Antinous surgido, Deus !
 

Nesta noite comemoramos o retorno de Antinous do submundo , e da proclamação de Nossa Senhor Imperador Adriano Augusto, para que Antinous tinha surgido do submundo para tomar lugar entre os imortais aqueles da esfera celeste . Os fatos Antinous que louvar e celebrar a ser comemorado pela força da morte e decadência. É através destas heróico, generoso em Antinous vitória que aqueles que compartilham neste mistério e participar nestes religião sagrada.

Foi neste dia, no 13 º ano da Rainha do divino imperador Adriano Augusta, na Olimpíada de 270 , 884 anos depois da fundação de Roma , no ano 130 da amante comum, 1.883 anos atrás , no Egito , na rio Nilo, perto da antiga cidade de Hermópolis , mas de bem -Ir foram chamados para o rio, que Adriano, como Papa , o Beato e a Cidade Santa de Antinoópolis inaugurada. Nosso Senhor Adriano enviou uma pequena porção da Proclamação ao Povo de Roma e à porta do templo e Shriner e Imagem de Antinous posição a ser erguida em todos os cantos do mundo, um novo sacerdócio, que era para ser inaugurado e Antinous Era para ser numeradas imortalidade entre os deuses de Roma. Nós acreditamos em Jesus Cristo, o inventor de Antinous, em obediência à proclamação de Adriano , tendo o extraordinário nossas bênçãos que o Imperador conferiu Antinous . Que, para todo o medo , todos os gays, e todos os que escolhem para participar na nossa crença , poderia compartilhar a Júpiter, que Adriano sentia por estes Antinous Amado. E através da liberação desses triunfos , retorno do reino dos mortos , que colocamos sobre eles será dada pela barca sagrada de milhões de anos .

Salve o Antinous surgido, Deus !

~ Anthony Nicias Subia
Sacerdote et Flamen Antinoalis

THE FOUNDING OF ANTINOOPOLIS

ON this day we commemorate the founding of the Sacred City of Antinous, the glorious city in Egypt called ANTINOOPOLIS originally and later Ansena and Antinoé.

Our Lord Hadrian Augustus, Emperor of Rome, Pontifex Maximus, the New Jupiter, Hercules reborn, consecrated the shore of the Nile where Antinous fell, and solemnly founded the Holy City of Antinoopolis in Egypt in the year 130 AD.

Antinous had risen again from the depths of Tartarus, he had conquered death and returned to the place of the living.

By Victory and Proclamation, Antinous was elevated to godliness, and the ancient religion of Our God was set in motion. 

The Priesthood of Antinous was ordained, sacred statues and images proliferated, and Temples rose up in every corner of the world, for the glory of Antinous the God.

We exalt in the deification of Antinous, and marvel at his assumption into heaven. 

On this day we concelebrate the Foundation of Antinoopolis by re-founding the sacred city within our hearts, declaring ourselves the New Stones of Antinoopolis. 

With love for Antinous in our hearts, the New Temple of Antinous was founded in 2002, called Ecclesia Antinoi, and the New Priesthood of Antinous initiated.

We recognize the Foundation of Antinoopolis as the first day of the New and Holy Year of Religion of Antinous.

ANTINOUS IN THE UNDERWORLD

ANTINOUS is dead. Hadrian is weeping over his limp body on the banks of the Nile where his beloved perished in late October of the year 130 AD.

While mourners wail in the world of the living, Antinous descends into the Underworld. The modern Religion of Antinous commemorates this descent into the Egyptian Duat on October 29th.

Flamen Antonius Subia says:

Antinous is embraced by Osiris beneath the water of the Holy Nile, and he is given over to Hermes-Anubis and led into the underworld.

He appears before the Lords of the scale of Maat, but his spirit is divine and the scales crumble at his touch.

Hermes-Anubis escorts Antinous into the Hall of the Queen of the Dead, Persephone, and because he is a witness of the Mysteries of Eleusis, he obtains from her the pomegranate of immortality.

The immortal spirit of Antinous does not taste death, and he is given to drink of the fountain that restores memory because he has learned from Orpheus that he is from the Earth but is a Child of the Stars.

Antinous conquers death and returns from darkness. At midnight Antinous the God arises from the Nile and steps onto the shore from which he fell. The spirits of the entourage of Dionysus attend his resurrection and he is reborn as the New Osiris-Dionysus.

In the Religion of Antinous, this is the last day of the Ecclesiastic Year, it is spent in darkness and in solemn devotion.

As Antinous journeys through the underworld, we confront the weakness of being without our god, we reflect on the passage of the year, and on the influence of Antinous upon our lives, and we pray for the triumph of his return. 

At midnight, a pure candle is ignited to symbolize the deification of Antinous Our God. 

THE DEATH OF ANTINOUS

ON October 28 the Religion of Antinous commemorates The Death of Antinous.

Near the village of Hir-wer, Antinous fell into the Nile and drowned.

There are those who believe that he was murdered, or that he willingly gave himself over to human sacrifice to prolong the life of his beloved Hadrian, or that his death was the suicidal effect of teenage melodrama, or that is was merely an accident, but there is no way to know, no way to be certain.

