HEATH LEDGER SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON January 22nd the religion of Antinous commemorates the brief, shining life of Saint Heath Ledger, the gifted actor whose on-screen portrayals inspired millions of gay people and whose off-screen life paralleled so many more. Not gay himself, Saint Heath nonetheless is a gay icon, like Saint Judy Garland and others.

Saint Heath died on this day in 2008 under mysterious circumstances after taking anti-depressants and sleeping pills at the age of 28.

His body was found lying across the bed of his Manhattan apartment. The manner of his death bore eery parallels to the death of English  singer/songwriter Nick Drake, who is also a Saint of Antinous.

Best known for his Oscar-nominated role as a gay cowpoke in "Brokeback Mountain", the acclaimed Australian-born actor also played The Joker in the blockbuster "The Dark Knight", for which role he posthumously was awarded a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor. On the first anniversary of his death, he posthumously won an Academy Award as best supporting actor for his role as the psychopathic criminal mastermind The Joker.

No one will ever know why Saint Heath overdosed on anti-depressants, as had his idol Nick Drake. No one will ever know why Saint River Phoenix took a fatal cocktail of booze and alcohol, just as no one will ever know why Saint Richey Edwardsjumped off a bridge to his death (if he did), and no one will know why so many talented and overly sensitive young men meet death so tragically and so young.

Just as no one knows for sure what happened to Antinous. Thus they are all Saints of Antinous.

Shortly before his death, Heath Ledger made a video tribute to Nick Drake (photo right), the ambisexual English singer/songwriter who died in 1974 under almost identical circumstances to Saint Heath.

Saying he planned to make a movie about Saint Nick, Heath appeared in a self-made video (about drowning) to the tune of Nick Drake's song Black-Eyed Dog. It was the last song that Nick is believed to have recorded before he died under mysterious circumstances after taking anti-depressants and sleeping pills at the age of 26. His body was found lying across his bed.

The black-eyed dog is thought to be a reference to Winston Churchill's famous "little black dog." Throughout his life Churchill was shadowed by violent mood swings, fits of depression and periods of emotional doubt. He felt that he was followed by this unpredictable darkness and uncertainty. He called it his "little black dog."

Heath seems to have been very well acquainted with the "little black dog" of depression, the black demon which nips at the heels of so many sensitive young souls who cannot find their way in this harsh world.

And thus Antinous is the God of Lost Boys. He knows their suffering. He knows how it is to stand on the shore at the twilight of the world, with one foot on dry land and the other foot in the murky depths of oblivion — and he understands how a beautiful soul can slip off into that oblivion.

Antinous is the God of these very sweet, shy, sensitive and talented artists, young men who agonize over their shortcomings and who can only cope with the harsh realities of showbiz by taking tablets with unpronounceable names in private.

THE ASSUMPTION OF GANYMEDE

OUR Father Jupiter descended upon the slopes of Mt. Ida in the form of an eagle and carried away Ganymede, the beautiful young prince of Troy, ravaging him, and elevating him to live among the immortals.

At the table of the Olympian gods, Jupiter installed his Ganymede as the divine cup-bearer who pours out nectar-wine from the cup of eternal life.

This love affair between the Phrygian prince and the Father of the Gods is a divine parallel of the love between Antinous and Hadrian.

Ganymede is the emblem of the coming Age of Aquarius, when peace and love will rule the hearts of all men.

On this day, the beginning of the sign of Aquarius, we observe the deification of Antinous as having made union with the Thunderbird-Phoenix-Eagle, and having been elevated to reign among the immortals in the manner of Ganymede. And we pray for the hastening of the coming age.

SAINT SEBASTIAN

ON January 20th the Religion of Antinous honors SAINT SEBASTIAN who, despite being a Christian martyr, has been identified by homosexuals of all beliefs over the centuries as a symbol of our persecution and suffering.

Sebastian was an officer in the Imperial Guard of Emperor Diocletian, and he was a Christian.

In 302 A.D. Diocletian subjected the Christians to a brutal persecution, and it was during this period that Sebastian was "outed" to the Emperor as a practicing Christian.

When asked to sacrifice before a pagan altar, Sebastian refused and  was sentenced to death. He was tied to a column before Mauritanian archers, who shot him with arrows...but to no effect. 

Sebastian was strengthened by his faith, and did not die. He was finally clubbed to death in front of Emperor.
  
Homosexuals over the centuries have looked to Sebastian as a patron saint. His manner of death, which is like an affliction of Eros, and the sight of the beautiful young soldier plumed with arrows, has moved our hearts over the ages more than all other Christian saints.

In the Middle Ages, he was said to have power over the plague. And during the Black Death, his popularity grew among the penitent flagellants.

His image was a favorite subject of homosexual artists during the Renaissance who were fascinated by the erotic charge of his death. 

During the early 19th Century he was taken up as the model for homosexual suffering and persecution, some writers even claiming that he was the young lover of Diocletian and that his martyrdom had a jealous, sexual subtext.

In our time, the power of St. Sebastian over the Plague has made him a spiritual force in the fight against AIDS. And so we recognize his sanctity as the patron saint of homosexuals and as a protector from our modern plague. 

We consecrate him to the Religion of Antinous and offer our own quivering-hearts as a target for his thousand arrows of love.

