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.

CELEBRATING AN ANTINOUS FACEBOOK PAGE FOR ANTINOMANIACS LIVING IN BRITAIN

WE are proud to celebrate the eighth anniversary of British Antinous Priest Martinus Campbell's Facebook page devoted to Antinous.

Below is one of his exclusive, first-person posts, and his followers are continually impressed with the scope of Martinus's knowledge and the depth of his devotion to Antinous. CLICK HERE to follow all of his posts!

Martinus writes:

Today I am showing you a UK based bust of Antinous about which I know some history. You can find it at the magnificent Hampton Court Palace, just West of London - the favoured home of King Henry the VIII and his 7 unfortunate wives.

It is Roman and created in the first century AD. Made of marble it stands 100 cm (3.28 feet) tall. It was acquired by King Charles I, of Great Britain during his ill-fated reign (1600-49).

Antinous is depicted wearing an ‘Attic’ helmet (meaning inspired by ancient Greek designs). Experts classify the attic, in this case, by the diadem-shaped band and the short neck guard. It is surmounted by a very worn sphinx resting on a wedge-shaped base. 

The sphynx’s tail divides in two at the back and forms two scrolls on the sides of the helmet. 

It is a style that Hadrian may have designed himself.

During his reign, Charles I put together an important collection of Roman antiquities. 

It is believed that this portrait bust of Antinous was acquired by Charles I around 1625 and that it was one of the marble portraits from the Gonzaga collection in Mantua, Italy, that were sold to Charles I by Duke Vincenzo II.

It is remarkable that it has survived in the Royal collection. The English Civil War (1642–1651) resulted in King Charles being beheaded and the aristocracy being  replaced by the new 'Commonwealth' republic, ruled by Oliver Cromwell.

This lasted for 5 years until Cromwell died and young King Charles II was given the throne. Like most revolutions the great houses of the exiled or executed elite were raided and looted.

Somehow this Antinous survived. Hadrian protected it. In reality it was probably too heavy to carry!

DID YOU KNOW THAT PIZZA WAS INVENTED BY AENEAS?

FEBRUARY 9th is Pizza Day ... Did you know that pizza was invented by Aeneas? The origin of pizza is in Virgil's Aeneid! The hero Aeneas sails the seas with other fugitives from Troy. They seek a new home. They are starving when they land on the shores of Italy. They only have some stale round loaves of bread to eat. They collect some "fruits of the field" (cheese? herbs? garlic?) and put these on top of the thin base. “Hey! We’re even eating our tables!” says Ascanius, the son of Aeneas. (Heus! Etiam mensas consumimus inquit Iulus!) Immediately, Aeneas remembers a prophecy: When you arrive at a place so tired and hungry that you eat your tables, you will know you have reached your promised land. Antinous remembers this story when he and Hadrian order pizza ... delivered by their lararium winged genius! So when you eat pizza, remember to quote the words of the son of Aeneas: Heus! Etiam mensas consumimus!

I FOUND THE ANTINOUS TEMPLE OF BITHYNIUM-CLAUDIOPOLIS! By FLAMEN ANTINOALIS ANTONIUS SUBIA

I AM not even sure what I was searching for at the time, but I literally stumbled onto the location of the mysterious Temple of Antinous in his hometown in the city of Claudiopolis that is now known as Bolu, Turkey.

(See the photos at the bottom of this entry.)

It was in a Turkish language website but had a map of excavations made in 1978. I recognized a familiar name, Antinoos and the turkish word "Mabeti" which means Sanctuary. 

With the aid of the drawing, it was easy to locate its location with google maps. It is located on a hill top that may have once been the citadel of Bithynium-Claudiopolis and the sacred precinct. 

Below to the left or east is the town center where the ancient agora and administrative town center was and still is today. 

On the south, or "sunny side" at the bottom of the hill, are the remains of a stadium. An inscription in Greek was found along the steps of the stadium which names Hadrian as its builder. 

The website says that a frieze and a column were found at the Antinous sanctuary that are now located in the Bolu Museum. I found what I think they mean to be the frieze, which has an inscription in Greek that names Hadrian.

I cannot find exactly what column they are referring to that specifies that it was found at this location ... there are a few pieces of columns that are displayed with the frieze,

The Stadium was where the Sacred Games of Antinous took place in Bithynium-Claudiopolis. What is interesting is that the Temple or Santuary of Antinous was located right above the stadium, overlooking it, so that it would seem to be watching over the games.