Grief-stricken Hadrian only said he "plunged into the Nile" but never elaborated on the circumstances of the death of his beloved.

Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia says:

We priests of Antinous do not take a definite position and leave the matter as an unknowable mystery. The manner in which Antinous died is not important, only the effect that his death had upon the world has significance.

On this day, we solemnly and silently mourn the Death of Antinous whom Hadrian loved and for whom he wept, and we sorrow for the loss of such great beauty at so young an age.

We pray for the Bithynian boy who died so far from home.

With his death, our religion was set in motion.

We lament and exalt in the grief of Hadrian that was so strong and so powerful that it spread to the whole face of the world, and affects us still today.

We pray also for all those homosexuals who have died in youth as a consequence of repression, we mourn the suicides, and commit them to the soothing arms of Antinous, who was assumed into the Nile for all of us.

It is one of the great ironies of history that, by dying dramatically, a young person who was unremarkable except for his beauty became irrevocably bound with the most powerful man in the world. 

Emperor Hadrian proclaimed Antinous a God. He established a city on the bend of the Nile where the young man died — Antinoopolis. 

He named a constellation in the heavens after Antinous.

And without gentle Antinous at his side, Hadrian became an embittered and broken man. He became capricious and at times cruel. A reign which had been marked by Hellenistic principles of tolerance descended into bloodshed.

It is indeed remarkable how one young man, a commoner with no wealth or political influence, changed the course of history simply by dying. And the thousands of statues sculpted on orders of grieving Hadrian became the iconic image of Classical beauty — the last deity of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Antinous fell into the Nile, beneath the swirling waves, but when his body was pulled from the water ... a God emerged. Antinous is our God, he has accomplished the salvation of all lovers of his beauty. His is our salvation. He is Antinous the Gay God. He is the last pagan God of Classical Rome.

For centuries, he was worshiped in secret by gay men who were afraid to worship him publicly. Men such as Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman sang his praises. When the Nazis marched into the offices of gay-rights advocate Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin, they smashed a ceramic wall relief of Antinous which Dr. Hirschfeld had set in a place of reverence over the doorway.

And now, in the 21st Century, the "Most Great and Good God" (as he was known among his followers) is being discovered by a whole new generation of people seeking gay spirituality. 

We dedicate our lives and our souls to fulfilling the Divine Hadrian's command to establish the Religion of Antinous for all who seek gay spirituality. We dedicate our lives and our souls to serving Antinous the Gay God.

ANTINOUS AND THE SCROLL OF THOTH BY WHICH ISIS RAISED OSIRIS FROM THE DEAD

ANTINOUS would see only one more sunset and sunrise on this date in the year 130 AD. And after that final sunrise, he would never see another sunset ...

On October 27th Antinous and the Imperial entourage were in the ancient city of Hermopolis, the Sacred City of Thoth/Hermes during the celebration of the Death and Resurrection of Osiris.

We believe that the spiritual forces of this occasion, and the Mysteries divulged to him by the Hermetic priests of the god Thoth, were the inspiration for this ascension into godliness.

The Passion of Isis and Osiris was played out annually in Ancient Egypt and formed the cornerstone of the Egyptian belief system, a belief system which taught that you could die horribly and tragically and yet you could be revived and restored and in fact you could become a god.

Sacred players acted out the roles of Osiris, his murderous brother Set and his faithful consort Isis. It was through the magical spells contained in the fabled "Scroll of Thoth" that Isis brought Osiris back from the dead.

Antinous had seen at OXYRHYNCHUS just how potent the magical spells of Isis were.

The festival of Osiris celebrated at Hermopolis and observed by Hadrian and Antinous commemorated the rending of the body of Osiris and the searching of Isis for each of the parts.

We believe that something of a cathartic nature happened within the soul of Antinous at Hermopolis just before he plunged into the Nile on the opposite bank across from Hermopolis.

We will never know precisely what happened. Did Antinous get a glimpse at the fabled Scroll of Thoth? Did some Egyptian magician-priest teach him a bit about spellcasting? Did Antinous perhaps believe that he could use a spell to prolong Hadrian's life?

The Egyptians believed anyone who drowned in the Nile would become "a deified Osiris". Some Egyptian magical spells call for the magician to "deify a scarab beetle" -- which means to drown it in Nile water and thus make it sacred and magical.

We will never know for sure what happened as a result of the ceremonies on October 27th, the last day and the last sunset of the brief mortal life of Antinous. The sun would rise on October 28th and, although the mortal Antinous would die, there would never be another setting of the sun for Antinous the Gay God!

FLAMEN ANTONYUS SUBIA tells us:

Like Osiris, Antinous descended into the Nile, and arose to bring the blessing of eternal life to the world. The Religion of Antinous, like the body of Osiris was scattered over the face of the world, and we who worship him, are like Isis, gathering the fragments together again.

Hermopolis was the last city that Antinous ever saw, and the Passion of Osiris was the last religious ceremony in which he took part. Certainly it was here and at this time that an Awakening occurred, dark in its implications, causing Antinous to relinquish his life.

But it was of splendid power in that, from the death of the boy, a god emerged. We observe that in Hermopolis, the scattering of the body of Osiris was the moment when the sperm of the blessed one was planted in the immortal spirit of Antinous, Our God.