THE GOING FORTH OF ANUBIS

ON January 20th is the Ancient Egyptian Feast of "The Going Forth of Anubis" (Yinepu) when his statues are carried through the streets for worshipers to honor ... in hopes that Anubis will convey them through the darkness of death to eternal light and life. 

This feast occurs between the completion of the mummification of Antinous on January 11th and the birthday of Hadrian on January 24th.

Anubis leads the new god Antinous to the Home of the Gods amongst the Imperishable Stars.

MARTIN CAMPBELL'S HISTORICAL NOVEL 'QUEEN JULIUS CAESAR' IS A TRIUMPH

LOOKING for a holiday book tip? We can most assuredly say that, if you loved THE LOVE GOD, Martin Campbell's historical novel about the life of Antinous ... now you must read his new novel about the early life of Julius Caesar entitled "Queen Julius Caesar" ... now available in Kindle and paperback. ORDER HERE! 

This meticulously researched book (with 40 pages of glossary and appendices) is a fast-paced page-turner with swashbuckling pirates, orgies and political intrigue. And it has already spawned pre-publication controversy with its provocative title and the tag-line "Rome's greatest ruler was bisexual." 

But far more interestingly, Campbell shows how a cocky, privileged young Patrician, accustomed to getting his way, is forced through adversity and deprivation ... and the intervention of Eastern potentates ... to develop the qualities of character that will make him a great leader.

Along the way, he parlays physical and emotional disabilities (epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive tendencies and self-injury to allay emotional pain) into strengths which will enable him to outwit and outmaneuver his adversaries.

His lessons begin at sea on a galley loaded with gold when pirates commandeer his vessel and hold him for ransom. Cunningly, he informs his captors the ransom is too low, and he finagles and entraps the pirates.

Another man in such a hopeless and helpless situation would give up. But Campbell skillfully shows how Caesar used his wits and his obsessive-compulsive discipline and determination not only to save himself and his adjutants, but also to emerge victorious and to exact cruel vengeance which would earn Caesar a place in the history books as a man not to be trifled with. 

In addition, in Campbell's brilliant historical novel, 20-year-old Caesar's education in leadership comes in the arms (literally) of Nicomedes IV, king of Bithynia, and his consort Nysa. 

Prudish Victorian historians quibbled over the three-way relationship. But Julius Caesar's own troops lustily chanted: "Gallias Caesar subegit, Caesarem Nicomedes," (Caesar laid the Gauls low, Nicomedes laid Caesar low). Hence, the title of this book!

Campbell shows how young Julius Caesar observed the way Nicomedes charmed and coaxed and coerced his courtiers and his naval and land forces into doing his will ... without having to resort to blunt force in the traditional Roman way.

By the end of this at once charming and illuminating book, the reader has accompanied Julius Caesar from bumptious adolescence to manhood as a mature leader who can meet ... and defeat ... anything or anybody who gets in his way.

Through it all, the goddess Minerva provides off-stage asides to the reader in the tradition of the chorus in a Classical stage comedy.

Campbell is working on two more novels ... and we can't wait!

'THE LOVE GOD' BY MARTIN CAMPBELL IS A BRILLIANT NOVEL ABOUT ANTINOUS

THE most brilliant novel about Antinous to appear in over half a century ... THE LOVE GOD ... is authored by our own MARTINUS CAMPBELL, priest of Antinous.

While that sounds like biased praise, we Antinomaniacs are hard to please and would not hesitate to pick apart a poorly researched book or one that denigrated Antinous, even if it were written by one of our best friends ... perhaps especially if it were. 

At the same time, a sycophantic book that presented Antinous as being cloyingly sweet and angelic would be unbearable and not believable.

So we are gratified (and greatly relieved) to report that this book truly is a remarkable work of historical fiction right up there with Marguerite Yourcenar's landmark MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN 60 years ago.

Martin traces the life of Antinous from the moment his tousle-haired head emerges from his mother's womb under auspicious stars in Asia Minor to the moment his head sinks beneath the swirling waters of the Nile on a starry evening in Egypt.

Antinous comes to life as a young man of breath-taking beauty who is filled with conflicting passions and loyalties. He is a young man who at times is naive, yet at other times worldly wise with an ability to see the world as it is ... and to describe it with at times brutal honesty to the most powerful man in the world.

Above all, this is a gentle love story between Antinous and Emperor Hadrian, himself a man of contradictory passions and priorities.

Martin himself is a man shares these passions. He has rebounded from a series of debilitating strokes to resume a daunting array of political activism for LGBTIU health and rights issues ... while working on this novel.

Based in a hilltop home overlooking the sea in Brighton England, he spent the best part of a decade researching this novel, retracing the footsteps of Antinous across Greece and Italy, as far north as Hadrian's Wall and as far south as the Nile in Upper Egypt.

Historical facts are excruciatingly accurate ... even the positions of the stars and planets at the moment of the birth of Antinous have been calculated to precision.

An academic scholar can read this book with satisfaction, noting obscure and arcane references which only the experts in the field of Antinology fully appreciate.

At the same time, however, this is a fun book to read even for those who have never heard of Antinous in their lives and who have no firm grasp of Roman civilization in the 2nd Century AD.

