EMPEROR HADRIAN'S ATHENAEUM WAS WHERE ANTINOUS WENT TO SCHOOL

THIS is probably where Antinous went to school after Emperor Hadrian brought him to Rome … the first university west of Athens ... Hadrian's Athenaeum, modeled on the original school in Athens.

The ruins were unearthed in 2009 by archaeologists excavating at the Piazza Venezia, just across the street from the colossal Victor Emmanuel Monument. Experts spent the next three years working the site.

During that time they discovered that it was far more than just a school.

It was a veritable CULTURAL CENTRE for the performing arts which included a 900-seat auditorium suitable for poetry readings, recitals and other artistic entertainment that reflected Hadrian's refined tastes.

The location came as something of a surprise since Hadrian's Athenaeum traditionally was believed to have been located on the Capitoline Hill. 

The ruins are located below the hill on the fringes of the Forum.

The experts say they are convinced this must be the site of the Athenaeum because the ruins appear to be those of a large auditorium-style lecture hall which could have accommodated hundreds of students.

They uncovered twin monumental staircases of six steps each which were buried under debris that was the result of the collapse of upper floors of the building, probably during an earthquake in the Middle Ages.

Each of the staircases ... with wide, shallow, deep steps ... are on opposite ends of a rectangular room with granite and yellow marble paving. Experts believe the "stairs" were actually lecture hall seating.

Little is known of the details of study at the Athenaeum, but some literary sources suggest that young men from all parts of the Roman Empire, after finishing their usual school and college studies in their own town or province, came to Rome for higher education.

In keeping with his dream of creating an empire based on Hellenistic principles of beauty, tolerance and learning, Hadrian established the Athenaeum in 123 AD for the promotion of Classical Liberal Arts studies.

It set the standards for subsequent schools of higher learning in Western Europe. Royston Lambert, in his biography of Antinous BELOVED AND GOD, calls the Athenaeum "the first university in the West."

WE JOYOUSLY CELEBRATE THE FLORALIA

ANTINOUS assuredly took part in the Floralia, a multi-day Roman feast which started on April 27th in the Republic era, but which began on April 28th in the Imperial era when the Beauteous Boy lived during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.

This day was the start of the Floralia, the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, actors, sex workers, comedies, comic theatre. 

The festival had a licentious, pleasure-seeking atmosphere. In contrast to many festivals which had a patrician character, the Games of Flora were plebeian in nature.

New comedy plays premiered in the theatres. There may have been nocturnal observances, since sources mention measures taken to light the way after the theatrical performances.

In contrast to the Cerealia, when white garments were worn, bright and colorful clothing was customary during the Floralia.

There was dancing and revelry of every sort. Ovid says that hares and goats ... animals considered fertile and salacious ... were ceremonially released as part of the festivities. 

Persius says that the crowd was pelted with peas, beans, and lupins ... all of them also symbols of fertility.

Professional sex workers participated in the Floralia as well as the wine Vinalia festival which commenced on April 23. 

According to the satirist Juvenal, prostitutes danced naked and fought in mock gladiator combat.

Adorn yourself and your home. Make libations of milk and honey to Flora and to Antinous.

LIFT THE CURSE THAT BINDS YOU WITH THIS 'ENEMY MOON' RITUAL

NO matter what you do, you just can't get ahead. You have nothing but bad luck in money, in relationships and in general.

Rationally, you assume it's all your own fault. Are you may belong to a faith system which suggests it's all "bad karma" or else the "wages of sin" from a wrathful deity.

Then a dark corner of your mind wonders: "Maybe somebody or something put a curse on me?"

The Scorpio Full Moon ... often called the "Witches' Moon" or the "Beltane Moon" ... is a perfect time for lifting the veil on this shadowy and sinister question. 

In Antinous Moon Magic we call this lunar phase the enemy moon because it shines a harsh light to illuminate those elements which work against you.

Are you under a curse? Take this quick quiz and find out:

1. Are you having a run of bad luck? Regardless what you do or how hard you try, nothing but bad luck happens to you?

2. Have lightbulbs started burning out frequently ... even though you are certain the bulbs are fresh?

3. Have you had chronic computer glitches recently? Not just once or twice, but repeatedly, for no good reason?

4. Have you lost your joy for life? You used to be optimistic, but lately you feel pessimistic and forlorn?

5. Do things just seem to go wrong all the time? Home appliances have started breaking down? Your good and reliable car seems to need repairs inexplicably all of a sudden?

