ANTONINUS PIUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR WHO FULFILLED HADRIAN'S DREAMS

AT the end of February and beginning of March the Religion of Antinous marks Three Holy Days involving the Divine Antoninus Pius.

On February 28th we celebrate the Adoption of Antoninus Pius by Hadrian. And on March 1st we commemorate the Apotheosis of Antoninus Pius . Also on March 1st, we celebrate the Ascension of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

After the death of Aelius Caesar, Hadrian adopted Antoninus, imposing on him the condition that he adopt two sons, Lucius Verus and Marcus Antoninus to be his successors. Antoninus supported the dying Hadrian for the remainder of his years, and obeyed his commands even after his death. For this Antoninus is called Pius.

As the Fates would have it, March 1st is the date when Antoninus Pius died in 161 AD after 23 years as Emperor. His rule is marked by an almost unbroken period of peace and tranquility. The golden era of Rome, known as the Age of the Antonines, takes its name from Antoninus, because every emperor afterward took up his name as an emblem of glory. Antoninus is the emperor most responsible for the perpetuation of the Religion of Antinous.

He had served as Proconsul of Asia Minor under Hadrian from 130 to 135, while the Religion of Antinous was being formed, and it was during his reign that construction of the Sacred City of Antinoopolis was completed.

The Senate deified Antoninus Pius shortly after his death. The base of the column erected in his honor, shows Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina the elder, rising up to heaven. They are ascending upon the wings of an Aeon, with Mother Rome on one side, and a beautiful reclining male figure on the other who grasps an obelisk. We believe this figure to be Antinous, guardian spirit of the Age of the Antonines.

Upon the occasion of the Death and Apotheosis of Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus became co-Emperors, both surnamed Antoninus, a name which the ancient Romans equate with inestimable glory.

Marcus being the elder and wiser, was given the title Augustus, while Lucius took the name Caesar. They remained cordial to one another though their vastly different characters were always a cause of discord, though never of rivalry or outright animosity. They were a harmonious and cooperative pair of rulers, the only example of effective imperial brotherhood in the long history of Rome.

PYRAMID BUILDERS WERE PAMPERED WITH LOTS OF MEAT, GOOD HEALTH CARE

THE thousands of men who built the Giza Pyramids were pampered with a high-protein diet plentiful in meat, and received good health care, according to findings from an ancient "catering" site adjacent to the Egyptian monuments.

Debunking the legend that the pyramid builders were slaves, the evidence shows that they were well fed and cared for ... and better off than the majority of rural villagers in Ancient Egypt.

To feed the army of workers, a massive catering operation served up thousands of kilos of meat to feed the builders, say archaeologists who found the ancient remains at a site believed to have been a village used to house workers just south of the Sphinx.

According to a report in , it is thought the workers, who occupied the site for around 35 years, were building the pyramid of pharaoh Menkaure, the third and last pyramid on the Giza plateau.

The site, which has been studied for several decades, is also known by its Arabic name, Heit el-Ghurab, and is sometimes called "the Lost City of the Pyramid Builders."

So far, researchers have discovered a nearby cemetery with bodies of pyramid builders, a corral with possible slaughter areas on the southern edge of the workers' town and piles of animal bones.

Based on animal bone findings, nutritional data, and other discoveries at this workers' town site, the archaeologists estimate that an average of more than 4,000lbs of cattle, sheep and goat meat were slaughtered every day to feed the pyramid builders.

This meat-rich diet, along with the apparent availability of medical care, shown by skeletons found with healed bones, show the workers enjoyed relatively good conditions.

Richard Redding, chief research officer at Ancient Egypt Research Associates, a group that has been excavating and studying the workers' town site for about 25 years, told LiveScience the builders were looked after.

"People were taken care of, and they were well fed when they were down there working, so there would have been an attractiveness to that," he said.

"They probably got a much better diet than they got in their village," he said.

MUMMY OF HIGH PRIEST OF THOTH FOUND ACROSS NILE FROM ANTINOOPOLIS

EGYPTIAN archaeologists have discovered an ancient necropolis containing 40 stone sarcophagi, the mummy of a priest of Thoth, 1,000 small statues and a necklace charm bearing the hieroglyphic inscription “happy new year” in hieroglyphs ... at a site immediately across the Nile from Antinoopolis.

Antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany said  the discovery near Tuna al-Gebal, at Hermopolis on the opposite side of the Nile from the sacred city of Antinous, consisted of a large number of burial shafts dating from the late Pharaonic period to the early Ptolemaic era.

Hermopolis, sacred city of Thoth/Hermes, was the last city in Egypt that Antinous visited before his tragic death in October 130 AD. It is the site of many tombs and catacombs. 

The newly discovered cache pit, which is more than 2,000 years old, is expected to take another five years to excavate. “It´s only the beginning,” said Enany. “We are very soon going to add a new archaeological attraction to Middle Egypt.

The mummy bore inscriptions identifying it as the body of Djehuty-Irdy-Es, a high priest of Thoth. Hermes/Thoth is the chief deity at Hermopolis, where the mummy was found.

The mummy wears a bronze collar that depicts the goddess Nut.

The mummy case is decorated with blue and red beads as well as a gilded bronze cover, two eyes carved in bronze and ornamented with ivory and crystal beads.

“The goddess Nut is seen stretching her wings to protect the deceased, in accordance with ancient Egyptian belief,” Waziri said. Four amulets of semi-precious stones were also found, decorated with engraved hieroglyphic texts. One says, “Happy New Year.”

Waziri added that four canopic jars made of alabaster with lids that have the faces of the four sons of the god Horus were also unearthed on Saturday.

“They are in a very good state of conservation. They still contain the mummified inner organs of the deceased. The jars are decorated with hieroglyphic texts showing the name and titles of their owner,” Wazizi said.

GOVERNMENT-SUPPORTED HEALTH CARE WAS COMMON IN ANCIENT EGYPT

WE might think of state supported health care as an innovation of modern times, but it’s a much older tradition than that. 

In fact, texts from a village dating back to Egypt’s New Kingdom period, about 3,100-3,600 years ago, suggest that in ancient Egypt there was a state-supported health care network designed to ensure that workers making the king’s tomb were productive.

The village of Deir el-Medina was built for the workmen who made the royal tombs during the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE). During this period, kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings in a series of rock-cut tombs, not the enormous pyramids of the past. 

The village was purposely built close enough to the royal tomb to ensure that workers could hike there on a daily basis.

These workmen were not what we normally picture when we think about the men who built and decorated ancient Egyptian royal tombs – they were highly skilled craftsmen. 

The workmen at Deir el-Medina were given a variety of amenities afforded only to those with the craftsmanship and knowledge necessary to work on something as important as the royal tomb.

The village was allotted extra support: the Egyptian state paid them monthly wages in the form of grain and provided them with housing and servants to assist with tasks like washing laundry, grinding grain and porting water. 

Their families lived with them in the village, and their wives and children could also benefit from these provisions from the state.

Among these texts are numerous daily records detailing when and why individual workmen were absent from work. Nearly one-third of these absences occur when a workman was too sick to work.

Yet, monthly ration distributions from Deir el-Medina are consistent enough to indicate that these workmen were paid even if they were out sick for several days.

These texts also identify a workman on the crew designated as the swnw, physician. The physician was given an assistant and both were allotted days off to prepare medicine and take care of colleagues. 

The Egyptian state even gave the physician extra rations as payment for his services to the community of Deir el-Medina.

This physician would have most likely treated the workmen with remedies and incantations found in his medical papyrus. About a dozen extensive medical papyri have been identified from ancient Egypt, including one set from Deir el-Medina.

AS IN ANCIENT TIMES AN ANTINOUS COIN MEDALLION BRINGS JOY

IN ancient times, coins minted with the image of Antinous were highly prized as amulets and talismans by worshipers.

ANTONIUS SUBIA shares these photos of a new/old coin which has brought similar joy to him.

He says:

"My new Antinous medallion just came in the mail and it was Way more fabulous than I expected.

"I thought it was just going to be a second copy of one I already had... which I considered to be my best and favorite.

"The price worked out to be the same for both after a bit of bartering on the new one. I was just expecting to have two of the same.

"But when it arrived I could tell from the weight of the envelope that this was going to be different. It turned out to be three times larger and so more magnificent! I love my new medallion!