There is intrigue, skulduggery, near-death by lightning, getting lost in a subterranean labyrinth, a storm at sea, earthquakes ... and some fairly hot man sex as well, albeit tastefully brought to the page.

The narrator is the Classical Love God himself: Eros. He shoots his amorous arrows and ensures that Antinous and Hadrian fulfill the destiny which the Fates have in store for them ... despite efforts by certain people in the Imperial Court to thwart the Fates.

But the genius of this book is that there are no black-and-white villains or heroes. Antinous is a young man with all the problems and drives of late adolescence. Hadrian is a man with a mid-life crisis of doubt and regret.

Others such as Empress Sabina and her constant companion Julia Balbilla and their coterie of fawning courtiers and freedmen are not really hateful towards Antinous so much as they are simply perplexed by him. 

They view him the way some members of the Royal Household might look at the favorite Corgi of the Queen, unable to comprehend her affection for it, her grief when it dies.

They whisper amongst themselves: What hold does Antinous have over Hadrian? 

Just who does he think he is? And is he a threat to them? 

What is so different about Antinous that Hadrian doesn't grow weary of him ... as he always has with previous toy boys? 

Because they cannot understand how he fits in the scheme of Imperial court life, some really rather wish he would just disappear ... voluntarily or otherwise. 

And through it all is the boyhood friend of Antinous who has accompanied him on this long journey with mixed feelings and with growing envy and jealousy. 

The boiling emotions all stem from Eros, who winks knowingly at the reader as he shoots one arrow after another with unerring accuracy to ensure that Antinous fulfills his destiny ... to take his place alongside Eros as a God of Love.

The result is a richly entertaining and beautifully written novel which appeals to those seeking authoritative scholarly accuracy as well as readers who just want a riveting and memorable adventure yarn.

The Love God is available as Kindle and as a paperback ... CLICK HERE to order.

SEEK THE LOST TOMB OF ANTINOUS WITH BEN PASTOR'S 'THE WATER THIEF'

IT's summer vacation time ... for our many thousands of Antinous devotees in the Southern Hemisphere ... and anyone who is interested in historical fiction in general and Antinous in particular should read this book by Ben Pastor, the award-winning Italian-American historian and author. 

She knows more about Hadrian and Antinous than almost any other living expert. 

Her historical novel THE WATER THIEF is an example of fine scholarly research, as are indeed all of her books.

This novel traces the efforts of Aelius Spartianus to discover the fabled LOST TOMB OF ANTINOUS. 

Aelius Spartianus is a true-life figure who did in fact write a biography of Hadrian nearly 200 years after the death of Antinous.

Set in the year 304 AD, it tells of this very literate Roman army officer who is commissioned by Emperor Diocletian to do research on his predecessor the Divine Hadrian, who had died nearly two centuries earlier. 

It is while delving into the mystery of the death of Antinous and while trying to learn the whereabouts of the Boy's tomb that the officer stumbles onto evidence of a letter penned by Hadrian uncovering a covert conspiracy to bring down the Empire ... a conspiracy that is still very much at work in 4th Century Rome. 

As Spartianus comes ever closer to finding the answer to the death of Antinous, the conspirators' efforts to thwart him become ever more violent, resulting in numerous brutal murders and attempts on the officer's life.

Pastor's descriptions of Rome in the year 304 AD are superb. You get a real feel for the teeming city in mid-summer, with all the odors and noise, colors and steamy heat that that implies. 

Best of all, for those of us who love and worship Antinous, are the chapters in which Spartianus ensconces himself in Hadrian's derelict villa outside Rome. 

It is there, as he stares up into the stars at night, that he makes a startling connection between the layout of the villa and the eight visible constellations in the nighttime sky in late October when Antinous died ... indicating that Hadrian's obsession with horoscopes and astrology led him to create an earthly universe where time stood still at the death of Antinous.

Did Hadrian's belief in astrological fate compel him to have Antinous killed? Or did Antinous take his own life in a bid to fulfill his astrological fate? 

Or was it more mundane? Did he and Hadrian have a lovers' tiff that ended tragically? Was he done in by young male rivals intent on gaining Hadrian's affections for themselves? 

Or was something even more sinister at work? And why is someone desperate to preventing the officer from finding out what happened to Antinous all those years ago?

For those of us who love Antinous, this book is a joy to read. Pastor works in many small and obscure details which are well known to his modern-day followers. 

To give just one example, the Roman officer expends a great deal of effort trying to locate and decipher the OBELISK OF ANTINOUS which today stands in a park in Rome and is the focus of much current research in the 21st Century.

The obelisk's key inscription, which is the focus of modern experts seeking his tomb, says that Antinous "rests within the garden bounds of the great lord of Rome". 

Just as today's researchers have puzzled over the meaning of that phrase, Ben Pastor's protagonist must also make sense of it ... and he arrives at a startling answer that almost costs him his life and jeopardizes future of the Empire.

The novel's characters are well drawn and the reader identifies with Spartianus as he attempts to unravel this Gordian Knot while at the same time pulling together the strands of his own personal life.

There are numerous gay characters and they emerge as well-rounded and believable characters, especially the flamboyant Egyptian gays who find themselves unwittingly the target of unscrupulous killers in their very midst.

