ON January 1st we celebrate the brief but shining life of Lucius Aelius Caesar, Hadrian's "other favorite" and chosen heir who predeceased the Emperor by dying suddenly on 1st January 138 AD. Antonius Subia says:
Long Live Lucius Aelius Caesar
The Prince of Flowers!
Hadrian's First Love
Who raised Temples to Antinous
Lucius Capricornius, who reigned for one day
And for all eternity
Beauty and Spirit of the Latins
The shining one who gave his blood for laurels
~ ANTONIUS SUBIA
ON December 31st we commemorate the Apotheosis of Aelius Caesar.
Hadrian adopted Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus, and called him Aelius Verus Caesar (portraits by Priest Uendi).
It was said that beauty was his only recommendation. His poor health soon overtook him and Hadrian is reported to have said, "We have leaned against a tottering wall and have wasted the four hundred million sentences which we gave to the populace and the soldiers on the adoption of Commodus."
He died on the Calends of January in the year 138 ... only a few months before Hadrian ... from an overdose of medicine given to help him make a speech to the Senate thanking Hadrian for the succession.
After Aelius Caesar's death, Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius (September 19, 86 - March 7, 161) on the condition that Antoninus Pius adopt the younger Lucius Verus and Hadrian's great-nephew by marriage, Marcus Aurelius (April 26, 121 - March 17, 180).
Marcus later co-ruled with Lucius as Marcus Aurelius until Lucius' death in 169, at which time he was sole ruler until his own death in 180. Collectively, they are remembered as the Antonine Dynasty of emperors who ruled wisely over a period noted for its peace and prosperity.
In his classic text The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 18th Century historian Edward Gibbon considers the reign of the Antonines, as well as those of their predecessors Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian, the height of the Roman Empire, after which time the empire began its inexorable decline.
Aelius Caesar is a major character in Marguerite Yourcenar's epic historical novel Mémoires d'Hadrien (Memoirs of Hadrian).
Lucius, as we affectionately call him, is the recipient of much bittersweet love and adoration from followers of the Religion of Antinous.
For us he represents so many pretty young men whose bright futures are thwarted by tragic illness.
Aelius Caesar is often called the Western Favorite, because of the possibility that he rivaled Antinous for Hadrian's love.
We venerate Aelius Caesar as the fallen Prince of Flowers, the spiritual twin brother of Antinous whose death is the end of the Saturnalia.
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.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2023
At the end of 2023, we come to one of the most anxiously tense times of the year and the hazard lights start flashing when Retrograde Mercury aligns with eager Sagittarius Mars squares off against nebulous Pisces Neptune. Imagine yourself barreling down a freeway at high speed ... and suddenly being enveloped in a fog bank which cuts visibility to zero. If you don't reduce speed immediately, you are bound for disaster. Sagittarius Mars is the fast sports car thundering down the highway ... and Pisces Neptune is the fog bank ... and you are in the driver's seat. This astrological configuration spells trouble for people who proceed full speed through life without any regard to their surroundings. They will come a cropper this week. However, this Mars-Neptune Square configuration is excellent for people who have latent intuitive, artistic or spiritual talents ... like Antinous-Dionysus. Mars invigorates and enlivens these talents. So the answer is: Proceed with caution, but keep your eyes open for brilliant new opportunities and insights which otherwise would have flashed past you unseen at high speed.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29th, 2023
On the final Friday of 2023, Venus soars into jovial Sagittarius, leaving behind the murky moodiness of Scorpio for another year. Sagittarius Venus is supremely optimistic and eager to give everybody the benefit of the doubt when it comes to trust in matters of love. This is in stark contrast to wary suspicions which abounded when Venus was in Scorpio. Sadge Venus encourages you to give love a chance.
