TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERATOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Every day, more and more of us come together,

Every day, the fire of Antinous spreads

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

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

Antinous is within all of US!

The Blessing of Antinous is with us all!

The Arisen Antinous has Come Again!

Ave Antinous!

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

BRAZIL'S FIRST TEMPLE OF ANTINOUS HEADED BY GAY EDUCATOR DECO RIBEIRO

THE first Temple of Antinous in Brazil was consecrated in globally shared ceremonies tonight which also saw veteran journalist and educator DECO RIBEIRO invested as the first Priest of Antinous in that country.

The ceremonies conducted at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous were shared via SKYPE with adherents in North and South America and Europe.

As new sacerdote (high priest) of the temple in São Paulo, Deco's priestly name will be Decus Lupercus.

The name means dedicant of Antinous through the Ancient Priest of Antinous called Lupercus of Napoli Aetolia-Arcania ... one of only seven ancient priests whose names have come down to us through historical document.

Taking part in the solemn ceremonies from Brazil, the new priest vowed to carry out his duties with reverence and joy.

He has already organized the new TEMPLO DE ANTÍNOO BRASIL and has been a driving force in the worldwide worship of Antinous for more than 10 years. 

Deco lives in São Paulo, where he is well known as a journalist and gay activist and founder/director of a pioneering SCHOOL FOR LGBT YOUTH ... the only one of its kind in the world.

Speaking via SKYPE, he reaffirmed his calling to become a dedicant priest of Antinous. 

The assembled priests unanimously blessed his investiture and congratulated his completion of a one-year training period.

Brazil has a large number of Antinous adherents, far more than any other nation aside from the United States. 

"It is noteworthy that the only sculptures of Antinous located in the Western Hemisphere happen to be in the US and in Brazil," said ANTONIUS SUBIA.

"It is as though Antinous himself has chosen those two countries to be his base for spreading his religion in the Western Hemisphere," Antonius told the worshipers assembled via SKYPE.

Deco said his investiture comes after years of contemplation and worship.

The priestly investiture was only one highlight of the ceremonies, held on the anniversary of the 30th October 130 AD founding of the city of  ANTINOOPOLIS by a grieving Hadrian at the spot on the Nile in Egypt where Antinous had died only days earlier.

This date, 30th October, is Foundation Day and the beginning of the new liturgical calendar in the Religion of Antinous.

A further highlight of the ceremonies was announcement of new saints for the year 2016. They are:

DAVID BOWIE, whose death in early 2016 shocked the world. He transformed pop and rock music and transformed gender roles and inspired billions of people around the world.

JUAN GABRIEL, whose sudden death in August 2016 was also a day of mourning. He was a superstar Mexican songwriter and singer who was an icon for millions of gay people. He was once famously asked by a television interviewer: "People look at you and say you are homosexual. What do you say?" His answer became part of his enduring myth. "Lo que se ve no se pregunta," he answered … "Don't ask about something that is obvious."

ELKE MARAVILHA also died this year. She was Russian-born drag artiste extraordinaire who was a superstar in Brazil. She was an actress, musical artist, TV star, model, and precursor of an innovative, bold and unique style, who opened the possibilities of aesthetic and behavioral path wherever she went and appeared.

JOEY STEFANO was an iconic gay porn actor. Born Nicholas Anthony Iacona, Jr., Joey Stefano would have been 47 years old today. Over the course of his five-year career, Stefano appeared in 58 gay adult films, and two music videos with Madonna. Despite his success, Stefano did not save his earnings and relapsed into drug and alcohol abuse in 1994. He was 26 years old. He symbolizes gay men who skyrocket to celebrity but who fall into disillusionment and ruin just as quickly.

JORGE FERNANDES MARTINEZ was brutally murdered by unknown assailants near his home in the the Mexico City suburb of Tultitlán. Forensic tests showed he had been tortured, raped and asphyxiated. His broken body lay undiscovered for days. Grieving neighbors who had known and loved him for nearly 20 years held a wake and asked for dignified funeral services conducted under the auspices of The Temple of Antinous in Mexico City. The rites were held at the famous Shrine of Santa Muerte (Our Lady of Sacred Death) in Tultítlan led by Enriqueta Vargas.

