Saturday, April 30, 2022

AT WALPURGIS/BELTANE
WE PRAY TO ANTINOUS AS BELENUS




TONIGHT is Walpurgisnacht also known as Beltane … which we designate as Belenus Night for the Cisalpine Celtic god Belenus, to whom Antinous was compared in an inscription.

I recommend that everyone use this night to cleanse themselves of all negative energy that infiltrates all our lives.

Light two white candles, place them on the floor far enough apart so that you can pass between them without lighting yourself on fire.
Sprinkle a line of salt between the two candles.

Say the prayer:

Antinous of the Underworld 

Open your way of mystery before me

Antinous of the lotus flower 

Spread your love within my heart

Antinous of the heavens 

Shine your starlight upon me


Then say:

May the fire of Belenus 
cleanse and protect me

Then walk between the two candles
Stepping over the line of salt

Conclude with:

 

Ave Antinous Belenus


~FLAMEN ANTONIUS SUBIA

YOU'VE HEARD OF BELTANE AND MAY EVE
BUT WALPURGIS IS INCREASINGLY POPULAR



YOU all know about Beltane and May Eve, but few people today still remember Walpurgis Night ... which is still celebrated on a mountain top in central Germany. 

Up to 150,000 witches, pagans and the simply curious are converging for May Eve revelries on the summit of the highest peak in the Harz Mountains in central Germany Thursday night for the four-day May Day holiday weekend.

Children in spooky costumes will participate in parades and street fairs in villages on the slopes of the Brocken, the mountain immortalised in Alexander Borodin's "Night on Bald Mountain" orchestral suite.

Bonfires will light the nighttime skies on mountain tops in the Harz region as local communities held their own May Day Eve festivals marking the end of winter and the coming of summer.

In the town of Schierke, a four-hour Walpurgis Night open-air play is being held, tracing the history of the persecution of witches, with players performing writhing modern dances to Medieval music.


The day of the Saint Walburga is celebrated on May 1. 

But the night before, April 30 or May Day Eve (Beltane Eve), is called Walpurgis Night, formerly the date of the pagan festival marking the end of winter. 

Of course, its autumnal counterpart, six months later on October 31, is Halloween, Samhain.

Walpurgis Night is celebrated from the Mediterranean up to Scandinavia, but no where as much as in the forested mountains of central Germany where so many Brothers Grimm fairy tales are set.

According to Germanic legend, this festival has been associated with a witches' carnival, and on this night it was believed that witches met with the devil for one final night of revelry before being consigned to the underworld until they emerge again exactly six months later on October 31 ... Halloween.

The Harz Mountains region is the location of many German fairy tales featuring witches and goblins and the Brocken is the highest Harz peak at 1,142 metres.

For 40 years, the region was split down the middle by the fortified border between East and West Germany.

But in the years since unification in 1990, the region has regained its title as one of the most romantic fairy-tale areas ... and spookiest.


The mountain also features in the drama "Faust" about an alchemist nobleman who sells his soul to the devil … on Walpurgis Night.

Friday, April 29, 2022

HOW TO CULTIVATE THE PRESENCE
OF ANTINOUS IN YOUR LIFE


AS priests, we often receive enquiries from people asking how they can be closer to Antinous ... but the answer is that Antinous continually whispers into your ear and comes to you in dream visions.

"It can be a momentary flash or a scent or a sensation," said our spiritual leader ANTONIUS SUBIA during ceremonies in Hollywood California.

"It is easy to dismiss these messages as just a figment of our imagination," he said in the ceremonies, which originated at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous and were shared globally via Zoom with adherents across North America, Europe and Africa.

"But if we open our hearts, we can recognize these momentary flashes for what they are: Antinous is speaking to us," Antonius added.

"And the more we become accustomed to being receptive to these messages, the more Antinous speaks to us," he told the worldwide worshipers.

Antonius issued an appeal for worshipers of Antinous to become mindfully aware of "how Antinous is part of their daily life," he said.

"You have to come to the realization that you are not imagining this, but rather, that it is HOMOTHEOSIS ... Antinous speaking to you.


We can be more intentional with our relationship with Antinous than just waiting for him to come to us. There are many ways to cultivate his presence, from writing in a dream journal to repainting the living room to visiting with a particularly interesting friend or a place. 


Finding what inspires you and consciously cultivating it will give you access to allowing Antinous to communicate new ways of thinking and energy you did not know you had.

There are as many ways to find Antinoian inspiration as there are people looking for it. If you already know what inspires you, find a way to incorporate it into your life on a regular basis. 

If you aren't sure what inspires you, or if it has changed, take some time to think about it. When was the last time you felt the spark of your imagination? When was the last time you acted on an impulse that felt totally right?

When you are in the presence of what inspires you, Antinous taps us on the shoulder and whispers into your, "This is being truly ALIVE!" and you hear his inner guidance more clearly and you have the energy to follow his cues.

