DISCOVER THE MYSTERIES OF ANTINOUS IN YOUR DAILY LIFE NOW

JUNE 17th is the traditional anniversary of the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice. Antinous was initiated into the Orphic Mysteries of the power of love transcending death. Discover the Orphic Mysteries in your daily life. 

The Orphic Mysteries teach you to remember that you are the musician. You are the dancer. You are that which dies and enters the Underworld. You are also that which rises re-born bright and shining like the dawn sunrise ... today ... every day ... forever ... Homotheosis, Man-Godliness-Becoming-the-Same. 

For a clue to the Antinous Mystery Teachings, just check out French director Marcel Camus' unforgettable film Orfeu Negro, which is a rendition of the Orphic Mysteries in the setting of 1950s Rio de Janeiro during Mardi Gras, or Carnival. 

It is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orfeu is a trolley-car motorman and gifted guitarist. Amid the joyous frenzy of Rio's Carnival, he becomes enthralled with the beautiful, doomed Eurydice. 

Against a backdrop of Rio's favelas (shanty-town ghettos on the hills), the lovers sway in a never-ending rhythmic samba among the crowds. But Eurydice is stalked by a man in a skeleton costume. 

Eventually, Orfeu finds her body in the morgue. In the house of the dead, voodoo rites are performed to bring her back to life. But impatient Orfeu looks upon her too soon ... and the spell is broken. 

In the end, bearing her body in his arms, he falls to his death from a cliff. His guitar, standing in for the lyre of Orpheus, is taken up by one of the street urchins who follow him as a sort of Greek chorus.

The movie is the stuff of pure myth. The movie shows a Rio which no longer exists. In fact, it shows a Rio that never existed. The movie was based on a highly political stage play which satirically condemned the poverty of the favelas. 

When the movie came out, Brazilians criticized it for portraying a Frenchman's romanticized TechniColor tourist vision of Rio.

So what?

That's what myths are about. Myths don't tell the plain old every-day truth that we see on the streets. Myths tell Sacred Truths that exist within our hearts and our souls.

Hadrian and Antinous had both been initiated into the Orphic Mysteries. That is the darker aspect ... the Antinous Mystery Teaching ... which was brought to the screen in Orfeu Negro. Mardi Gras (Carnival) ultimately is a Masque of Love and Death. 

The frivolities are fleeting. Death will catch up with each of us. But a few mortals are privileged ... like Hadrian and Antinous ... to have been initiated into the Mysteries which enable a mortal to cheat death. And that is why we put on gay costumes and dance until we drop.

Most mortals are dancing just because it's party time. But a few mortals are dancing because they have been initiated into the Mysteries of Life and Death. Initiation into the Orphic Mysteries promised advantages in the afterlife. Hadrian and Antinous were well-versed in both Mystery Schools.

But, like Orpheus in the Underworld, poor grieving Hadrian must have known as we wept over his lost boy that the Mysteries not only offer a promise of advantages in the afterlife. The Mysteries of Antinous are lived on a daily basis.

We face a dark demon every day, if not several dark and deathly demons. Physical death is only one of those demons. There are many other forms of death, and the Mysteries of Antinous help us to overcome them on a daily basis.

Bringing Light out of Darkness is a spiritual miracle each of us faces every day. Rejuvenating our spiritual life out of the setbacks and trials of mortality is a task we face every day of our lives, and not just at the hour of our death.

The Afterlife is Now! And THAT is the ultimate Mystery Teaching. The Mysteries of Antinous are not about the Afterlife. They are about your Spiritual Life on an everyday basis.

That's why we dance and sing till we drop ... and never look back! When we dance the Masque of Love and Death, then our lives become imbued with the stuff Sacred Myths are made of ....

WE REMEMBER THE NIGHT OF THE TEARDROP WHEN WEEPING ISIS WORKED A MIRACLE

THE 16th of June is the Egyptian "Night of the Teardrop" festival. 

On this night, when the moon rises into the sky, Isis sheds one blessed and mournful tear for her beloved, Osiris, as the breeze from her wings fans the breath of life into him ... so that he is reborn to eternal life. 

That precious tear is then collected by intersex Nile inundation deity HAPI, signalling the start of the build up to the inundation in July. 

Similarly, Hadrian wept for Antinous after he died in the Nile in late 130 AD, and subsequently proclaimed Antinous a god. 

Divine Antinous called upon HAPI to bring forth a bountiful flood in the summer of 131 AD to end a famine. 

It was the first miracle of Antinous! 

The mystery teaching: Even in tears of grief, the divine miracle of life comes forth.