PETE BURNS was the vivacious and androgynous frontman for British pop and New Wave band Dead or Alive. He died suddenly on 22 October 2016 from cardiac arrest at age 57. "He was a true visionary, a beautiful talented soul, and he will be missed by all who loved and appreciated everything he was and all of the wonderful memories the has left us with," said Priest Uendi in nominating him for sainthood. "He was a visionary artist and all of his fans are devastated by the loss of this special star who will inspire millions forever," she added. "He never conformed to gender rules. He inspired a generation of people to be all that they could be and to settle for nothing less than their ultimate goal."

Celebrants in tonight's ceremonies also remembered the souls of victims of homophobia in 2016: 49 Orlando shooting deaths, countless more victims around the world ... victims of DAESH Islamic State terrorists ... horrific murders in Mexico ... 311 homophobia deaths in Brazil so far in 2016! 

Antinous weeps for all of them. He embraces them all. Antinous guides them to his celestial barque of millions of years where they will live forever!

THE FOUNDING OF ANTINOOPOLIS

ON this day we commemorate the founding of the Sacred City of Antinous, the glorious city of ANTINOOPOLIS in Egypt as it originally was called 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.

CANNABIS PLANTS USED AS BURIAL SHROUD IN ANCIENT TOMB IN CHINA

SOME people choose to be buried with objects that are emblematic of what they cared for in life.

In the case of a 2,400-year-old skeleton recently uncovered in northwest China, a warrior shaman chose to be buried in a cannabis shroud.

A team of archaeologists from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences unearthed the tomb in China's 240-grave Jiayi cemetery near Turpan, which was once a waypoint along the Silk Road.

Thirteen cannabis plants were found covering the body. This is the first time archaeologists have discovered a quantity of well-preserved cannabis plants and it provides information on how the plant was used in ancient Eurasian cultures.

National Geographic reports that the plants were placed across the 35-year-old man's chest with their roots below his pelvis and the tops of the plants reaching up past his chin to the left side of his face ... as if they were a shroud. 

Each plant measures about 3 feet (0.91 meters) long.

The researchers’ article on the discovery in the journal Economic Botany argues that:

"This unique discovery provides new insight into the ritualistic use of Cannabis in prehistoric Central Eurasia. Furthermore, the fragmented infructescences of Cannabis discovered in other tombs of the Jiayi cemetery, together with similar Cannabis remains recovered from coeval tombs in the ancient Turpan cemetery along with those found in the Altai Mountains region, reveal that Cannabis was used by the local Central Eurasian people for ritual and/or medicinal purposes in the first millennium before the Christian era."

VIKING WOMAN'S STUNNING NECKLACE CAME FROM KING TUT'S BEAD MAKER

STUNNING glass beads found in Danish Bronze Age burials dating to 3400 years ago turn out to have come from ancient Egypt … in fact, from the workshop that made the blue beads buried with the famous boy-king Tutankhamun. 

The discovery proves that there were established trade routes between the far north and Levant as early as the 13th Century BC.

Twenty-three of the glass beads found in Danish Bronze Age burials by the team of Danish and French archaeologists were blue, a rare color in ancient times.

"Lapis lazuli was the most precious gemstone in Nordic Late Bronze Age. Blue glass was the next best thing," said Jeanette Varberg, who is associated with the research. 

"In the north it must have been almost magic. A piece of heaven." (Lapis lazuli is a deep blue semi-precious gemstone.)

The blue beads aren't the only evidence of trade between ancient Denmark and the region. Altogether 271 glass beads have been found at 51 burials sites in Denmark.

The majority of them originated from Nippur, Mesopotamia, about 50 km southeast of today's Baghdad in Iraq.

One of the blue glass beads was found with a Bronze Age woman buried in Olby, Denmark, in a hollowed oak coffin wearing a sun disc, a smart string skirt decorated with tinkling, small bronze tubes (a decoration on the cords, placed at the front of the skirt), and an overarm bracelet made of amber beads. She had evidently been quite well to do.

VIVACIOUS, ANDROGYNOUS PETE BURNS NOMINATED TO BE A SAINT OF ANTINOUS

PETE BURNS, the vivacious and androgynous frontman for British pop and New Wave band Dead or Alive, has been nominated for sainthood following his sudden death 22 October 2016 from cardiac arrest at age 57.

