HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAMELA COLMAN SMITH WHOSE TAROT CARDS FEATURE ANTINOUS

YES! This is Antinous! February 16, 1878, is the birthday of Pamela Colman Smith, who is a canonized Saint of Antinous. Happy Birthday to Pixie (as her friends called her). 

When she was working on the Waite Tarot Cards in 1909, the British Museum had a special exhibition featuring the Sola Busca Tarot Cards ... the only Tarot Cards in which all 78 cards were illustrated. 

Traditionally, only the Trump Cards were illustrated, and the other 56 Lesser Trumps had numbers and suit emblems but were otherwise not illustrated. 

Pamela was so impressed by the Sola Busca Cards that she dragged Waite to the British Museum and insisted that ALL 78 cards must be illustrated and that she would create the art for each and every card. 

She forced Waite to agree, despite his reservations that it was unorthodox to illustrate ALL of the cards. 

Her version of the Three of Swords is inspired by the Sola Busca deck as you see above right.

Pamela put her heart and soul into each and every card, drawing inspiration from a variety of sources. 

The "Seven of Cups" shows the seeker of the Higher Trump Seven (The Chariot) choosing which goal to pursue. 

He has "Seven Visions": 

On the lower plane are earthly stability (the castle), earthly riches (jewels), earthly fame (a laurel wreath in a death's head chalice representing fleeting fame) and earthly power (dragon). 

On the higher plane he can decide between divine perfection of magic (the serpent from the Magician's belt), divine perfection of illumination (the glowing figure), and divine perfection of spiritual beauty ... symbolized by the face of Antinous! 

Pamela Colman Smith clearly took her inspiration from the Townley bust of Antinous in the British Museum.

Be sure to read our FULL TRIBUTE to Pamela Colman Smith, the visionary artist who was forgotten in her own lifetime and who died penniless ... but who is immortalized in her Tarot art, which continued to inspire seekers of spiritual illumination ... as exemplified by the seeker in the Seven of Cups.

ASTRO FORECAST: FEBRUARY 16th—26th, 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 16 to 26, 2023

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, 2023

This week, we come to our annual reality check when the Sun aligns with Saturn. This year, this powerful Sun conjunction Saturn alignment occurs when SATURN IS IN AQUARIUS, occupying its airy home for the first time since 1994, aside from a brief stint early in 2020 before going retrograde. This is especially important for Millennials born between 1990 and 1994 who are experiencing their first Saturn Return. With a windy gale at its back, Saturn in Aquarius turns its scythe toward unknown terrain in order to gather and harvest wisdom off the mainstream path and beyond the norm. Saturn feels secure, strong, and comfortably at home in Aquarius, but discovers a different kind of expression than when residing in its other home of Capricorn where it is surrounded by dense stone and earthly matters. In the airy climate of Aquarius, Saturn turns its slow and steady gaze outward, reordering structures and boundaries in order to make connections, distribute information, and develop innovations.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17th, 2023

This week, don't believe much of anything you hear when Mercury forms a chatty sextile aspect with Jupiter. Mercury loves to tell tales and Jupiter loves to exaggerate.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 2023

In ancient times Antinous was famous for love spells and you can see for yourself this week when love goddess Venus is in a sexy sextile aspect with darkly magical Pluto and THE STAR OF ANTINOUS. Venus sextile Pluto gives you the ability to cast a really powerful kind of love spell on others. We all know that love spells can go any which way. They can bind two people’s affections together in ways that are movingly romantic and passionate or dangerously unbalanced and obsessive. Pluto tends to manifest in extremes, so with this planet in aspect to Venus, your planet of romance, love affairs tend to swing from one end of the emotional spectrum to the next. You'll often find yourself on the receiving end of some obsessively intense attractions but you’re certainly prone to experiencing all-consuming feelings of attraction toward the object of your desire. Go ahead, give it love a chance.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19th, 2023

This weekend, Venus leaves dreamy and romantic Pisces and charges into hot and horny Aries. Sitting in front of your computer wistfully fantasizing about Mr. Right suddenly gives way to the urge to go out and find him ... and not stop until you have found him. Aries Venus can be overly assertive and me-firsty in relationships. But if you are congenitally shy and retiring, this means you may finally work up the audacity to stand up for yourself ... and about time, too. But move fast because Venus leaves Aries on March 17th to settle down in placid and docile Taurus, where Venus prefers the comforts of home.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20th, 2023

Overnight Sunday-Monday, 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.