If it has been a while since you have been touched by inspiration, you may feel listless and dissatisfied. Know that you can turn things around by remembering what lights you up and bringing that into your life. 

Thursday, April 28, 2022

EGYPTOLOGISTS FIND TEMPLE
THAT ANTINOUS AND HADRIAN VISITED





Egyptian archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a temple for the ancient Greek god Zeus Kasios in the Sinai Peninsula which Antinous and Hadrian visited.


The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement the temple ruins were found in the Tell el-Farma archaeological site in northwestern Sinai. 


Tell el-Farma, also known by its ancient name PELUSIUM, dates back to the late Pharaonic period and was also used during Greco-Roman and Byzantine times. There are also remains dating to the Christian and early Islamic periods.


So they found the Temple of Zeus Kasios in Egypt which Antinous and Hadrian had visited.


There were actually two temples of Zeus Kasios, the original one atop Mount Kasios in Syria near Antioch.  Hadrian and Antinous climbed this mountain and a lightning bolt struck the altar!


The second temple is at Pelusium in Egypt, a port city at the mouth of the Eastern-most branch of tye Nile Delta…this temple was founded by merchants from the city of Ugarit and later settled by Phoenician traders who brought their god from Mount Kasios, the Egyptian version became Egyptianized and bears a striking resemblance to Antinous.  


Three of his images are at the Vatican Museum in the room adjacent to where the Antinous Osiris statues are.  Antinous and Hadrian are also recorded as visiting Pelusium, although only Hadrian is mentioned, we can be sure that Antinous was with him because the Pelusium visit is mentioned immediately before Antinous enters the picture.  There is only one document that records these events. 


Aelius Spartianus wrote all that is known about the events and the mysterious connection between Antinous and Zeus Kasios in the Historia Augusta.


"As he was sacrificing on Mount Casius, which he had ascended by night in order to see the sunrise, a storm arose, and a flash of lightning descended and struck both the victim and the attendant. He then travelled through Arabia and finally came to Pelusium, where he rebuilt Pompey's tomb on a more magnificent scale.  During a journey on the Nile he lost Antinous, his favourite, and for this youth he wept like a woman. Concerning this incident there are varying rumours; for some claim that he had devoted himself to death for Hadrian, and others -- what both his beauty and Hadrian's sensuality suggest. But however this may be, the Greeks deified him at Hadrian's request, and declared that oracles were given through his agency, but these, it is commonly asserted, were composed by Hadrian himself."


The text says that Hadrian renovated the tomb of Pompey (who was murdered at Pelusium) while the article attached says there are inscriptions that say Hadrian renovated the Temple of Zeus Kasios, so this is new information!


Antinous walked among these ruins, he saw the granite columns and inscriptions he prayed in this temple to the mysterious international god whose other temple he unforgettably visited the previous year, and whose image strangely resembled himself and would bear a powerful resemblance to his own future divine images.


The image of Zeus Kasios in Syria is described as a youth holding a lightning bolt, and in the Egyptian version he is shown as a beautiful young god wearing the nemes headdress and the hemhem crown which are both worn by Antinous in his divine images.  It was as though Antinous were looking into the future at his divine self.


AVE ANTINOUS!

ANTONIUS SUBIA


Wednesday, April 27, 2022

WE JOYOUSLY CELEBRATE THE FLORALIA



ANTINOUS assuredly took part in the Floralia, a multi-day Roman feast which started on April 27th in the Republic era, but which began on April 28th in the Imperial era when the Beauteous Boy lived during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.

This day was the start of the Floralia, the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, actors, sex workers, comedies, comic theatre. 


The festival had a licentious, pleasure-seeking atmosphere. In contrast to many festivals which had a patrician character, the Games of Flora were plebeian in nature.

New comedy plays premiered in the theatres. There may have been nocturnal observances, since sources mention measures taken to light the way after the theatrical performances.

In contrast to the Cerealia, when white garments were worn, bright and colorful clothing was customary during the Floralia.

There was dancing and revelry of every sort. Ovid says that hares and goats ... animals considered fertile and salacious ... were ceremonially released as part of the festivities. 

Persius says that the crowd was pelted with peas, beans, and lupins ... all of them also symbols of fertility.

Professional sex workers participated in the Floralia as well as the wine Vinalia festival which commenced on April 23. 

According to the satirist Juvenal, prostitutes danced naked and fought in mock gladiator combat.

Adorn yourself and your home. Make libations of milk and honey to Flora and to Antinous.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARCUS AURELIUS


ON April 26th the Religion of Antinous joyously celebrates the birth of one of the wisest rulers in history, a man hand-picked by the Divine Hadrian personally to become Emperor of Rome.

Marcus Annius Verus was born on this day in the year 121 to a Spanish Roman family, related to Hadrian. From the very start, the young Marcus showed a deep interest in learning and particularly in philosophy.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus had the most profound influence over him, and his truthful and pious nature gained Hadrian's attention and Hadrian is said to have called him "Verissimus", or most truthful, and to have taken an interest in the future of the young philosopher.