Dead or Alive's biggest hit was also its first ... "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" ... which charted around the world and peaked at No. 11 in the U.S. in 1985. 

The band, known as much for its proto-Goth style as its music, had a handful of lesser hits including "Brand New Lover" and "Something in My House."

Burns, who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, went through extensive rounds of plastic surgery around that time and significantly altered his appearance.

He talked openly about his ever-changing looks in interviews and a television special. 

At one point he won a significant settlement from his surgeon for a lip procedure gone wrong.

Burns was married to Lynne Corlett in 1980, and the two separated in 2006. A short time later he married Michael Simpson, a union that lasted less than a year.

"He was a true visionary, a beautiful talented soul, and he will be missed by all who loved and appreciated everything he was and all of the wonderful memories the has left us with," said Priest Uendi in nominating him for sainthood. 

"He was a visionary artist and all of his fans are devastated by the loss of this special star who will inspire millions forever," she added. "He never conformed to gender rules. He inspired a generation of people to be all that they could be and to settle for nothing less than their ultimate goal."

SQUIFFY SKELETON OF ANTIOCH SPENDING HAPPY HALLOWEEN IN PARIS

A 2,400-year-old mosaic in Antioch showing a drunken skeleton admonishing the living to eat, drink and be merry will make its debut in Paris in time for Halloween.

It is possible that Antinous and Hadrian saw the remarkably intact mosaic, because it was found in early 2016 in the ruins of the dining room of a wealthy person's home in Antioch ... and they spent several months in that city on their tour of the Eastern Provinces in 129-130 AD.

The Happy Halloween skeleton is part of the MOSAIC ROAD PROJECT which is touring European capitals this year and will be going to North America in 2017. The project is aimed at boosting interest in archaeological sites in Anatolia in Turkey.

The drunken skeleton mosaic was found by accident during excavation construction work for a cable-car route in the modern city of Antakya … built partly over the suburbs of ancient Antioch in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province.

Excavations were then launched to search the area for more remains.

The mosaic shows a skeleton reclining on a cushion with a kylix drinking bowl in his left hand and its right arm thrown drunkenly over his head, with legs crossed.

Next to the skeleton, two loaves of bread are strewn on the floor and a large amphora of wine waits to refill his drinking bowl.

A Greek inscription says: "Be merry ... enjoy being alive," according to archeologist Demet Kara at Hatay Archeology Museum.

Kara further noted that professors have referred to the mosaic as the 'skeleton mosaic' and have concluded that the mosaic belonged to the dining room of a house belonging to the upper class back then.

She noted that there is a similar mosaic in Italy, but this one is more comprehensive, making it a unique piece.

The ancient city of Antioch was established by Seleucus I Nicator … who is one of Alexander the Great's generals ... in the 4th Century BC.

Hadrian and Antinous visited Antioch, so it is possible that they saw this mosaic at some point in their extended stay over a period of several months.

Hatay is known for its Roman-era mosaics dating back to the 2nd and 3rd Centuries BC.

NOMINEES FOR SAINTHOOD 2016

HERE are the nominations for Gay Saints of Antinous for 2016 (Anno Antinoo 1905).

The priests of Antinous are deliberating on these nominations and will announce their decision at Foundation Day ceremonies at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous on 30th October.

Then the names of the new saints will be added to our LIST OF SAINTS.

The nominees are:

DAVID BOWIE, whose death in early 2016 at age 69 stunned the world, since his battle with cancer remained a family secret until the end. When homosexuality was still considered a shameful secret to many, Bowie told the world he was gay, and music ... and the lives of many of his fans and followers ... would never be the same. "I'm gay," he declared, "and always have been, even when I was David Jones." When he uttered these now-immortal words in the Jan. 22, 1972, issue of England's Melody Maker, the fledgling starman had just released December 1971's Hunky Dory and already was giving his interviewer a taste of his glam-rock milestone, June 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. Married to Iman, a Somali-American, since 1992, Bowie let unconventionally matched and gendered ­heteros know their nonconformity would be cool too. They could all be heroes, each and every day.