6. Have you suddenly incurred financial setbacks? Bills and debts have appeared out of no where? Urgent expenditures have stressed your credit card to the max?

7. You suddenly have problems with government agencies? Traffic cops seem to be picking on you personally? You get a parking fine for being less than a minute over the time? You are hassled with bureaucratic paperwork and delays for routine applications?

8. Things seem to break a lot around your household lately? You drop cups when doing the dishes? Things fall off of shelves for no apparent reason?

9. Has your health taken a sudden turn for the worse? You have a bad cold which just does not seem to want to go away?

10. Do you seem to attract people who are annoying and who intentionally pick fights with you? No matter how polite you are, other people take everything as an insult and argue with you?

ANTINOUS MOON MAGIC RITUAL

The Scorpio Full Moon ... which we call the Enemy Moon ... focuses its light on those elements around you (or within yourself) which are working against you. These may be human beings, but very often they are aspects of yourself which work against you. And even if they are human beings, they may not be consciously aware that they are sending evil tidings your way.

Tonight is the best night of the year for confronting these "enemies" in whatever form they take.

Find a quiet place to meditate undisturbed. Our crystals meditation advisor MARTIN CAMPBELL recommends Picture Jasper (also called Brown Jasper or Picasso Jasper) because he says: "It brings to the surface feelings of guilt, hatred but also love that were hidden deep within you. These can be from current or past lives."

Inhale deeply and hold your breath for a moment. And as you slowly exhale, visualize the "enemy elements" leaving your body.

Visualize the "enemy" standing before you, regardless whether you know this person or even if it is an aspect of yourself.

Do not be angry or afraid. Instead, open your arms and invite this "enemy" to come towards you and be embraced by you.

Now allow your love flowing into this person who has, until this moment, been your enemy. Forgive your enemy and shower your enemy with boundless love and light from your heart.

Visualize all negative energies being transformed into love and light. You are one with this person who used to be your enemy. These negative forces have been transformed into positive forces working constructively for you.

The curse has been lifted! You are free!

THE SCORPIO FULL MOON THE ANTINOUS "ENEMY MOON"

TONIGHT's Scorpio Full Moon is a moon for penetrating the veil of lies and illusion and seeing clearly who are your friends (and who are not) and also seeing yourself for what you are.

For that reason, we call it the ENEMY MOON in Antinous Moon Magic. (Image above courtesy Carlos Barahona Possollo).

This is the spookiest Full Moon of the year. Beltane, Walpurgis Night and May Day are all based on the solar calendar and are celebrated on May Eve.

But the older, lunar calendar celebrates those Rites of Spring during the SCORPIO FULL MOON. 

If you are a bit clairvoyant, or if you have a gift for healing, your powers will be enhanced tremendously during the SCORPIO FULL MOON. 

Just be careful — everyone else's unconscious powers will also be enhanced, so there will be lots of mind-games going on tonight.

For gay men, especially, the Scorpio Full Moon is a time of hotly erotic spiritual discovery. As any gay wizard knows, it is the best night of the year for Sacred Sex.

This is the truth-or-dare Full Moon; a time to honor the transformative power of truth-telling and a very intense Full Moon to put into action (through ritual release) the goals you set at the New Moon in Taurus.

Since this Full Moon falls in a water sign, releasing your intentions near a stream, river, lake, or ocean is particularly powerful.

But before you let go, have one last look at your goals. Whom do they truly serve? What will they bring to the world? 

Since Scorpio demands depth and fearlessness, this last look will have to be brutally honest. If your goals require a change of mind, of heart, and/or of action, this is the night to successfully tackle fears that could impede the ability to fully embrace change. 

Scorpio seeks deep truth by peeling back layers of lies and half-truths—inside us and outside of us.

This is a Full Moon to see things as they truly are, not as you wish them to be.

This is the meaning behind the imagery of Giorgio Tavaglioni's "Nemico" (Enemy) card in the L'Oracolo della Sibilla fortune-telling cards pictured left.
 
Meditations and rituals during the Scorpio Full Moon are best suited for helping you identify who and what your "enemies" are.

This could indeed be a person who is your enemy, someone who is working against you, trying to impede your progress.

But more often it represents the "inner enemy" ... your own worst enemy sometimes being yourself.