THE FESTIVAL OF MAAT AS ALL DEITIES INCLUDING ANTINOUS

THE 15th of June is the Egyptian festival when Ma'at unites as one with all the deities of the heavens. This is when all the gods take on the principle of Ma'at ... including Antinous as the final god of Egypt and ultimate Classical deity. Ma'at is often thought of as representing justice, but her true function is balance. If something has been pushed off kilter, then Ma'at embodies the power that restores equilibrium. This means that she can be appealed to if you are the victim of an injustice, and she will ensure that harmony is restored. However be very sure that you are the victim, because Ma'at is impartial, and will restore balance whoever has been at fault - this is the reason that justice is often shown as blindfolded.

THE GEMINI NEW MOON THE MERCURY MOON OF ANTINOUS

TONIGHT's Gemini New Moon a good time to set a goal for the coming four weeks. And given the presence of Gemini energy, it's an auspicious time to begin gathering the information you will need to set this mission in motion.

In Antinous Moon Magic we call the Gemini New Moon the "Mercury Moon of Antinous" because the mercurial and seemingly fickle energy of Gemini is in the spotlight during this New Moon period, amping up agitation and nervous energy.

Be patient with yourself if you find it more difficult to make decisions while also making space for others if they seem to be more capricious than normal.

If you're finding yourself indecisive, consider whether it’s because you are more clearly seeing the two sides of the proverbial coin and the fact that both of them have grace and value. Reflect upon whether it really is even necessary to choose between them; potentially you can create a structure where you are able to enjoy both paths.

Curiosity and wonder fill the air on the night of the Gemini Moon. Rituals and meditations carried out on this night are best aimed at learning and collecting information. And yet, don't be surprised if it may seem as if your attention is pulled in a spectrum of directions, since there's a heightened sense of "interesting" to the facts and figures you come across.

So if your mind begins to drift during meditation or a magical ritual, perhaps you should permit the Mercury Moon to take it off into a new direction ... which may turn out to provide the answers and results you were looking for.

THESE CRYSTALS FOR THE MERCURY MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

OUR astrology adviser Hernestus has prompted me that today's moon phase is the Gemini New Moon which is the Mercury-Hermes Moon for those who are companions of the Antinous faith.

Hernestus describes this moon as being about learning (about yourself or situations around or ahead of you) so you can set goals for the coming 4 weeks. 

As I indicated for the last moon phase, crystals are mostly there to help you to focus on your needs in the moment rather than helping you to achieve anything ahead of time. 

Consequently my advice is very similar to the last moon phase.

However there are some crystals which are attuned to the future so will attune you to it too. 

I recommend that you write down your wishes/desires and hold them as you meditate (with or without crystals). Focus your attention through the paper and crystal/s and back into your heart. 

I recommend using:

Sillimanite - Shown at the top of this entry, these uncommon (although reasonably obtainable) crystals help you to maintain your intentions for positive outcomes to the things you are intending for your life.

Orange Calcite - These pretty stones (heart-shaped stone above) remove fear and balance the emotion so that you are open and ready for positives to enter your life.

Apatite - These are the best crystals to use for manifesting your desires. They are both attuned to the future and past lives so you can consider the spectrum of your lives and set out your wishes for your future and your future selves. They are typically blue or yellow. Choose the blue for manifesting your desires."

Light and Life,

MARTIN

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

ANTINOUS SEES THE SEVENTH WONDER OF THE WORLD IN EPHESUS

ANTINOUS and Hadrian may not have seen all Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (they didn't make it to Babylon), but they definitely visited most of them ... including the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in June of 129 AD.

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.

The image above gives you something of an idea of what greeted the eyes of Emperor Hadrian and Antinous as they entered the fabled city of Ephesus during the cycle of the Summer Solstice in the year 129 AD as part of their three-year tour of the Eastern Empire.

Ephesus had 300,000 inhabitants at its peak in the time of Hadrian, and it drew thousands of devotees to the shrine of the goddess annually. Even today, Ephesus is one of the most complete and most splendid ancient sites in the world and still draws thousands of tourists every year. The Great Library of Ephesus, which Hadrian patronized and greatly expanded, has been lovingly restored.

The Temple of Ephesus was consecrated to Artemis in her Asian element as a Phrygian-Hittite goddess of the hunt, a youthful manifestation of the Great Goddess of Mount Ida and Dydimus.

The Ephesus form of Artemis looks strange to our eyes ... and looked strange to Roman eyes as well.

The Roman Artemis ... called Diana ... is a virgin huntress. She carries a bow and wears a short, simple tunic suitable for the chase.


But Artemis of Ephesus ... presumably more ancient ... stands stiffly upright with her bent elbows against her body, her forearms extended and her hands open. 

She wears a crown, and outlining her head is a nimbus decorated with winged bulls.

More bulls and other animals adorn the stiff garment that covers her lower body, almost like a mummy casing.