The Sacred Nights of Antinous begin tomorrow ....

ANCIENT MAGICIAN'S CURSE TABLET FOUND AT ROMAN VILLA IN JERUSALEM

A lead curse tablet, dating back around 1,700 years and likely written by a magician, has been discovered in a collapsed Roman villa in Jerusalem by a team of German archaeologists.

The villa was in use between the late 3rd Century AD and the year 363, when it was destroyed in a series of earthquakes on May 18 or 19 of that year.

The text is written in Greek and, in it a woman named Kyrilla invokes the names of six gods to cast a curse on a man named Iennys, apparently over a legal case.

"I strike and strike down and nail down the tongue, the eyes, the wrath, the ire, the anger, the procrastination, the opposition of Iennys," part of the curse reads in translation.

Kyrilla asks the gods to ensure that "he in no way oppose, so that he say or perform nothing adverse to Kyrilla … but rather that Iennys, whom the womb bore, be subject to her…"

To obtain her goal Kyrilla combined elements from several religions, Robert Walter Daniel, of the Institut für Altertumskunde at the University of Cologne, told LiveScience in an email. 

Of six gods invoked, four of them are Greek (Hermes, Persephone, Pluto and Hecate), one is Babylonian (Ereschigal) and one, Abrasax, is Gnostic.

A professional magician likely created the curse for Kyrilla, who may have literally used a hammer and nails to perform a magical rite that enhanced the effectiveness of the curse, Daniel said.

"The hammering and nailing is a form of gaining control over the person(s) targeted in magical texts," he wrote in the email.

Kyrilla and her curse-recipient, both probably members of the Roman middle or upper class, were likely in some legal dispute, as the curse tablet bears similarities to others found in Cyprus that are known to have been used in legal cases. Additionally the word "opposition" in this text hints at a legal matter.

The discovery was detailed recently in the German journal Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik.

SITE OF NEMEAN GAMES CRUMBLING AS GREECE DESCENDS INTO CHAOS

WHILE world leaders and top athletes lit the Olympic flame with pageantry drawn from antiquity, another important ancient site of athletic prowess sat overlooked and endangered.

Some 125 miles east of Ancient Olympia where the flame lighting for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi went off without a hitch recently, the Nemea stadium and its humbler games are in danger of closing to the public because of crisis-hit Greece's harsh budget cuts, according to a renowned American archaeologist who led excavations there for decades.

Stephen G. Miller, professor emeritus of classical archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, arrived at Nemea in 1973, when the ancient site still lay buried beneath a highway and vineyards used by raisin farmers. Excavations there unearthed the temple and stadium, one of the four major sites where Ancient Greek games were held: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia and Nemea.

The 71-year-old has held a revival of the Nemean games every four years since 1996, a lower-key, more egalitarian affair than the Olympics, in which athletes sporting white tunics engage in a no-prize competition with a relatively small but dedicated following.

"The idea is that anyone can feel like an ancient Greek athlete for 10 minutes," he said, in a midweek interview at Nemea, standing at the stadium's entrance tunnel, where graffiti from ancient athletes is still visible. "The thing I'm worried about is that this place is going to have to be closed."

Seven of the site's 10-member staff at Nemea have not have their contracts renewed. If they lose their final challenge in court next month, Miller said, the site will close. Staff shortages last year forced Nemea to close on weekends for 10 weeks.

"It's sad for me that it's come to this. There should be people crawling all over this place."

Greece is suffering through its sixth year of recession, a financial crisis that has seen a surge in unemployment and poverty. Forced to make deeper cuts, the government has launched a program of mass state job cuts and involuntary transfers that have already made an impact on services from Athens to rural Greece.

Nemea, near the southern city of Corinth, is steeped in ancient history. The 2,300-year-old Temple of Zeus stands next to the ancient track and a museum built at the site.

"The treasure of Greece is its antiquities and the young archaeologists trained to look after those antiquities. Instead of making the investments that would have yielded archaeology an income producing venture, it's always been shoved off to the side," Miller said. "There's no hotel here, no restaurant, no shop."

Miller, who lives in Nemea and is popular in the nearby town, greets friends in accented but precise Greek. The road leading to the ancient site at Nemea has his name on it.

"My life's work is right here," he said. "For me, this is very personal."

FINALLY ... A SCI-FANTASY TV SERIES THAT TAKES PLACE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

FINALLY and about time ... a major American television network is planning a hugely ambitious fantasy project ... set in Ancient Egypt.

The FOX network says the action-drama series ... entitled "Hieroglyph" ... "follows a notorious thief who is plucked from prison to serve the Pharaoh navigating palace intrigue, seductive concubines, criminal underbellies and even a few divine sorcerers."

"We wanted to do a show about deceit, sex, intrigue in the court and fantastical goings-on – no better place to set that than ancient Egypt," said Fox's chairman of entertainment Kevin Reilly.

Fox has ordered 13 episode of the drama, which is produced by Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope, along with Travis Beacham ("Pacific Rim," "Clash of the Titans"), who wrote the pilot script. 

"Travis Beacham has an inventive mind, and he has wrapped this all together in this intoxicating new drama," Reilly said.

