ANTINOUS INVICTUS AND THE SOLSTICE

ON Tuesday at 16:00 Universal Time (8:00 a.m. at the Hollywood Temple of Antinous) the sun "stands still" ("Sol Stasis") — the 21/22 December Solstice for the year 2021. 

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.

ROMAN TEMPLE OF MITHRAS REBORN IN THE HEART OF LONDON

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.

STONEHENGE WAS BUILT ON SOLSTICE AXIS BUT ONLY DUE TO ICE AGE FLUKE

FOR the first time, experts have found geological proof that the prehistoric builders of Stonehenge aligned it to the Solstice axis, and it has to do with an Ice Age "fluke" of terrain.

The discovery was made by accident during road work.

In what is described as a "missing piece in the jigsaw" in our understanding of one of the world's greatest prehistoric sites, excavations confirm the theory that its ancient processional route was built along an ice-age land form which was naturally on the solstice axis, according to Professor Mike Parker Pearson, a leading expert on Stonehenge.

The monument's original purpose still remains shrouded in mystery, but this is a dramatic clue, he said.

The route, known as the Avenue, extended 1.5 miles from the standing stones' north-eastern entrance to West Amesbury.

The discovery came only after the closure of a modern road which bisected the route, allowing archaeologists to excavate there for the first time.

Just below the modern road’s surface, they unearthed ditches dug by prehistoric builders.

Professor Parker Pearson identified naturally-occurring fissures that once lay between ridges which follow the route of the Avenue.

The ridges were created by Ice Age meltwater and naturally point directly at the mid-winter sunset in one direction and the mid-summer sunrise in the other.

Professor Parker Pearson is excited by the evidence, which he describes as "hugely significant".

"It tells us a lot about why Stonehenge was located where it is and why they were so interested in the solstices," he said.

"It's not to do with worshipping the sun, some kind of calendar or astronomical observatory.

"It's about how this place was special to prehistoric people. This natural land form happens to be on the solstice axis, which brings heaven and earth into one."

He explained that Stonehenge is "all about the solstices" and our ancestors could see this in the land.

THE GEMINI FULL MOON THE CATAMITUS MOON OF ANTINOUS

TONIGHT's Gemini Full Moon is the CATAMITUS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic, the moon signaling where change will occur in your life during the coming year.

Each Lunar Phase represents a Divine Spirit or Archetype. The Spirit of the Catamitus Moon is the Winds of Change.

This is the Spirit who is carried away by the Divine, just as Ganymede (Catamitus to the Romans) was carried away by Zeus/Jupiter. This Spirit is plucked and uprooted and is carried off to other realms.

The ancients often compared the relationship of Hadrian and Antinous to that of Jupiter and Catamitus/Ganymede, the beautiful youth who so enraptured Jupiter that the king of the Gods swooped down from Olympus in the form of an eagle and carried Ganymede off to be at his side forever, serving as his cup bearer.

The Constellation of Antinous replaced that of Ganymede upon the divinization of Antinous. At this time of year the Sun is moving inexorably towards this constellation.

This lunar cycle represents is the Spirit which seeks out new horizons simply for sake of change. 

This Spirit revels in change for change's sake.

This Spirit knows that existence without change is stagnation and death.

Life is an ever-evolving cycle of waxing and waning, winning and losing, breathing in and breathing out, ceaseless change.

This is a powerfully magical moon for working gay magical spells in the Gemini areas of friendships, finances and getting in contact with prospective lovers.

CATAMITUS MOON CRYSTALS FOR CHANGE By Our Crystal Meditation Adviser Martin Campbell

THE Catamitus Moon (Gemini Full Moon) signals where change will be occurring … or needs to occur … in your life during the coming year.

If you feel stuck in a rut, crystal meditations during this lunar phase  help you to focus on bringing about change … in your living situation … your job and finances … and in your friendships.

I recommend these using these crystals: 

Chrysocolla: This beautiful green, blue and turquoise stone helps you to accept change with calmness. It also has an astonishing array of other physical and mental health improving qualities. It is one of my favourites and I have one permanently under my bed pillow!

Lapis Lazuli: These fabulous deep blue stones, flecked with gold, were highly prized by ancient European and middle eastern cultures but especially the Egyptians who incorporated them into stunning items such as Tutankhamun's death mask. They help to bond relationships - especially friendships - by helping you to express emotions. 

Citrine: These  yellow/gold crystals form in clusters, in caves, but are usually separated into single arrowhead-like 'points' to sell them. They are wonderful crystals for attracting wealth.  

Chinese Feng Shui practitioners suggest placing a Citrine in the 'wealth corner' of your home (the furthest back left point of your home) to bring wealth into your life. 

