ASTRO FORECAST: FEBRUARY 2nd—12th, 2023

Antinous is a Moon God. He is, of course, many other things and he wears many hats. But one of the ways he was worshiped in Antiquity was as ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD.

His worshipers looked skyward and saw His beautiful face perpetually turned towards the Earth. The Man in the Moon was actually the Blessed Boy in the Moon for the ancient priests and worshipers of Antinous. Swiftest and most youthful of all the Zodiacal deities, Antinous speeds through an entire year's worth of Astrological signs in just 28 days.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD represents our deepest personal needs, our basic habits and reactions, and our unconscious gay selves. Where Hadrian the Sun acts, Antinous the Moon REACTS. How do we instinctively react or respond to problems? What do we feel we need for a sense of security? Look to ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD for answers.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD is both our inner boy child and our inner lover. His ever changing phases, as he sweeps past all the other Planets in all the Signs, make us at turns responsive, receptive, and reflective. Eternally youthful, ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD represents our childlike spontaneous and instinctual reactions.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD beams down on us to make us imaginative, creative, intuitive, sentimental, adaptable, introspective, and protective. On the negative side, and depending on where he is in the Zodiac, he can make us moody, restless, and irrational.

Antinous Astrology Forecast

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FEBRUARY 2nd-12th, 2023

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THURS-FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd-3rd, 2023

This week the Sun and Uranus are in a 90-degree square aspect to each other. This aspect creates unreliability and betrayal amongst friends, allies and coworkers. Stress and rancour and lots of rage and unrest are the result.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 2023

This weekend, Venus and Mars are in a 90-degree right angle to each other, causing chaos in love relationships. This is the astrological textbook recipe for a relationship in which tempers are always hot, the sex is always hot, passions are always hot and in which you are fighting violently with each other one moment — and then violently having sex the next moment.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5th, 2023

This weekend we come to the lunar phase we call the LION HUNT MOON, the LEO FULL MOON. It is a reminder that Antinous slew a man-eating lion in Egypt. Antinous peered out into the barren wilderness with all its deep and hidden dangers. He charged forth, his bridle-reins in one hand and an adamantine-tipped spear in the other, and he faced the beast unafraid. For Antinous knew he would triumph over death. The Spirit of the Lion Hunt is the bravery of Antinous the Lion Slayer.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6th, 2023

This week your intuition is enhanced when Mercury forms a sextile aspect with dreamy Neptune. You should trust your intuition about financial and business matters, but be wary of fast-talking con-men who try to cloud your mind. You can count on finding the right word at the right time by trusting your inner voice.

TUES-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7th-8th, 2023

This week Venus forms a sexy sextile with impetuous Uranus. You may meet a stranger who ordinarily would not be your type ... but who certainly appeals to you.

THURS-FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9th-10th, 2023

This week Mercury aligns in conjunction for the third time in recent weeks with Capricorn Pluto (which is in near alignment with the Star of Antinous) facilitates negotiations with authority figures. At last, you can expect answers to some questions which have been plaguing you for the longest time. It may take a little digging, but Mercury conjunction Pluto means that the answer will be found.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11th, 2023

Now it's time to take advantage of those Clearance Sales and buy a new phone, tablet or other communications device when Mercury enters the tech-friendly and communications-conscious sign of Aquarius. This is the best time of year for communications technology upgrades. But hurry, because Mercury leaves Aquarius on March 2nd and dives into the dreamy waters of Pisces.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12th, 2023

This weekend we come to the Scorpio Third Quarter Moon. This is the Lunar Phase in Antinous Moon Magic which we call the PERDITION MOON of coming to terms with loss and diminishment. Meditations and rituals carried out during this Lunar Phase are best suited for seeking to come to terms with loss and finding areas in your life where you may unconsciously be causing yourself loss or sadness. This Lunar Phase is NOT about giving in to loss and grief, but rather it is about moving through them to find new ways towards growth and fulfillment.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:

Another exciting week lies ahead between February 13th and 19th, 2023, when we come to the PISCES NEW MOON. In Antinous Moon Magic this is the lunar phase we call the DOG MOON of fidelity, friendship and faithfulness. The Spirit of the Dog Moon is loving and supportive friendship. This Spirit is loving and faithful, comforting you with familiarity when you see yourself reflected in this Spirit. It is the perfect combination of comfort and stimulus to grow and provides a wonderful companion that walks with you through life, helping you define and refine who you are and who you choose to be every day ... More details next time ....