The tales of Antinous and Hadrian which unfold as the investigation progresses are a true pleasure to read, if only because they are all so contradictory and often far-fetched ... precisely as they are to today's researchers. 

Spartianus must work his way through this thicket of tall tales and outright lies and defamations in order to determine precisely what sort of persons Hadrian and Antinous were ... in order to save the Empire two centuries after their deaths.

One of the more outlandish tall tales is told to Aelius by a Roman transgender hustler named Cleopatra Minor who claims to have frequented a notorious whorehouse which specializes in boys for aristocratic customers whose villas line the Bay of Naples. 

Cleo claims it is "well-known there" that Antinous was a boy prostitute who had just arrived from Bythinia and "had barely become accustomed to his little bed" when Hadrian stopped by the whorehouse and took a fancy to him.

There are lots of other, equally intriguing characters in this book. But the most intriguing character of all, of course, is the one character who cannot take active part in the plot but whose presence is felt at every turn of the plot:

Antinous himself.

Though the 4th Century murders take center stage in the story, this book actually is more concerned with telling the story of Antinous and Hadrian and their abiding love affair which spans the gulf of the centuries.

As you read the novel, you get a growing awareness of Antinous as the living, breathing, three-dimensional human being that he must have been in life. 

The more Spartianus looks into the life of Antinous, the more he becomes obsessed with the Blessed Boy. He simply has to find that tomb, even if it means his death and the downfall of Rome.

We won't give away the thrilling ending, except to say that, when Spartianus finally "exchanges glances" with Antinous (in a manner of speaking), Spartianus is overcome with emotion ... and the reader finds it hard to hold back the tears.

CLICK HERE to order, but don't wait too long ... or the Water Thief will catch up with you.

ANTINOUS ARRIVES HOME IN TRIUMPH AT THE SIDE OF EMPEROR HADRIAN

THE Religion of Antinous celebrates the arrival of Hadrian and Antinous in Nicomedia during the first year of the final and fateful tour of the Eastern Empire.

In early129 AD, after visiting Mt. Ida and the Phyrgian countryside the court of Hadrian entered Nicomedia, the ancient capital of the province of Bithynia, from which most of Asia was governed at that time. 

Here is how Flamen Antonius Subia describes it at the online TEMPLE OF ANTINOUS:

"This is the triumphant return of Antinous to his homeland as the Imperial Favorite, and is symbolized as the return of the wandering Dionysus.

"It is said that Julius Caesar stayed as the guest of Nicomedes III, the last king of Bithynia, and that Caesar, when he was young, was the lover of Nicomedes. For the rest of his life, critics called Julius Caesar the Queen of Bithynia, a title that may have had some truth because when Nicomedes died without a son, and he left his kingdom to Rome in his will, or rather to his beloved Julius Caesar.

"This title of Queen of Bithynia would by inheritance fall to Hadrian, and it accentuates the homosexual liberty and voluptuousness of the Bithynians as a nation, the reputation of Nicomedia as a city where Kings loved beautiful boys and gave them the throne for their beauty's sake, and this is the atmosphere which permeated the return of Antinous to his people.

"We celebrate the ancient openness and homoeros of the Bithynians."

WE HONOR YUKIO MISHIMA 'THE LOST SAMURAI'

ON January 14 we mark the anniversary of the birth of one of modern Japan's most famous, controversial, and mysterious gay personalities ... and a saint of Antinous.

Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) is regarded as one of 20th-century Japan's most prolific writers, and was the first postwar Japanese writer to achieve international fame. 

Nominated on three occasions for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and author of no less than forty novels, essays, poems, and traditional Japanese kabuki and noh dramas, Mishima’s contribution to Japanese literature was indeed profound.

His samurai-inspired ritual "seppuku"suicide by "hara-kiri" (literally stomach cutting, or disembowelment) and beheading on November 25, 1970, at the young age of 45 marked the end of a life that represented for some, a protest against a post-war Japan that seemed to have lost its traditional identity and values under the tide of mass consumerism, and cultural and political Westernization.

The sharp contrasts between the country he grew up in and the Japan he died in were defining influences in his life, shaping his writings, which often questioned the new Japan and harked for a return to days of old. 

Born Kimitaka Hiraoka in Tokyo on Jan 14, 1925, he assumed the nom de plume  "Yukio Mishima," cryptically interpreted as "He who chronicles reason," so that his disapproving anti-literary father would not know he was a writer. 

It was however his paternal grandmother, Natsuko Hiraoka, who was to have the most lasting impact on his life. A mere 29 days after his birth until his 12th year, Mishima was separated from his family and raised by his sophisticated yet capricious grandmother whose own background and personality shaped his character.

The young protégé was forced to live a very sheltered life in which sports, playing with other boys, and even going out in the sun were off limits. She was the illegitimate daughter of a Meiji era daimyo with familial links to the all powerful Tokugawas and was reared in a princely household, a samurai-influenced upbringing which she did not let others forget and which instilled in her, and by consequence her grandson, a reverence for Japan's past, and the samurai fascination with beauty, purity and death. 

Her noble past and yet not so noble marriage to a successful bureaucrat arguably contributed to her frustrations, characterized by violent outbursts and morbid fixations. 