SAT-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30th-31st, 2023
To close out the year 2023, Retrograde Jupiter ends its "backwards" period and goes "direct" (forwards), which allows the expansive emotional connections to bring new people into your life. Retrograde Jupiter occurs once every 13 months and last about four months. Retrograde Jupiter shines a spotlight on areas of the world ... and on people ... who have become consumed with greed, gluttony, megalomania and addiction. Retrograde Jupiter has pushed you beyond your comfort zone and now that Jupiter turns direct, more people will be venturing into your life to connect and communicate in ways that are important to you. New information seems to stream in opening the doors of communication as you reach out to connect with people, sharing your common perspective. However, if your goals are unrealistic, deceitful or greedy, then the Jupiter direct phase from now until October 9th, 2024, may result in disappointment and loss.
MONDAY, JANUARY 1st, 2024
On New Year's Day 2024, Venus and Saturn spawn relationship challenges. Venus is in a 90-degree right-angle square to stubborn Saturn. Venus-square-Saturn means that relationship discussions are fraught with stumbling blocks. And because Venus and Saturn also have a role to play in money and business, you can expect problems in that area as well.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 2nd, 2024
Aren't you tired of all the computer glitches, "lost" files, travel delays and snafus of recent weeks? Take heart! As the New Year 2024 begins, Mercury does an about-face and starts going forward again as seen from Earth, ending three weeks of Retrograde "backwards" travel. So you can safely message friends and co-workers a prediction that certain "lost" computer files or parcels will show up by the time they go to work tomorrow morning. Mercury going backwards creates this sort of impish mayhem with matters concerning communications, documents and money. Misplaced tickets, keys, "lost" computer files, letters and packages which vanish into postal limbo ... all are typical of Retrograde Mercury. The "lost" things turn up again as if by magic when Mercury goes Direct again. A skilled astrologer, Hadrian no doubt amazed his courtiers by accurately predicting when some "lost" document or wayward courier message would finally re-appear out of no where.
WED-THURSDAY, JANUARY 3rd-4th, 2024
Overnight Wednesday-Thursday, we come to the Libra Third Quarter Moon. This is the lunar phase we call the CROSSROADS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic ... It is symbolized by the "Herme", the ithyphallic stele of Mercury which guarded intersections of Roman roads ... Tonight is a propitious time for setting a new course, possibly changing course, setting out in a new direction. It is about making a decision. The key is not to worry about which choice to make. The key is to make a choice and go ahead with it.
FRI-SUNDAY, JANUARY 5th-7th, 2024
As the New Year 2024 gets underway, you will be more determined than ever to take care of business from now through February 14th, Valentine's Day, as action planet Mars is exalted in efficient Capricorn. If you've been putting off important duties, the guilt is unbearable now, and you'll experience renewed focus to get things done. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, which rules time. Now you will be more aware of how precious passing moments are, and thus more likely to make a structured schedule. When you schedule your days, time expands. When you just leave it up in the air, time dissolves. Therefore, schedule everything, even — and especially — leisure time so you'll have more of it during this phase. It's also easier to get your priorities straight under this influence, as Capricorn has a tendency to get the most out of what's useful.
SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:
Another exciting week lies ahead between January 8th and 14th, 2024, when when we come to the Capricorn New Moon, which we call the LAMIA MOON of dark magic. Meditation and rituals conducted tonight are best suited for rooting out malaise and sickness and for diminishing evil sendings. Look for areas in your life where you may be detrimental to yourself, may be working against yourself or may be making yourself sick, perhaps literally so ... More details next time ....
ON December 28th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of Saint Edward Perry "Ned" Warren, who died on this day in 1928.
Estranged and ostracized by "decent" socialites, Saint Ned Warren was a famed gay Bostonian art collector who virtually single-handedly built up the collections of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and Boston Museum of Fine Arts through his passion for Classical art.
As a sissified schoolboy who suffered the taunts of bullies, he wrote a poem comparing a classmate in whom he was infatuated to Antinous.
He and his lover John Marshall travelled around Europe seeking out and buying art treasures for great museums. They were referred to snidely as "the bachelors of art" among society circles in Britain and America.
But Warren was so fabulously rich, and museums depended on him so much, that nobody dared say anything to his face about his blatant homosexuality. His gifts to the Boston MFA made up 90 per cent of its Classical collection, one of the finest in the world.