Marcus would have been 9 years old when Antinous died, and he is not believed to have been with the court in Egypt.

When Aelius Ceasar died shortly after being chosen Emperor in 138, it is believed that Marcus was Hadrian's next choice. However, the ailing and grieving emperor felt that the 17-year-old Marcus was too young.

So Hadrian decided to elect Antoninus Pius instead, requiring Antoninus to choose Marcus and the son of Lucius, called Lucius Verus, to be Antoninus's successors in turn.

This became known as the Dynasty of the Antonines, the last flowering of the glory that was Imperial Rome.

Hadrian believed that the old Antoninus would only rule for the few years needed to allow Marcus to mature. But instead, Antoninus remained in power far longer than Hadrian, and Marcus was 40 years old when he at last took power.

But the Empire that he inherited was succumbing to more and more trouble along its borders, as the Germanic hordes began their slow migration across the borders. The Philosopher-King Marcus was doomed to spend the majority of his reign leading the armies along the cold northern border.

He was successful in keeping the barbarians outside the Empire, and in maintaining the peace and prosperity in the heart of Rome that had been left to him by Hadrian and Antoninus.


We celebrate the birthday of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.

Monday, April 25, 2022

CHECK OUT THESE GORGEOUS IMAGES
OF ANTINOUS FROM AN ADMIRER




WE love it when people who love Antinous send us unsolicited stories, poems and art. These images were created by our Instagram follower @sonofsekhmetcosplay/ in the Netherlands.




Sunday, April 24, 2022

THE WAR IN UKRAINE
By Our Priest Martinus Campbell



The War in the Ukraine


IN the land across the Black Sea from the region where Antinous was born, an abomination is happening. A homophobic nation is attempting to destroy one where LGBTQ+ rights are mostly protected. We must pray for our LGBTQ+ community brethren there. Pray for peace.


We must remember that no wars were waged in the name of Antinous. I am sure he was able to wield weapons to defend Hadrian and Rome, but there is no evidence he ever did so in battles or war. As a God he was never the focus of warfare. That doesn't mean we can't call on him to protect our community though.


Antinous protect us. Protect our community in Ukraine. Blessed be to you.


MARTINUS
Priest of Antinous

Saturday, April 23, 2022

MEET MARCO ANTINOUS OF EGYPT
By Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia


I have the pleasure to introduce someone very special. A beautiful boy who was very likely one of our brothers.

Mummy of Marco Antinous, encaustic painting on linen, the frieze of the aureus protector in gilded stucco. 


Egyptian civilisation, Roman Empire, 3rd Century. Paris, Musée Du Louvre.

The hauntingly lovely portrait from the heyday of Antinoopolis features the face of a young man with striking, realistic features painted with encaustic (wax-based paint) on thin wood panels and embellished with intricate gold-leaf details.

Portraits like these are highly treasured today. They are often known as FAYOUM PORTRAITS, after the region, near Antinoopolis, where most of them were found. There are fewer than 1,000 extant.

The Ancients believed Antinous worked miracles in the lives of his faithful followers. 

Antinous healed the sick, he granted people love and prosperity, he shielded them from peril.

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

The oracle priests of Antinous could intercede with the God, or followers could appeal directly to Antinous:
 
"There is evidence of oracles at Tarsos and perhaps at Rome itself," Lambert writes. "No doubt it was through these pronouncements and visitations that he wrought miracles and healing for which he evidently became famous in the east."

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


Marco Antinous undoubtedly is one of these children named after Antinous ... undoubtedly a follower of Antinous ... we hail Marco Antinous as our brother in Antinous!

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

Friday, April 22, 2022

ON EARTH DAY
ANTINOUS IS IN YOU HERE AND NOW



FOR us in the Northern Hemisphere it is Spring. For us in the Southern Hemisphere it is Autumn. For Antinous, all moments in time are NOW, all locations in space are HERE ... in your spiritual heart ... HOMOTHEOSIS ... Gay-Man-Godliness-Becoming-the-Same.

Dia da Terra. Para nĂ³s no hemisfĂ©rio norte Ă© Primavera. Para nĂ³s no  HemisfĂ©rio Sul Ă© de Outono. Para Antinous, todos os momentos no tempo Ă© agora, todos os locais no espaço sĂ£o AQUI ... em seu coraĂ§Ă£o espiritual ... HOMOTHEOSIS ... Homem-Deus-Gay-tornou-se o mesmo que-Homem-Deus-Gay.

DĂ­a de la Tierra para nosotros en el hemisferio norte es la primavera . Para nosotros en el hemisferio sur es otoño . Para Antinoo , todos los momentos del tiempo estĂ¡n ahora , todos los lugares en el espacio estĂ¡ aquĂ­ ... en su corazĂ³n espiritual ... HOMOTHEOSIS ... Gay-Hombre-Dios-Ser-el-mismo-como-Gay-Hombre-Dios .