"This is the most magnificent Antinous coin I have ever held in my hand...he has brought a new hope and power into my life. It is a sign of great and wonderful things to come! Antinous has arrived!"

Genuine coins and medallions of Antinous the Gay God cost thousands ... but there are lots of modern copies ... such as this bronze replica of an ancient coin/medallion minted in honor of Antinous.

It is "only a fake" of course. But that does not make it any less sacred or magical to anyone who loves Antinous.

In ancient times, Antinous coins/medallions were prized by his worshipers as a sort of portable Sacred Token or Pocket Shrine.

In his authoritative book about Antinous, "Beloved and God," Royston Lambert points out that in ancient times many followers of the Blessed Youth felt it was necessary to have a tangible representation of Antinous with them at all times for protection and for blessings:

"Some of the devotees evidently could not bear to be parted from the beneficial and reassuring presence of their Antinous and therefore had small, light-weight travelling busts or bronzes made to accompany them on their journeys."

Poor people made do with more crudely made representations, such as coins and figurines and medals made of lead, clay and other base materials.

The demand was so great that there was a rife trade in which we would nowadays call "copyright piracy" among artisans turning out "illicitly yet more crude and cheap medallions of this hero whose images, miracles and protection were obviously sought by countless poor folk of faith."

People of modest means who were lucky enough to get their hands on one of his commemorative coins would carry it with them for protection, often even wearing them:

"Many were pierced by holes and hung from the neck as talismans: Antinous' image offering protection against evil, sickness and death," says Lambert.

Other such medallions were mounted in frames to adorn household altars, and others were buried with the dead "to invoke the god's aid on the perilous journey into the unknown."

SET YOUR PERSONAL BOUNDARIIES DURING THE TERMINALIA FESTIVAL

THE 23rd of February is the Terminalia, the feast of the Roman God Terminus, god of boundaries who stops intruders while protecting everyone inside his boundaries. Terminus is associated with Zeus/Jupiter because he deified Jupiter by establishing his position atop Capitoline Hill. Thus, statues of Terminus/Jupiter (like this modern replica) symbolize devotion and steadfastness. Today is an appropriate day to create or renew a magical boundary around your home, to keep out psychic nasties and any negative energies. A simple way to do this is to walk the boundary of your home three times, as you do so imagine magical blue light springing up as you walk. You can also carry with you a bowl containing an offering for Terminus: grain, honey and wine are traditional, you can also include an egg as a "sacrifice." When you have walked three times around, dig a hole at the boundary and put your offering into it, then fill in the hole and put a marker stone on top. Another year you can carry a lit incense stick around the boundary and leave an offering of incense and flowers at your stone.

23 de fevereiro é o Terminalia, a festa do deus romano Terminus, deus dos limites que pára intrusos ao mesmo tempo proteger todos dentro de suas fronteiras. Terminus está associado a Zeus / Jupiter porque ele deificado Jupiter, estabelecendo sua posição no topo de Monte Capitolino. Assim, estátuas de Terminus / Jupiter (como esta réplica moderna) simbolizam devoção e firmeza. Hoje é um dia apropriado para criar ou renovar um limite mágico em torno de sua casa, para impedir a entrada de sujeiras psíquicos e quaisquer energias negativas. Uma maneira simples de fazer isso é andar a fronteira de sua casa três vezes, como você então imagine a luz azul mágico surgindo como você anda. Você também pode carregar com você uma tigela contendo uma oferta para Terminus: grãos, mel e vinho são tradicionais, você também pode incluir um ovo como um "sacrifício". Depois de ter caminhado três vezes ao redor, cavar um buraco na fronteira e colocar a sua oferta para ele, em seguida, preencher o buraco e colocar uma pedra marcador no topo. Mais um ano você pode levar uma vara de incenso aceso em torno do limite e deixar uma oferenda de incenso e flores em sua pedra.