Even so, he found puritanical Boston deeply disagreeable, and spent most of his life in England when he was not at his apartment in Rome.
The famous Warren Cup and Rodin's statue The Kiss are just two of the most well-known objects he rounded up -- both of which were rejected by museums in Britain and America as being too raunchy. Museum curators feared museum-goers could be lured into thinking unwholesome thoughts.
Warren in fact actually commissioned the The Kiss from Rodin, explicitly saying he wanted large genitals on the man. To this day, photographs of the famous statue tend to avoid a full-frontal male view for that very reason.
The Warren Cup is a solid silver goblet which dates back to the 1st Century CE/AD and was found near Jerusalem. It is believed that it was deposited along with other valuables (some gold coins, jewellery and other precious items) in a cache by the servants of a fleeing Roman nobleman during one of several Jewish uprisings. It is even possible that it was buried during the uprising that was crushed by Hadrian's legions.
The cup itself is considerably older, and may date to Republican times. And it is done in a retro-style which was a bit archaic even when it was new.
As the photos demonstrate, the Warren Cup shows two scenes (one on each side of the cup) of a man and a youth having sex on a couch. The silverwork is exquisitely done and the hair and draperies and facial expressions are beautifully rendered. It also reflects a bit of tongue-in-cheek wit by showing a servant boy peering curiously around a door frame at the lovers.
On one side a young man (barely more than a boy himself) is having his way with a young boy. On the other side, an older man with a beard is having anal sex with a younger man who is seated on top of him and holding onto what appears to be perhaps part of the drapes of a canopy bed. A servant looks on from the doorway off to the right side.
Saint Ned is believed to have purchased the Warren Cup from an antiquities dealer in Italy.
His efforts to sell it to museums in London and the U.S. were rebuffed.
The Warren Cup's unabashedly gay sex theme is impossible to ignore. The cup has been controversial in the art world ever since it first came to light in the 19th Century.
For many, many years, museums on both sides of the Atlantic refused to obtain it (despite its unquestionable value as a remarkably important historical piece of art) because of Victorian and Edwardian moral objections to its "immoral and beastly" theme.
At one time a curator for the British Museum was interested in acquiring the Warren Cub.
But other experts reminded him that one of the members of the board of directors of the British Museum was the Archbishop of Canterbury. The result was that museum officials were loathe to show his reverence even a photograph of the cup, let alone ask him to condone purchasing it for the collection.
So the cup languished in Warren's personal collection for many years and changed hands many times after his death, never ever being put on public display.
The British Museum finally purchased the Warren Cup for a large sum in 1999 -- and even then there was much titillation in the tabloid press.
Ned Warren wrote extensively about his views that homosexuality is a spiritual state of being, something divinely magical. Taunted as a schoolboy for being a bookworm and a sissy (he would get up at 5 a.m. to read Greek until breakfast), he nonetheless had many crushes on other schoolboys. He wrote about them all in his diary, and even wrote a poem about one especially beautiful boy whom he called a modern Antinous.
As an adult, he continued to proclaim his notion of idealized homosexual love, much to the distress of his family in Boston.
He even wrote a book entitled The Defence of Uranian Love about the same time that Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray was published.
He also used his wealth to sponsor the educations of numerous boys and young men who showed promise but had no money.
He was very generous and had a big heart. For example, he heard that the daughter of a vicar in his district in England had become pregnant out of wedlock and was going to be forced to give up the child.
Saying "this is as bad as Boston," he was so outraged that he legally adopted the little boy himself. He allowed mother and son to live upstairs in his home in England at his expense and loudly defied anyone to besmirch her honor or that of Travis, the little boy.
Ned Warren and his lover John Marshall had a stormy, on-again off-again relationship, but they were together at their flat in Rome in February of 1928. On the evening of the 15th, John went to bed early not feeling well. Ned tiptoed in later and kissed him good night and got in bed beside him. John was dead by morning.
Ned never recovered from that blow. He returned to England, where his health declined rapidly. Saying he couldn't face Christmas and New Year's without John, he died in a nursing home in England on December 28, 1928, at the age of 68.