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.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE STAR OF ANTINOUS

ON January 29th in the year 131 AD a new star appeared in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle.

The court astrologers declared that it was Antinous taking his place in the heavens. Hadrian ordered them to draw a new constellation embraced by the Eagle, and called it ANTINOUS.

Our Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia explains:

"The Roman historian Dio Cassius was skeptical that a new star had appeared in the sky, but simultaneously, the leader of the Jewish revolt named Bar Kochba, which means 'Son of the Star,' was declared the Messiah because a celestial event had proclaimed him the savior of Israel. The mystery of the star is real, a celestial even of great magnitude occurred shortly after the death of Antinous within the constellation of the Eagle for the New God.

"The three sacred stars of the constellation Aquila, named Tarzad, Altair and Alshain, rise above the horizon just after dark on this night and are an allegory of the assumption of Ganymede into heaven. This date is suggested by Chinese Novae observations which have been dated as occurring on the 29th of January 131 AD, and are compared to the Star or Comet of Antinous."

THE ANTINOUS AMOR MOON THE TAURUS FIRST QUARTER MOON

TONIGHT's Taurus First Quarter Moon is the lunar phase of young love which, in Antinous Moon Magic, we call the AMOR MOON.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Amor Moon is the Great God of Love. Also known as Eros-Cupid, he is foremost of the Gods of the Religion of Antinous.

He is the first impulse upon which the world was created, and he is the beauty and perfection of all creation. He is called Phanes, the radiant being of beauty who emerged from the egg of night.

Others say that he is the son of Uranus and Gaia, or that he was born when Venus was born, and that he is the leader of a whole army of Erotes who attended Venus as she rose from the sea.

But Amor/Eros is also said to be the son of Venus, the Mother of Love, and his father is often said to be Mars, which is why Amor so often uses violence to obtain love.

Amor makes the world burn with the desire for beauty, he conquers all and is the drive that sustains life, Love is Life.

He inspires us through desire, to fight for our gratification, which is  why the stag grows horns, to do battle in the time of rut.

Often he is portrayed as a youth with wings because he is flighty and has no reason or control over his desires. Eros is madly in love with the soul, with Psyche, who dwells within all of us, he cannot resist the beauty that is in our hearts and so therefore, he never disdains us.

One of his twins is Anteros ... "Love Returned to the Lover" ... and Anteros can devolve into Zelus ... fear, envy, jealousy.

The First Quarter Taurus Moon is the moon of comfort and luxury and lovableness. It is the fresh bloom of love.

Meditations and rituals carried out tonight are best suited for delving into matters of love and romance.

DIAMONDS SHINE FOR THE AMOR MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

LOVE is what the universe is all about. Love is the most important vibration that emitted from the divine source at the beginning of the Universe.

Whatever God, Gods, Spirits, Angels, Saints, Martyrs etc that you worship, they channel love through you and you channel it back through them to the divine source.

They are all conduits for this exchange of love.

For us, of course, Antinous is that main conduit. For him the greatest symbol of Love, given physically to him by Hadrian, was an 'Adamantine' (diamond) spear head. 

It was that symbol of Love that Antinous used to display his most courageous act of Love in return. His Adamantine tipped spear killed the lion jumping to kill Hadrian.

Above is a photo of a piece of jewellery that I commissioned to contain a beautiful crystal glass intaglio of Antinous I bought. 