23 de febrero es la Terminalia, la fiesta del dios Terminus romana, dios de los límites que se detiene a los intrusos al tiempo que protege todo el mundo dentro de su límites. Terminus está asociado con Zeus / Júpiter porque deificado Júpiter mediante el establecimiento de su posición al frente Colina Capitolina. Por lo tanto, las estatuas de Terminus / Júpiter (como esta réplica moderna) simbolizan la devoción y constancia. Hoy es un día apropiado para crear o renovar una frontera mágica alrededor de su casa, para mantener fuera desagradables psíquicos y todas las energías negativas. Una forma sencilla de hacerlo es caminar el límite de su casa tres veces, mientras lo hace imaginar la luz azul mágica que salte al caminar. También puede llevar consigo un recipiente que contiene una oferta para Terminus: cereales, miel y vino son tradicionales, también puede incluir un huevo como un "sacrificio". Cuando haya caminado tres veces alrededor, cavar un agujero en el límite y poner su oferta en él, a continuación, rellene el agujero y poner una piedra marcador en la parte superior. Otro año se puede llevar a una varilla de incienso encendida en torno al límite y dejar una ofrenda de incienso y flores a su piedra.

BRAZILIAN GAY ICON ELKE MARAVILHA IS A SAINT OF ANTINOUS

WE honour the Russian-born Brazilian drag artiste extraordinaire  ELKE MARAVILHA as a saint of Antinous.

She was born 22 February 1945 and died 16 August 2016 at age 71.

Our 2014 Antinoeiad chamption PIETRO ADJANO of Brazil nominated Elke to become a SAINT OF ANTINOUS.

Pietro says: "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. Half a century ago she emerged as a firebrand of rebellion and liberation.

Elke Maravilha was a work of art in constant metamorphosis and as an artist she pursued the best of artistic paths: She gambled and bet on the possible dream.

Teacher, translator and interpreter of foreign languages, including Latin, she was the youngest French teacher of the French Alliance and the English Cultural Union Brazil - United States.

She said:

'They ask me how I created this style, this look that characterizes me. I say always sought compose this way, of course it was not as now, because today it is all inclusive, with come time finding me more inside and putting what I find out. I often say that I was always like that, only with time I'm getting worse! In fact, always been a bit different train, you know? As a teenager I decided to tear the clothes, disheveled hair, exaggerated makeup on and go out on the street... took me to spit in the face. But it was good because I understood the situation as if they were putting me to the test. Perhaps if my style was not really my inner reality, I would have gone back. But I knew he would never back down. I never wanted to harm anyone! What I want is to play, show me, communicate. "

"I want to live together! Great art is not living, is live together!'

I Pietro Adjano hereby nominate Elke Maravilha to become a saint of Antinous!"

Elke Maravilha - Элке Георгевна Груннупп (1945 - 2016).

...atriz, intérprete musical, apresentadora, modelo. Precursora de um estilo inovador, ousado e único, vem abrindo as possibilidades de caminho estético e comportamental por onde passa e aparece. Elke é uma personalidade artística cujo carisma provoca forte impacto popular, tanto na imagem como na mensagem de alegria, inteligência e irreverência. Devido a isto, já faz parte do imaginário popular brasileiro e pode perfilar com mitos contemporâneos como Carmem Miranda e Artur Bispo do Rosário.

Mesclando exotismo, misticismo, alegria, loucura e profundo conhecimento do humano, sua vibração contagiante a faz mensageira de utopias e portadora de esperanças.

Dra. Nise da Silveira, criadora do Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente, afirmava que Elke é uma Sacerdotisa Dionisíaca, e que, com tal, ilumina caminhos e aquece corações.

Já na década de 60 despontou como símbolo de transgressão e liberação. Visionária como só os que assumem seu delírio, intuiu o movimento holístico e vem exercendo-o tanto em suas relações pessoais como em sua comunicação com o mundo.

Elke Maravilha é uma obra de arte em constante metamorfose e como artista vem trilhando o melhor dos caminhos da arte: Ela apostou e aposta no sonho possível.

Professora, tradutora e intérprete de línguas estrangeiras, incluindo Latim. Foi a mais jovem professora de francês da Aliança Francesa e de inglês na União Cultural Brasil – Estados Unidos;

“Perguntam-me como criei este estilo, este visual que me caracteriza. Digo que sempre busquei compor este jeito, claro que não era assim como agora, pois hoje a coisa é mais abrangente, com o tempo venho me descobrindo muito mais por dentro e colocando o que descubro para fora. Costumo dizer que sempre fui assim, só que com o tempo estou piorando! Na realidade, sempre fui um trem meio diferente, sabe? Ainda adolescente resolvi rasgar a roupa, desgrenhei o cabelo, exagerei na maquiagem e sai na rua... Levei até cuspida na cara. Mas foi bom porque entendi aquela situação como se estivessem colocando-me em teste. Talvez, se meu estilo não fosse verdadeiramente minha realidade interior, eu teria voltado atrás. Mas sabia que nunca iria recuar. Eu nunca quis agredir ninguém! O que eu quero é brincar, me mostrar, me comunicar”.