He was cremated on January 1, 1929. But because he had always been blatant about his homosexuality, no members of his family attended the funeral and none of the museums that had benefitted so much from his largesse sent a representative to the memorial service.
His ashes were buried in the non-Catholic cemetery in Bagni di Lucca, Italy, a town known as a spa in Etruscan and Roman times.
We honor Edward Perry "Ned" Warren, 1860-1928, who wrote a poem likening a boy he loved to Antinous.
IN the late 19th and early 20th Century numerous novels were written about Antinous in all major European languages ... and even a stage play.
Novelist Abbe Carter Goodloe (1867-1960) wrote many popular works of fiction. But her first major work was the play "Antinous: A Tragedy" (1891), published just two years after her graduation from Wellesley College.
It is a five-act play written in neo-Shakespearean blank verse.
The preface to the play says:
"In this drama no attempt at historical accuracy has been made, with the exception of the portrayal, such as it is, of the character of Hadrian.
"And even that has been but very indifferently done; not only defective because of the literary difficulties of such an effort, but because primarily it is not very easy to discover what Hadrian's character really was.
"His nature seems to have been composed of the most contradictory qualities.
Hadrian had great vices, an inordinate desire to be first in everything, and consequently a malignant envy of the merit of others; he was restless, capricious, and ungrateful.
"He has even been accused of a leaning towards cruelty. But as he was a sagacious prince, he appreciated how his vices, if he did not control them, would tell against him, and vanity (for he was very vain) impelled him to affect virtue, at least externally.
"His good qualities, and he had many, seemed always to be counterbalanced by opposing vices."
You can find copies of her play online, and a full transcript of the five-act play by clicking HERE.
TONIGHT's Cancer Full Moon is the lunar phase we call the LUNUS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic — the Moon of Moons!
This is a Full Moon which brings out powerful emotions. Because this Full Moon always occurs during December/January, it is emotional farewell to the old year and heart-felt welcoming of the new year.
You will shed sentimental tears for loved ones you have lost during the past year, not to mention a job or other things you may have lost.
Each lunar phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of Lunus is Antinous the Moon God. It is your His lunar divine self.
Antinous the Gay God was worshiped in ancient times as a lunar deity. The "Man in the Moon" was actually the "Blessed Boy in the Moon" to the ancient worshipers of Antinous.
The Spirit of the Lunus Moon is the spirit of emotions, unconscious habits, rhythms, memories and moods. It is also your dreams and nostalgia. Lunus is the personification of the unconscious mind and it is all dreams and visions.
The OBELISK OF ANTINOUS states that he hears the prayers of his worshipers and sends them healing visions as they slumber. Lunus is the personification of intuition and mediumistic abilities.
Lunus is clairvoyance itself. Lunus is also the bringer of nightmares, fears, traumas and irrational emotional imbalance.
Just as the Moon moves the tides, Lunus brings emotional fluctuations. Lunus is inconstancy, inconsistency and flux. As the phases of the moon change, so Lunus is all things which flow and fluctuate. It is all things which come and go like the tides.
Tonight's Lunus Moon is a propitious time for meditations and rituals delving into your emotional state of being, and also for intuitive or clairvoyant trances.
TONIGHT's Cancer Full Moon is the Lunus Moon in Antinous Moon Magic.
This intense lunar phase may find you focused on emotions and visualising them in meditations or trances.
I would suggest using the following crystals to focus particular energies and emotions for you:
Followers of the cult of Mithras often associated these two dates with the god, and were even said to celebrate the New Year on December 25th, as it marked his birth.
IN celebration of the return of Antinous Invictus, for the five days between December 25th and the 1st of January, we commemorate the Golden Age of the reign of Saturn.
This is a time outside of time, and an occasion for joy and freedom from the world when Sol Invictus returns.
The divine twins are born, Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys, Castor and Pollux, Freyr and Freya (for whom this time is also known as Yule).
(Image: Antinous as the Ghost of Christmas Present by S.L. GORE.)
