ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD

THERE is a popular misconception that Antinous was underage when his relationship with Hadrian started. 

But there is no historical evidence that their relationship began before he was a legal adult. 

All sculptural art, without exception, depicts Antinous as a mature male. 

THE MUMMIFICATION OF ANTINOUS AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT

THE newly ordained priests of Antinous were busily overseeing the mummification of his body in the 72 days between his death in late October of the year 130 and early January of 131, many experts believe.

Hadrian founded the city of Antinoopolis on the banks of the Nile where Antinous died and proclaimed the new religion.

While the Emperor continued his tour of Egypt, the priests scurried to carry out his imperial commission.

We do not know for certain what transpired with the remains of Antinous ... or whether they were ever retrieved from the Nile. Perhaps they were cremated. But perhaps the body was mummified.

Using an Antinous Action Figure, we can demonstrate how it may have been done:

We prepared the body by cleansing it with wine. Then we removed the Intestines, Liver, Lungs and Stomach (placing them in Canopic Jars). 

There is a incision mark down his left side to represents where he would have been cut open for the removal of these organs. 

Next we removed the Brains with a hook through the nose (hence the black dot on his nostril). 

The brains were thrown away because the Egyptians felt the heart was the seat of intelligence, not the brain.

We used a basting brush to cleanse him although a hair-dye or cosmetics brush is also applicable. 

The red heart represents the fact that they left the heart in tact, later it will be used in the Weighing-of-the-heart ceremony. 

In the back corner you see Anubis (the God of Embalming) present during this embalming.

We put him in Sea Salt which represents the Natron Salt that the priests would have used. (Himalayan Salt works just as well). 

Then we let him sit in the salt for 40 minutes ... 1 minute for each day the priests would have left the body in the Natron Salt.

Next we wiped him down with spices of Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice with olive oil.

Then the priests would have replaced the eyes with onions stuffed into the sockets. 

Because the salt desiccated the body, then they stuffed the body with mud, sawdust, rags and chaff to make it appear nicely contoured.

Next we began the wrapping process. We used muslin and a mixture of flour and water (1 part to 3 parts) for the paste. 

In ancient times, it took about 15 days to wrap the body and about 20 layers of linen bandages. 

We put Amulets between the layers of Linen … a tiny scarab beetle and a miniature protective eye of Horus.

We allowed him to do a little drying before the final wrapping.

In ancient times the process took 72 days.

In the case of Antinous, this meant his mummy would have been ready for the final ceremonies on January 11th of 131 AD.

By that time Hadrian would have completed his tour of Egypt and would have returned to Antinoopolis for the "Opening of the Mouth Ceremony."

Afterwards, his tomb would have been sealed and the first priests of Antinous would have begun their sacred watch … and the establishment of the new religion.

No one knows the location of the Lost Tomb of Antinous.

ANTINOUS JANUS, OPENER OF THE WAYS

ON January 1 the Religion of Antinous marks the moment the Egyptians called SEP TEPY, the moment of endings and origins, the moment that is not a moment and is every moment, the place that is no place and is every place.

The God Janus, doubled-faced, observes the passage of the common year. Hadrian mourns the tragic death of his Beloved Antinous, who died in October of the year which has now passed.

The Prince of Flowers is dead, and the New God Antinous is rising, just as the STAR OF ANTINOUS will rise in the heavens during the year to come.

Hadrian's Beloved Antinous resides in SEP TEPY, the inner-most celestial sphere, where he is filled with the Semen of the First God which infuses him with godhood.

ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD emerges from that moment which is no/all moments and from that place which is no/all places, and he strides forth as one of the Imperishables of heaven.

The Religion of Antinous recognizes the common calendar and uses the date as a reckoning that pertains only to our place in time and a space within the earthly sphere.

We know that, though our bodies are of Earth, our spirit is of the Heavens, and through the conquest of Antinous over the 72 Archons our spirit is set free.

Father Janus opens the way for the passage of Antinous through the outer limit of the celestial sphere. Janus is the mouth of the serpent that bites its tail, and we observe that as the common year is born, so the liberation of Antinous from our cosmos nears completion, with only eleven heavenly spirits standing before him.

This is the Holy Day of The Gate, the tool of the priesthood of Religion of Antinous. We wash our sacred stones and seek new auguries for the year.