From the google satellite image we can see regularly spaced dots, no idea what these are but they must be very large, like maybe the bases of columns, but they are not arranged in a recognizable temple shape. 

If they are column bases, perhaps they were like a crypt level that held up the floor of a temple above, or perhaps it was a "hypostyle" temple like you see in Egypt. 

The only other description on the map says "Su Deposu" which means "water tank" ... very mysterious. So was this part of the ancient temple? Was there a water feature, fountains, an artificial stream? 

The tank was at the highest point on the hill, was this part of the Antinous temple, or just the drinking water tank for the hilltop complex ... or was it both? How was it supplied?

Our friend and Cappel Meister, Dorian Agaric, recently visited Bolu. He visited the museum and as I recall mentioned seeing the steps of the Stadium. But I do not think he knew how close he was to the actual TEMPLE OF ANTINOUS BITHYNIUM-CLAUDIOPOLIS ... I would love to hear what his recollections are about visiting the sacred city.

The only way we are ever going to know what is going on there on that hill is for someone to go there and see for themselves, because I don't think we are going to information for casual visitors. There will be fences to jump over and authorities to avoid ... most likely, from what you can tell by looking at the latest depressing streetview images of that area ... I doubt anyone will even care.

For me this is one of the most important discoveries of my life, to see it for myself where the original temple of Antinous was in his home town ... a place that we can visit and connect with our ancient ancestors who were members of our religion.

Now we know where one of the most important temples of our Religion was located.

May Antinous bless us with this knowledge,
and why it was given to us now

~FLAMEN SUBIA

Pic1-The 1978 Map

Pic2 -Google map with my outline where the temple is

Pic3- The Stadium steps

Pic4-closeup of steps

Pic5- This is a drawing of where the Antinous Temple was 

(not made by me)

Pic6-Frieze which names Hadrian, 

which we assume is the one referred to on the website

Pic7-most depressing picture of all...

what this site currently looks like....

according to Google Street View

Pic8-map of city center of Bolu, "A" marks the spot

Pic9-My coin that shows a very weathered 

but still recognizable image of Hadrian on the front 

and a clear image of a temple on the back 

that says BEITHINIAS

WE PRAY TO ANTINOUS/DIANA TO GUIDE US IN OUR HUNT BY MOONBEAMS

TONIGHT, February 7th,  is one of the festivals of Diana goddess of the Moon and hunting in her guise as lunar deity Selene. 

She is goddess of wild places and wild animals and the protector of young women, pregnant women and those giving birth. 

Diana is the twin sister of Apollo. 

As Antinous is often assimilated to Apollo, he therefore substitutes as the twin of Diana, though he can often be viewed as her male double, so that Antinous is Diana. 

Antinous and Diana are both hunters, and moon deities, and they are also gods of magic and darkness. 

Diana is often compared to Hecate, the supreme goddess of Theurgian magicians, who rose to prominence during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 

Antinous therefore is the male equivalent of Hecate.

ANTONIUS SUBIA says: "We pray to Diana to guide us in our hunt and to illuminate our nights with the silver light of her sublime power. We recognize that the Moon of Diana is the Moon of Antinous."

WEREWOLVES WERE WELL-KNOWN IN THE DAYS OF ANTINOUS

FEBRUARY 6th is National Werewolf Day, when we remember that even a man who is pure in heart ... and who says his prayers by night ... can become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms ... and the Moon is full and bright.

It is difficult to say precisely when the story of the werewolf first developed, but wolf-men were well-known in Greek and Roman times. 

The twins Romulus and Remus had been suckled by a she-wolf, and so the idea of the human/wolf hybrid was ingrained in the Roman psyche from an early date.

Shape-shifters were quite common in Greek and Roman mythology.

One of the very earliest depictions of a wolf-man is on an Etruscan Black Figure Plate from the 5th Century BC with decoration representing Hercules pursuing the centaur Nessos in the presence of Deianira ... and at center a wolf-man.

Usually, the metamorphosis from human to animal form often occurred as a direct result of divine punishment ... the gods condemning an individual on the basis of pride, boastfulness or blasphemy.

Pliny the Elder described the lycanthropic shape shifting of a man into a wolf by the gods following an act of cannibalism.

Early in the 1st Century AD, the Roman poet Ovid wrote "Metamorphoses," in which which King Lycaon (from whom we get the term "Lycanthrope") offended the gods by serving them human flesh.

Wanting to see if Zeus/Jupiter was truly omniscient, he slaughtered men and served them for dinner.

In return, Zeus turned Lycaon into a man-wolf and killed his 50 sons with lightning bolts. He is shown here holding a wicked meat axe.