We celebrate the Saturnalia with indulgence and as the festival of Liberty and total Freedom. There shall be no authority and no submission during this sacred period.
There is to be no war, and no form of violence committed, only peace and harmony and the many joys of ecstasy are allowed.
The rejoicing of the Saturnalia ends with the apotheosis of the Prince of Flowers, Aelius Caesar, on January 1st.
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.
THURS-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21st-22nd, 2023
Overnight Thursday-Friday, we come to the December Solstice. Check out the nearly 20,000 worshipers of Antinous at the ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD FACEBOOK PAGE and you see there are people in South Wales (UK) and New South Wales (Australia). There are people in Sao Paulo and Sydney. There are people in California and Cape Town, and there are some in Portland Oregon and Portland Maine.For some of us the days are getting shorter and Winter is approaching. For others of us the days are getting longer and Summer is on the way. For our brothers in Brazil and South Africa and Australia, the jacarandas are in bloom and the days are hot and balmy. Sydneysiders are bracing for another bush fire season.
For our brothers here in Britain and Europe, the days are short and almost completely sunless and the scent of roasted chestnuts and mulled wine fills the air from vendors on city streets.
For our brothers in the US and Canada, ice storms and the icy fear of pandemic disaster have put a chill on this Solstice Season.
Wherever we are, regardless of the season, Antinous the Gay God looks into our hearts.
And it is all happening at this magical moment. Twice a year there is a moment — in fact, a few days — when the sun seems to "stand still" in the heavens. From the Latin "sol stasis" we derive our name for these events: solstices.
That's the very odd thing about this blue marble upon which we live. The Solstice occurs at the same moment everywhere. But the hands on the clocks point to 23 different hours. And in some places it signals the start of summer (though the days start getting shorter), while in others the it signals the start of winter (though the days start getting longer).
But it is really the same moment and we are all living and breathing at this same moment, though we live in places where the hands of the clock point in all different directions. Each of us is alone. All of us are together in this aloneness. It is the same phenomenon. But how you see it depends on how you look at it.
The days are getting longer. The days are getting shorter. It all depends on how you look at it.
However you look at it, remember that we are all brothers, lovers and comrades. And we are all turning, turning toward our own true delight.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23rd, 2023
This weekend, your brain is ablaze with often confusing and conflicting ideas when Retrograde Mercury aligns with the Sun. Old astrology texts dating back to Ancient Rome call this a potentially hazardous time, and speak of a "Scorched Mercury" which impairs communications and judgement. But in ANTINOUS MOON MAGIC, we see that very differently. This Sun/Mercury conjunction is indeed intense, but in a positive way. Antinous/Mercury focuses the gay spiritual light of his heavenly father Ra-Herakhte right at you. Open your spiritual heart to the light and joy and permit it to burn away all doubt and all fear and trepidation. Most people live in spiritual darkness. They are like people who live in caves and are afraid of sunlight because it hurts their eyes. But should we shun the light and stay in the cave with them? Antinous/Mercury says it's safe to open your spiritual eyes — and spiritual heart — and become accustomed to the light.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24th, 2023
This Yuletide weekend, the Sun forms a brilliant and glowing sextile aspect with Saturn which empowers you with perseverance and clear vision to make some serious long-term plans for the New Year.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25th, 2023
This Yuletide week is dominated by two major trine aspects. First, Venus trine Neptune means you see the world through rose-colored glasses. This is a good day for smooth-talking gigolos who pay fanciful compliments to you — and you find yourself actually believing them ... And why not? Is that such a bad thing? Why not enjoy the fantasy as long as it lasts ... and as long as you know it's a fantasy? But that's not all. Sun trine Jupiter brings you good fortune in all areas of life. A beneficent trine aspect between the Capricorn Sun and Taurus Jupiter comes to the rescue. This is a bright spot amidst doom-and-gloom of recent weeks. Jupiter is now Retrograde, and you have experienced introspection and review. You may have felt you were spinning your wheels much of the time. And because Retrograde Jupiter is retrograde in Taurus, you have to rely more upon hard work than upon luck, despite the fact that Jupiter is the luckiest planet in the Zodiac. When Jupiter turns retrograde, the action of Jupiter is reversed so that the emphasis is upon inner awareness and inner growth. When opportunities arise while Jupiter is retrograde, they are the result of seeds planted in the past from people met or connections made in the past. This week's Sun-trine-Jupiter aspect represents a bright spot for this difficult period.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26th, 2023