Her character had a lasting yet undeclared effect on Mishima’s later works and personality, particularly the insatiable desire for perfection in the mind and body, and the terrible beauty of death at the moment of perfection exemplified by the honored cherry blossom.

Mishima's complexities were not only confined to his writings. A fluent speaker of English, Mishima wore Western clothes and lived in a Western style house while espousing a return to his country’s past values and practices. 

Much mystery also surrounds the exact nature of his sexuality, and his frequenting of gay bars such as the now defunct Brunswick bar in Ginza despite a rushed marriage at 33 which produced two children. 

Mishima's interest in homosexuality is clearly illustrated in one of his seminal books, "Confessions of a Mask" (1948) where he tells of a man who conceals his true self and sexuality behind a mask of lies and pretense. This book is regarded by many as a semi-autobiographical account of the author's own life.

According to his biographers, he had also considered a marriage proposal to Michiko Shoda, the current empress and wife of Emperor Akihito.  Biographers such as close friend John Nathan contend that the tragic writer married not for love but for respectability.

At the earlier age of 30, conscious of the inevitability of aging, and desiring bodily "perfection," he embarked on a strict bodybuilding regime that lasted for the rest of his life. 

His longing for a return to a spiritual Japan which respected the bushido (way of the warrior) code inspired his expertise in karate and kendo, martial arts that he contended allowed one to experience the border between life and death. 

His extreme nationalist credentials were most notably illustrated in his founding of the Tatenokai (Shield Society) in 1968, a small private army of mostly university students dedicated to the bushido code and the protection of the emperor and the martial discipline of pre-Meiji era Japan. 

This dedication was not to Hirohito per se, whom he had criticized for "dishonoring" the war dead by surrendering, and for renouncing his divinity after World War II, but rather to the symbolism of the emperor system for traditional Japan.

On November 25, 1970, carrying with him a longing for a return to lost samurai values, and an obsession with a purifying and beautiful death, Mishima and four of his Tatenokai followers, entered the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) headquarters in Ichigaya and attempted a coup d’etat which they hoped would awaken the Japanese from their spiritual and political slumber. 

Stepping out onto a nearby balcony, Mishima was ridiculed and jeered as he attempted in vain to rouse the present JSDF members below him to his cause. Realizing the hopelessness of his efforts, the "Lost Samurai" went back inside for his final act of drama.

Positioning himself in traditional Japanese manner on the floor of the office which they had seized, Mishima proceeded to ritually disembowel himself with a “tanto” (a small sword), exclaiming “Long live the emperor” just before a pre-ordained “kaishakunin” (the one chosen to decapitate Mishima) and later one other, made an initially botched but ultimately effective attempt at beheading the famed author.

Debate surrounds Mishima’s motivations. Attempting a coup d’etat with only four other people was almost certainly going to be a failure. Comments made to Western journalists about hara-kiri in his writings some years earlier might be more insightful.

At that time, the author claimed that "spiritually, I wanted to revive some samurai spirit. I did not want to revive hara-kiri itself but through the vision of such a very strong vision of hara-kiri, I wanted to inspire and stimulate younger people."

THE BIRTH OF LUCIUS AELIUS CAESAR

ON January 13th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the birthday of Aelius Caesar.

Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus was born on January 13th, 101, most likely in Rome. He was from an old wealthy Etruscan family. 

His grandfather, after whom he had been named, had been a Consul and his father a Senator.

(Images by PRIEST UENDI)

Lucius Ceionius was beautiful and elegant, well educated, and was given over to a life of pleasure and voluptuousness.

He was a teenager when Hadrian came to power in 117, and his flamboyant and attractive character was a compliment to his physical beauty that soon gained the attention of the new Emperor.

It is believed that Hadrian and Lucius were lovers during the early years of Hadrian's reign, perhaps for the period of six years prior to Antinous. 

When Hadrian met Antinous in the year 123, Lucius was 22 years old, and in keeping with the Greek philosophy of pederastic love, it is very likely that their love affair had transformed into what would become a life-long friendship between the Emperor and his now matured Lucius.

Antinous entered Hadrian's heart just as Lucius was moving on to his responsibilities as a patrician citizen of Rome. There were rumors of rivalry, as spoofed in this cartoon by Priest Uendi showing Lucius left, Hadrian at right and Antinous between them.

While Hadrian was courting the young Antinous, Lucius married Domitia Lucilla and had three children by her, one of which was the later Emperor known as Lucius Verus, who is often confused with his father.

After the Death of Antinous, as Hadrian began to grow ill, his attention turned again to his still beloved Lucius, and on August 10, 136, Hadrian surprised the world by adopting Lucius and declaring him to be his successor.

Suspicions abounded, as the eccentric and delicate character of Lucius hardly seemed appropriate to rule the Empire after such a man as Hadrian.

But there must have been more to Lucius than history has preserved. He assumed the name Aelius Caesar, and was sent to govern Pannonia along the Danube, but became ill and returned to Rome in the winter of 137, where he died on January 1st.

He is remembered and adored as a god, as the brother of Antinous, the twin and second love of Hadrian. We call him the Prince of Flowers.

ANTINOUS NAVIGATOR

ON January 12th, as the Sun moves out of alignment with the STAR OF ANTINOUS, we celebrate the festival of ANTINOUS NAVIGATOR.

