THE VENUS MOON OF ANTINOUS THE LIBRA FIRST QUARTER MOON

TONIGHT's Libra First Quarter Moon is the beautiful moon of balance and equilibrium at right angles to the emotional Cancer Sun which we call the VENUS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic.

The Libra First Quarter Moon is about flexibility and seeking balance between extremes enroute to the stability of the Capricorn Full Moon. This is the Lunar Phase which enhances nurturing and maternal instincts. It brings out the "inner mother" in each of us and reminds us that maternal love can be fierce and fearsome.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Sabina Moon is the Spirit of Motherhood and also the Spirit of the Caduceus. It is the Maternal Spirit which is soullessly devoted to its offspring and which will do anything to protect its babies.

It is at the same time the Spirit of the Serpent Goddess who writhes and coils. It is the Spirit which stops at nothing to achieve its aims. It is poison. And it is medicine.

It is the most slippery Lunar Spirit, the one which is most difficult to grasp. And it is quite possibly the most influential because it is the mother of all the others.

We remember Venus Genetrix (Venus Universal Mother), who was honored by every emperor after Julius Caesar as the Mother of Rome. In the time of Antinous, Venus Genetrix was identified with Empress Sabina Augusta, wife of Emperor Hadrian.  Much has been said over the centuries about how the marriage was a "sham" and that Hadrian and Sabina did not care for each other.

But the historical record shows that Hadrian cared a great deal ... he severely punished those who besmirched her name.

Flamen Antonius Subia goes so far as to say there was genuine love between Hadrian and Sabina, and that Hadrian's respect for his wife was the prime reason why he was not more upfront about his relationship with Antinous.

Antonius says: "Hadrian was very, very discreet about his relationship with Antinous .... That's why there is no direct  evidence that the Religion of Antinous was a Gay or Homosexual religion, and there is no irrefutable evidence that Hadrian and Antinous even had a sexual relationship at all.

"Hadrian maintained discretion, for Sabina's sake...why would Hadrian want to shame Sabina? What had she done or said?" Antonius asks. "Hadrian wanted to hold his love for Antinous up to the celestial sphere, but he would never push Sabina down into the mud...Hadrian had class."

Rituals and meditations tonight are best suited for questions about your mother or your "inner mother" and also about finding flexible solutions to problems. The serpentine qualities of the "Snake Goddess Moon" offer insights into how to slither around or through seemingly impervious barriers in life.

LOVELY LARIMAR FOR THE VENUS MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

OUR venerable astrological adviser Hernestus has informed me that this moon phase is the Libra First Quarter Moon when the Roman Emperors honoured Venus Genetrix (Venus Universal Mother). 

As such, we celebrate it as the "Venus Moon" of Antinous. This moon helps you to be nurtured or be nurturing to yourself. In doing so, blockages can be removed. 

With all of this in mind I suggest that you meditate with the following crystals during this moon phase:

Blue Lace Agate - These stunning, pale blue, stones (above right) are the best for nurturing and supportive yourself. They also help you to dissolve old patterns you may have of self repression. In particular these stones help men to embrace their more feminine aspects.

Larimar (AKA Dolphin Stone) - These beautiful, pale turquoise coloured stones (top photo) have only recently been found and mined in the Caribbean. They help to remove self-imposed blockages.

Red Calcite - Red Calcite - These crystals help remove blockages emotionally and shift negative energies.

Love and Light,

MARTIN

To get more advice from Martin Campbell and to find out how to contact him CLICK HERE. 

WE REMEMBER HEROSTRATUS THE ULTIMATE NOTORIETY SEEKER

ON 21 July we remember Herostratus, whose name is synonymous with all persons who commit heinous crimes for the sole purpose of making their names notorious ... the eternally aggrieved ego ... the call for damnatio memoriae ... destroyer of beauty, youth and success perceived as insults to the entitled outsider.