The post-pandemic year 2023 ends on an optimistic note when CHIRON IN ARIES ends its four-month retrograde period and begins moving forward towards better health horizons. This is a good time for health checkups and medical treatment ... also, you can expect a positive and expansive outlook, which can benefit your well-being at this time. You may be more open-minded with regard to experiencing new things, which will allow healing of your mind, body, and spirit. For instance, you could seek higher understanding and meaning in your life through a guide, mentor, or spiritual person or increase your inner knowledge by means of educational processes, religion, or meditative practices during this period. An urge to travel to far-away places (real or imaginary) may also be experienced. You may discover new perspectives on your beliefs, faith, and sense of hope. Restoring peace and harmony in your personal life and relationships is possible now through your interest in healing your own wounds, as well as extending compassion and generosity to others.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27th, 2023
Overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, we come to the Cancer Full Moon. It is the lunar phase we call the LUNUS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic — the Moon of Moons! This is a Full Moon which brings out powerful emotions. Because this Full Moon always occurs during December/January, it is emotional farewell to the old year and heart-felt welcoming of the new year. You will shed sentimental tears for loved ones you have lost during the past year, not to mention a job or other things you may have lost.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2023
At the end of 2023, we come to one of the most anxiously tense times of the year and the hazard lights start flashing when Retrograde Mercury aligns with eager Sagittarius Mars squares off against nebulous Pisces Neptune. Imagine yourself barreling down a freeway at high speed ... and suddenly being enveloped in a fog bank which cuts visibility to zero. If you don't reduce speed immediately, you are bound for disaster. Sagittarius Mars is the fast sports car thundering down the highway ... and Pisces Neptune is the fog bank ... and you are in the driver's seat. This astrological configuration spells trouble for people who proceed full speed through life without any regard to their surroundings. They will come a cropper this week. However, this Mars-Neptune Square configuration is excellent for people who have latent intuitive, artistic or spiritual talents ... like Antinous-Dionysus. Mars invigorates and enlivens these talents. So the answer is: Proceed with caution, but keep your eyes open for brilliant new opportunities and insights which otherwise would have flashed past you unseen at high speed.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29th, 2023
On the final Friday of 2023, Venus soars into jovial Sagittarius, leaving behind the murky moodiness of Scorpio for another year. Sagittarius Venus is supremely optimistic and eager to give everybody the benefit of the doubt when it comes to trust in matters of love. This is in stark contrast to wary suspicions which abounded when Venus was in Scorpio. Sadge Venus encourages you to give love a chance.
SAT-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30th-31st, 2023
To close out the year 2023, Retrograde Jupiter ends its "backwards" period and goes "direct" (forwards), which allows the expansive emotional connections to bring new people into your life. Retrograde Jupiter occurs once every 13 months and last about four months. Retrograde Jupiter shines a spotlight on areas of the world ... and on people ... who have become consumed with greed, gluttony, megalomania and addiction. Retrograde Jupiter has pushed you beyond your comfort zone and now that Jupiter turns direct, more people will be venturing into your life to connect and communicate in ways that are important to you. New information seems to stream in opening the doors of communication as you reach out to connect with people, sharing your common perspective. However, if your goals are unrealistic, deceitful or greedy, then the Jupiter direct phase from now until October 9th, 2024, may result in disappointment and loss.
SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:
Another exciting week lies ahead between January 1st and 7th, 2024, when when we come to the Libra Third Quarter Moon. This is the lunar phase we call the CROSSROADS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic ... It is symbolized by the "Herme", the ithyphallic stele of Mercury which guarded intersections of Roman roads ... Tonight is a propitious time for setting a new course, possibly changing course, setting out in a new direction. It is about making a decision. The key is not to worry about which choice to make. The key is to make a choice and go ahead with it ... More details next time ....