“Eu quero é conviver! A grande arte não é viver, é conviver"!

MODERN ENGINEERS CAN'T IMPROVE ON ANCIENT ANTINOOPOLIS FLOOD PLAN

 

HADRIAN's ancient engineers created a flood-control system for Antinoopolis so perfect that modern engineers have decided to use it with only minimal upgrades for a 21st Century project to avert flash-flood damage for modern villagers at the site.

As you can see in the 18th Century geological survey map above, a wide dry-river wadi (arroyo, gully or ravine) flows from high cliffs east of the city (top of map) down through the site, emptying into the Nile (at bottom of map).

When rains occur, this arroyo drains an enormous amount of water from nearby desert through the center of the ancient city. 

Why did Antinous decide to build the city on a flash-flood drainage site? First of all, this was the site where Antinous tragically died in the Nile.

But there was another reason: Hadrian recognized that the gap in the cliffs each of the city represented the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for "horizon" ... which is two hills separated by a canyon.

In Abydos and other Egyptian cities, it is believed the souls of the dead traverse this canyon to reach the next world.

"This is an interesting feature of Hadrian’s design and suggests he intended Antinoupolis to be a classical version of the sacred landscape at Abydos where the sacred wadi believed to contain the tomb of Osiris also has a close relationship to the city," says James B. Heidel, president of the Antinoupolis Foundation.

"Of course, Hadrian’s engineers incorporated an unstable, sometimes filled with flash flood water, wadi into the city with a specific hardscape design including a massive stone canalization and multiple bridges to connect the two halves of the city," he writes in his latest newsletter.

Professor Marcello Spanu has been studying these remains. 

We know about the canal walls and the bridges through a series of torrential flash floods and also illegal sand mining with bulldozers that have happened over the last six years or so, the project leader adds.

So, when Egyptian Irrigation Ministry engineers proposed digging a flash-flood control ditch, the Egyptologists showed them the stone works that Hadrian's engineers had put in place 1,900 years ago.

The Egyptian ministry engineers agreed that the ancient flood-control ditch could not be improved upon.

"After many hours of discussion with the quite affable engineer," Heidel says, "he came to understand that Hadrian's designers had already built a major flood control canal in the wadi, and through our urging he promised to simply dig out the ancient canal rather than build a new stone-lined ditch over the top of it."

This news comes only days after the mystery surrounding an INTENTIONALLY BURIED STONE STRUCTURE at Antinoopolis deepened with the discovery of not just one ... but three ... human skeletons interred in sand directly on top of the structure.

With the discovery of the first body last week, archaeologists reluctantly speculated about "human sacrifice" ... but now they believe humans were buried separately but along with sacrificial animals.

The team of archaeologists working at ANTINOOPOLIS in Egypt say the subterranean "stone structure," which they believe may be an underground mortuary temple, is covered by two meters of soil strewn with sacrificial pottery sherds, bones of livestock and a crocodile ... and the skeleton of at least three human beings.

None of the animals was mummified ... nor were the humans,
says James B. Heidel, president of the Antinoupolis Foundation.

Some of the animals ... livestock ... were ritually butchered as normal for a Roman-era sacrifice. But a crocodile was buried intact, without being mummified.

But the human bodies were interred intact, also without being mummified. One of the bodies was accompanied by pottery vessels and ushabti figurines ... small clay dolls representing spirits who tend the deceased in the afterlife. 

The experts are certain that the pottery vessels and the bodies date to the earliest days of the city which Hadrian founded at the site where Antinous died in the Nile.

None of the pottery is later than the 2nd or 3rd Century AD, the experts said ... meaning the sacrificial offerings were made at the time when the city was founded and under construction.

The archaeologists are also certain that the site is intact and has not been disturbed by looters over succeeding centuries.