Herostratus was a 4th Century BC Greek arsonist who sought notoriety by destroying one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, prompting a law forbidding anyone to mention his name.

His name has become a metonym for someone who commits a criminal act in order to become famous.

On 21 July 356 BC, seeking notoriety, he burned down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor (now Turkey).

Antinous and Hadrian visited TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS in June of 129 AD.

The temple honoured a local goddess, called Artemis by the Greeks, their version of Diana goddess of the hunt, the wild, and childbirth. 

The temple was constructed of marble and was built by King Croesus of Lydia to replace an older site destroyed during a flood. Measuring 130 meters long (425 feet) and supported by columns 18 meters high (60 feet), it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Far from attempting to evade responsibility for his act of arson, Herostratus proudly claimed credit in an attempt to immortalise his name. 

To dissuade those of a similar mind, the Ephesian authorities not only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding mention of his name under penalty of death. However, this did not stop Herostratus from achieving his goal because the ancient historian Theopompus recorded the event and its perpetrator in his Hellenics.

Herostratus' name lived on in classical literature and has passed into modern languages as a term for someone who commits a criminal act in order to bask in the resultant notoriety.

THE BIRTH OF ALEXANDER

IT IS SAID that on the night before the mother of Alexander, Olympias, was to be married to King Phillip of Macedonia, she dreamt that a thunderbolt struck her body and filled it with power.

After the marriage, it is said that Phillip peeked into her chamber, and found her lying with a serpent, and that he afterward dreamt that her womb was sealed and that a lion dwelled within her. 

And on the night that he was born, 20th of July, 356 BC, the great Temple at Ephesus was burned to the ground by a vandal, because the goddess Artemis was away, assisting with the birth of Alexander the Great.

He was considered to be the son of Zeus, and this divine origin was  what was given as an explanation for the unprecedented conquests that he accomplished. In his youth Aristotle, a student of Plato, educated him along with his following of young princes, who were later serve as his generals, and the founders of great dynastic monarchies of the Hellenistic world.

Foremost of these was his ever loyal and devoted Hepheistion, whose reciprocated love for Alexander was homosexual in nature.

In one of their first battles, while Phillip was still king, the young Alexander proved himself by defeating the Sacred Band of Thebes, the army of homosexual lovers who were the most famous and courageous warriors of their time.

Alexander is said to have wept at their destruction, and buried them with honor, erecting a statue of a Lion over their graves.

He would later go one to conquer the entire Eastern world, Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Egypt, and all of Persia, as far East as India. The Empire of Alexander spread Greek culture throughout the world, and made the communication of far-distant ideas possible so that the new Hellenistic culture that he created, was a combination of classical Greece and of the exotic cultures that were imported from every corner.

After the death of Alexander, at only 33 years of age, he was deified by his generals who divided his great Empire among themselves. We praise the glorious warrior Alexander of Macedonia, and elevate him, and worship him as a God, an example of the greatness of homosexuality, and a heroic protector of the Divine Antinous.

THE ANTINOUS BOUQUET BASKET OF COSMIC BRIGHT BLESSINGS

TONIGHT an incredibly rare "Cosmic Cradle" configuration occurs which we have never seen before in our lifetimes, ushering in what many astrologers are predicting will be a new age of enlightenment and political and economic reform.

Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto link up with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and the Moon in a configuration, which some astrologers call "Barbault's Basket," that we will not see again in our lifetimes.

In Antinous Moon Magic, we call it the "Bouquet Basket" of bountiful bright blessings which are yours for the taking if you reach out and accept the hand of Antinous in his form as Vertumnus, the shape-shifting god of loving gifts and bounty.

These planets will lock into a geometric pattern that a French astrologer named André Barbault predicted would mark a major change in civilization in the year 2026. Barbault was a renowned 20th Century French Astrologer who predicted significant world events including Fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2020 Pandemic. This "Cosmic Cradle" configuration creates a beautiful web of supportive aspects.