Forget the Hollywood full-moon myths ... a werewolf can change at any time ... if the wolf-man has the right clothes! Some ancient myths speak of cloaks or belts which enable a human to become a wolf.

In the "Satyricon," Petronius writes of such a transformation: "And when I looked for him ... I was appalled to see he had stripped off naked and placed his queer garments by the roadside ... whereupon he walked in a circle round the heap of clothes, urinating a protective ring about them upon the ground ... and then ... as I watched in dread ... he transformed into a wolf!"

Emperor Hadrian had a fascination for magic and strange customs ... he must have told Antinous many weird bedtime tales of uncanny things he had heard in his travels.

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. 

THE RIDDLE OF THE ROMAN DODECAHEDRON IS UNRAVELED AT LAST BY NIMBLE FINGERS

MORE than 100 of these strange objects are known to exist, and their purpose remains a puzzling mystery that has baffled archaeologists since their first discovery.

All throughout Europe, small geometric objects known as Roman dodecahedrons have been recovered. 

As far north as Hadrian's Wall, and further south toward the Mediterranean, the dodecahedrons, usually made of bronze or stone, are seldom larger than about eight to ten centimeters in size. 

So what was their purpose?

No written records mention them, and experts have come up with many suggestions.

They could have been gaming pieces or weapons or even impediments strewn ahead of invading armies to cripple cavalry horses.

Others have speculated that they may hold religious or cultural significance, and some have gone so far as to presume they could have been useful in determining the proper times for planting various crops throughout the year.

But was there a simpler and more practical use … a use that was literally at our fingertips?

And for one man, this kind of practical thinking led him to finding a unique use for the Roman dodecahedrons… as well as a possible solution to their creation in ancient times.

In the video below, YouTube user Martin Hallett offers his own thoughts about what the Roman dodecahedrons might have been used for, demonstrating a fascinating potential solution to their design … and an interesting, but creative outcome as well.

Using a 3D printer, he had a scale replica of one of the dodecahedrons made, and then went to work experimenting… with knitting yarn.

His breakthrough came when he realized the holes in the dodecahedron always come in five different sizes ... just as human fingers always come in five different sizes. 

He deduced that these strange objects must have served some practical purpose related to fingers.

And the answer was indeed right at his fingertips ….

WAS THIS LAPTOP TAKEN BACK IN TIME? OR IS IT JUST AN ANCIENT GREEK TABLET?

ANTINOUS and Hadrian visited the Oracle of Delphi, which connected priests with super natural beings who passed along advanced technology and information.

NOW conspiracy theorists claim that is how a modern-day laptop ended up in a Greek sculpture from 100 BC.

But historians say the sculpture is just a deceased woman "touching the lid of a shallow chest".

"I am not saying that this is depicting an ancient laptop computer,"  StillSpeakingOut, conspiracy theorist, said in a video he released on YouTube.

"But when I look at the sculpture I can't help but think about the Oracle of Delphi, which was supposed to allow the priests to connect with the gods to retrieve advanced information and various aspects."

The sculpture, "Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant" is on display at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California.

"Lounging in a cushion armchair, a woman reaches out to touch the lid of a shallow chest held by a servant girl on this funerary," reads the historian's description.

The concept of this image has been a part of Greek funerary art for centuries and most likely pertains to the hope they that will still have the same earthly pleasures in the afterlife.

It depicts an object that closely resembles a modern laptop or handheld device with USB ports, explained StillSpeakingOut.

Another picture taken by a tourist, we see the object is wide but the structure is too narrow to be a jewelry box and it doesn't match the depictions of the mythical Pandora Box either, he explained.

The myth says the Oracle of Delphi would allow priests to connect with the gods, aliens or time travelers who would share 'advanced information and high-tech devices.

Those who don’t believe in aliens or time travel, say the object is a wax tablet that ancient Greeks used for writing with a stylus or pen, reported Inquisitr.

But paranormal investigators argue that the "wax tablet" shown in the funerary relief sculpture does not resemble any other wax tablets seen in Greek art.

StillSpeakingOut says the object shown etched in the sculpture is much thinner than the wax tablets and that the woman isn't holding stylus, also seen in Greek art with individuals using the wax tablet.

Believers do not see the box as a jewel box or a wax tablet, but a modern-day electronic laptop computer with USB ports on the side, which have never been seen in other examples of jewel boxes or wax tablets.

The woman's eyes are focused on the inner lid of the object, the same location of a laptop monitor, conspiracy theorists claim.