With the potentially expensive exotic backdrop and emphasis on sexy story elements, Hieroglyph sounds like the type of project that you would more likely see on a pay cable network more than a broadcast network. But broadcasters have grown weary seeing cable get all the buzzy dramas (and sometimes surprisingly large chunks of ratings, with shows like AMC's "The Walking Dead").

What do you think? We're excited for this, though that title "Hieroglyph" is a bit of a mouthful. How about "Game of Pyramids"?

THIS BUST OF AUGUSTUS' GRANDSON GAIUS GOES FOR $600,000 AT AUCTION TODAY

THIS Roman marble portrait bust of Gaius Caesar, the step-grandson and adopted heir of Augustus Caesar, was sold for £375,000 (over $600,000) at auction in London today ... more than twice the estimated value.

Created just months before Gaius's death in AD 4 and restored in the late 18th Century, the bust is one of a small number that features Gaius with long sideburns and a short beard.

The "long lost bust," which was acquired from a California collector, had been estimated to sell for about $250,000.

The bidding was heightened by mystery surrounding the bust. No one knows its history aside from the fact that it is a genuine bust from the time of Augustus Caesar.

Gaius Caesar and his brother Lucius Caesar were the sons of the Emperor Augustus's only child, Julia, and his close confidant Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

With no sons of his own, the emperor adopted the brothers in 17 BC, and they were intended as his successors. However, both died young, predeceasing Augustus who died in AD 14.

Gaius died aged 23, months after sustaining a wound at the fall of Artagira in Armenia in AD 3.

Readers of Suetonius and Robert Graves' novel "I, Claudius" will remember that Livia, the wife of Augustus, allegedly poisoned both Gaius and Lucius ... to pave the way for her son Tiberius to become emperor.

Whatever the cause, Augustus was devastated and carried busts of the two youths around with him as he wandered the corridors of the palace, weeping and wailing.

Madeleine Perridge, head of antiquities at Bonhams, told HISTORYEXTRA: "The bust is a beautiful piece with a very sad history.

"It was created just after the death of Lucius, when Gaius was the last grandson and heir remaining.

"It shows a young man with everything ahead of him, but who tragically dies aged just 23, only two years after the death of his younger brother.

"His death was a real destruction of everything Augustus had been working towards, trying to preserve his heritage.

"It tells the story of two lost princes, once presented as heirs who would firm up the dynasty, but then all of a sudden die."

THIS ANCIENT ROMAN TEXT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE

THE ENCHIRIDION ("The Manual") by Epictetus is a short read on stoic advice for living. Epictetus' practical precepts might change your life.

What's in our control and what's not:

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.Work, therefore to be able to say to every harsh appearance, "You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be." And then examine it by those rules which you have, and first, and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are in our own control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

What disturbs us:

Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. … When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others.How to be happy:Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.When you become familiar with something…Like an ape, you mimic all you see, and one thing after another is sure to please you, but is out of favour as soon as it becomes familiar. For you have never entered upon anything considerately, nor after having viewed the whole matter on all sides, or made any scrutiny into it, but rashly, and with a cold inclination.

Silence is golden:

Be for the most part silent, or speak merely what is necessary, and in few words.When you hear of someone speaking ill of you:If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: "He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these."

On decision making:

Deliberate much before saying or doing anything, for you will not have the power of recalling what has been said or done.

On speaking:

Attempt on every occasion to provide for nothing so much as that which is safe: for silence is safer than speaking. And omit speaking whatever is without sense and reason.

How to live free from sorrow:

If you wish to live a life free from sorrow, think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened. 

MEET THE MORPHING PHALLIC DEITY WITH A BIG SURPRISE UNDER HIS CLOAK

IN our continuing series on deities that Antinous may have known about during his lifetime ... meet the morphing phallic deity who has a rather large surprise under his hooded cloak.

This stunningly detailed (and intact!) little bronze figurine was found in Picardy in northern France and dates to the Hadrian Era. It is highly likely that Hadrian, who was fascinated with magic and exotic religions, was well familiar with this spirit being on his many travels to the far reaches of his Empire.

No one knows much about these hooded spirits who were so very common in Celtic and Gaulish art under Roman rule. Since they have never been mentioned in any ancient texts found so far, experts are at a loss to explain precisely what religious significance they played.

Collectively, they are called "Hooded Spirits" or "Genii Cucullati" and they are found in religious sculpture across the Romano-Celtic region from Britain to Pannonia.

They are usually depicted as cloaked scurrying figures alone or in groups of three.

In Roman Britain they were almost exclusively shown traveling in threes, for reasons which baffle experts today. 

The three Genii Cucullati above are guarding HOUSESTEADS ROMAN FORT near Hadrian's Wall.

It is very possible they are related to the son of Aesculapius called Telesphorus, who is the deity overseeing recuperation from illness. He is depicted wearing a hooded cloak, called a "cuculus" in Latin.

There could be an ornithological connection to cuckoo birds (also "cuculus" in Latin) since the ancient Celts (and indeed many people in modern Europe) considered the cuckoo to be an oracular bird whose distinctive call was believed to be the voice of spirit beings.