This pattern includes a dynamic direct opposition between Jupiter and Pluto, and three synergistic sextiles between Jupiter and Uranus, Uranus and Neptune, and Neptune and Pluto. We also see two harmonious talent trines.

Also known as a wedge pattern, a talent trine is a "minor grand trine" formed by one trine (a 120-degree aspect) and two sextiles (60-degree aspects). One talent trine is formed between Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, and the other between Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Talent trines are minor trines which symbolize untapped potential, brilliance, synchronicity, and serendipity. 

In Western astrology, this intricate pattern is known as a Cradle pattern, which is also a semi-hexagon or half-hexagon. In sacred geometry, a semi-hexagon is considered to be a unifying form that bridges dualities. It represents the holy trinity of creation, balance, and manifestation. 

The Cradle is widely regarded in astrology as a highly inventive and constructive configuration ... a wellspring that may herald the birth of something unusual, innovative and grand in scale.

 In Antinous Moon Magic, we call it the "Bouquet Basket" of bountiful bright blessings which are yours for the taking if you reach out and accept the hand of Antinous in his form as Vertumnus, the shape-shifting god of loving gifts and bounty. 

ALEXANDRIA ALIGNED TO SUN ON ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S BIRTHDAY

ALEXANDRIA, home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, may have been built to align with the rising sun on the day of Alexander the Great's birth.

The Macedonian king, who commanded an empire that stretched from Greece to Egypt to the Indus River in what is now India, founded the city of Alexandria in 331 B.C. 

It would later become hugely prosperous, home to Cleopatra, the magnificent Royal Library of Alexandria and the 450-foot-tall (140  meters) Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.

Hadrian and Antinous visited Alexandria in the summer and early autumn of 130 AD.

Ancient Alexandria was planned around a main east-west thoroughfare called the Canopic Road, points out Giulio Magli, an archaeo-astronomer at the Politecnico of Milan. 

A study of the ancient route reveals it is not laid out according to topography; for example, it doesn't run quite parallel to the coastline. 

But on July 20th, the birthday of Alexander the Great, the rising sun of the 4th Century BC rose "in almost perfect alignment with the road," Magli was quoted as saying.

July 20th, 356 BC, is the date which has always been accepted as the birthday of Alexander the Great. Whether it was his actual birthday or only the official royal observance of his birth is unknown.

It is said that on the night before the mother of Alexander, Olympias, was to be married to King Phillip of Macedonia, she dreamt that a thunderbolt struck her body and filled it with power.

After the marriage, it is said that Phillip peeked into her chamber, and found her lying with a serpent, and that he afterward dreamt that her womb was sealed and that a lion dwelled within her. 

And on the night that he was born, 20th of July, 356 BC, the great Temple at Ephesus was burned to the ground by a vandal, because the goddess Artemis was away, assisting with the birth of Alexander the Great.

He was considered to be the son of Zeus, and this divine origin was what was given as an explanation for the unprecedented conquests that he accomplished. In his youth Aristotle, a student of Plato, educated him along with his following of young princes, who were later serve as his generals, and the founders of great dynastic monarchies of the Hellenistic world.

Foremost of these was his ever loyal and devoted Hepheistion, whose reciprocated love for Alexander was homosexual in nature.

In one of their first battles, while Phillip was still king, the young Alexander proved himself by defeating the SACRED BAND OF THEBES, the army of homosexual lovers who were the most famous and courageous warriors of their time.

Alexander is said to have wept at their destruction, and buried them with honor, erecting a statue of a Lion over their graves.

He would later go one to conquer the entire Eastern world, Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Egypt, and all of Persia, as far East as India.

The Empire of Alexander spread Greek culture throughout the world, and made the communication of far-distant ideas possible so that the new Hellenistic culture that he created, was a combination of classical Greece and of the exotic cultures that were imported from every corner.

After the death of Alexander, at only 33 years of age, he was deified by his generals who divided his great Empire among themselves. We praise the glorious warrior Alexander of Macedonia, and elevate him, and worship him as a God, an example of the greatness of homosexuality, and a heroic protector of the Divine Antinous.