From her neck hangs a necklace of acorns  and a ring of zodiacal figures, and below this you see the most striking feature of Artemis of Ephesus .. a mass of pendulous, gourd-shaped protrusions that hang in a cluster from her upper body. 

At first glance, they appear to be multiple breasts. But in fact these protrusions are bulls' testicles.

We can only imagine the festive procession of the goddess through the streets of Ephesus and the sacrifice of scores of bulls to the virgin goddess at the temple ... a ritual which Antinous must have seen with his own eyes.

The Temple had burned down on the night that Alexander the Great was born, but after his conquest, Alexander ordered the reconstruction of the Temple, which was still standing when Hadrian and Antinous visited.

ANTONIUS SUBIA explains the parallels between Artemis and Antinous and why we celebrate this Sacred Event:

"Artemis is considered the female Antinous, as his divine twin, the only goddess to exhibit lesbian qualities. She was worshipped as Diana alongside Antinous by the funeral society of Lanuvium. Ephesus was one of the first cities to proclaim Hadrian a living God, and one of the first to adhere to his veneration as a Divus.

"The presence of Antinous and Hadrian with their very pronounced Artemisian qualities must have made a deep impression on the Ephesians, in that they were aware that the city was being visited by living gods. It is to Artemis of Ephesus that this day is Sacred, as the female twin of Antinous, the Bithynian hunter god."

KING LUDWIG II of BAVARIA SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON JUNE 13th the Religion of Antinous commemorates the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who died on this date in 1886 under mysterious circumstances in an Alpine lake. As with Antinous, his death is shrouded in myth and legend and it will never be known whether he drowned accidentally or whether he was assassinated.

Born August 25, 1845, Ludwig was only 18 when he ascended to the throne of Bavaria in 1864. He was the  last truly sovereign monarch of that Alpine nation, which was engulfed by Prussia during his reign and very much against his wishes.

While the king of Prussia was planning a war against France, and various other crowned heads of Europe were scheming and conniving to commit war and bloodshed, "Mad" King Ludwig (as he was called) devoted the entire resources of his land to the performing and visual arts, commissioning operas by Richard Wagner and building the most astounding fairy-tale castles and palaces.

In the build-up to the Franco-German war, as troops were marching off to battle, Ludwig did not bother to see off his military forces. Instead, he went off on a jaunt to Switzerland to confer with Wagner on plans for a Wagnerian opera house in Munich. The opera house was never built, due to opposition from local critics. Instead, it was built at the Bavarian town of Bayreuth to the specifications of the composer, paid for by Ludwig personally.

Shockingly, in a staunchly Roman Catholic land, Ludwig never married and instead surrounded himself with handsome manservants, artists and architects.

Indeed, Ludwig is best known as a closeted gay man whose legacy is intertwined with the history of art and architecture, as he commissioned the construction of several extravagant fantasy castles (the most famous being Neuschwanstein below) and was a devoted patron of Wagner, who might never have finished his "Ring" cycle without Ludwig's ostentatiously generous support.

In an age of fiercely militaristic nationalism, Ludwig came under intense pressures from his advisers to abandon his artistic projects and to devote himself to empire-building. Feeling harassed and irritated by his ministers, he considered dismissing the entire cabinet and replacing them with fresh faces. The cabinet decided to act first.

 Seeking a cause to depose Ludwig by constitutional means, the rebelling ministers decided on the rationale that he was mentally ill, and unable to rule.

Medical psychiatry was in its infancy, and a panel of "experts" assembled mostly anecdotal evidence of the king's "madness" to satisfy the ministers.

The list of "mad" behavior included his extreme shyness, his distaste for politics and state affairs, his complex and expensive flights of fancy (including moonlit picnics at which his young groomsmen were said to strip naked and dance), conversations with imaginary persons, sloppy and childish table manners and sending servants on lengthy and expensive expeditions to research architectural details in foreign lands.

He was deposed on June 9, 1886, and placed under house arrest at a castle on the shores of Lake Starnberg south of Munich where he was under the constant watchful eye of a psychiatrist.

On June 13, around 6:00 pm, Ludwig asked the psychiatrist to accompany him on a walk along the shore of Lake Starnberg. The doctor agreed, and told the guards not to follow them. The two men never returned. At 11:30 that night, searchers found both the king and his doctor dead, floating in the shallow water near the shore.

Ludwig was known to be a strong swimmer, the water was less than waist-deep where his body was found, and the official autopsy report indicated that no water was found in his lungs. Nonetheless, the official death certificate listed suicide by drowning. The death of the doctor was never explained.

Most other monarchs of his era have been forgotten, or else their names have been cursed by succeeding generations for laying the groundwork for the First World War. But Ludwig was only interested in laying the groundwork for grand architecture and enduring cultural masterpieces. His legacy of art and architecture ... and homoerotic romance ... continues to inspire and to enchant.