In Black Forest folklore, a young virgin would go into the woods and look for a cuckoo and then ask questions about her future husband and the number of children she might bear. 

The number of times the bird cried "cuckoo" represented the number of children or the number of months (or years) she might have to wait for a husband.

To this day, in modern German when someone is at a loss for an answer to a question, it is common to say: "Weiss der Kuckuck!" (Only the cuckoo knows!) ... the German equivalent of "God only knows!"

These figures also clearly serve a fertility function, since they often carry egg-like objects or wear blatantly phallic hoods or ... as in this case ... coneal a phallus under their cloak.

But they also sometimes carry swords or daggers ... giving new meaning to that old Mae West catch-phrase: "Is that a concealed weapon, or are you just happy to see me?"

HERE'S A NOVEL CURE THAT'S BEEN AROUND SINCE ANCIENT GREECE

ALTHOUGH the term bibliotherapy was first coined in 1916, the prescribed use of books to change behaviour and ameliorate human distress has a long history dating back to ancient Greece.

The ancient Greeks were so convinced of the psychological and spiritual importance of literature that they had signs posted over the doors of libraries declaring them to be a 'healing place for the soul'.

In the therapeutic setting, bibliotherapy can comprise of both fictional and non-fictional materials. 

Now a new book, THE NOVEL CURE, a recently published A-Z of literary remedies by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin, traverses 2,000 years of literature, matching much-loved books with ailments.

A good book, according to author Ella Berthoud, can leave people feeling altered in a fundamental way.

Priest Hernestus, who is currently enduring deep grief over the loss of his best friend, lover and partner in crime of nearly 30 years, has found much solace in this book and heartily recommends it.

"The Novel Cure" proposes, for example, that someone who has lost a job could find solace in "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis.

Meanwhile George Eliot's "ruthlessly unsentimental" "Middlemarch" gets to grips with the dilemma of having married the wrong person.

The idea is that through identification with a character in a story, the reader gains an alternative position from which to view his or her own issues.

By empathising with a character, the reader can undergo a form of catharsis through gaining hope and releasing emotional tension, which can lead to emotional change.

The book lists hundreds of common complaints ... from the common cold and fear of flying to compulsive-obsessive behavior and grief, and from boredom to lovesickness ... and offers examples of novels throughout literary history which offer insights ... and cures.

SAINT DIVINE HARRIS GLENN MILSTEAD

ON October 19th the Religion of Antinous honors SAINT DIVINE (October 19, 1945 — March 7, 1988), born Harris Glenn Milstead. 

Divine was an openly gay American actor, singer and drag queen.

Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century," Divine often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women's wear in musical performances. 

Even so, he considered himself to be a character actor and performed male roles in a number of his later films.

He was most often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters and starred in ten of Waters's films, usually in a leading role.

Concurrent with his acting career, he also had a successful career as  a disco singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the  most successful and in-demand disco performer in the world."

Divine, the seventh-of-a-ton transvestite star of Mr. Waters's early movies, helped set a new standard for drag that endured long after Divine's death of heart failure in 1988, Mr. Waters said.

"When we started in those days, drag queens were square," Mr. Waters explained. "They hated Divine: they wanted to be Bess Myerson. And Divine would show up in a see-through miniskirt with a chainsaw instead of a pocketbook."

The Divine look, which stylist Van Smith first created in 1972 for Pink Flamingos, had three components. First was the hair, shaved back to the crown to allow more room for eye makeup. Second was the makeup, acres of eye shadow topped by McDonald's-arch eyebrows; lashes so long they preceded the wearer; and a huge scarlet mouth. Third were the clothes: shimmering, skintight numbers that gave Divine a larger-than-life female sensuality.

The net effect, as Mr. Smith ordained it, was a cross between Jayne Mansfield and Clarabell the Clown.

"If you look at anything that Divine wore, you sure couldn't find that off the rack," Mr. Waters said.

All of Divine's costumes were constructed by a Baltimore woman who made outfits for strippers. Subtle they were not. There was the red fishtail dress from Pink Flamingos, in which Divine looks equal parts mermaid, Valkyrie and firetruck. And there was the sheer wedding gown she wears in Female Trouble (1974), underwear not included.

Divine once famously said that if anybody was shocked by a 300-pound drag queen in a slinky cocktail dress "then maybe they need to be shocked." He himself would describe his stage performances as "just good, dirty fun, and if you find it offensive, honey, don't join in."

As a part of his performance, he would constantly swear at the audience, often using his signature line of "fuck you very much", and at times would get audience members to come onstage, where he would fondle their buttocks, groins and breasts.

He became increasingly known for outlandish stunts onstage, each time trying to outdo what he had done before. At one performance, held in the Hippodrome in London, that coincided with American Independence Day, Divine rose up from the floor on a hydraulic lift, draped in the American flag, and declared that "I'm here representing Freedom, Liberty, Family Values and the fucking American Way of Life." 

When he performed at London Gay Pride parade, he sang on the roof of a hired pleasure boat that floated down the Thames passed Jubilee Gardens, whilst at a performance he gave at the Hippodrome in the last year of his life, he appeared onstage riding an infant elephant, known as Bully the Elephant, who had been hired for the occasion.