CARAVAGGIO, SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON JULY 18th the Religion of Antinous honors Saint Caravaggio.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who died under suspicious circumstances on this day in 1610, was an extraordinary painter whose homoerotic images of young men have caused art historians to call him the first modern painter.

St. Caravaggio is the Patron of Gifted Bad Boys — Gay Boys who are blessed with incredible talents but who are too impatient and too rebellious to abide by the rules of society.

St. Caravaggio was always in trouble. In 1592, when he was not yet 20 years old, he fled Milan after a series of brawls and the wounding of a police officer. He went to Rome and was there, for the most part, until 1606, when he again had to flee. His life in Rome was of growing financial and professional success, but it was also punctuated with crime.

In the years 1600-1606 alone, he was brought to trial no less than eleven times. The charges covered a variety of offenses, most involved violence. It is significant that, despite his reputation for homosexuality, and his endless brushes with the police, he was never charged with sodomy, then a capital offense.

But he was charged with murder. On 29 May 1606 he killed one Tommasoni in a brawl after a disputed game of royal tennis, and had to flee to escape execution. He went first to Naples, then to Malta, where he was feted and made a Knight of St John.

Then, after "an ill considered quarrel" with a senior knight, he was on the run once more, all around Sicily, then on to Naples again.

But this time there was no hiding place. The knights, known for their relentlessness, pursued him, and Caravaggio, now 39 nine, in an attempt to seek forgiveness and refuge in Rome, tried to get there, but died at Porto Ercole, apparently of a fever, though the circumstances are highly suspicious.

Despite his hunted and, in the end, desperate life, he always managed to go on painting, often without a proper workshop of any kind. He was variously described, even by admirers, as a man of "stravaganze" as "uno cervello stravagantissimo" (exceptionally odd) and a "cervello stravolto".

His father died when he was six, his mother when he was 18, which may help to explain his anger at the world. His paintings show that he was a man of the most profound religious convictions, of a humble and contrite heart, and with a fanatical devotion to his art.

 His fundamental ideas were always absolutely clear, though he continually changed and improved his techniques. He believed in total realism, and he always painted from life, dragging poor people in from the street if need be.

He became a great realist by painting flowers and fruit, in a variety  of lights, sometimes pure still lifes, sometimes with street boys, such as the model for Bacchus (above).

To achieve realism, he liked to pull his subject out of surrounding darkness into strong lateral or overhead light, as close to the viewer  as possible.

This was a new kind of art, which was to have momentous consequences. It has led some modern writers to speculate that, born into the 20th or 21st Century, Caravaggio would have been a photographer or a filmmaker.

But that is nonsense. Caravaggio, it is clear, adored the feel and line of a brush on a slightly springy surface, prepared with grey (as a rule), and the sheer creative excitement of using the brush to bring the real world out of the darkness of the canvas.

For the first time in the history of art, Caravaggio eliminated the space between the event in the painting and the people looking at it. He created a kind of virtual reality to give you a feeling as though you are right there inside the painting.

Even we, whose vision and sense of reality has been blunted and distorted by television and the cinema, still get tremendous impressions of participating when we see his great canvases close up. What then must it have been like in the early seventeenth century, for people who had never come across anything approaching this blast of actuality, to be brought face-to-face with a reenactment of sacred events in two dimensions, such as St. Francis of Asisi in Ecstasy?

Artists were particularly struck, or perhaps shocked is a better word, but horribly stimulated too, and stirred to find out exactly how the man did it.

Caravaggio, despite all his difficulties, always finished each piece of work if he possibly could, then went directly on to another, with  fresh ideas and new experiments.

He was a Bad Boy. But he was a gifted genius. The Religion of Antinous honors this Patron of Gifted Bad Gay Boys as an exemplar and saint. Let us lift our glasses to St. Caravaggio.