It represents habitual thought patterns, low self-esteem, irrational fears and other "enemies" which work against you.

You must face and confront your enemy ... especially if that means confronting your true self.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARCUS AURELIUS

ON April 26th the Religion of Antinous joyously celebrates the birth of one of the wisest rulers in history, a man hand-picked by the Divine Hadrian personally to become Emperor of Rome.

Marcus Annius Verus was born on this day in the year 121 to a Spanish Roman family, related to Hadrian. From the very start, the young Marcus showed a deep interest in learning and particularly in philosophy.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus had the most profound influence over him, and his truthful and pious nature gained Hadrian's attention and Hadrian is said to have called him "Verissimus", or most truthful, and to have taken an interest in the future of the young philosopher.

Marcus would have been 9 years old when Antinous died, and he is not believed to have been with the court in Egypt.

When Aelius Ceasar died shortly after being chosen Emperor in 138, it is believed that Marcus was Hadrian's next choice. However, the ailing and grieving emperor felt that the 17-year-old Marcus was too young.

So Hadrian decided to elect Antoninus Pius instead, requiring Antoninus to choose Marcus and the son of Lucius, called Lucius Verus, to be Antoninus's successors in turn.

This became known as the Dynasty of the Antonines, the last flowering of the glory that was Imperial Rome.

Hadrian believed that the old Antoninus would only rule for the few years needed to allow Marcus to mature. But instead, Antoninus remained in power far longer than Hadrian, and Marcus was 40 years old when he at last took power.

But the Empire that he inherited was succumbing to more and more trouble along its borders, as the Germanic hordes began their slow migration across the borders. The Philosopher-King Marcus was doomed to spend the majority of his reign leading the armies along the cold northern border.

He was successful in keeping the barbarians outside the Empire, and in maintaining the peace and prosperity in the heart of Rome that had been left to him by Hadrian and Antoninus.

We celebrate the birthday of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.

WE CELEBRATE THE SACRED BEAR HUNT AND THE BIRTHDAY OF ROME

WORSHIPERS on four continents convened in an international Zoom conference tonight to celebrate the ancient festival of THE EROTICON, the Sacred Bear Hunt of Hadrian and Antinous, and the birthday of Rome.

April 21 marks the anniversary of the founding of the city of Rome in 743 BC by Romulus and Remus.

Adherents from North and South America, Africa and Europe were on hand via Zoom as Flamen Antonius Subia celebrated the rites at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous.

On this day we honor the great God of Love, Eros-Cupid, in his guise as Antinous-Phanes, the "radiant being of light who emerges from the egg of night". We also honor the Great God Priapus the divine phallus, the column of male virility, the bestower of the fertility of fields, vineyards, orchards and gardens. Priapus is the axis of the cosmos.

On this date we also commemorate the founding of the city of Rome, Natalis Urbis, personified by the Romans as Our Lady Roma. We celebrate the consecration of her sacred border, and of her birth, and eternal life, and remember that we are her children.

And also on this date we remember the Sacred Bear Hunt. While in Mysia in Asia Minor, in the year 129, the court engaged in a Bear Hunt near the city which Hadrian had founded (on an earlier trip) called Hadrianotherae, "Hadrian's hunting ground". It is the modern-day city of Balikesir in a lovely area of wooded forests and lakes in northwestern Turkey.

Hadrian loved animals and is known to have built tombs for his dogs and horses (according to Royston Lambert) and he loved to hunt. The Bear is the sacred animal of Diana-Artemis, and symbolizes the solitary, forest-roaming character of the Virgin Huntress. In the ferocity of the bear lies the secret of Diana's power, against which Hadrian and Antinous pitted themselves, as shown on the tondo from the Arch of Constantine. 

The grand themes of the Eroticon are Love and Sex and Ferocious Anger. The Beast is always lurking inside of us. The mystery teaching surrounding the Bear Hunt involves getting to know your animal instincts -- sex and lust and rage -- and to become one with them and to turn them into powerful allies for your spiritual development.

Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia has expressed this mystical mystery meaning as follows:

"Antinous, under Hadrian's guidance, was an accomplished hunter, indeed it is perhaps his natural skill and bravery in the chase that elevated him to the absolute love and adoration of Hadrian. The Emperor was madly in love with hunters, and Antinous was one of the best. Antinous had perhaps been silently stalking and hunting the Emperor's favor for quite some time, and now, in Asia, in the sacred Hunting Grounds of Hadrian, Antinous closed in on the heart of his prey and captured the Emperor completely. In our commemoration of the Sacred Bear Hunt we recognize that Artemis and Antinous are twin deities, and we seek the Dianic-Artemis-Bear within ourselves."