Thursday, April 21, 2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROMA!
By Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia





MATER ROMA,

Thank you for saving me from perdition,
Thank you for giving my life meaning and purpose again
Today you have given me so much joy and mystery
I don't even know what to say sometimes
About the way you work your magic over my life
But I feel your power all around me.
You are with me where ever I go,
Where ever I am...You Are There.
Wolf Mother! 
My Latin forefathers flow through my blood
My allegiance to you will never die
I give my life, my strength, my courage to defend you
...and to restore your glory.
Happy Birthday Roma!

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

THE EROTICON
WHEN ANTINOUS HUNTS A BEAR


ON April 21, as the Sun moves into the Sign of Taurus the Bull, we celebrate the ancient festival of THE EROTICON.

On this day we honor the great God of Love, Eros-Cupid, in his guise as Antinous-Phanes, the "radiant being of light who emerges from the egg of night". 


We also honor the Great God Priapus the divine phallus, the column of male virility, the bestower of the fertility of fields, vineyards, orchards and gardens. Priapus is the axis of the cosmos.

On this date we also commemorate the founding of the city of Rome, Natalis Urbis, personified by the Romans as Our Lady Roma. We celebrate the consecration of her sacred border, and of her birth, and eternal life, and remember that we are her children.

And also on this date we remember the Sacred Bear Hunt. While in Mysia in Asia Minor, in the year 129, the court engaged in a Bear Hunt near the city which Hadrian had founded (on an earlier trip) called Hadrianotherae, "Hadrian's hunting ground". It is the modern-day city of Balikesir in a lovely area of wooded forests and lakes in northwestern Turkey.

Hadrian loved animals and is known to have built tombs for his dogs and horses (according to Royston Lambert) and he loved to hunt. The Bear is the sacred animal of Diana-Artemis, and symbolizes the solitary, forest-roaming character of the Virgin Huntress. In the ferocity of the bear lies the secret of Diana's power, against which Hadrian and Antinous pitted themselves, as shown on the tondo from the Arch of Constantine.

The grand themes of the Eroticon are Love and Sex and Ferocious Anger. The Beast is always lurking inside of us. The mystery teaching surrounding the Bear Hunt involves getting to know your animal instincts -- sex and lust and rage -- and to become one with them and to turn them into powerful allies for your spiritual development.

Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia has expressed this mystical mystery meaning as follows:


"Antinous, under Hadrian's guidance, was an accomplished hunter, indeed it is perhaps his natural skill and bravery in the chase that elevated him to the absolute love and adoration of Hadrian. The Emperor was madly in love with hunters, and Antinous was one of the best. Antinous had perhaps been silently stalking and hunting the Emperor's favor for quite some time, and now, in Asia, in the sacred Hunting Grounds of Hadrian, Antinous closed in on the heart of his prey and captured the Emperor completely. In our commemoration of the Sacred Bear Hunt we recognize that Artemis and Antinous are twin deities, and we seek the Dianic-Artemis-Bear within ourselves."

HADRIAN'S PANTHEON BECOMES A SUNDIAL
FOR THE FOUNDING OF THE CITY OF ROME



THE crowds of tourists at Hadrian's Pantheon witness a spectacular light show on April 21, the anniversary of the founding of Rome, when a ray of sunlight illuminate the temple portals.

The phenomenon, similar to one on the March Equinox, is one of the mysteries that have always surrounded what lies behind the unusual design of the Pantheon, the giant temple in the heart of Rome that was built by the Emperor Hadrian.

Now experts have come up with an intriguing theory – that the temple acted as a colossal sun dial, with a beam of light illuminating its enormous entrance at the precise moment that the emperor entered the building on the anniversary of the founding of the city of Rome each April 21.

Constructed on Hadrian's orders and completed in 128 AD, the Pantheon's hemispherical dome is punctured by a 30 foot-wide circular hole known as the 'oculus'.

It provides the interior of the building with its only source of natural light and allows in rain and – on rare occasions – snow.

Giulio Magli, a historian of ancient architecture from Milan Polytechnic, Italy, and Robert Hannah, a classics scholar from the University of Otago in New Zealand, have discovered that at precisely midday during the March equinox, a circular shaft of light shines through the oculus and illuminates the Pantheon's imposing entrance.

A similar effect is seen on April 21, which the Romans celebrated as the founding date of their city, when at midday the sun beam strikes a metal grille above the doorway, flooding the colonnaded courtyard outside with light.

The dramatic displays would have been seen by the Romans as elevating an emperor into the realm of the gods – a cosmological affirmation of his divine power as he entered the building, which was used as an audience hall as well as a place of worship.

He was in effect being "invited" by the sun to enter the Pantheon, which as its name suggests was dedicated to the most important deities of the Roman world.

"The emperor would have been illuminated as if by film studio lights," said Professor Magli.

"The Romans believed the relationship between the emperor and the heavens was at its closest during the equinoxes. It would have been a glorification of the power of the emperor, and of Rome itself."