It features the unfortunate lion and a spear. 

One end of the spear has a heart, the other end has a tiny diamond set into the point (not visible in the photo).

We all hope to shoot our own metaphorical arrows/spears of desire into  those things or people we love. Our loving thoughts reach out from us and connect whether we realise it or not. 

We are sometimes astonished when our objects of desire, friends, family members and even animals make it obvious to us that they know, and knew all along, that we love them. 

Don't be surprised. Love is an energy just as are hate, jealousy, indifference and murderous intent. 

Love however is the strongest of all emotions/energies. It overrides all others and ALWAYS defeats negativity or evil. 

It is immensely powerful and positive and emits strong signals that we all pick up on whether we are aware of it or not.

At this time of year, therefore, and during tonight's AMOR MOON, it is so important to meditate on whom or what you love. 

Crystals have strong energies too and can boost your love arrows as they emanate from your core. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly there are more crystals that can assist you with Love than any other energy/vibration/intention/thought process you may have. 

For this moon phase the obvious crystal is the strongest of them all and that which best reflects the light of Love brought to us from and to the Source - diamonds of course!

Diamonds - Are bringers of the purest Light and help us to focus on and receive Love in the form of relationships, commitment and fidelity. Meditations using diamonds are likely to be intense, revelatory and full of imagery.

They are, though, very expensive and I try to recommend crystals that are easily affordable from crystal shops or websites. 

So, there are other more accessible stones/crystals with Love as a key aspect of their characteristics. I list just a few...

Garnets - These inspire Love and devotion and can boost your sexual energies (which may or may not be useful in this moon phase?!!).

Rose Quartz - Perhaps those crystal most readily associated with Love. They are the crystal of true and unconditional Love and can help you to attract it. 

Topaz - These wondrous gemstones (shown at left) help you to emanate Love. They bring you good health and good fortune which, obviously, makes it easier for you to be loving.

I hope you have a Love filled moon phase!

In Light and Life,

MARTIN

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

BASRELIEF OF EMBRACING EMPERORS FOUND AT NICOMEDIA WHICH ANTINOUS VISITED

AN amazing bas-relief panel showing two Roman emperors in passionate embrace has been found at Nicomedia, the Bithynian capital city which Antinous and Hadrian visited during the first year of the final and fateful tour of the Eastern Empire.

Ancient Nicomedia, the most important capital of the eastern Roman empire during the Tetrarchy, now lies below the modern industrial city of İzmit in Turkey. 

The panel is the most spectacular of more than 30 very large relief panels (average height 1.0 m by width. 1.5 m) discovered by archaeologists recently.

They are the only surviving examples of Late Roman state reliefs that have extensive paint preserved on them. 

The panels illuminate multiple aspects of the art of the period, including the brightly colored costumes and the new and distinctive self-representation of the tetrarchic emperors and their administration. 

The bas-relief panel with a representation of two emperors embracing is believed to be part of a larger adventus scene that shows the meeting of the two diarchs, Diocletian and Maximian, and thus dates from slightly before the onset of Tetrarchy in 293 AD.

In early 129 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. We commemorate this visit on March 6 each year. 

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 males 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."

THE MEN WITH THE PINK TRIANGLES VICTIMS OF THE GAY HOLOCAUST

IN Nazi Germany, on January 28th, 1935, the Ministry of Justice revived and amended "Paragraph 175", the old Prussian statute created in 1871 that made Homosexuality a crime punishable by imprisonment. 

The law was increased in severity and became the legal basis for the systematic persecution of male Homosexuals. 

The Nazis believed that homosexuality endangered to the purity of the German people, that gay men corrupted the youth, preventing them from living normal married lives, and were therefore a threat to the race. 

Homosexuality was denounced as an unnatural lust, and accused of being intrinsically Un-German, a disease imported by Jews and supported by Communists, the enemy of the Aryan People. 

