WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

SORROWING HADRIAN WAITS FOR THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON TO SING

WE commemorate the solemn visit of a very grief-stricken Emperor Hadrian to Thebes and the Colossi of Memnon less than a month after the demise of his Beloved Antinous.

Antinous had drowned at the end of October and Hadrian had issued decrees establishing the CITY OF ANTINOOPOLIS at the spot on the shores of the Nile where his Beloved had died. 

Hadrian probably left the body with priests before the Imperial Entourage continued its scheduled tour up the Nile to the historic city of Thebes.

The Colossi of Memnon stand at the entrance of what was a great temple for Amenophis III.

The Colossi of Memnon at Thebes were mistakenly identified as such by the Greeks. They were the giant statues of Amenhotep III at the entrance of his now destroyed Temple. 

Memnon (left above) was actually the "brazen-crested Memnon, a comely man" according to Odysseus, King of the Ethiopians (Susa in the East not Africa) who came with a great force to help Troy against the Achaean invaders, and was killed by Achilles. At his death his soldiers turned into birds.

By the time Emperor Hadrian arrived, the statues were in a ruinous state and emitted a wailing sound at dawn when the rising sun heated the stone. Greeks and Romans traveled from afar to hear the statues "speak" to them. Hadrian left graffiti here.

Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA writes:

"After the death of Antinous, the Imperial entourage visited the ancient city of Thebes in the Upper Nile, it was the furthest south that Hadrian ever journeyed. The court visited the two Colosoi of Memnon, which are monumental seated statues of Amenhotep III built in the 18th dynasty.

"It was said that a ringing sound was emitted by the statues in the early mourning, and that anyone who heard the statues speak was favored by the gods, as the belief was that the statues were of Memnon, the son of Aurora. Hadrian did not hear the sound, but the empress Sabina did.

"The God of Thebes was Amon, the ram-headed, who was equated with Jupiter. Julia Balbilla, poetess and companion of Sabina, who was with the court throughout the voyage and was present at the Death and Liberation of Antinous, wrote these words. These are the first words written after the death of Antinous. They were inscribed, like graffiti on the Colossus of Memnon.

"'I, Balbilla, when the rock spoke, heard the voice of the divine Memnon or Phamenoth. I came here with the lovely Empress Sabina. The course of the sun was in its first hour, in the fifteenth year of Hadrian's reign, on the twenty-fourth day of the month Hathor. I wrote this on the twenty-fifth day of the month Hathor'."

Rather more recently, in the 21st Century, while researching his novel about Antinous entitled THE LOVE GOD, author MARTIN CAMPBELL made a pilgrimage to the Colossi of Memnon in the footsteps of the Divine Hadrian. He filed this report via email from Thebes:

"The Nile is noiselessly rushing by my hotel only a hundred or so feet from where I am writing.

"I have stood at the Colossi of Memnon and seen where Sabina and Julia Balbilla wrote verses about Hadrian.

"I walked around Luxor temple where Hadrian would have officiated as pharaoh. I have looked at the ruins of the Roman barracks where he may have stayed while in Luxor (then Thebes). I have been to the Dendera temple where Trajan decorated a temple to childbirth which may later have been converted to a temple to Bes, possibly by Hadrian."

The truth is that we all follow in the footsteps of the Divine Hadrian as he attempts to work out his grief in the weeks following the death of his Beloved and just seven days before the Birthday of Antinous on November 27th.

WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

SORROWING HADRIAN WAITS FOR THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON TO SING

WE commemorate the solemn visit of a very grief-stricken Emperor Hadrian to Thebes and the Colossi of Memnon less than a month after the demise of his Beloved Antinous.

Antinous had drowned at the end of October and Hadrian had issued decrees establishing the CITY OF ANTINOOPOLIS at the spot on the shores of the Nile where his Beloved had died. 

Hadrian probably left the body with priests before the Imperial Entourage continued its scheduled tour up the Nile to the historic city of Thebes.