Divine and his stage act proved particularly popular amongst gay audiences, and he appeared at some of the world's biggest gay clubs, such as Heaven in London. According to Divine's manager, Bernard Jay, this was "not because Divine happened to be a gay person himself... but because it was the gay community that openly and proudly identified with the determination of the female character Divine."

He was also described as "one of the few truly radical and essential artists of the century ... who was an audacious symbol of man's quest for liberty and freedom." 

On the evening of March 7, 1988, a week after his starring role in Hairspray was released, Divine was staying at the Regency Hotel in Los Angeles. The next day, he auditioned for a part in the Fox network's television series Married ... with Children. After dining with friends and returning to the hotel, he died in his sleep of an enlarged heart at age 42.

EL SANTO NIÑO FIDENCIO SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON October 18th the Religion of Antinous honors a gay man who is adored as a saint by millions of people in Mexico.

El Niño Fidencio, Saint of Antinous, was a Mexican "curandero" (male witch healer or shaman) in the 1920s and '30s who is regarded as a saint by his modern-day followers (although he is not recognized by the Catholic Church) and who depicted himself in drag as the Virgin Mary.

His millions of believers point to the fact that he has been credited with innumerable healings and other miracles. He is credited with saving countless lives and with curing incurable ailments.

His millions of believers also point to the numerological phenomenon that he was born on October 18, 1898, and he died on October 19, 1938.

The story of El Niño Fidencio also has many parallels to the story of the Magnificent Religion of Antinous.

Like ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD after deification on the banks of the Nile, El Niño Fidencio was a winsome young man beloved by all who worked miracles along the banks of a great river (Rio Grande) flowing through the barren wasteland of a desert between two lands, the US and Mexico.

The Nile divided the Land of the Living from the Land of the Dead,  the Rio Grande divides (or joins) two culturally merging societies.

The Ancients believed Antinous worked miracles in the lives of his faithful followers. Antinous healed the sick, he granted people love and prosperity, he shielded them from peril.

Historian Royston Lambert's book Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous devotes a full chapter to the Religion of Antinous and mentions the miracles he was able to bring forth.

The oracle priests of Antinous could intercede with the God, or followers could appeal directly to Antinous:

"There is evidence of oracles at Tarsos and perhaps at Rome itself," Lambert writes. "No doubt it was through these pronouncements and visitations that he wrought miracles and healing for which he evidently became famous in the east."

In many areas, people named their children Antinous in the fervent belief that he would watch over and protect their offspring all their lives.

There is the well-documented case of a man named Serapamon who lived in Antinoopolis in the 3rd Century and who called on the priests of Antinous for a love spell to attract a certain woman named Ptolemais. Clearly, his followers truly believed he could work miracles for those who believed in him.

Lambert points out: "The frequent use of his medals as talismans or amulets demonstrates demonstrates a widespread faith in his powers in Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt."

Lambert makes it clear that, for early followers of Antinous, there was no doubt in their hearts or minds that he could work miracles — and did so on an everyday basis.

"Indeed," Lambert goes on to state, "the popular vigour and genuine conviction of the 'belief' in Antinous were widespread and persistent enough to provoke the scorn of some sophisticated pagans and the anxious and unremitting indignation of most Christian apologists for two and a half centuries to come."

We should remember the heart-felt faith of the early followers of Antinous, who knew Him to be their salvation. We should remember their undying faith when we honor El Niño Fidencio in the face of the "anxious and unremitting indignation" of Catholic clerics to this day.

HERE'S THE ULTIMATE CONSPIRACY THEORY:ROME "INVENTED" JESUS TO APPEASE JEWS

THE Christian faith is the result of the most successful psy-ops program in history, according to a self-professed American Bible scholar who claims that the Romans concocted the whole story of Christ ... as a form of psychological propaganda warfare against radical Jews.

Joseph Atwill will present his controversial theory October 19th in London that the New Testament was written by 1st Century AD Roman aristocrats as part of a sophisticated government project to pacify Jews in occupied territories and defuse their rebellion.

Atwill, author of "Caesar's Messiah," claims he's found ancient confessions by the scriptures' authors that they invented Jesus Christ and his story as basically a form of propaganda.

"Jewish sects in Palestine at the time, who were waiting for a prophesied warrior Messiah, were a constant source of violent insurrection during the first century," Atwill said. 

"When the Romans had exhausted conventional means of quashing rebellion, they switched to psychological warfare. They surmised that the way to stop the spread of zealous Jewish missionary activity was to create a competing belief system. That's when the 'peaceful' Messiah story was invented. Instead of inspiring warfare, this Messiah urged turn-the-other-cheek pacifism and encouraged Jews to 'give onto Caesar' and pay their taxes to Rome."

He says that Jesus was not based on an actual historical figure. Instead, Atwill argues that the events of his life were overlaid on top of actual events from the First Jewish-Roman War, waged by Emperor Titus Flavius in Palestinian territories.

"The biography of Jesus is actually constructed, tip to stern, on prior stories, but especially on the biography of a Roman Caesar," he says.

Atwill said he understands that his theory is bound to upset Christians, and he's hoping skeptics will come to challenge him after his lecture as part of a symposium, "Covert Messiah," along with Kenneth Humphreys, author of "Jesus Never Existed."