Imprisonment and sterilization were the initial penalties, but Heinrich Himmler revealed his true design when he said that the "extermination of degenerates" was in keeping with ancient Nordic principles (an interesting idea considering that many of the Dying-Boy-Gods, to whom we compare Antinous, were killed as ritual human sacrifices.) 

Men were arrested and sent to the concentration camps by the tens of thousands. 

They were distinguished by the sign of the pink triangle, and subjected to extreme conditions of abuse. 

The Men of the Pink Triangle were beaten regularly, subjected to hard labor, deprived of food and exposed to the elements. 

They were abused by the Nazi guards and by other prisoners alike because everyone considered homosexuality the lowest of low, a sin and an aberration, even the homosexuals themselves. 

An estimated 60,000 men were legally sentenced under "Paragraph 175," nearly all of them died, and this number only includes those documented in Germany. The number of unrecorded homosexuals, and those outside of German is impossible to know, but may be twice as many. 

The Men of the Pink Triangle were so successfully persecuted that even after the Nazi defeat, Paragraph 175 remained law, and many gay inmates were sent to regular prison to complete their sentences. It was not until 1969 that the law was finally repealed. 

We sorrowfully remember the legions of Men of the Pink Triangle who died cruel and vicious deaths under the Nazis. 

We remember the evil that was perpetrated with the blessing of "Paragraph 175." 

These men are our Martyrs, our Holocaust, our Guardian Saints, they suffered so that we would be Free.

We will never forget their painful and miserable deaths, and we pray to Antinous the God of Homosexuality, to watch over their immortal souls and give them rest. On this day we remember the horrors that were raised against us through the Amendment of "Paragraph 175."

ASTRO FORECAST: JAN. 26th—FEB. 5th, 2023

Antinous is a Moon God. He is, of course, many other things and he wears many hats. But one of the ways he was worshiped in Antiquity was as ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD.

His worshipers looked skyward and saw His beautiful face perpetually turned towards the Earth. The Man in the Moon was actually the Blessed Boy in the Moon for the ancient priests and worshipers of Antinous. Swiftest and most youthful of all the Zodiacal deities, Antinous speeds through an entire year's worth of Astrological signs in just 28 days.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD represents our deepest personal needs, our basic habits and reactions, and our unconscious gay selves. Where Hadrian the Sun acts, Antinous the Moon REACTS. How do we instinctively react or respond to problems? What do we feel we need for a sense of security? Look to ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD for answers.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD is both our inner boy child and our inner lover. His ever changing phases, as he sweeps past all the other Planets in all the Signs, make us at turns responsive, receptive, and reflective. Eternally youthful, ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD represents our childlike spontaneous and instinctual reactions.

ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD beams down on us to make us imaginative, creative, intuitive, sentimental, adaptable, introspective, and protective. On the negative side, and depending on where he is in the Zodiac, he can make us moody, restless, and irrational.

Antinous Astrology Forecast

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JANUARY 26th-FEBRUARY 5th, 2023

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 26th, 2023

On Thursday, the Sun forms a sextile with lucky Jupiter. This is the sort of day that the Latin expression "Carpe Diem" (Seize the Day) was created for. Be sure to buy a lottery ticket ... and be sure to share the winnings with everybody around you.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th, 2023

On Friday, romantic Venus leaves emotionally cold Aquarius and dives into the romantic depths of Pisces. This sign change marks a major change not only in love but also in finances. Pisces Venus is not only loving and compassionate but also creative and generous. The motto for the next four weeks is: "Give, and you shall receive!" Pisces Venus is super-compassionate and over-generous. For the next month you may find yourself obsessed with spirituality and consumed with compassionate charity for others. On the negative side, common-sense practicality may be hard to muster.

SAT-SUNDAY, JANUARY 28th-29th, 2023

This weekend, we come to the Taurus First Quarter Moon, the lunar phase of young love which, in Antinous Moon Magic, we call the ANTINOUS AMOR MOON ... this moon is perfect to get you in the mood for Valentine's Day!