Flamen Antonius Subia explains it this way:

"Antinous the Transfigured steps away and The Boat of Millions of Years in One Moment, leaves the shore of the known cosmos, sailing out into the darkness of the abyss on its voyage to the Black Star, the way of the void, where the heaven of Antinous lies concealed beyond the veil of the cloud of unknowing, where he enters the fullness of the Place of Light, and restores the unity of the Aeons.

"This is the Via Negativa whereupon the soul-triumphant is lost in the open space of non-being, awaiting the Dark Bird of Night, the Thunderbird-Phoenix-Eagle that will elevate his heroic spirit to immortality. Only Antinous can guide the Boat of Millions of Years  across this expanse of darkness.

"This journey, which ends as it begins, which arrives as it departs, is the eternal heaven which Antinous has accomplished for all those who are his chosen, who answer his call, and who believe in him."

WE CELEBRATE "VICTORIA ANTINOI" WHEN THE SUN ALIGNS WITH THE STAR OF ANTINOUS

ON January 11th the Sun aligns with the STAR OF ANTINOUS for the most glorious day in our liturgical calendar ... Victoria Antinoi.

This is the day that the 72 days of mourning and mummification are finished and Antinous emerges from the perils of the Underworld to shine "younger than the newborn sun," as the Ancient Egyptian texts say.

Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA says:

"Antinous in glory and radiance, stands between our cosmos and the abyss that is known as the Veil. He has returned as Antinous the Savior. This is the End of the sacred period of 72 days following the earthly mummification of the body of Antinous.

"The preservation of his perfect body was completed by the Egyptian priests, providing him with a carnal vessel for millions of years.

"This is the day upon which Antinous overcomes the 72 princes who rule over the cycles of life and death in the underworld and the outer limit of the cosmos, and our god becomes Antinous the Victorious.

"This is the Coming Forth By Day of Antinous so that he can sail in his Barque of Millions of Years. His triumph becomes the celestial procession, and together with the saints and blessed spirits of the immortals and divinized men, Antinous prepares to step away from the limit of the cosmos and enter the darkness of the void beyond."

THE JUTURNALIA THE ROMAN FOUNTAINS FESTIVAL

ON January 11th Romans celebrated the Ancient Juturnalia Festival.

Flamen Antonius Subia says:

"Juturna, Goddess of fountains, lakes and rivers cleanses Antinous of his mortal remnants and prepares him for his journey of millions of years in one moment. 

"In the ancient history of Rome, it is said that the divine twins Castor and Pollux, miraculously appeared in the Forum, watering their horses in the fountain of Juturna, announcing that the Romans were Victorious at the battle of Lake Regillus. Castor and Pollux, came to the side of Juturna and proclaimed the Freedom of the Romans from the tyranny of their Kings. 

"We observe the coming of the twins as announcing of the Victory of Antinous over the 72 Archons of the high celestial sphere. His victory is our victory. We observe his ascent and departure from our reality by bathing in our own 'fountains of Juturna' in preparation for the elevation of Antinous to the eternal Black Star."

We like to think of the Juturnalia as representing the intersex Nile Inundation Deity Hapi (who had embraced Antinous when he plunged into the Nile) now rinsing and cleansing ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD of all vestiges of his earthly mortal life so that he is free to ascend to godhood.

THE BURNING OF THE SODOMITES

ON January 10th we solemnly remember the gays who were burned at the stake in the Middle Ages..

The Heretics of the Middle Ages were the last defenders of the Gnosis, against the authority of the Catholic Church. Like the Gnostic Fathers before them, they advocated homosexuality as a sacred form of love.

When the Order of Knights Templar was disbanded in 1310, the inquisitors discovered (under torture) that Heresy, Homosexuality and Devil Worship were interrelated. They represented a united Satanic assault on the power of the Church and the stability of Christian Civilization.

Heresy infected the soul by undermining faith, Witchcraft bred hatred in the form of hexing, but Homosexuality was the vilest of the three because it infected Love, turning a man from his natural affection for a wife, and causing him to waste his seed in lecherous desire.

The homosexual was a danger because he was a threat to the perpetuation of the family and of the human race. He fostered chaos, and weakened the already tenuous position of a society hemmed in by Islam, infected with Plague, and torn apart by War. The Bible warned that any city guilty of the crime of Sodomy would be destroyed by the fire of heaven, so the solution of the Church, in order to avert god's wrath, was to burn the Sodomites.

The Gay Burning Times lasted six hundred years, seven hundred including the Nazis Holocaust (which was based on the same principles) a period of torture, murder and all out war against our kind, lasting much longer than Heresy and Witchcraft combined, which even continues to this day.

The most intense period of burning was the 1600's through late 1700's in France and England, hundreds of thousands were burned at the stake.

The word "Faggot" which means fire-log is said to have derived from the practice of piling the Sodomites upon the pyre, at the feet of the Heretics, because a Sodomite was not worthy to burn standing up.

Flamen Antonius Subia says:

We who believe in Antinous, and in the sanctity of Homosexuality, solemnly remember the cruel death of the Sodomites who burned for us. Antinous was with them, he burned by their side.

On this last day, Antinous the God redeems the souls of all those who were burned, tortured, strangled, beheaded, or otherwise executed and condemned to Hell by the Church.