"Although Christianity can be a comfort to some, it can also be very damaging and repressive, an insidious form of mind control that has led to blind acceptance of serfdom, poverty, and war throughout history," Atwill says. "To this day, especially in the United States, it is used to create support for war in the Middle East."

OSCAR WILDE SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON October 16th, the Religion of Antinous honors SAINT OSCAR WILDE who was born on this day in 1854. He died in ignominy and poverty on November 30th, 1900.

Ostensibly, Saint Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel.

Known for his biting wit, he became the most successful playwright of the late Victorian era in London, and the greatest "celebrity" of his day.

His plays are still widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

As the result of a widely covered series of trials, Wilde experienced  a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years' hard labour after being convicted of homosexual relationships, described as "gross indecency" with other men.

After Wilde was released from prison he set sail for Dieppe by the night ferry and he never returned to Ireland or Britain.

That is the truth, pure and simple, of his life. But as Saint Oscar himself once famously said: "The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."

For that reason (and for many others) we remember him not only because he was notorious (something for which he might claim to be quite proud) but because he remembered Antinous.

He kept the name of Antinous alive through his poetry: 
"—A moment more, the trees had stooped to kiss
Pale Daphne just awakening from the swoon
Of tremulous laurels, lonely Salmacis
Had bared his barren beauty to the moon,
And through the vale with sad voluptuous smileANTINOUS had wandered, the red lotus of the Nile.
"Down leaning from his black and clustering hair
To shade those slumberous eyelids — caverned bliss,
Or else on yonder grassy slope with bare
High-tuniced limbs unravished Artemis
Had bade her hounds give tongue, and roused the deer
From his green ambuscade with shrill hallo and pricking spear.FROM "THE BURDEN OF ITYS" BY OSCAR WILDE.


"—Lift up your large black satin eyes which are like cushions where one sinks!
Fawn at my feet fantastic Sphinx! and sing me all your memories!
Sing to me of that odorous green eve when couching by the marge
You heard from Adrian's gilded barge the laughter of ANTINOUS
And lapped the stream and fed your drouth and watched with hot and hungry stare
The ivory body of that rare young slave with his pomegranate mouth!

FROM "THE SPHINX" BY OSCAR WILDE. Here are some quotations from Oscar Wilde:
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot.
In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.

I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.

Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable

The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.

Always forgive your enemies — nothing annoys them so much.

A true friend stabs you in the front.

I don't want to earn my living — I want to live.

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about.

A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

GAY BATH HOUSE "DESTROYED" IN CAIRO PATRONS HAULED OFF NAKED BY POLICE

HOPES for an improvement in the plight of gays in Egypt have been dashed after Cairo police raided a gay hammam bath house and dragged off the patrons naked to detention cells.

Police than reportedly subjected the naked men to anal probes in search of "proof of homosexual activity" according to a report in GAY STAR NEWS.

As news of the unprecedented raid spread, local residents of the neighborhood were said to have broken into the gay sauna and "destroyed it" in a display of anti-gay rage and wanton looting of valuables.

Foreign gay witnesses said the gay hammam had been in operation for years and that there had never been any trouble with neighbors in the past, who in fact gladly offered directions to it and welcomed the additional business at their own shops from the influx of customers.

At least 14 men were arrested for "fahesha" (indecency) at the hammam in the working-class El Marg district of Cairo on Friday, October 11th.

A prosecutor ordered they should be held for "forensic tests" which include "anal probe" tests to examine if they have engaged in gay anal sex.

These tests, often used in the Middle East and North Africa, have been discredited as scientifically meaningless and are considered a form of torture by international human rights bodies.

The arrested men range in age from just 18 to 57.

Egyptian media and GSN reported the number of arrests at 14 but it has now emerged that may just be the number of "clients" rounded up in the raid. Workers and the "health club" manager have also apparently been detained.

After the fall of the Islamist Mursi regime, gays in Egypt had been cautiously optimistic that their situation might improve. The latest incident has dampened those hopes.
 

GERMAN SCIENTISTS ARE AFRAID TO DECANT THIS BOTTLE OF ANCIENT ROMAN RED WINE

SCIENTISTS in Germany would love to decant a bottle of Ancient Roman red wine which has been aging for more than 1,600 years ... but they are afraid to open the bottle.

The sealed glass bottle was found in a Roman tomb in 1867 and put on display at the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in the western German city of Speyer.

Museum directors fear that a moment's carelessness could shatter the bottle, destroying its priceless content. Though scientists would like to test it to figure out exactly how old the wine is and where it comes from, as well as perhaps seeing how it tastes – cracking it open is out of the question. 

"It's not clear what would happen if air gets into the wine," said Ludger Tekampe, who heads the department responsible for storing it. 

There's also the danger that, after all this time, it could have become poisonous, although scientists suspect the alcohol would not be dangerous, but just taste disgusting.

In any event, the ultra-old wine has survived a lot, including ancient drinkers, handling on its way to the museum, and two world wars, with nary a problem. 

Tekampe said he hasn't observed any changes in the wine or its container in his 25 years at the museum, the bottle appears to have been carefully constructed by the Romans to prevent the wine from decomposing.