And even go so far to argue that the way her fingers are touching the lid looks like she is using a touchscreen device.

"I can't help but think that Erich von Däniken had been right all this time and that most of these myths of magical artifacts given by the gods to a very restricted group of individuals in ancient civilizations were high-tech devices similar to what we have today," said StillSpeakingOut.

ANTONIUS SUBIA'S STATEMENT OF FAITH

ANTINOUS AND THE ZOROASTRIAN ORIGINS OF GROUNDHOG DAY

ON February 2nd we remember the travels of Hadrian and the Blessed Boy throughout the Eastern Empire where they encountered ancient rituals of greeting the newborn sun which endure to this day ... culminating in the ridiculous folk holiday known as Groundhog Day.

This is the farthest East that Antinous was ever to travel and is observed here in conjunction with Imbolc, also known as Candlemas (Dia de la Candelaria), a Festival of Newborn Light. 

In many countries today, February 2nd is the day when people take down their Christmas decorations.

This is the day when Christmas trees are removed from front rooms after having been set up on Christmas Eve.

It is an odd phenomenon that, in the English-speaking world, people put up Christmas trees about a month PRIOR to Christmas and then take them down right after the Big Day.

But in other cultures, trees go up on Christmas Eve and decorate living rooms for weeks AFTER Christmas.

Thus Imbolc/Candlemas is an arcane and largely forgotten non-event in the English-speaking world. 

Yet in fact, it is the evening when the God of Light becomes manifest in the world ... part of an ancient celebration that goes way  back before Christianity and even before Celtic tradition.

Hadrian and Antinous got a first-hand glimpse of these celebrations which, even in their time, were truly very ancient.

Hadrian, who was fascinated with ancient cultures, was intrigued by the Armenians, which explains why he made this particular side trip over the mountains in the dead of winter.

On February 2nd, we invite you to turn out the lights in your home and light a simple beeswax candle symbolizing the end of the Northern Hemisphere's Winter Festivals (Halloween through Christmas) and the beginning of the Spring Festivals of New Birth and New Light. In fact, this is the start of the Carnival season.  And, indeed, in some years Mardi Gras occurs in early February. And even in years when Carnival starts later, this night is always considered party night by those people who design and make Mardi Gras floats and costumes ... in Rio and in New Orleans and in Venice, Carnival aficionados will by partying all night tonight.
	And the following morning ... bright and early on February 2nd ... people in another obscure part of the globe will be watching for a Groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil to emerge from his burrow to catch a glimpse of the God of Light.
	These seemingly disparate customs are all remnants of a religious festival so very ancient that it was archaic even in the time of Hadrian and Nations. Today it is little more than a day to pack away ornaments or a day to get drunk at a pre-Carnival party.  It is scarcely more than media hype surrounding a mammal held aloft at dawn by Pennsylvania Dutch descendants of immigrants from Central Europe.  And it is a day when garbage men throughout Europe stagger under the weight of dried-out old Christmas trees. But if you turn out the lights and leave just one simple candle burning brightly in the darkness … you may just catch a glimpse of the God of Light. That is what Hadrian and Antonius were hoping to catch a glimpse of on this day so many centuries ago.

ANTINOUS ON MOUNT IDA WHENCE GANYMEDE WAS SWEPT ALOFT

ON February 1st the Religion of Antinous commemorates the ascension of Antinous to the summit of Mount Ida.

Landing in Asia Minor in early 129 AD from Eleusis, Hadrian and Antinous stopped at Troy, visiting the grave of Achilles, and then scaled sacred Mount Ida, home of the Great Mother of the Gods, and spot where Phrygian Prince Ganymede was taken up by Zeus to be his immortal lover.

Mount Ida is the most sacred of three mountains in Phrygia including Didymus, and Agdistis, named for Zeus's hermaphroditic offspring Agdistis whose powers so frightened the gods that they chopped off her male genitals.

The mountain was famous for its sibylline prophecies, and its mysterious springs and waterfalls are still a place of mystery.

From the summit of Mount Ida, called Kaz Daglari today, Antinous looked down over the plain of Illium, and across the land of his Phrygian ancestors.

Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA has pointed out that Mount Ida is sacred to an aspect of the Great Mother of the Gods known as Agdistis, who was served by drag queen priests.