The sun had a special significance for the Romans, as it did for the ancient Egyptians.

The god Apollo was associated with the sun, and the emperor Nero was depicted as the Greek sun god Helios in a giant statue called the Colossus, which gave its name to the Colosseum.

One of antiquity's most remarkable examples of engineering, the Pantheon's fine state of preservation is thanks to the fact that it was converted into a church in the seventh century, when it was presented to the Pope by the Byzantine Emperor Phocas.

It retains its original bronze doors and marble columns, some of which were quarried in the Egyptian desert and transported by the ship down the Nile and across the Mediterranean to Rome at huge expense.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

SLAIN GAY PARISIAN POLICEMAN
IS A BLESSED SAINT OF ANTINOUS



ON April 20th we honor gay French police officer Xavier JugelĂ© who laid down his life when an Islamic extremist opened fire on Paris' Champs Elysees on 20 April 2017.

He is a saint of Antinous. 

At a memorial ceremony, Jugele’s husband, Etienne Cardiles, paid loving tribute to his late partner.

"This pain makes me feel closer to your comrades who suffer in silence like you and me," Cardiles said, holding back tears. He described Jugele as a man who lived "a life of joy and huge smiles."

"I have no hatred, Xavier, because it is not like you and does not fit with what made your heart beat," he added. "Nor what made you a guardian of the peace."

A spokesperson for the French association of LGBT police officers described Jugelé as "a simple man who loved his job, and he was really committed to the LGBT cause."

"He was aware of the risks of the job and the terrorist threat," said Mickaël Bucheron, "although we did not speak a lot about it."

Jugelé, 37, grew up in Romorantin-Lanthenay in central France and was in a civil union with Cardiles.

He had been among the first responders when DAESH Islamic State terrorists attacked Paris' Bataclan theater in 2015, and was actually preparing to leave the Paris gendarmes to join the Judicial Police, which pursues suspects and serves search warrants, among other duties.

After his death, flags at police stations across France flew at half-mast, and President Francois Hollande made him a posthumous knight of the Legion d’Honneur.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS
SAINT OF ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD


THE Religion of Antinous honors St. John Addington Symonds, the English poet and literary scholar who shocked Victorian sensibilities by openly promoting the cause of same-sex love.

John Addington Symonds was born on 5 October 1840, to a wealthy middle-class family in Bristol England. His father was a liberally minded doctor with connections and close friendships with many of the most illustrious and forwards minds of the time.

It was this environment of Victorian middle-class sexual repression that caused John Addington Symonds to blossom into one of the first and most prolific proponents for the cause of love between men.

While teenager in school, he was awakened by Plato to the awareness of love between boys among his schoolmates and almost immediately and unhesitatingly came out of the closet, even to his father, who was initially dismayed but ultimately supportive.

From then on, Symonds devoted his entire life to the study of homosexuality through art and history. He was the most pronounced defender of the ancient and glorious legacy of love between men, and a champion of social change.

He was a deep admirer of Walt Whitman, and later worked closely with Edward Carpenter, and Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, co-founding the British Institute for Sexual Science, which advocated a methodical study to overturn the laws against homosexual love.

For his life-long work and devotion, and for his early recognition and exultation of his sexuality, John Addington Symonds is a canonized Saint of the Religion of Antinous.


The most sacred of his many contributions to the enlightenment of our freedom are the words that he wrote about Antinous, whose beauty he glorified with poetry and elegance in the language of a lover of the homosexual, erotic beauty of Our God. John Addington  Symonds died in Rome on the 19th of April 1893.

Monday, April 18, 2022

ANTINOUS HOLDS YOU IN HIS HEART
AND SENDS YOU LOVING SUPPORT



MILLIONS of LGBTIQ people are feeling angry, depressed, isolated, frightened and abandoned in these troubled days.

Remember always that Antinous holds you in his heart ... Antinous sends gratitude and love to you for all you do and for being you. 

Here are a few survival tips:

- If you are feeling depressed, isolated, scared, remember that you aren't alone. Reach out for support. If you don't know who can support you, send priests of Antinous a message. We are here and can also refer you to other places. 

- Avoid burnout while resisting. Find a sustainable way to resist. Sign a petition, write a letter, go to a demonstration, donate money if you can, reach out and talk to people. Do what you can and remember that this will be a long struggle. Keep yourself strong. 

- Act locally ... do something concrete to help people who are struggling right now. Stay connected to community. 

- Practice self care. Do things that keep you grounded, strong, and healthy.

- Limit consumption of depressing news and posts. Stay informed, but don't overdo it. 

- Remember the beautiful things in life. Don't ignore what is hard. Just remind yourself that there is much beauty and much love in the world. 

Wherever you are, whatever woes beset you, take heart because Antinous promises that #LoveWins! #LoveAlwaysWins. 

Sunday, April 17, 2022

SAINT SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ


ON April 17th the Religion of Antinous honors Saint Sor Juana InĂ©s de la Cruz, 17th Century Mexican nun, scholar, poet, scientist, playwright, musician and lesbian.