"The content is remarkably stable," Tekampe said. 

Still he's the only one who handles the bottle. Everyone else is just too afraid.

"I held the bottle in my hand twice during renovations. It was a strange feeling," Tekampe said.

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR MARTYR SAINTS OF MALE-MALE LOVE

ON this day, the origin of the folk belief that "Friday the 13th" is an unlucky day, the Religion of Antinous remembers the Knights Templar.

The proud and courageous brotherhood known as the Order of Knights Templar, who were sworn to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land, were accused of Heresy, Idolatry and Sodomy, and were arrested on Friday the 13th of October in the year 1310 in France.

Although they had fought valiantly during the Crusades, and even stayed behind, sacrificing themselves to guard the retreat of Christian refugees during the fall of Acre in 1291, the order was condemned by the Pope and handed over to the envious King Philip the "Fair" of France, who coveted their land and immense wealth.

The Knights had adopted the heresy of Catharism which was basically a form of Gnosticism with Manichean influence, that had perhaps been introduced to them in the Holy Land where it flourished under the Moslems.

The Cathars believed that Jesus had descended to the material plane to undo the rule of the God of Israel, and that he had liberated mankind from the law of Moses and the natural order, through salvation in his name.

The Cathars believed that the body, and life itself, was the creation of the Evil One, who claimed to be the "Creator of the Universe."

They did not recognize the authority of the Church and believed that homosexuality was sacred because it was a form of love which did not result in procreation (locking humans in a cycle of earthly incarnations).

Following the Platonic ideal of Venus Urania, the Cathars believed that Brotherly Love was more in keeping Christ's teaching than the love between husband and wife.

The Knights Templar, whose seal depicted two knights riding on one horse, quite openly advocated this philosophy. But the Papal accusation claimed that they took this to the extreme of sodomy, requiring new initiates to perform the Kiss of Shame, by which they kissed the buttocks and phallus of the Grand Master of the Order.

They were also accused of abandoning Christianity and worshipping a demon called Baphomet, a hermaphroditic, goat-headed idol whose name implied secret knowledge.  

Other accusations were leveled against the Knights. But Heresy, Satanism, and Sodomy were the crimes which essentially led to their downfall. 

Of course most of this information was obtained through torture. But one can only wonder at the consistency that characterizes their confessions. 

On this night, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and thousands of  Templars were arrested, tortured, condemned and subsequently Burned at the Stake. From then on, Heresy, Devil worship, and Homosexuality were indistinguishable in the eyes of the Inquisition, perhaps because they were indeed interconnected. 

Homosexuality, however, had not been a significant threat to Christendom until it was connected with a diabolical plot to overthrow the order of society and of the Church. This was the beginning of Our Burning Times, and over the course of the next 400 years, thousands of homosexuals were officially and publicly condemned and burned or otherwise executed as an act of faith that, through our extermination, the Church was protecting the world from the Forces of Evil which we embodied. 

For their courage and sacrifice, we praise the Order of the Knights Templar as Heroic Martyr Saints of the Religion of Antinous, as the Sacred Band of the Middle Ages, and we recognize their secret god Baphomet as an incarnation of our beloved Dionysus, a manifestation of Homo Deus, and of Our Beautiful God Antinous. 

MATTHEW SHEPARD SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON this sad day we honor a young gay man who was brutally murdered: Matthew Shepard, who died at 12:53 am on Monday, October 12th, 1998.

He was brutally assaulted because he was gay, on the night of October 7, by two men who had lured him to a secluded place outside of Laramie Wyoming. 

His attackers tied him to a fence, beat him and left him for dead in the freezing cold. 

He was found the following evening by a cyclist. 

By the time help arrived, he had slipped into unconsciousness.

The death of Matthew Shepard awakened the world to the persecution that homosexuals have endured for centuries. His beauty, youth and innocence affected everyone, and spoke for the hundreds of others who in recent years have died similar deaths without being noticed.

Matthew Shepard is a Sacred and Holy Martyr of Homosexuality, he died an innocent because he was gay. He died a death that so many others have suffered, but his death changed the world.

He was 22 years old, very near the age of Antinous and, like Antinous, his beautiful face, humble origin, and tragic death have had a great impact on the future of homosexuality in our society. 

We consecrate his memory and pray for him, that he will guide and protect us in our hour of danger, and bring an end to the violence and hatred that he suffered.

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL COMING OUT DAY

THIS international event is in celebration of the joy of revealing to the world our sexuality. 

It is an international event that gives people the opportunity to come out as an act of spiritual and political courage, in defiance of all who would deny homosexuals our human rights. 

The first National Coming Out Day was held on October 11, 1988, it was in commemoration for the 1987 March on Washington. 

In its full essence it is a political statement, meant to call out to our brothers and sisters to publicly state that they are homosexual to all those who do not already know. 

Flamen Antonius Subia says:

We acknowledge the spiritual implication of this event as profoundly significant to the religion of Antinous and of the mysterious nature of Homo Deus. As an act of Liberation and as a vision promotion of our presence and numbers, we solemnly dedicate ourselves to public declaration of our sacred sexuality on this day.