JUAN GABRIEL, a superstar Mexican songwriter and singer who was an icon for millions of LGBT people in the Latin music world. He died suddenly on August 26th at age 66. His ballads about love and heartbreak and bouncy mariachi tunes became hymns throughout Latin America and Spain and with Spanish speakers in the United States. The adjectives "flamboyant" and "eccentric" followed him all his career, and he was imitated by drag queens in gay clubs throughout Mexico. He was once famously asked by a television interviewer: "People look at you and say you are homosexual. What do you say?" His answer became part of his enduring myth. "Lo que se ve no se pregunta," he answered … "Don't ask about something that is obvious."

ELKE MARAVILHA Russian-born drag artiste extraordinaire who was a superstar in Brazil and who died at 71 this year. She was an actress, musical artist, TV star, model, and precursor of an innovative, bold and unique style, who opened the possibilities of aesthetic and behavioral path wherever she went and appeared. Elke was an artistic personality whose charisma provoked strong popular impact, both the image and the message of joy, intelligence and irreverence. Because of this, she already attained legendary status Carmen Miranda and Arthur Bispo do Rosário. Merging exoticism, mysticism, joy, madness and deep knowledge of human, her infectious joy inspired hope. 

JOEY STEFANO, iconic gay porn actor. Born Nicholas Anthony Iacona, Jr., Joey Stefano would have been 47 years old today. He was born January 1, 1968, in suburban Philadelphia USA and died November 26, 1994, of a drug overdose. Over the course of his five-year career, Stefano appeared in 58 gay adult films, and two music videos with Madonna. Despite his success, Stefano did not save his earnings and relapsed into drug and alcohol abuse. In 1990, he was diagnosed HIV positive. On November 21, 1994, Stefano's body was found in a motel room in Hollywood. He was 26 years old. He symbolizes gay men who skyrocket to celebrity but who fall into disillusionment and ruin just as quickly.

JORGE FERNANDES MARTINEZ was brutally murdered by unknown assailants near his home in the the Mexico City suburb of Tultitlán. Forensic tests showed he had been tortured, raped and asphyxiated. His broken body lay undiscovered for days. Grieving neighbors who had known and loved him for nearly 20 years held a wake and asked for dignified funeral services conducted under the auspices of The Temple of Antinous in Mexico City. The rites were held at the famous Shrine of Santa Muerte (Our Lady of Sacred Death) in Tultítlan led by Enriqueta Vargas.

ANCIENT ROMAN SPORTS FANS USED MAGIC TO HELP THEIR TEAMS

IN the ancient world, sports fans and athletes turned to magic to empower them against their foes … and this was particularly true in the ancient athletic world of charioteering.

Hundreds of curse tablets, amulets and magical recipes survive today.

They reveal that magic in the ancient Mediterranean was often tied to the world of sports.

In the late Roman Mediterranean, factions of charioteers existed instead of football teams.

Each faction was named after the colors draped onto their horses and worn by the charioteers. There were the Blues, the Greens, the Reds and the Whites. 

They drove four horse chariots called quadrigae both in the hippodrome at Rome’s Circus Maximus and the one at Constantinople. 

There were many other chariot racing venues throughout the Roman empire and fans of these factions became quite attached to their color and the star charioteers on them.

Love for their faction and a desire to help their team to victory frequently led athletes, faction managers, and fans to seek out magical methods in order to snatch victory from the other faction.

A curse tablet from 3rd Century AD Carthage notes: "Bind the horses whose names and images on this implement I entrust to you; of the Red [team]: Silvanus, Servator, Lues…bind their hands, take away their victory…Now, quickly."

Another, found on the Via Appia outside Rome, even mentions a charioteer's mother: 

"I invoke you… so that you may help me and restrain and hold in check Cardelus and bring him to a bed of punishment, to be punished with an evil death, to come to an evil condition, him who his mother Fulgentina bore." 

Many within the Greco-Roman world may have written out a curse themselves, but most likely hired a magician to help them with the process I have sketched below:

A. Know Your Curse Types: There were generally five types of curse tablets in antiquity:

1. litigation or judicial curses (e.g. those used against someone prosecuting you in court)

2. business or trade curses (e.g. those curses used to bring down, say, a rival amphora supplier)

3. erotic curses (e.g. the ever-popular love spells)

4. restitution and punishment curses (e.g. those waged against a thief)

5. defixiones agonisticae (agonistic "binding" curses concerning competitions. These are also called κατάδεσμοι).

