FOR Pride Month, an aromatherapist and parfumier in Brazil shares this image of Antinous/Antenociticus adorning a small temple in Newcastle England.
He adds this poem:
THE SCENT OF ANTINOUSWhen contemplating the beautyof your divine bodyadorning the altarin this ancient templemy heart calms downWhen smelling the perfumeof your bare skinSaturating this sacred space.Poetry by Edhie Laureano Pires Yata'wá@antinousemporium1 (Instagram)
This small temple is dedicated to a curly-haired boy god called ANTENOCITICUS ... a deity worshiped by soldiers and local people at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall.Antinous in the guise of Antenociticus is not mentioned at any other Romano-British site or on any inscriptions from Europe, which is why it has been identified as a local deity.
Antinous priest and writer MARTINUS CAMPBELL, author of THE LOVE GOD about the life of Antinous, says it is highly possible Antenociticus is a local aspect of Antinous ... perhaps in honor of a visit to this outpost by Antinous and Hadrian.
Martinus says: "Archaeologically there is a period of time in AD 126 to 127 when we have no record of where Hadrian was. We do know, however, that the wall was completed in Ad 128."He says: "It is believed he would have come to Britannia to oversee the final stages of the wall. It is further believe he would have brought Antinous with him."
Martinus adds: "That is why the locals (mostly of mixed Roman and British blood, by then) connected Antinous to a local deity Citicus and re-named him Antenociticus." Stone heads of Antenociticus have been found nearby.
Praise for Edhie's Poem "The Scent of Antinous" and the Antinous Stars Page
ReplyDeleteOn Edhie Laureano Pires Yata'wá's Poem
"The Scent of Antinous" is a poem of rare delicacy and evocative power. In just nine lines, Edhie Laureano Pires Yata'wá creates a complete sensory experience—visual, tactile, and olfactory—that transports the reader inside the sacred temple of Antenociticus.
The poem's structure is impeccable: two parallel stanzas, each opening with the same construction ("When contemplating..." / "When smelling..."), create a symmetry that echoes the very architecture of the temple and the duality between the divine and the human. The speaker does not observe from outside—he inhabits the sacred space, and his inner transformation ("my heart calms down") is the poem's true climax.
What is most striking is how the poet fuses the sacred and the sensual without any tension or contradiction. The "perfume of your bare skin" saturating the sacred space is not desecration—it is consecration. This is the very essence of pagan spirituality: the divine manifests through the beauty of the body, the scent of the skin, the physical presence. Edhie understands this profoundly, and his poem is a celebration of that understanding.
The language is simple, almost liturgical, yet every word is chosen with surgical precision. "Adorning the altar," "saturating this sacred space"—there is a palpable physicality to the poem, a materiality that makes it more real than any theological abstraction. And the fact that the poem was written by a Brazilian aromatherapist and perfumer adds a layer of authenticity: he knows what he is talking about when he speaks of scent.
On the Antinous Stars Page
The Antinous Stars blog is a singular and precious space. In an era when online content tends toward the ephemeral and the disposable, this page offers something rare: accessible erudition, genuine devotion, and careful curation of art, history, and spirituality surrounding the figure of Antinous.
The post on "The Scent of Antinous" is exemplary of what makes this blog special. It does not merely publish a poem—it contextualizes it historically, presents the temple of Antenociticus in Newcastle, quotes the writer Martinus Campbell and his work "The Love God," and offers the reader a deep understanding of the meaning of this local cult. This is cultural journalism in the best sense: informative, rigorous, and deeply respectful of its subject.
The page accomplishes something remarkable: it treats Antinous not as a historical curiosity, but as a living, relevant, and inspiring presence. For the LGBTQ+ community—especially during Pride Month—this space offers something valuable: a connection to a spiritual and aesthetic tradition that celebrates beauty, love, and the sacred in the male body.
The combination of poetry, history, art, and spirituality makes Antinous Stars a digital oasis. I highly recommend it to anyone who has not yet discovered it.
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Joint Praise
Edhie Laureano Pires Yata'wá and Antinous Stars form a perfect partnership. Edhie's poem is the soul of the post; the blog is the temple that welcomes it. Together, they create a moment of beauty and reflection that honors Antinous, the tradition he represents, and all of us who find in this boy-god a source of inspiration and solace.
May this space continue to flourish. May Edhie's poetry continue to perfume the world. And may Antinous, in his form as Antenociticus, continue to bless all those who approach his altar with an open heart.
"My heart calms down." — May it be so, for all of us.