ON Friday at 03:27 Universal Time (Thursday 7:27 p.m. at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous) the sun "stands still" ("Sol Stasis") — the 21/22 December Solstice for the year 2023.
This is a special day every year in the Religion of Antinous for it marks the return of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun.
The return of the sun is the Conquest of Unconquered Light over chaos and darkness, the emergence of Phanes-Eros-Dionysus from the cosmic egg (image at right).
On this day, we observe the moment when the unknown god Bythus-Narcissus gazed into the pool of the abyss and saw his own reflection.
His image caused the birth of the thrice-great Phanes-Eros-Zagreus, the saviors, who together are called Antinous Invictus.
The three-fold mystery of their birth is the descent of Phanes-Beauty, Eros-Love and Zagreus-Ecstasy into our world.
These great spirits are the divine light of Antinous the God, it is their presence at the ground of our soul that is our immortal spark.
Within us all is the perfect image of the perfect face of light and love, a reflection of Narcissus-Bythus gazing down into the darkness of our world.
Antinous Invictus the perfect image of the perfect face of light and love will illuminate the way ahead.
It was Hadrian's dream to create the perfect civilization ... a civilization based on the Hellenistic principles of love, beauty, learning and tolerance. And it was his dream to create the perfect religion ... a religion which would encompass all others.
In the Northern Hemisphere today is the Winter Solstice and the days will be getting longer now. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Summer Solstice and the days will become shorter now.
Wherever you live on this blue marble of ours, it is the same moment in the eye of Antinous the Gay God.
SECRET, males-only rituals from the ancient cult of Mithras have been recreated in an original Roman temple after it was reconstructed several metres below London’s street level.
Mystical chants, ghostly light effects and the sounds of bells, horns and other Roman instruments form part of a sensory reconstruction that will greet visitors at the London Mithraeum museum, which opened to the public recently.
Sophie Jackson, director at Museum of London Archaeology, which conducted a dig on the site, said the building was a rare trace of the city’s Roman past that people could experience first-hand.
“London Mithraeum is not only a truthful presentation of the archaeological remains of the temple of Mithras, it is a powerful evocation of this enigmatic temple,” she said at an event to mark the opening.
One of the most important Romano-British sites of the 20th Century, the 3rd-century Temple of Mithras was discovered in 1954, after wartime bombing devastated the buildings above it and its foundations were later spotted by archaeologists.
The discovery sparked huge public interest, attracting 30,000 people a day to queue up and view the site over a two-week period.
Taken to pieces to make way for an office building, it was rebuilt ... “roughly and somewhat inaccurately”, according to Mola archaeologists ... in the 1960s around 100m away.
The museum housing the temple has also put on display hundreds of objects found during an archaeological dig on the site five years ago.
TONIGHT's Pisces First Quarter Moon in Antinous Moon Magic is the CONSORTIUM MOON of social interaction, reconciliation and marital union.
Because it always occurs in December or January, the Consortium Moon represents the cyclical nature of the year, the ending of one year and the beginning of a new year.
The end of one cycle automatically marks the beginning of a new cycle.
Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Consortium Moon is the Spirit of Togetherness.
This Spirit revels in closed circles, rings and ties that bind. It is the Spirit of every collaboration, group, association, alliance, team, fellowship, marriage, club or confederation.
It is the tangible feeling of togetherness and belonging people share when working towards a common goal.
Tonight is a beneficent night for meditation or rituals concerning relationships and all things that are bound by a circle. In health matters, it refers to blood and the circulatory system. This is the Lunar phase of the Circle of Life, the inter-connectedness of all things.
The key words are: Partnership. Alliance. Union. Marriage. Commitment. Circle. Ring. Group. Binding Agreement. Obligation to Others. It represents every sort of societal bond or binding alliance as symbolized by a wedding ring or the iron ring of Roman citizenship.