Antonius has equated her also with the Mexican-American folk saint La Santisima Muerte … "Most Holy Death"

Antonius has said: "La Santisima Muerte is the Dark Lady...Proserpina and Magna Mater all at once...she is all regarded as the darkside f the Virgin Mary.  Her cult is spreading all over the US right now ... wherever there are Mexicans ... in little shrines are cropping up with this skull faced lady. Her religion and the Religion of Antinous are two new (ancient) faiths that are resurfacing. .. the connection to Magna Mater and Antnous makes me feel that Our Lady Death and Our Lord Antinous are part of a similar resurgence."

Santa Muerte is increasingly popular amongst LGBTI people, including worshipers at the TEMPLO DE ANTINOO MÉXICO who created this exquisite papier-maché figure of her. 

She is garbed in a gay wedding dress on her Holy Night October 31st. She is often offered cigar smoke rather than incense...she is also fond of Tequila and Roses.

The ascent up Mount Ida must have been spooky and awe-inspiring, with transgender priests accompanying them amongst clouds of incense and much wailing and chanting.

May Our Lady Most Holy Death watch over you!

DEREK JARMAN SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON January 31st the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of Saint Derek Jarman.

St. Derek, born on this day in 1942, created eleven extraordinary feature films ... including "Sebastiane," "Jubilee," "The Tempest," "Caravaggio," "The Last Of England," and "Edward II" ... and over three dozen shorts.

This multi-talented artist is also acclaimed for his painting (several major exhibits), stage and film design (for director Ken Russell and for a glorious Pet Shop Boys concert tour), gay and human rights activism, literature (memoirs, social criticism, poetry), and, on a serene note, his exquisite gardens full of "found" art.

Most gay men have seen Sebastiane which, when it came out more than 30 years ago, was the first British film to feature positive images of gay sexuality, not to mention the first film entirely in Latin.

Edward II raised eyebrows among critics for its upfront depiction of the brutal assassination of England's openly gay monarch by means of rectal assault.

The exquisitely beautiful Caravaggio is Saint Derek's best-known film.

We Antinoians remember Saint Derek for his art and we honor him as well for his boundless courage. His death from AIDS was cruelly slow and agonizing. And yet, as AIDS robbed him of his mobility and even of his eyesight, he turned the tables on Death and Dying by turning Death and Dying into an art form. 

His last feature-length film, Blue, consists of a single shot of saturated blue color filling the screen as Derek talks about his "vision" of life and art. How very typical of Derek Jarman.

Thumbing his nose at fate right up to the end. A dying man who is blind and yet who talks about his vision.

The light of his eyes faded until all he saw was the darkness where the Night Terrors feed on fear and doubt. And what did Derek do? He turned the darkness into vibrant color. He turned his fear and his worries into artistic energy. The dramatic lighting and brilliant colors of his films were so very dramatic and brilliant because they were always, always set against the inky darkness.

That is why we consecrate Derek Jarman a Saint of Antinous. Just like Saint Caravaggio, also one of our Blessed Saints, Martyrs and Exemplars, his "vision" lay in turning the Darkness into Light and Color. He died February 19, 1994.

THIS BIOGRAPHY SAYS LIVIA WAS NOT THE WICKED WITCH OF ANCIENT ROME

MENTION the name Livia, who was born on 30 January in 58 or 59 BC, and the image pops to mind of a treacherous and vindictive woman, as beautiful as she was wicked and cruel. 

Second wife of the Emperor Augustus and the mother of his successor Tiberius, Livia has been vilified by posterity (most notably by Tacitus and Robert Graves) as the quintessence of the scheming Roman matriarch, poisoning her relatives one by one to smooth her son's path to the imperial throne.

Played by Siân Phillips with viperish glee in the classic BBC TV drama series "I, Claudius", she hissed and writhed through the marble halls of the emperor's palace, leaving corpses in her wake as she ruthlessly intrigued to get her one surviving son, Tiberius, to the Imperial throne ... finally even poisoning Augustus himself and forging his will.

Now a new book says Livia was not evil, she was merely a powerful and ambitious woman ... and as such, she was damned by male historians. 

Like Egypt's Hatshepsut, Livia MUST have been a wicked and cruel step-mother who would stop at nothing in her own quest for power. Or so it was claimed by male historians from Tacitus to Robert Graves in the 20th Century. 

In recent years, Hatshepsut has been vindicated, most notably by historian Joyce Tyldesley. Dr. Tyldesley says Hatshepsut's name was erased from historical records by male successors who feared a "female pharaoh" was a dangerous precedent — dangerous to male domination.

Now it is Livia's turn to be vindicated in the new historiographical book "Empress of Rome: The Life of Livia" by Matthew Dennison. In this elegant and rigorously researched biography, Dennison rescues the historical Livia from the crudely drawn sexist caricature of the popular imagination.