Meditation experts would suggest that you create a 'grid' of Citrines around you as you meditate. A grid is a set of crystals arranged in a regular pattern around you (circle, square, octagon etc.). 

Where the crystals have 'points' the points should be arranged so that they align with another point thus creating a matrix or grid pattern. Energy flows best along lines which is why this technique can be so powerful.

Emerald: Highly faceted emeralds can be expensive but 'rough' natural emeralds are much cheaper and more powerful. These beautiful green crystals are known as the crystal of 'successful love'.  

It also helps a group of people reach mutual understanding and cooperation so is also useful for the friendships element above. 

Love and Light twinkling from facets,

MARTIN

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

ANTINOUS IS THE 5TH MAGICAL SPIRIT IN THIS PROFOUND WORK OF ART By Our Priest Adriaan van den Berg

THIS new art work is by Miranda Baggins, who entitles it: "Antinous the Fifth Magical Spirit."

I think this truly invokes Antinous as a primal elementary deity. When he was filled with the seed of the Creator, as the Obelisk says, he was given access to the domains and command over the elements of fire, water, earth and air. 

But Miranda's notion that these elements are also unified in Antinous and that, as a deity, he represents a unified fifth element, is rather original and true to what he has become: a god not confined to narrow domains, to any exclusive or limited to being god of some bordered realm and with narrow explicit titles and prerogatives.

Other gods find alliances with him, other religions are easily linked to him and his faith, and he is extremely mutable, adaptable and has unique powers and abilities which it makes sense to see in terms of him having access, mastery and command over the four elements, of him being able to enter the elements as much as being able to become a vessel and a conduit for them, unifying and uniting them and having the awesome power of being able to thus become a fifth elemental magical deity, entity and power, a medium for all of the other four, but a superconductor that also fuses and elevates the four traditional magical elements into a super-state of harmonious unity and in whom new meaning is thus born ... a deity in a special state of grace comes forth ... and his is also a new and special potential and power and ability which I see manifest in the swirling haziness emanating and surrounding or dripping from his right hand and arm.

This involves Antinous gaining the power that each of the four basic elements represent.

And through the four elements he gains command over creation, over all matter and energy and command over the primordial media and all forms which the four elements comprise, command over their related energies and capability to manifest in and through each of them.

And Antinous gains the ability to elevate each element beyond matter, power and energy, but to transform it into the form of meaning and higher principles of magic in himself when he becomes the Fifth Super-Elemental Magical Spirit.

I like that Miranda used traditional aspects in her artwork such as the wreath and toga and armbands, but that she then rendered it in this otherworldly, ephemeral light and with the swirling energy.

The violet colour is an excellent choice since it is associated with the crown chakra in which the other chakras come together and through which they can be fed just as the four elements come together in and through Antinous with violet symbolizing and denoting Antinous the Fifth Magical spirit.

You know, Antinous is immediately also linked to all the beings, creatures and entities and other deities which call the different elements their realms.

It links him with the Creator God and with every human who has one of the elements associated with themselves astrologically. 

I am just so delighted with Miranda's Antinous art.

Ave Antinous!
Adriaan van den Berg
Priest of Antinous

JALALUDDIN RUMI SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON December 17th the Religion of Antinous celebrates the life of the Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rumi who dedicated his life to the illumination he received through the love of another man.

The mystic lover and poet Jalaluddin Rumi, better known simply as Rumi, was united with his beloved on this day. 

Born in Afghanistan in 1207 CE, his family moved to Turkey while he was still young. 

In the city of Konya, not far from the Bithynian birthplace of Antinous, Jalaluddin Rumi established himself as a traditional Islamic teacher.

But then one day he met Shams-e-Tabriz, a wandering Sufi mystic. 

Shams set Jalaluddin free from worldly concern and revealed the inward love of god as expressed through music, poetry and the whirling dance that simultaneously confuses and centers the soul of one who spins.

When Shams mysteriously disappeared, Jalaluddin went in search of him, only to discover that Shams was within his own heart.

From that day forward, Jalaluddin Rumi became a profound teacher of mystic eloquence whose poetry refers to god as the Lover within. 

The homoerotic character of Jalaluddin Rumi's spirituality, referring both to his love for Shams and his love for god, has ingratiated him to gay men because of the depth and sensitivity and sacred intimacy that his words exude.

Jalaluddin Rumi and his Mevlevi Order are the last remnants of the Bithynian-Phrygian ecstasy cults of Dionysus and Attis, and they are distantly connected to the Religion of Antinous, through the mystical charge of homoerotic spirituality.

Jalaluddin Rumi expressed total love, proclaiming that all religions were one. And on the day of his funeral, his bier was followed by a procession made up of representatives from five different faiths.

We sanctify Jalaluddin Rumi as a Saint in the Religion of Antinous. He died on December 17th, 1234.