They found bones of large livestock, which appear to have been butchered prior to burial. An intact crocodile skeleton is seen as proof that the site was used as a religious sacrificial offering venue ... since crocodiles were sacred to Ancient Egyptians and not a source of food.

But the human skeleton is a total mystery. In Roman times, human sacrifice was taboo, but the archaeologists say the human bones mixed in amongst the bones of sacrificial animals and pottery suggest a gruesome possibility.

"The human burial is sealed in the same clean sand layer as all the other offerings, and the not unreasonable, but somewhat uncomfortable, hypothesis must now be that at least one human was sacrificed and offered with the animals," says James B. Heidel, president of the Antinoupolis Foundation.

The pottery and bones are in soil which covers the mystery-shrouded "intentionally buried stone structure" which Heidel's team found in January 2017 in the heart of the city founded by Hadrian at the spot where Antinous died in the Nile.

Using ground-penetrating radar, the experts discovered the rectangular stone structure ... 12 by 22 meters in size ... which consists of three successive chambers. 

The archaeologists suggest it could be an OSIREION ... symbolic Tomb of Osiris ... raising hopes that this could be the Lost Tomb of Antinous.

The structure was detected with ground-penetrating radar.

It is located near the waterfront peristyle discovered last season.

It is within what possibly was the Great Temple of Antinous and is a rectangular chamber which is subdivided into three sub-chambers ... apparently an antechamber, a middle chamber and an inner sanctum.

RARE ROMAN BOXING GLOVES FOUND AT HADRIAN'S WALL FORT

ROMAN boxing gloves have been discovered near Hadrian’s Wall, thought to be the only known surviving examples, even though the sport was well- documented on Roman wall paintings, mosaics and sculptures.

With a protective guard designed to fit snugly over the knuckles, the gloves were packed with natural material which acted as shock absorbers.

They date from around 120 AD and were certainly made to last: they still fit comfortably on a modern hand. One of them even retains the impression of the knuckles of its ancient wearer.

They are among the latest discoveries at a pre-Hadrianic Roman cavalry barrack, which was found last year beneath the fourth-century stone fort of Vindolanda, south of Hadrian’s Wall near Hexham, Northumberland.

Dr Andrew Birley, the Vindolanda Trust’s director of excavations, said: “The hairs stand up on the back of your neck when you realise that you have discovered something as astonishing as these boxing gloves.”

Archaeologists stumbled across the site by chance and were taken aback by extraordinary military and personal possessions left behind by the men and their families some 2,000 years ago. Other finds include complete swords, which are exceptionally rare, even across the north-west provinces of the Roman empire.

The finds are in a remarkable state of preservation because they were concealed beneath a concrete floor laid by the Romans about 30 years after the barracks was abandoned, shortly before 120. Oxygen-free conditions prevented materials such as wood and leather from decaying.

NAZI RESISTANCE FIGHTER HANS SCHOLL WAS GAY ACCORDING TO NEW BOOK

A new book says Nazi Resistance leader Hans Scholl was gay.

Hans and his sister Sophie Scholl have martyr status in Germany as symbols of "popular resistance" against the Nazi regime.

Post-war Germans have held up Hans and Sophie as proof that there was widespread resistance to the Nazi regime.

Of course, there was not any widespread resistance to the Nazi regime. And Hans and Sophie were summarily beheaded after a janitor caught them distributing anti-Nazi leaflets at Munich University. Proving that resistance was futile.

After a show trial, they were beheaded 19 February 1942 ... along with others in their student group.

It has always been assumed they acted out of a love of freedom and democracy ... until now.

This book says Hans hated the Nazis after being arrested for gay sex as a teenager. He was able to say it was all innocent "horseplay" and was released. 

But try as he might, he was not able to deny his gayness.

Gayness was grounds for being sent to a concentration camp, and Hans successfully avoided romantic entanglements ... until he met fellow university student Alexander Schmorell (smoking pipe in photo with Scholl). 

That is when Hans became radicalized.

Hans and Schmorell became lovers ... partners in crime ... and collaborators against the Nazi regime. Sophie Scholl's role in all of it was peripheral ... she helped distribute leaflets ... which was what she was doing when the university janitor caught them red-handed.

Schmorell had not helped distribute leaflets that evening. But he was soon rounded up ... and he was executed a couple of months later along with a host of other "Staatsfeinde" (enemies of the state).