He depicts a complex, courageous and richly gifted woman whose only true crime was not murder but the exercise of power, and who, in a male-dominated society, had the temerity and chutzpah to create for herself both a prominent public profile and a significant sphere of political influence.

As with the life of Hatshepsut, the challenge facing any biographer of Livia is the lack of recorded facts. To handle this problem, "Empress of Rome" tells her story in a series of thematic chapters in roughly chronological order.

It makes for riveting reading.

All that we can be certain of is that Livia enjoyed a reputation for probity and traditional values. She seems to have taken care not to interfere in politics, although always on hand to give confidential advice to her husband Augustus. And he has gone on record as having valued her advice.

Dennison convincingly demonstrates in his biography of this much put-upon woman that she hardly needed to resort to poisoning anyone in an age when poor hygiene and lack of antibiotics meant that anyone might die at any time. 

Reports of poisoning in the Roman empire tended to coincide with epidemics, unrecognised or misunderstood by the unreliable medical science of the day. 

In some cases Livia was many hundreds of miles away from her putative victims and would have had to hire agents to do the dirty deed for her — an extraordinarily foolhardy risk.

A line of hopeful young noblemen, one after another, was struck down mysteriously. The first was Marcellus, Augustus's nephew, who (probably) died of typhoid fever at the age of 20.

The whisper spread that Livia had administered poison. Similar rumours blamed her for the deaths of her younger son Drusus, the emperor's grandsons Gaius and Lucius Caesar, and even Augustus himself (supposedly she smeared figs on his favourite tree with venom).

Her alleged motive was love for her eldest boy Tiberius, in whose interest she meant to eliminate all competitors for the imperial succession. She was a Claudian and wanted to ensure a Claudian dynasty, or so the story goes.

The idea of Livia as serial killer was given new life by Robert Graves in his historical novel "I, Claudius", and she reached a mass audience in the television series of the book, memorably interpreted by Siân Phillips.

Where did Graves get his Livia? The key figure is Tacitus, a Roman historian whose "The Annals Of Ancient Rome" is one of the great masterpieces of historical literature.

Tacitus disliked Livia. In fact he loathed her. Writing slightly more than a century after Livia's heyday, he never directly accused the empress of mass murder but slyly insinuated it with a nudge and a wink. Graves simply fleshed out those insinuations in his historical novel — historical fiction which readers accepted as historical fact.

But Dennison points out that at least two historians of the Roman Empire, who were actually writing at the time, made very few criticisms of Livia.

Born in about 58 BC, she came from an upper-class Roman family living under a strict moral code, which was even stricter for women.

They wove a lot. They looked after the household and the education of their children. A contemporary wrote that an ideal wife "can relax with her husband and he can confide all his secrets to her since it is like confiding in himself".

That explains the genuinely close relationship between Liva and Augustus.

This doesn't change the fact that she was a Claudian and family dynasties were what really mattered. Octavian Caesar (who became Augustus) married into Livia's Claudian family because it gave him more power. She conveniently left her husband to marry Augustus because he was rich and powerful.

The problem for Livia was that Augustus wanted to create, in essence, a hereditary monarchy. That would exclude her sons by Claudius Nero, and she could have none by Octavian (now dubbed Augustus). 

That meant the end of the line for the Claudians. 

The rivals who stood in her way went down like ninepins, although not necessarily by Livia's hand. 

Marcellus, Augustus's nephew and the first to go, could well have died of typhoid, says Dennison.

Augustus's daughter Julia was exiled to a rocky islet off the Italian coast after Livia fed the puritanical Augustus stories of her wanton immorality. No proof, says the author.

Lucius and Gaius Caesar, grandsons of Augustus, dying abroad mysteriously? Tacitus suggests Livia's "secret hand" but no other historians mention the rumor.

Postumus, another grandchild of Augustus, murdered, while unarmed, by an unknown hand on the islet to which his mother Julia had been exiled? The identity of the killer is still open to debate, we are told.

However, there is little question about the death of Augustus himself. It is a near contemporary historian who records Livia smearing poison on some figs and offering them to him with her own hand.

And there is no question that Livia, skilled in "medicinal potions", lived to be nearly 90 years old — more than twice the average life span. And she did indeed ensure that the Claudians remained in power through Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

And, of course, it was her grandson Claudius who proclaimed her an immortal goddess, thus absolving her of all earthly misdeeds ... whether factual or only fictional.