Frequently, defixiones were used to bind an athletic enemy … their hands, their feet, their mouths … and keep them from movement. 

Often, they wished for a charioteer to fall off their chariot and be dragged by the horses behind it before they could take their knife and cut themselves out of the reins they tied to their bodies.

B. Pick Your Material Wisely: In the ancient world, most curse tablets were made out of lead. It was easy and relatively cheap to procure the material (particularly in Athens, where the silver mines that produced the bi-product were nearby).

Lead was often used in antiquity for magical purposes: oracles, votives, incantations and curse tablets. 

Many curse tablets are written on thin pieces of lead, then had nails used to pierce them.

Sometimes, locks of hair or other identifying features of an enemy were also wrapped into the curse before being buried.

C. Curses Have Power But Need To Be Activated: It is notable that many of the curses from these ancient tablets seem to have an oral component attached to them. Performance carried empowerment. Names had an innate power that was activated by speaking them aloud and by inscribing them. 

A number of magical papyri, called the Papyri Graecae Magicae, reveal that curses were often activated through the oral performance of incantations and perhaps a sacrifice. 

The visual presentation of the written curse was also important; many have triangular shapes and accompanying depictions of the person being cursed or the magical deities being invoked.

Frequently, there is also the use of somethng which is called a palindrome παλίνδρομος … which is Greek for "running back again" and carried power in its symmetry. These words retained potency whether read from right to left or left to write. 

The use of the magical palindrome Ablanathanalba was popular particularly on curses and amulets, and medical evidence from the early 3rd Century AD suggests that the word Abracadabra was used as an "activating word" in antiquity, before becoming highly popular in the medieval period. 

D. Geography Is Key To Curse Potency: If there is one thing archaeologists know, it is that geography matters in the context of ancient magic. Boundary zones and "liminal" areas are the most magical spaces where one can access the chthonic gods that live underground and who are being spoken to. 

That is why we find many curse tablets buried near doorways, in graves, in wells and baths, and on the boundary lines outside sports venues such as the hippodrome. 

Some curse tablets, such as the famous one from around 400 BC found buried in a grave at the Kerameikos Sanctuary, also had leaden representations of the people they wished to curse before being buried. 

Collectively, the curse tablets addressing charioteering and other sports events in the ancient world, such as wrestling, reveal that all sports fans wanted what they couldn't and can't have: the power to sway the outcome of a competition.

Magic was a way to give agency to those that felt powerless to control the future: powerless to retain the love of another, powerless to control the outcome of a court case, or perhaps powerless to effect the outcome of a key race of the Greens against the Blues. 

SUNRAYS ILLUMINATE INNER SANCTUARY OF ABU SIMBEL AT DAWN TODAY

FOR most of the year, the inner sanctum of the main temple at Abu Simbel is shrouded in darkness.

On two days, traditionally the anniversary of the birthday and coronation of pharaoh Ramses II, a shaft of sunlight pierces the gloom, illuminating statues of gods and the king in the temple's inner sanctum.

On February 22, a day celebrating the king's birthday and again on October 22, a day celebrating his coronation, sunlight illuminates seated statues of the sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amon-Re, as well as a statue of king Ramses II. The statues sit in the company of the Theban god of darkness, Ptah (who remains in the shadows all year).

The spectacle—which has endured more than 3,200 years of Egyptian history—draws thousands of tourists to Abu Simbel to watch this ancient tribute to a pharaoh whose name is still known up and down the Nile Valley for his military exploits and monumental building projects.

Ramses, who ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1270 to 1213 BC (about 50 years after the death of Tutankhamen, better known as King Tut) made a name for himself by battling the Hittites and the Syrians, Egypt's enemies to the north.

To celebrate his victories, Ramses erected monuments up and down the Nile with records of his achievements. He completed the hypostyle hall at Karnak (Thebes), and completed the funerary temple of his father, Seti I, at Luxor on the West Bank of the Nile.

The main temple at Abu Simbel, which Ramses ordered built near the border of Nubia and Upper Egypt, was dedicated to two sun gods, Amen-Re and Re-Horakhte. 