She was exceptional not only for her intelligence and beauty, but also because she wrote literature centered on intellectual and sexual freedom.

In the poem "Redondillas" she defends a woman's right to be respected as a human being. "Hombres necios" (Stubborn men) criticizes the sexism of the society of her time, and pokes fun at men who publicly condemn prostitutes, among other things, but privately hire them.

She also has a philosophical approach to the relative immorality of prostitution. This was exemplified when she posed the question, "Who sins more, she who sins for pay or he who pays for sin?"

In the romantic comedy entitled "Los empeños de una casa" about a brother and a sister entangled in a web of love, she writes using two of her most prominent themes, love and jealousy.

She did not moralize, but rather, in the spirit of her lifetime interests, inquired of how these deeply emotional matters shaped and carved a woman's pursuit of liberty, knowledge, education and freedom to live her life in self-sovereignty.

Her revolutionary writings brought down upon her the ire of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of the 17th Century. She was ordered to tone down the sexuality of her writings. She did not.


However, powerful representatives from the Spanish court were her mentors and she was widely read in Spain, being called "The Tenth Muse". She was lauded as the most prominent poet of the post-conquest American Continent. Her work was printed by the first printing press of the American Continent in Mexico City.

She is believed to have penned 4,000 works, but only a few have survived. They were rescued by the Spanish Viceroy's wife, who was rumoured to be her female lover. In April 1695, after ministering to the other sisters struck down by a rampant plague, she is said to have died at four in the morning on April 17th.

For her love of learning and her devotion to the beauty of sexuality and for her courage to write about controversial things in the face of the Spanish Inquisition, we honor Saint Sor Juana as a Prophet of Homoeros.

Friday, April 15, 2022

JEAN GENET ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SAINT
HE IS A SAINT OF ANTINOUS


ON April 15th the Religion of Antinous remembers Jean Genet as a Saint of Antinous.

Saint Jean Genet was one of the first and most modern gay poets, whose elegance and sordid love for the street life was unprecedented, and has never been matched.

Among his most fervent desires, expressed from the very beginning was that he should one day be elevated to Sainthood.


We of the Religion of Antinous, fully and faithfully, take faith in the spirit of Saint Jean Genet, through whom the eternal voice of Antinous spoke with the most voluptuousness and vain-glory.

Saint Jean Genet died on this day in Paris in1986.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

PAGAN JOURNALIST MARGOT ADLER
IS A SAINT OF ANTINOUS



WE honor Margot Adler as a Saint of Antinous the Gay God.

She was a pioneering modern pagan and well-respected all-round journalist who enabled millions of listeners on NPR radio in North America to get a balanced and informed view of paganism. 


She reported on news and current affairs from New York City ... most notably the 9/11 tragedy ... and her listeners respected her religious beliefs were did not make her "weird" or "demonic."

Margot Adler authored DRAWING DOWN THE MOON, a 1979 book about Neopaganism which was revised in 2006 to include our own modern Religion of Antinous.

The book is considered a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US.

For many years it was the only introductory work about the American Neopagan communities. And it mentions Antinous ... and our new religion!

SIR JOHN GIELGUD
SAINT OF ANTINOUS


ON April 14th the Religion of Antinous honors one of our most blessed thespian saints and martyrs, St. John Gielgud, who was born on this day in 1904.

The most terrible moment in John Gielgud's life -- on which he maintained a public silence for 50 years -- was the subject of a critically acclaimed play in the London West End.

The play, entitled "Plague Over England", was about the scandal which swept across Britain in 1953 when John Gielgud was arrested by an undercover policeman in a public toilet in London.

But the 2008 play was concerned with much more than Gielgud's arrest in on the charge of "importuning for immoral purposes". The play showed the plight of gay men in the 1950s Cold War atmosphere when gays were associated with Communist espionage. 

Its characters include the producer who nearly ended his career, the virulently anti-homosexual Lord Chief Justice Rayner Goddard, an American fleeing his own country's anti-Communist paranoia, and a doctor who claims to "cure" same-sex attraction with "Clockwork Orange"-style electric shock therapy.

Homosexuals had long been feared and hated in England as men who, it was believed, preyed on the innocent young, and were thus unfit to lead normal, happy lives. Until 1967, they risked prosecution for what the law called "acts of gross indecency between male persons", even in private, and could be arrested for merely showing -- in a police spy's opinion -- an intent to commit them.

Police throughout England were alert for any hints of homosexual behaviour. Just before Gielgud was arrested, two prominent high-class gay men had been uncovered as KGB spies, resulting in a further crackdown on all gay activities. The officer who arrested Gielgud was part of a Metropolitan Police squad established in 1930 that regularly lurked in central London toilets.


The year in which Gielgud came to grief in a Chelsea public convenience was a particularly dangerous one for homosexuals, as the increased frankness of the period allowed politicians, the police, and the press to profit by inflaming public hysteria, warning that a "plague" or "epidemic" of sodomy and Communism was sweeping the land.