TUES-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21st-25th, 2023

This week, Mercury is in powerful aspects to Mars and Uranus which dominate all actions. First, vengeance and enmity ignite when Mercury and Uranus are in a 90-degree right angle to each other. People act impulsively without thinking of the consequences ... consequences they will surely regret. So choose your words carefully, especially because this week is perfect for a job interview or for a presentation of a special project. Mercury is in a good trine aspect to Mars to help you get your point across articulately and strongly to others.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, 2023

Overnight Sunday-Monday, we come to the Gemini First Quarter moon ... the lunar phase we call the JACKAL MOON in Antinous Moon Magic. Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Jackal in Antinous oracular arts is the embodiment of cunning and skill and sleight-of-hand and being slightly dodgy and sneaky but also being incredibly adept and learned in the ways of the world. The Gemini First Quarter Moon is the March moon of the Trickster, who taunts and teases, who plays tricks, who leads the soul through dark and treacherous passages ... who is more treacherous than any Underworld foe ... but whose cunning enables him to bring his charges to their goal. Meditations and rituals carried out tonight are best suited for looking beyond the the veil of lies and deceit that others (or we ourselves) throw over our eyes to prevent us from seeing clearly. This is also a very good night for finding canny and cunning solutions to difficult problems ... strategies for out-smarting those who seek to pull the wool over our eyes.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:

Another exciting week lies ahead between February 27th and March 5th, 2023, when you may find yourself feeling a bit guilty, a bit self-critical, a bit inadequate. That's the Virgo Full Moon ... but in Antinous Moon Magic, this is the DIANA MOON ... the moon of sisterhood, of kindred spirits in whom you can confide ... and a "sister" need not be blood related ... or even female ... you have a "sister" and tonight's full moon helps you find her ... More details next time ....

ANTINOUS RUNS IN THE LUPERCALIA IN MARTIN CAMPBELL'S BRILLIANT NOVEL

THE brilliant novel about the life of Antinous "The Love God" by Martin Campbell describes how Antinous joined Roman Patrician youths in running the Lupercalia on 15 February 127 AD as "luperci" runners. 

As part of the ancient ritual, a priest sacrificed a dog and a goat and  then smeared their blood on each boy's forehead. Here is the passage from the book (edited for space):

"Hadrian wiped each boy's forehead with wool saturated in milk, stating, 'Romulus and Remus were saved by Lupa who howled her joy at receiving a fresh kill from the Gods. In return Romulus and Remus laughed for joy at receiving fresh milk from the teats of Lupa'."

(Then the priests wrapped the goat's skin around each boy's waist as a loin cloth.)

"This was perhaps the worst part for Antinous. He felt pretty sick as the warm, still bloody skin was tied around his precious nether regions.

"The boys now had to run around the edge of the inner city walls using the strips of goat skin to fake flog as many people as they saw. Each person flogged would receive luck and fertility for the coming year.

"Antinous found no shortage of willing subjects. There was much hilarity. Some offered hands, others offered naked behinds … some attractive, some distinctly not. The latter got the biggest laughs … particularly if they were older men or plump ladies.

"It took Antinous two hours to 'run' a very short distance. Everyone wanted to be flogged by him specifically.

"It was clear that although this was, in theory, a fun event, to be whipped ritually by Antinous was taking on a more serious meaning.

"Women in particular seemed to be calling out to him with some desperation as if calling out to a God...."

Martin Campbell's book "The Love God" is available in paperback or Kindle: CLICK HERE.

ANTINOUS AND THE LUPERCALIA

EVEN Hadrian and Antinous would not have known the precise origins of the Lupercalia  ... the ancient rite of spring when young nobles stripped off naked except for fur pelts and ran around the Palatine Hill flinging rawhide strips at females.

But Antinous might well have visited the cave-like grotto ... the Lupercale ... at the foot of the Palatine Hill. 

The cave-like structure was found a few years ago and experts are carrying out an extensive archaeological dig at a site which they believe is the ceremonial site of the Lupercale grotto where the caesars honored Romulus and Remus.

It is intriguing to think that Hadrian and Antinous took part in the rites in this subterranean chamber.

For centuries, the cave-like grotto was revered as the sacred site where the "She-Wolf" suckled the orphans Romulus and Remus. Young nobles called Luperci, taking their name from the place of the wolf (lupa), ran naked from the Lupercale grotto around the bounds of the Palatine, and used strips of hide to slap the hands or buttocks of girls and women lining the route ... reenacting a prank attributed to Romulus and Remus as randy teenagers.

Here is how Flamen Antonius Subia explains its significance for the Religion of Antinous:

"The Lupercalia is the festival of the wolf mother of Rome, and sacred festival of Antinous Master of Hounds. 

"The Lupercalia remembers the she-wolf who raised Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Venus and Mars, who later founded the city of Rome. 

"The wolf-like nature of the twins and of the Roman character was imparted through the milk of the wolf-mother. 

"The spirit transferred through the loving milk of the ferocious mother is celebrated on this day, and is integral to the concept of Antinous the Hunter. 

"Antinous took his place at Hadrian's feet, and accompanied him bravely and loyally through the forests and lived by the Emperor's side for seven years, which is equivalent to the life of a strong hunting dog. 

"The Canine nature of Antinous is celebrated on this day and is seen as an allegory for the Priesthood of the Religion of Antinous."

Antonius goes on to explain that the Lupercalia festival is a purification rite, cleansing the way for Spring, nourishing the winter spirit of the dormant wolves within so as to fuel the ruthless courage of Roman warriors. A Dog and a Goat were sacrificed, and the young noble youths raced around the city naked except for goat, or wolf skins, whipping any girls or women who they encountered.