That we may never forget the human sacrifice that was inflicted on our brothers and sisters, we consecrate the overthrow of the last Archon to the memory of the Heroic Sodomites who knowing that our form of Love was punishable by death, Loved as Homosexuals nevertheless, and almost willingly gave themselves to be Burned at the Stake. We pray that they will bless us with their fire in our own struggle for liberation.

DAVID BOWIE SAINT OF ANTINOUS

WE honour David Bowie as a SAINT OF ANTINOUS.

He was born 8th January 1947 and died of cancer 10th January 2016 ... having revolutionized Western popular culture.

When homosexuality was still considered a shameful secret to many, Bowie told the world he was gay, and music ... and the lives of many of his fans and followers ... would never be the same.

"I'm gay," declared David Bowie, "and always have been, even when I was David Jones."

When he uttered these now-immortal words in the Jan. 22, 1972, issue of England's Melody Maker, the fledgling starman had just released December 1971's Hunky Dory and already was giving his interviewer a taste of his glam-rock milestone, June 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. 

The British Parliament had only decriminalized homosexuality in 1967 ... post-­Stonewall U.S. gay life was not yet three years old.

He wasn't the first British pop singer to come out (that was Dusty Springfield in 1970); he did it while newly married to Angie Bowie, months after fathering future film ­director Duncan Jones.

But Bowie led the way in contextualizing pop through LGBT identity. The Hunky Dory song "Queen Bitch" is sung in gay vernacular ("She's so swishy in her satin and tat!") from the perspective of a participant in gay life and set to buzzing guitar chords clearly cribbed from The Velvet Underground, which earlier chronicled this gender-mutable world through its ties to Andy Warhol, who had a Hunky Dory tune written about him too.

That same year, Bowie scored a U.K. hit with "John, I'm Only Dancing," a wham-bam of pansexual knowingness considered too outre for U.S. release until hisChangesOneBowie collection in 1976.

That was when Cameron Crowe prodded Bowie to tell Playboy, "It's true ... I am a bisexual. But I can't deny that I've used that fact very well."

By then, Bowie's glam had transformed Elton John from stern balladeer to Technicolor rocker; gave ex-Velvets leader Lou Reed his first smash (the Bowie-produced account of Warhol's stupendously queer Factory, "Walk on the Wild Side"); shook U.K. pop out of its post-Beatles doldrums through glam-rockers Sweet, Slade, T. Rex and so many others; and shaped Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman's final signings before handing the reins to David Geffen: Those were Jobriath, an even more whimsical dandy, and Queen.

And through his R&B radio ­success with "Young Americans" and "Fame," Bowie bolstered disco's early link between clandestine gay dance halls and ­defiantly upscale soul. 

He used his outsider stance not simply to be breathtaking; he also built bridges. You can bet his sartorial influence on the cross-dressing New York Dolls and sponsorship of both Mott the Hoople (he wrote and produced "All the Young Dudes") and Iggy Pop similarly paved a path for what became punk.

And when he went electronic in the late '70s, he begat Gary Numan, The Human League and the New Romantic club scene of Culture Club and Duran Duran.

Suddenly, England's New Wave was awash with baby Bowies both male (Spandau Ballet) and female (Eurythmics' Annie Lennox) that filled the first playlists of MTV.

Even disco's Grace Jones fully ­actualized her ­freakiness when she covered the Bowie/Pop tune "Nightclubbing," which set a stage for today's art-pop transgressions of Lady Gaga and Janelle Monáe.

"I loved how he challenged people about how gender was represented," says Adam Lambert of Bowie's beyond-music contributions.

Married to Iman, a Somali-American, since 1992, Bowie let unconventionally matched and gendered ­heteros know their nonconformity would be cool too. They could all be heroes, each and every day.

ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD

OURS is not a rigid religion of rules and dictates of how you should live your life and of how you should conduct yourself towards Antinious. 

We encourage YOU to define your relationship with the god, to find his contribution & what his role in your life is to be. 

He can be a friend and a companion, a confidant, a healer, a comfort, sharing your life, and he can help you manifest your truth and your ambitions, help you realize your ambitions and dreams.

He understands the plight and experiences of LGBTQ people and assists in overcoming related problems and empowers LGBTQ people and endorses your right to defend yourself and endorses our fight for our place and our rights. Perhaps Antinous' primary role is to be a helper to humanity.

You can offer your problems and lay it at Antinous' feet. Start by having a conversation with Antinous, it would count as a prayer, but you can simply speak, speak to Antinous.

WE TOAST ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD DURING THE MINOR BACCHANALIA

ON January 6th we celebrate the Minor Bacchanalia.

The lesser Festival of Dionysus is celebrated when the wine has reached fermentation. Traditionally a secret ceremony limited to women, but opened to men during Roman times.

It is the season in which Dionysus rules at Delphi and at Eleusis, though the full ceremonies of the Minor Bacchanalia were only performed once every two years.

Mythologically this is the occasion when the Titans lure and capture the child Dionysus, charming him with a mirror and toys. The Titans murder him, rend his limbs from his body and eat his flesh.

This is the first Wine festival and triumphal procession of the entourage of Dionysus whose arrival signals the Victory of Antinous over the forces of life and death as represented by the Archons.