The climate of fear was chilling to gay men who paid even the slightest attention to the news.

Gielgud, however, was, in his own words a "silly gubbins" who took no notice of anything outside of acting. On October 21, following the rehearsal for the play "A Day By the Sea", this supremely unworldly man, then 49, had a few drinks at a party and then visited a public lavatory popular with "cottagers" -- English gay slang for men who cruise toilets.

Arrested, and aware that he should give a false identity, he said he was a clerk called Arthur (his real name) Gielgud. The next day he  appeared before a magistrate who did not know who he was, fined him 10 pounds, and ordered him, with the disdain and sexual ignorance of the period, to "see your doctor the moment you leave this court".

Unfortunately, a better-informed Evening Standard reporter was there, too. When that afternoon's paper hit the streets, he was on the front page.

You can imagine the shame and the terror with which Gielgud turned up at rehearsal (he had considered suicide) for the role of a bachelor diplomat whose mother worries that he is lonely and unloved.

But the company, led by his co-star, Dame Sybil Thorndike, in fact welcomed him with open arms. "Oh, John," she said, in one of the most magnificent double entendres of all time, "you HAVE been a silly bugger!"



The producer of "A Day By the Sea", however, the immensely powerful Binkie Beaumont, saw the newspaper articles and the hate mail, and worried that the public would stay away. 

Yet his thoughts of firing the star were thwarted by Gielgud's brother, Val, who applied a little judicious blackmail about Binkie's very own private life.

Everyone was nervous that the audience might react with silence or even boos.


But as the curtain came down he was cheered to the rafters.

Gielgud was known for having a penchant for anonymous bathroom sex -- It's one of the reasons his knighthood (just a few months before the arrest) was postponed for years. He even had a "cruising cap" for such forays, an attempt to disguise himself so as to avert detection by fans who might recognize him.

The arrest had important consequences, and not only for Gielgud, who was told by the British embassy in Washington to forget about a planned American production of "The Tempest". because he might prove "an embarrassment".

Afterwards, the floodgates opened as the public was confronted by the disturbing fact that an extremely distinguished and beloved artist was one of the people they, in theory, despised. The fuss contributed to the Wolfenden Commission, set up the following year to study prostitution, taking on homosexuality as well. Its recommendations eventually led to decriminalisation in Britain.

While the affair broke Gielgud emotionally, he put himself back together in a way that made him better suited to a theatre in a world of greater change and upheaval.


For his talent and for his courage, the Religion of Antinous honors Saint John Gielgud as a Prophet of Homoeros.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

AS HADRIAN VISITED MEMPHIS
THE SPIRIT OF ANTINOUS
WAS WITH VENUS URANIA



AS Hadrian visited the city of Memphis in spring of 131 AD, the spirit of Antinous had journeyed to the heavens, having crossed the darkness of the Saturnine Sphere.  

Antinous reached the shore of Venus Urania, the goddess of celestial love, who had arisen from the severed testicles of Uranus.  

Plato revealed that it was from Venus Urania that gay love arose, which he called celestial love, the highest form of love.  

Antinous ascended from the earthly realm to the sphere of Celestial Love, where Venus Urania ignited the flame of Homotheosis within his heart, aligning him with the semen of the first god Atum-Phanes, the cosmic Narcissus.  

Venus embraced Antinous as her son giving him the power of love and beauty making him the new HomoEros from whom Homotheosis flows.  

We Antinoans praise our mother Venus who gave us the blessing of being gay, of being Uranian, in whom celestial love and Homotheosis blossom like a pink lotus flower, from the semen of the first god within our hearts. 

AVE VENUS URANIA

HADRIAN RETURNS TO MENNEFER (MEMPHIS)
CITY OF THE GREAT WHITE WALLS

 



AFTER the death of Antinous in October 130 AD, grief-stricken Emperor Hadrian continued alone on his tour of Egypt, returning finally to the great city of Mennefer/Memphis in spring of 131 AD, the city which he and Antinous had seen with eyes of wonder only a few months before.

Now archaeologists have unearthed fragments of the fabled "White Walls" of the Egyptian city of Mennefer ... walls which Alexander the Great saw and which Hadrian and Antinous saw when they visited the land of the Nile in 130 AD.

The White Walls surrounded the enclosure of the Great Temple of Ptah compound. They were visible at a great distance and were so impressive that the temple became synonymous with Egypt itself.

Scientists from the Egyptology Studies Center of Russian Academy of Sciences (CESRAS) claim to have found white stones which were the foundation of the huge walls that used to surround the ancient Egyptian capital currently known under its Greek name, Memphis.

The success of the Russian effort to bring to light part of the 5,200-year-old walls was confirmed by Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty.

"Several white limestone fragments of the ancient capital's wall were discovered during excavation work," he said.