Antonius explains, "The Festival is also sacred to Faunus, the Roman Pan...the one who 'drives away the wolf from the flock.'...we usually think of Pan as Goat-horned and cloven hooved, but 'the one who drives away the wolf'...could quite possibly be a sacred Dog. Lupercalia is therefore quite possibly a dog festival...and it is interesting to note that it falls almost exactly opposite the calendar from the rise of the Dog Star."

Antonius elaborates by adding, "For me, Lupercalia is a time of cleansing and light...the lighted lamp that precedes the coming dawn of Spring...a preparation for the Flowering....

"So a celebration or ritual to observe the Lupercalia should focus on purification. ..self-purification primarily, but also the purification of the home, and surroundings. A cleansing of negative, stagnant, dusty, mildewy, settled, sedimentary influences that we are ready to clear away...from within and without."

He also outlines rituals for purification and cleansing which members of the worldwide Religion of Antinous will be performing this weekend.

Antonius says the Lupercalia harkens to the most ancient of rites of Spring, and he says the cleansing must come from within.

"And then look into your soul, observe your interactions...make changes for the better...be kinder, more polite, or just simply be friendlier to people...and do something strictly for your own pleasure," he says in his Lupercalia Epistle.

He stresses, "It is really a matter of deep and meaningful concentration on cleansing your mind and heart of negative internal influences...so as to strengthen your fortifications against external negative influences."

DID ANTINOUS MEET ST. VALENTINE? BOTH IN ALEXANDRIA AT THE SAME TIME

IT is a little known fact that there is a connection between Antinous and the original St. Valentine ... Valentinus of Alexandria. Hadrian and Antinous visited Alexandria in the year 130 AD ... and could possibly have crossed paths with the man who would one day become one of Christianity's most misunderstood saints.

Here is how our own Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia explains our own special view of Valentine's Day ... the Day of Love:

"Valentinus was the Gnostic Father who was a bishop of the Catholic Church. He tried to change orthodoxy by introducing the Gnostic speculation.

"Valentinus was from Alexandria and was there, studying with his teacher Basilides, when the court of Hadrian and Antinous arrived.

"He believed that Love was the creator of the universe, and the cause for the fall of Sophia (wisdom) ...

"He believed that Jesus came to reverse the fall of Sophia, that Jesus was the consort of Sophia, the Aeon called Christos.

"The love between them was the reason that Jesus descended to save the world. Valentinus began his teaching in Rome, and gained so much support that he was even nominated for the Papacy but lost by a narrow margin.

"Eventually exiled for heresy, the Gnostic Father formed his own rival church that became an influential and widespread Gnostic sect, influencing Gnostic thought down to our own time.

"Because Valentinus was a witness of the Passion of Antinous, and because he attempted to change the Catholic Church, we sanctify his name and venerate him on this sacred day of Eros, the Day of Love."

THE PERDITION MOON OF ANTINOUS THE SCORPIO THIRD QUARTER MOON

TONIGHT's Scorpio Third Quarter Moon is the Lunar Phase in Antinous Moon Magic which we call the PERDITION MOON of coming to terms with loss and diminishment.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Perdition Moon is the embodiment of grief and loss. It is the gnawing sense of resources dwindling and being reduced. Perdition is diminishment and slow collapse.

It embodies the feeling that all the walls have fallen down and there is nothing to lean on. It is the spirit of consummate grief and lamentation for a loss. It is also the embodiment of that loss. It is the griever and also the subject of grief...

It is symbolized by grief-stricken Emperor Hadrian cradling the limp form of his beloved Antinous after his body had been recovered from the Nile.

The Scorpio Third Quarter Moon is precisely this sort of dull ache and sense of emptiness and loss.

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.

TRY FIRE OPAL FOR THE PERDITION MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

TONIGHT's Perdition Moon of Antinous focuses on coping with loss.

Each of us must cope with this on a daily basis. Recently, a woman consulted me about the loss of a moonstone which had popped out of the setting of a finger ring. She couldn't find it anywhere. I advised her on what the moonstone may have been "telling" her and offered my advice on her replacement ring ... handmade in India with two sapphires!

But sometimes we are confronted with a serious loss, such as the loss of a job, or a home or a loved one. This is profound grief ... something which Hadrian faced when Antinous died.

I have searched my cabinets for the best crystal for meditations in time of grief ... and I always come back to:

FIRE OPAL - In April 2012 I had a catastrophic brain haemorrhage and nearly died. My world was turned upside down I was suddenly disabled.  I grieved deeply.

The only crystal which helped was the one many experts advise for grief – Fire Opal.

I carried a Fire Opal with me for over a year and held it during mediations in that period too.

It helped my immensely – I felt my moments of grief released more readily yet the outcomes of each cry or moment of depression were somehow channeled into more positive thinking.

In Light and Love

MARTIN

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