Standing 100 feet (33 meters) tall, the temple was carved into an already-standing sandstone mountain on the banks of the Nile.

Four colossal statues of Ramses, each 66 feet (22 meters) high, guard the entrance to the temple.

Rising to the pharaoh's knees are smaller statues of family members: his mother; favorite wife, Nefertari; and son, Prince Amonherkhepshef.

Inside the temple, three connected halls extend 185 feet (56 meters) into the mountain. 

Images of the king's life and many achievements adorn the walls. 

A second temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated to Nefartari, who appears to have been Ramses' favorite wife.

"Abu Simbel was one of, if not the largest, rock-cut temples in Egypt," says Bruce Williams of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, "The rock was sacred because the Egyptians believed the deity was living inside the mountain."

Rock-cut temples may have been especially significant in ancient Egypt because the bulge in the otherwise flat land may have signified the location where the gods emerged from the Earth, says Williams.

GHOST OF AN ANCIENT ROMAN SOLDIER 'STILL PATROLS HADRIAN'S WALL'

IS a Roman soldier's ghost still dutifully patrolling Hadrian's Wall?

Amateur photographer Stuart Murray was out with friends at night trying to get pictures of the Northern Lights by the Unesco World Heritage Site when this spooky apparition appeared on camera.

The 26-year-old security engineer said: "We had set out because the live data was looking good for a display of the Northern Lights, the stats were good but when we got there it was cloudy.

"On a good night that area near the wall is very good getting shots of the lights," he told the SUNDAY EXPRESS.

"Me and friends were just chatting taking some test shots and then this figure just appeared on camera."

Stuart said he and his pals initially thought it was a sheep or something which had wondered into the frame but when they ran over there was nothing there.

He added: "It was not in any of the other shots, just this one, when we realised there was nothing there which could have popped up like that we got really excited and people started to say it was the ghost of an old Roman soldier.

"I have heard stories about a Roman soldier who has been spotted patrolling the wall, maybe the stories are true ... who knows."

Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.

It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire.

TWO MYSTERIOUS 'CAVITIES' UNCOVERED DEEP INSIDE THE GREAT PYRAMID

EGYPT's Great Pyramid of Giza could contain two previously unknown "cavities."

Experts confirmed the existence of the mysterious cavities after scanning the millennia-old monument with radiography equipment.

It follows an announcement by the antiquities ministry last week that "two anomalies" were found in the pyramid built 4,500 years ago under King Khufu.

They said they were conducting further tests to determine their function, nature and size.

At 146 metres (480 feet) tall, the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, named after the son of Pharaoh Snefru, is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

It has three known chambers, and like other pyramids in Egypt was intended as a pharaoh's tomb.

"We are now able to confirm the existence of a 'void' hidden behind the north face, that could have the form of at least one corridor going inside the Great Pyramid," scientists from Operation ScanPyramids said in a statement.

Another "cavity" was discovered on the pyramid's northeast flank, said the researchers.

They are using radiography and 3D reconstruction for their study.

"Such void is shaped like a corridor and could go up inside the pyramid," Mehdi Tayoubi, founder of the Paris-based Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute, told Seeker.

He said that currently no link can be made between the two cavities.

Operation ScanPyramids began in October last year to search for hidden rooms inside Khufu and its neighbour Khafre in Giza, as well as the Bent and Red pyramids in Dahshur, all south of Cairo.

The project applies a mix of infrared thermography, muon radiography imaging and 3D reconstruction ... all of which the researchers say are non-invasive and non-destructive techniques.

SAINT DIVINE HARRIS GLENN MILSTEAD

ON October 19th we honor 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.

THE FESTIVAL OF CERNUNNOS

THE 18th of October is the Festival of The Horned God, known to us as Herne or Cernunnos. 

He is the protector of wild places and the spirits and creatures that inhabit them. He is the Lord of the Hunt, the mightiest of hunters and yet also he personifies the power of the stag, the subject of the hunt. 

He leads himself and us on a merry dance over hills and through the woods. 

In his oldest guises he is Pan, and the dancing shaman wearing the skin and antlers of the stag. We honor Antinous-Cernunnos as a form of Pan.