'THE LOVE GOD' BY MARTIN CAMPBELL IS A BRILLIANT NOVEL ABOUT ANTINOUS

FOR World Book Day, April 23rd: The most brilliant novel about Antinous to appear in over half a century ... THE LOVE GOD ... is authored by our own MARTINUS CAMPBELL, priest of Antinous.

While that sounds like biased praise, we Antinomaniacs are hard to please and would not hesitate to pick apart a poorly researched book or one that denigrated Antinous, even if it were written by one of our best friends ... perhaps especially if it were. 

At the same time, a sycophantic book that presented Antinous as being cloyingly sweet and angelic would be unbearable and not believable.

So we are gratified (and greatly relieved) to report that this book truly is a remarkable work of historical fiction right up there with Marguerite Yourcenar's landmark MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN 60 years ago.

Martin traces the life of Antinous from the moment his tousle-haired head emerges from his mother's womb under auspicious stars in Asia Minor to the moment his head sinks beneath the swirling waters of the Nile on a starry evening in Egypt.

Antinous comes to life as a young man of breath-taking beauty who is filled with conflicting passions and loyalties. He is a young man who at times is naive, yet at other times worldly wise with an ability to see the world as it is ... and to describe it with at times brutal honesty to the most powerful man in the world.

Above all, this is a gentle love story between Antinous and Emperor Hadrian, himself a man of contradictory passions and priorities.

Martin himself is a man shares these passions. He has rebounded from a series of debilitating strokes to resume a daunting array of political activism for LGBTIU health and rights issues ... while working on this novel.

Based in a hilltop home overlooking the sea in Brighton England, he spent the best part of a decade researching this novel, retracing the footsteps of Antinous across Greece and Italy, as far north as Hadrian's Wall and as far south as the Nile in Upper Egypt.

Historical facts are excruciatingly accurate ... even the positions of the stars and planets at the moment of the birth of Antinous have been calculated to precision.

An academic scholar can read this book with satisfaction, noting obscure and arcane references which only the experts in the field of Antinology fully appreciate.

At the same time, however, this is a fun book to read even for those who have never heard of Antinous in their lives and who have no firm grasp of Roman civilization in the 2nd Century AD.

There is intrigue, skulduggery, near-death by lightning, getting lost in a subterranean labyrinth, a storm at sea, earthquakes ... and some fairly hot man sex as well, albeit tastefully brought to the page.

The narrator is the Classical Love God himself: Eros. He shoots his amorous arrows and ensures that Antinous and Hadrian fulfill the destiny which the Fates have in store for them ... despite efforts by certain people in the Imperial Court to thwart the Fates.

But the genius of this book is that there are no black-and-white villains or heroes. Antinous is a young man with all the problems and drives of late adolescence. Hadrian is a man with a mid-life crisis of doubt and regret.

Others such as Empress Sabina and her constant companion Julia Balbilla and their coterie of fawning courtiers and freedmen are not really hateful towards Antinous so much as they are simply perplexed by him. 

They view him the way some members of the Royal Household might look at the favorite Corgi of the Queen, unable to comprehend her affection for it, her grief when it dies.

They whisper amongst themselves: What hold does Antinous have over Hadrian? 

Just who does he think he is? And is he a threat to them? 

What is so different about Antinous that Hadrian doesn't grow weary of him ... as he always has with previous toy boys? 

Because they cannot understand how he fits in the scheme of Imperial court life, some really rather wish he would just disappear ... voluntarily or otherwise. 

And through it all is the boyhood friend of Antinous who has accompanied him on this long journey with mixed feelings and with growing envy and jealousy. 

The boiling emotions all stem from Eros, who winks knowingly at the reader as he shoots one arrow after another with unerring accuracy to ensure that Antinous fulfills his destiny ... to take his place alongside Eros as a God of Love.

The result is a richly entertaining and beautifully written novel which appeals to those seeking authoritative scholarly accuracy as well as readers who just want a riveting and memorable adventure yarn.

The Love God is available as Kindle and as a paperback ... CLICK HERE to order.