ANTINOUS PRAYER FOR PROTECTION By Our Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia

WE call out to you, Antinous Nekydaemon

Rise up within us in our moment of darkness

Countless enemies are arrayed against us

Barbarians full of hatred seek our destruction

Forces of adversity closing in around us

We call out to you, Antinous Nekydaemon,

The name of the terrible and fearsome

The name at whose sound the earth opens up

The name at whose sound the demons tremble in fear

The name at whose sound rivers and rocks burst asunder

Protect us from violence, and destruction

Protect us from illness, and suffering

Protect us from injustice, and misfortune

Protect us from Titans beyond our control

Let us be an impenetrable fortress in our hearts

Let no fear, nor despair nor uncertainty enter

For we are sovereign and invincible through your power

May the light of the Star of Antinous illuminate our path 

And drive away all forces of malevolence (manu fica)

Ave Antinous the Lion Slayer 

Ave Antinous the Invincible

~ANTONIUS SUBIA

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. 

ANTINOUS MOON MAGIC LUNAR PHASES FOR 2026

IN Antinous Moon Magic there are 52 Lunar Phases which correspond with Antinoian Archetypes and Magical Forces. Many devotees use the weekly phases of the moon for their home devotional rituals. Here are the Lunar Phases for 2026:

03 JAN 2026 Cancer Full Moon LUNUS MOON.

10 JAN 2026 Libra Third Quarter Moon CROSSROADS MOON.

18 JAN 2026 Capricorn New Moon LAMIA MOON.

26 JAN 2026 Taurus First Quarter Moon AMOR MOON.

01 FEB 2026 Leo Full Moon LION HUNT MOON. 

09 FEB 2026 Scorpio Third Quarter Moon PERDITION MOON.

17 FEB 2026 Aquarius New Moon OBELISK MOON.

24 FEB 2026 Gemini First Quarter Moon JACKAL MOON.

01 MAR 2026 Virgo Full Moon DIANA MOON.

11 MAR 2026 Sagittarius Third Quarter Moon STAR OF ANTINOUS.

19 MAR 2026 Pisces New Moon DOG MOON.

25 MAR 2026 Cancer First Quarter Moon NARCISSUS MOON. 

02 APR 2026 Libra Full Moon ORATOR MOON. 

10 APR 2026 Capricorn Third Quarter Moon HADRIAN'S WALL MOON. 

17 APR 2026 Aries New Moon FASCES MOON. 

24 APR 2026 Leo First Quarter Moon SCARAB MOON. 

01 MAY 2026 Scorpio Full Moon ENEMY MOON.

09 MAY 2026 Aquarius Third Quarter Moon FORUM MOON.

16 MAY 2026 Taurus New Moon MARCUS AURELIUS MOON.

23 MAY 2026 Virgo First Quarter Moon MELANCHOLY MOON.

31 MAY 2026 Sagittarius Full Moon DENARIUS MOON.

08 JUN 2026 Pisces Third Quarter Moon LOTUS MOON.

15 JUN 2026 Gemini New Moon MERCURY MOON.

21 JUN 2026 First of two Libra First Quarter Moons in succession is the SUMMER BLUE MOON.

28 JUN 2026 Capricorn Full Moon TOWER MOON.

07 JUL 2026 Aries Third Quarter Moon TRIBUNE MOON.

14 JUL 2026 Cancer New Moon ADONIS MOON.

21 JUL 2026 Libra First Quarter Moon VENUS MOON.

29 JUL 2026 Aquarius Full Moon DONUM MOON.

06 AUG 2026 Taurus Third Quarter Moon LUCIUS MOON.

12 AUG 2026 Leo New Moon SACERDOTE MOON.

20 AUG 2026 Scorpio First Quarter Moon THIEF MOON.

28 AUG 2026 Pisces Full Moon HOMOTHEOSIS MOON.

04 SEP 2026 Gemini Third Quarter Moon CONSOLATION MOON.

11 SEP 2026 Virgo New Moon PLOTINA MOON.

18 SEP 2026 Sagittarius First Quarter Moon EQUESTRIAN MOON.

26 SEP 2026 Aries Full Moon LIGHTNING MOON.

03 OCT 2026 Cancer Third Quarter Moon DISCORDIA MOON.

10 OCT 2026 Libra New Moon TRIPOD MOON.

18 OCT 2026 Capricorn First Quarter Moon MERCHANT MOON.

25 OCT 2026 Taurus Full Moon HADRIAN'S VILLA MOON.

01 NOV 2026 Leo Third Quarter Moon BACCHANALIA MOON.

09 NOV 2026 Scorpio New Moon ZELUS MOON.

17 NOV 2026 Aquarius First Quarter Moon CONCORDIA MOON.

24 NOV 2026 Gemini Full Moon CATAMITUS MOON.

01 DEC 2026 Virgo Third Quarter Moon AESCULAPIUS MOON.

09 DEC 2026 Sagittarius New Moon FORTUNA MOON.

17 DEC 2026 Pisces First Quarter Moon CONSORTIUM MOON.

24 DEC 2026 Cancer Full Moon LUNUS MOON.

30 DEC 2026 Libra Third Quarter Moon CROSSROADS MOON.