Ironically, it was only a few months ago that the German parliament FINALLY exonerated all persons imprisoned under the Nazi regime's anti-gay laws.

WE HONOR MICHELANGELO AS A SAINT OF ANTINOUS

FEBRUARY 18th is the day when the Religion of Antinous honors Michelangelo, who died on this date.

Saint Michelangelo was the ultimate Renaissance Man, a painter/sculptor/architect/engineer, a man of art and science. A man torn between his passions and his religion. 

In the Renaissance, his voluptuous depictions of the male form were accepted as expressions of the Divine in art. 

It was the Victorians who went into denial over any hint that he may have been gay, despite the fact that he never married.

His male art is done with a passion for detail and obvious love of the male form. The only females he sculpted were maternal figures.

In 1532, he met a handsome young nobleman called Tommaso de Cavalieri. Michelangelo was struck by a romantic feeling that simply would not go away. He wrote sonnet after sonnet for the man as well as producing some rather "personal" sketches for his eyes only.

Michelangelo executed a number of exquisite ink sketches of Jove's Abduction of the beautiful youth Ganymede.

Michelangelo most certainly knew that Jove and Ganymede were synonymous with Hadrian and Antinous. As a man of art and science, all he had to do was look at the nighttime sky and see the Constellation of Antinous (formerly the Constellation of Ganymede).

An older man enthralled with a handsome youth. Our modern concept of "gayness" did not exist. But did he really have to spell it out to Tommaso any more clearly than that?

For thirty-odd years, the two were constant companions, but Michelangelo? s passions did not end there. During his relationship with Cavalieri, he also wrote about some deep feelings for other men in his life, including the 16-year-old Cecchino dei Bracci, for whom he wrote 48 funeral epigrams after his untimely death.

Here is an extract from one of his same-sex love sonnets:

"The love I speak of aspires to the heights; woman is too dissimilar, and it ill becomes a wise and manly heart to burn for her."

For his gentle genius and for his love of male beauty and for representing the best strivings of humanity, we proclaim Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni one of our Blessed Prophets of Homoeros.

Michelangelo reminds us that male beauty IS divine.

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE ANTINOUS PHOTO SELLS FOR $20,000 AT SOTHEBY'S

THIS photograph of the Antinous Capitoline statue by Robert Mapplethorpe fetched 13,750 pounds (nearly $20,000) at auction this week at Sotheby's

It had been estimated at between 8,000 to 12,000 pounds.

It was part of the PASSION & DESIRE auction at Sotheby's in London on 15 February 2018.

Robert Mapplethorpe is a saint of Antinous.

Sotheby's says the sale presented an abundance of historic objects and artefacts which resonate deeply with a contemporary audience; and that have served as the catalyst and inspiration behind many works by the artists, designers and writers of today.

ANTINOUS PRIESTS CONVENE WORLDWIDE AS THE SUN GOES DARK

ANTINOUS worshipers on both sides of the Atlantic and in both the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere tonight celebrated the 2018 Solar Eclipse which coincided this year with the Lupercalia and also with Chinese New Year's and the Aquarius New Moon.

Taking part via Skype were priests and worshippers from around the world. They watched and participated as Flamen Antonius Subia officiated at ceremonies held in the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

The Aquarius New Moon is always a special lunar occurrence. Not only is it Chinese New Year, it is also the ANTINOUS OBELISK MOON in Antinous Moon Magic.

The Aquarius New Moon is always the Chinese New Year, and it usually occurs near or on such festivals as Candlemas, Luminaria, Imbolc and Brighid's Day ... all festivals of shedding light on secrets, oracles (Groundhog Day), revealing secret knowledge, news, predictions.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Obelisk Moon is knowledge in all its forms, knowledge which is gained through study and learning.

This is the Spirit of education, training, schooling, apprenticeship and initiation into knowledge restricted to a few. In ancient times, knowledge of reading and writing was limited to a select few. Language was a matter of sacred symbols, thus the word "hieroglyphs" or "sacred writing" which was given to mortals by the scribe deity Thoth, whose sacred bird is the ibis.

The masses could not read hieroglyphs incised on an obelisk, thus the obelisk became a symbol of secret or arcane knowledge.