The Colossi of Memnon stand at the entrance of what was a great temple for Amenophis III.

The Colossi of Memnon at Thebes were mistakenly identified as such by the Greeks. They were the giant statues of Amenhotep III at the entrance of his now destroyed Temple. 

Memnon (left above) was actually the "brazen-crested Memnon, a comely man" according to Odysseus, King of the Ethiopians (Susa in the East not Africa) who came with a great force to help Troy against the Achaean invaders, and was killed by Achilles. At his death his soldiers turned into birds.

By the time Emperor Hadrian arrived, the statues were in a ruinous state and emitted a wailing sound at dawn when the rising sun heated the stone. Greeks and Romans traveled from afar to hear the statues "speak" to them. Hadrian left graffiti here.

Flamen ANTONIUS SUBIA writes:

"After the death of Antinous, the Imperial entourage visited the ancient city of Thebes in the Upper Nile, it was the furthest south that Hadrian ever journeyed. The court visited the two Colosoi of Memnon, which are monumental seated statues of Amenhotep III built in the 18th dynasty.

"It was said that a ringing sound was emitted by the statues in the early mourning, and that anyone who heard the statues speak was favored by the gods, as the belief was that the statues were of Memnon, the son of Aurora. Hadrian did not hear the sound, but the empress Sabina did.

"The God of Thebes was Amon, the ram-headed, who was equated with Jupiter. Julia Balbilla, poetess and companion of Sabina, who was with the court throughout the voyage and was present at the Death and Liberation of Antinous, wrote these words. These are the first words written after the death of Antinous. They were inscribed, like graffiti on the Colossus of Memnon.

"'I, Balbilla, when the rock spoke, heard the voice of the divine Memnon or Phamenoth. I came here with the lovely Empress Sabina. The course of the sun was in its first hour, in the fifteenth year of Hadrian's reign, on the twenty-fourth day of the month Hathor. I wrote this on the twenty-fifth day of the month Hathor'."

Rather more recently, in the 21st Century, while researching his novel about Antinous entitled THE LOVE GOD, author MARTIN CAMPBELL made a pilgrimage to the Colossi of Memnon in the footsteps of the Divine Hadrian. He filed this report via email from Thebes:

"The Nile is noiselessly rushing by my hotel only a hundred or so feet from where I am writing.

"I have stood at the Colossi of Memnon and seen where Sabina and Julia Balbilla wrote verses about Hadrian.

"I walked around Luxor temple where Hadrian would have officiated as pharaoh. I have looked at the ruins of the Roman barracks where he may have stayed while in Luxor (then Thebes). I have been to the Dendera temple where Trajan decorated a temple to childbirth which may later have been converted to a temple to Bes, possibly by Hadrian."

The truth is that we all follow in the footsteps of the Divine Hadrian as he attempts to work out his grief in the weeks following the death of his Beloved and just seven days before the Birthday of Antinous on November 27th.

WE HONOR THE EMPRESS SABINA

THE Empress Sabina Augusta ... Vibia Sabina ... Hadrian's Wife ... died sometime in the year 136, and was deified in the year 138.

The date of her elevation to godliness is not known, but because she was so often compared to the Mother Goddess Ceres-Demeter, we declare her Apotheosis to coincide with the return of spring in Rome, and dedicate our celebration of the Equinox to our mother and Empress, Nova Dea Ceres, Sabina Augusta.

This relief sculpture of her deification, in which she is shown rising up from the cremation flames on the wings of a female Aeon, shows Hadrian enthroned, behind him is a figure that resembles Antoninus Pius.

And reclining on the floor is one who could possibly be Antinous, the resemblance to the youth on the Apotheosis of Antoninus is remarkable.

THE VENUS MOON OF ANTINOUS THE LIBRA FIRST QUARTER MOON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE VENUS MOON OF ANTINOUS THE LIBRA FIRST QUARTER MOON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE VENUS MOON OF ANTINOUSTHE LIBRA FIRST QUARTER MOON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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