MON-WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30th-FEB. 1st, 2023

This week, the Sun and Mars cause unrest. Sun trine Mars encourages people to believe they can do anything ... and get away with anything. On the negative side, people run amok and even the weather can be more than usually unpredictable and destructive. On the positive side, however, you might accidentally run into the new love of your life ... while running for shelter. But that is not all! You can expect surprise tidings from the other dimensions when Mercury is in a very conducive karmic-healing trine to Uranus. Mercury-trine-Uranus always creates optimal energies for breaking down encrusted old structures and for mentally visualizing bold new solutions

THURS-FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd-3rd, 2023

This week the Sun and Uranus are in a 90-degree square aspect to each other. This aspect creates unreliability and betrayal amongst friends, allies and coworkers. Stress and rancour and lots of rage and unrest are the result.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 2023

This weekend, Venus and Mars are in a 90-degree right angle to each other, causing chaos in love relationships. This is the astrological textbook recipe for a relationship in which tempers are always hot, the sex is always hot, passions are always hot and in which you are fighting violently with each other one moment — and then violently having sex the next moment.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5th, 2023

This weekend we come to the lunar phase we call the LION HUNT MOON, the LEO FULL MOON. It is a reminder that Antinous slew a man-eating lion in Egypt. Antinous peered out into the barren wilderness with all its deep and hidden dangers. He charged forth, his bridle-reins in one hand and an adamantine-tipped spear in the other, and he faced the beast unafraid. For Antinous knew he would triumph over death. The Spirit of the Lion Hunt is the bravery of Antinous the Lion Slayer.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:

Another exciting week lies ahead between February 6th and 12th, 2023, when we come to the Scorpio Third Quarter Moon. This is the Lunar Phase in Antinous Moon Magic which we call the PERDITION MOON of coming to terms with loss and diminishment. Meditations and rituals carried out during this Lunar Phase are best suited for seeking to come to terms with loss and finding areas in your life where you may unconsciously be causing yourself loss or sadness. This Lunar Phase is NOT about giving in to loss and grief, but rather it is about moving through them to find new ways towards growth and fulfillment ... More details next time ....

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 early 129 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."

WORSHIPERS ON BOTH SIDES OF ATLANTIC CELEBRATE HADRIAN'S BIRTHDAY

WORSHIPERS on both sides of the Atlantic joined hands via Zoom in ceremonies celebrating Emperor Hadrian's birthday at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

Flamen Antonius Subia had issued a global invitation via social networks for participation in the evening's ceremonies commemorating the 1,947th anniversary of the birth of Hadrian.

"We honor Hadrian because without him there would be no Religion of Antinous," Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA told the worshipers in North and South America and Europe. 

"Hadrian loved Antinous with all his heart and with all his soul. And yet, when Antinous died he could have kept Antinous in his heart to treasure alone for all eternity," Antonius said.

"But instead, he shared Antinous with the world," he added, raising his hands toward images of Hadrian and Antinous on the temple's sacred altar.

"He issued an imperial command that temples to Antinous be erected throughout the Empire," the Hollywood high priest explained, "and that statues, busts and sacred images of Antinous be created to perpetuate his memory."

Even in the darkest times after the Fall of Rome, Antinous continued to serve as a beacon for homosexuals through the centuries.

"Antinous was revered by gay people throughout the centuries, even in the Killing Times when gays were burned and persecuted, even during the Gay Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis ... and also as gay people continue to suffer today," he said.


"Instead of keeping Antinous locked in his heart, Hadrian shared a portion of Antinous with us," Antonius added. 

"He permitted us to share in his loving relationship with Antinous, and in doing so, he forever changed the way gay people have seen themselves," he told the congregants.