The Egyptians called their capital city Mennefer (Location of Beauty) or Memphis in Greek. 
Another ancient name for the city was Ineb-hedj, meaning "White Walls" or "White Fortress".

The White Walls were such a landmark that the sprawling Temple of Ptah compound … The House of the Ka of Ptah (Haut-Ka-Ptah) … became synonymous with the land itself: Hautkaptah, Aegypto, Egypt.

Memphis was founded 5,200 years ago by the First Dynasty Pharaoh Menes – who is believed to have united Upper and Lower Egypt into one single kingdom. He became something of a mythical figure, with ancient texts saying he inherited the throne directly from the god Horus.

He is thought to have reigned for 62 years and was eventually killed by a hippopotamus.

Memphis was located at the mouth of the Nile Delta and held the royal palaces of the Pharaohs.

Kamal Wahid, director of the administration of Giza antiquities told The Cairo Post: "Unlike royal tombs, pyramids, mortuary and cult-related temples and any other buildings related to the afterlife, ancient Egyptian royal palaces, administrative offices, houses and other life-related buildings were often made of mud brick."

But the main reason why few ruins have been found at Memphis is because the city was used as a quarry when Cairo was founded just a few kilometers down stream. Palaces, temples and walls were dismantled and carried stone by stone to build the new capital of Egypt.

In a sense, Memphis never ceased to exist ... it lives on as Cairo.

In 130 AD, Hadrian and Antinous arrived in splendor at Mennefer/Memphis the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom.


Pictured here is the Memphite triad with a very white-skinned king who resembles Antinous.

The Memphite cosmology held that the god Ptah was the creator of the universe, that out of fire he created Atum and the Ennead of the Heliopolis. 

Ptah created the Atum from his burning heart and speech, and then the Atum created the world with his hands and semen. 

In later days Ptah would become a ruler of the underworld, or more specifically, of what lied beyond these world, he was the root of the root. 

He was accompanied two other goddess, Sekhmet-Bast, the Lion-Cat Goddess who represents destruction and Nefertum, their son, whose name means "the accomplisher of Atum" and represents preservation and healing.

Another son of Ptah and Sekhmet-Bast was Maahes, the lion-headed boy god of war, protection, knives, lotus blossoms and also vanquishing enemies of light and justice.

Yet another deity associated with Ptah at Memphis/Mennefer was the dwarf deity Ptah-Pataikos ... who at first glance resembles BES, but who appears to represent all Egyptian dwarf deities.

Ancient Egyptian dwarfs were assumed neither fully adult or pre-pubescent and assumed part of both human and animal realms. Patakoi symbolised youthful solar gods. 

The symbolic aspect was the solar affinities of dwarfs reflecting the idea of regeneration.

They assumed the role of protectors of small children and were strongly connected with fertility and magical amulets. 

The dwarf Ptah-Pataikos-Sokar amulets were concerned with both the living and the dead ... the Ptah-Patakoi guarded the living, especially children, and what appears to be an insignificant figurine is in reality a beautiful and magical amulet.

Hadrian arrived at Memphis in the spring of 131 on his return trip down the Nile. Memphis was the original capital of the Old Kingdom founded by King Narmer who unified Egypt, and founded the city where the two kingdoms met.  

The Memphite cosmology held that Ptah was the creator of the universe, that out of fire he created Atum and the Ennead. Ptah created Atum from his burning heart and speech, and then Atum created the world with his semen. 

Ptah was accompanied by his consort Sekhmet, the lion goddess and Nefertum, their son, whose name means "the accomplisher of Atum" and represents regrowth, healing and beauty.  

Ptah was the patron of builders, artists and craftsmen and his priests created the most advanced library of mathematics, geometry and architecture in the ancient world.  

He was later seen as a god of the underworld through association with tombs.  

The name for the Temple of Path is the origin of the Greek word for the whole country of Egypt.  It was the Priests of Ptah who constructed the Pyramids of Saqqara and Giza using their mystical understanding of geometry.  

Among these priests was one of the few non-royals to be deified, the enigmatic magician Imhotep.  The capital of Egypt was moved to Thebes during the New Kingdom, but Memphis continued to be the largest city. 

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras studied mathematics for 20 years at Memphis, but when the Persians invaded, he was taken captive to Babylon where he learned from the Chaldeans before returning to Greece to found his own school.  

The Persians burned Thebes and transferred the capital back to Memphis and when Alexander invaded, it was at Memphis that he accepted the surrender of the Persian Satrap.  

Memphis was the first Ptolemaic capital, where the body of Alexander was kept until Alexandria was constructed and the capital moved again.  

Memphis was still vibrant during Hadrian’s visit but was in slow decline until it was completely destroyed for the building materials of Cairo. 

The earliest recorded gay couple in history lived in Memphis, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum who were chief manicurists for the 5th dynasty Pharaoh, they are buried together at Saqqara and are shown embracing and kissing. 

We praise the ancient sacred city of Memphis and may the blessings of the great god Ptah be with us.