The Obelisk of Antinous, which now stands on the Pincian Hill in Rome, was incised with hieroglyphs which, in the 2nd Century AD, almost no one could read, not even Egyptians.

Yet the hieroglyphs on the Obelisk of Antinous give us precious information on the life and religion of Antinous. It is a key font of knowledge about Antinous.

In the Religion of Antinous, the Obelisk represents knowledge which comes from the divine. It represents the liberation from ignorance that knowledge brings about.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ANTINOUS AND THE LUPERCALIA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS 3-D FILM RECREATES SOLDIER'S LIFE AT HADRIAN'S WALL IN 2nd CENTURY AD

A dramatic 3-D documentary film tells the story of a young recruit stationed at Hadrian's Wall in the 2nd Century AD.

The 20-minute film is titled "Eagle's Eye: Edge of Empire" and is being shown at the ROMAN ARMY MUSEUM at VINDOLANDA FORT in northern England. 

The docu-drama focuses on a Roman Legionnaire called Aquila and features "soldiers" played by members of a leading Roman re-enactment society, The Ermine Street Guard.

The $500,000 film commissioned by The Vindolanda Trust was produced by the award-winning, Newcastle-based company, Dene Films.

It comes amidst a $10 million project to renovate the Roman Army Museum near Greenhead and build new facilities at the Roman fort of Vindolanda.

Trust director Patricia Birley says: "The new film is a journey along Hadrian's Wall and is a picture that speaks a thousand words. There is a huge amount of historical information woven into the film and it is thoroughly enjoyable."

Dene Films shot "Edge of Empire" at Walltown Craggs, and different locations along the Wall are providing backdrops for the film, which charts the story of young auxiliary recruit Aquila. A specially-equipped helicopter filmed the views of the wall "seen" by Sima, a white-tailed sea eagle whose bird's-eye view will enhance the film's 3-D effects.

Steve Salam, managing director Dene Films, says: "The film aims to transport people back to Roman times and hopefully they will get a real experience of the wall."

Computer-generated images recreate the World Heritage Site in its 2nd Century AD glory.

The film is at the heart of the new exhibition space at the Vindolanda Roman Army Museum.

LAWRENCE 'LARRY' KING SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON February 12th the Religion of Antinous commemorates the brief life and tragic death of Saint Lawrence "Larry" King, the 15-year-old California schoolboy who was shot to death by a classmate after Larry had asked him to be his Valentine.

Two days before Valentine's Day 2008, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney sat down at a desk behind Larry in science class at a junior high school in Oxnard, California. Without saying a word, Brandon pulled out a .22-caliber revolver and shot Larry in the back.

As Larry slumped to the floor amid screams from horrified students, Brandon quietly stood up and fired a "coup de grace" shot to the back of Larry's head, killing him.

Brandon had teased and taunted Larry for months, ridiculing Larry's sissified mannerisms. He attempted to enlist other boys to beat up Larry. When that failed for lack of interest, he decided to kill Larry and repeatedly vowed to "get a gun and shoot" him.

After weeks and months of teasing by Brandon and other male students who called him "faggot," Larry had started to retaliate by flaunting his sexuality. He wore make-up to school and taunted Brandon by making verbal passes at him.

The day before the shooting, the two boys were bickering during class. When Larry left, a student heard Brandon mutter, "I'm going to shoot him."

Just after that class, another student heard Larry say "I love you" to Brandon as they passed in a hallway. The same student then heard Brandon say he was "going to get a gun and shoot" Larry.

A few minutes later, Brandon told one of Larry's friends: "Say goodbye to your friend Larry because you're never going to see him again."

Larry's death struck a chord with parents, teachers, students and gay-rights advocates concerned that Brandon's bullying of him had been minimized by school authorities.

Since Larry's death, teachers have sought training in how to identify gay and lesbian students who might be struggling with their sexual identity. Teachers also have asked for resources to help students who have already come out or who may be experiencing bullying.

One of the many roles that Antinous the Gay God plays is the role of patron and protector of Troubled Gay Boys and also of Boys in Trouble for Gay-related things.

Larry lost his life because he dared to wear eye makeup and to ask another boy to be his Valentine. And Brandon McInerney faces up to half a century in prison for murdering Larry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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