Officiating at the Hollywood Temple as others took part via Zoom, Antonius lighted incense and offered libations in celebration of the birth and life of Hadrian and his unprecedented step to deify his gay lover ... the ultimate Classical deity.

"He was the most powerful man in the world, who loved Antinous so much that he declared him a god," Antonius told worshipers.

"He did that as representative of Zeus on Earth, emblem of the ruler of the Cosmos, the great eagle," Antonius added. 

"Hadrian is the bringer of order out of chaos, founder of our religion," he went on. "He is the divine lover of Antinous ... our model ... and our God."

THE BIRTH OF HADRIAN

ON January 24th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the Birth of the Divine Hadrian.

Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born on this day either in Italica, Spain, or else in Rome, in the year 76.

His father was Publius Aelius Afer, his mother was Domitia Paulina. His uncle was the Emperor Trajan who had been adopted by Nerva.

Trajan employed Hadrian as a general in his conquests across the Danube, where Hadrian proved his military prowess, and gained the love and devotion of the Legions.

It is said that the relationship between Hadrian and his uncle was strained, and they are even known to have quarreled over beautiful boys. But Hadrian was very close to the Emperess Plotina, whose intellectual depth he preferred to the military harshness of Trajan.

During the unsuccessful campaign against the Parthians, in modern day Iraq, Trajan suddenly fell ill and died. Plotina is said to have insured that Hadrian be his successor, allegedly even forging the documents of adoption.

The New Emperor Hadrian inherited the largest Empire that the world had ever known, the borders of Rome had reached their greatest extent.

Hadrian is the Father of the Antonines, the bringer of the Golden age of Rome. He put an end military expansion of the Empire and turned instead to improving the interior.

He is the prime deity of the imperial cult as recognized by the Religion of Antinous. He is the representative of Zeus on Earth, emblem of the ruler of the cosmos, the great eagle. Hadrian is the leader of the Archons, the bringer of order out of chaos, founder of our religion.

He is the divine lover of Antinous, our model and God.

THE MARTYRS OF ANTINOOPOLIS

ON January 23rd the Religion of Antinous honors the first of the many Christian Martyrs of Antinoe, also known as Antinoopolis. The first of the Egyptian martyrs with whose name and acts we are acquainted was Asclas of Antinoopolis.

This part of Egypt, near the nome sacred to Anubis, has always been a hotbed of religious fervor ever since the days when the "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten built his capital city here, a scant 20 kms from our Sacred City of Antinoopolis. Christians and Jews constituted a major portion of the population of Antinopoolis. 

After all, the city was the flower of Greek civilization deep in the desert of the Thebaid, and it was a haven for dispossessed and exiled thinkers and theological revolutionaries.

There was a period of time in which Antinoopolis fell under the sway of the fear and violence that had swept across the world. The Christian faith was suffering one of the bloodiest persecutions in its history. Diocletian had sought to curb the rising tide of Christianity with brutal violence. He issued decrees that all citizens should be compelled to demonstrate their piety to the Roman Gods by offering sacrifice. It was a direct challenge. Any person who refused was not only insulting the Gods of Rome, but showing disloyalty to the Emperor and to Rome herself.

Such treason was punishable by death. This was a legal way to persecute Christianity, it was not an attack on the Christian doctrine, or its practices, but was an unavoidable line that no Christian would cross.

It is interesting to note that though many of the Christians were executed by beheading or by being shot through with arrows, some were executed by being drowned in the Nile. This similarity between their death and the death of Antinous must have been very moving to the Ancient Priests of Antinous. And it is also interesting that the authorities were not sensitive to the nature of this form of execution in the Sacred City of a boy who had become a god simply by drowning in the Nile.
The first was Asclas, who was arrested and tortured for his faith by order of Arrian, the governor of Antinoopolis who himself would later convert to Christianity. While Asclas was being tortured in prison by hot irons which left his flesh hanging down in strips, Arrian had reason to cross the River Nile to go to Hermopolis on government business.

Antinoopolis lies on the east bank of the Nile (depicted at left in its heyday), and Hermopolis (Sacred City of Hermes) is located diagonally across from Antinoopolis on the west bank of the Nile. But inexplicably, Arrian found he was absolutely unable to leave the water's edge.

Asclas sent word that the governor would never be able to cross the river until he acknowledged Christ in writing. Arrian wrote out the statement, and was promptly able to leave the river bank. He crossed the Nile, and the moment he was on the other side, he ordered that Asclas be thrown into the Nile with a stone tied around his neck, whereupon he drowned. 
This story, while odd-sounding to us today, was very clear to Egyptians. Hermopolis is the Sacred City of Hermes/Anubis, or Hermanubis.

This remarkable deity, who lives on in Christianity as St. Christopher, is responsible for conveying souls across the Celestial Nile after death. People in Antinoopolis worshipped both Antinous and Hermanubis.

The miracle of St. Asclan is meant to show that the Christian god is the equal of Hermanubis. Within a few generations, Hermanubis "morphed" into Christopher who, in this early Coptic mural at right, still has canine features. Next time you see a plastic St. Christopher statuette on a taxi dashboard, remember that it is actually Anubis without his doggy ears. He's not carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulders. He's carrying the Boy God Antinous over the celestial Nile to eternal divinity.

Against that background of intermingling spiritual beliefs, the Religion of Antinous acknowledges the suffering of St. Asclas and of all the Christian Martyrs of Antinoopolis out of our Love for Antinous in whose Sacred City they died. Though their faith was in Christ and not in Antinous, we nevertheless honor them and glorify them because they were Antinoopolitans, people of Antinous.

We ask their forgiveness for the murder and persecution of the Christian Martyrs and in their memory ask that we may be free from intolerance and never again partake in the crime of the ancient citizens of Antinoopolis.

The image above left is not Asclas, but is a burial painting of a person whose mummy was buried in the desert of the Fayoum in Egypt, which is the region of Antinoopolis. It is presented here as a contemporary image of what St. Asclas may have looked like. 

RABBIT GOD TU ER SHEN IS THE CHINESE DEITY OF GAYNESS

TODAY is Chinese New Year's Day, and 2023 is The Year of the Rabbit when millions honor the Chinese "Rabbit God" of homosexuality.

Just as Antinous the Gay God is being re-discovered in the West, Hu Tianbao alias Tu Er Shen the "Rabbit God" is being rediscovered by Chinese gay people. 

Incredibly, both deities involve young gay men who were in love with men of high standing ... and who died tragically ... and who became gods of the spiritual essence of homosexuality. 

Antinous is a true-life historical figure, of course, but his Chinese counterpart is shrouded in myth and legend ... involving rabbits.

According to Zi Bu Yu (子不語), a book written by Yuan Mei (袁枚, a Qing dynasty writer), Tu Er Shen (兔兒神 or 兔神) was a mortal man called Hu Tianbao (胡天保).

Hu Tianbao fell in love with a very handsome imperial inspector of Fujian Province. One day Hu Tianbao was caught peeping on the inspector through a dressing-room wall, at which point he came out to the other man. To save face, the imperial inspector had no choice but to have Hu Tianbao beaten to death.

One month after Hu Tianbao's death, he is said to have appeared to a man from his hometown in a dream, claiming that since his crime was one of love, the gods decided to right the injustice by appointing him the god and safeguarder of homosexual affections.

After his dream the man erected a shrine to Hu Tianbao, which became very popular in Fujian province, so much so that in late Qing times, the cult of Hu Tianbao was suppressed by the homophobic Qing government.

A slang term for homosexuals in late imperial China was Tuzi (兔子) (bunnies) which is why Hu Tianbao is referred to as the RABBIT GOD, although in fact he has nothing to do with rabbits and should not be confused with TU-ER-YE　(兔儿爷） the famous plump white Beijing "Rabbit in the Moon" which is the Chinese version of the "Man in the Moon".

However, the rabbit association stuck, and even today his devotees portray him with rabbit ears and make offerings of carrots to his altars. The handsome statuette in this image is lovingly clothed in a rabbit-fur cloak.

While no one knows if gays in mainland China worship him ... there is a temple in Yonghe city (永和市）in Taiwan that venerates Hu Tianbao, alias Tu Er Shen. The temple is known as the RABBIT TEMPLE (兔兒廟). The address is Taipei, Yonghe City, Yonghe Road Section 1, Alley 37, No 12.

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 AQUARIUS NEW MOON THE OBELISK MOON OF ANTINOUS

TONIGHT's Aquarius New Moon is always a special lunar occurrence. Not only is it Chinese New Year, it is also the ANTINOUS OBELISK MOON in Antinous Moon Magic.

The Aquarius New Moon is always the Chinese New Year, and it usually occurs near or on such festivals as Candlemas, Luminaria, Imbolc and Brighid's Day ... all festivals of shedding light on secrets, oracles (Groundhog Day), revealing secret knowledge, news, predictions.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Obelisk Moon is knowledge in all its forms, knowledge which is gained through study and learning.

This is the Spirit of education, training, schooling, apprenticeship and initiation into knowledge restricted to a few. In ancient times, knowledge of reading and writing was limited to a select few. Language was a matter of sacred symbols, thus the word "hieroglyphs" or "sacred writing" which was given to mortals by the scribe deity Thoth, whose sacred bird is the ibis.

The masses could not read hieroglyphs incised on an obelisk, thus the obelisk became a symbol of secret or arcane knowledge.

The Obelisk of Antinous, which now stands on the Pincian Hill in Rome, was incised with hieroglyphs which, in the 2nd Century AD, almost no one could read, not even Egyptians.

Yet the hieroglyphs on the Obelisk of Antinous give us precious information on the life and religion of Antinous. It is a key font of knowledge about Antinous.

In the Religion of Antinous, the Obelisk represents knowledge which comes from the divine. It represents the liberation from ignorance that knowledge brings about. 

It stands for the Great Library of Alexandria and for all the libraries in all the world and for all the books in all those libraries.

The Obelisk is the spirit of all-encompassing power of knowledge in all of its forms, in print, over the internet or over airwaves.

It is knowledge that enables you to broaden your mortal mind to encompass the cosmos. You are the cosmos becoming aware of itself through knowledge.

TIGER'S EYE FOR THE OBELISK MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

TONIGHT's Aquarius New Moon is the OBELISK MOON of Antinous ... the lunar phase for focusing on education, learning and expression through writing.

I am an author of historical so the ability to research and get the correct facts about something are vital to me. So I am only going to recommend one crystal for this moon as it the one I know personally works wonders - Tiger's Eye.

Tiger's Eye is also my birth stone and one of my absolute favourites to work with. 

It brings clarity to that which you are paying attention to. It has the ability to help you to bring together scattered information into a coherent whole. It helps you to accomplish goals.

It is also a stone of protection - used throughout history as a talisman.

While writing my novel about Antinous - THE LOVE GOD - I used a pendulum made of Tiger's Eye to give me guidance. 

I wanted to know specific facts about the complexities of two ancient sites in Greece and one in Egypt. 

You can only ask a pendulum questions with a 'yes' or 'no' answer as it will only rotate one way for each answer (clockwise or anti-clockwise). 

To my astonishment the pendulum answered all my questions and prompted me to formulate more which it then also answered!

The scenes were those set in Delphi and Eleusis in Greece and Antinoopolis in Egypt.

If you have read the book then the final scene was guided to me by the Tiger's Eye pendulum as I asked it to give me answers about the site.

It was a lengthy process but revealed positions of things, the gender of people and what their roles were. Truly amazing!

Love and Light!

MARTIN

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