ORANGE CALCITE FOR THE LOTUS MOON By Our Crystal Meditation Advisor Martin Campbell

OUR astrology adviser Hernestus has prompted me that today's moon phase is the Pisces Third Quarter - the Antinous Lotus Moon.

Hernestus describes this moon as being about wish-fulfilment through determined faith.

Now crystals are mostly there to help you to focus on your needs in the moment rather than helping you to achieve anything ahead of time.

However there are some crystals which are attuned to the future so will attune you to it too.

I recommend that you write down your wishes/desires and hold them as you meditate (with or without crystals).

Focus your attention through the paper and crystal/s and back into your heart.

I recommend using:

Orange Calcite - These pretty stones (top photo) remove fear and balance the emotion so that you are open and ready for positives to enter your life. 

Apatite - These are the best crystals to use for manifesting your desires. They are both attuned to the future and past lives so you can consider the spectrum of your lives and set out your wishes for your future and your future selves. They are typically blue or yellow. Choose the blue for manifesting your desires.

Love and Crystalline Light,

MARTIN

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

HARVEY MILK, SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON May 22nd the world honors Harvey Milk ... his birthday (22 May 1930) is commemorated as Harvey Milk Day around the world. 

Champion of the early gay rights movement, in 1977 Harvey Milk became the first openly Gay person to be elected to the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco.

He advocated the liberation of homosexuality for the benefit of society in general, and jokingly claimed to be a gay recruiter. He was instrumental in passing the Gay Civil Rights Bill in San Francisco, which was to be his undoing.

On November 27, of 1978, Milk was murdered City Hall along with Mayor George Moscone by former City Supervisor Danny White who had resigned his office after the enactment of the bill. Dan White was acquitted of murder but sentenced to only seven years on manslaughter charges.

Following his acquittal on May 21st, 1979, riots broke during a demonstration in front of City Hall, and later, 100,000 people marched on Washington in support of Gay Rights chanting "Harvey Milk Lives!" He became the first gay saint and martyr following the movement that began at the Stonewall.

In a tape recording made one year before his assassination, as if in prophecy, Harvey Milk said, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

For his actions, for his life, for the changes that he effected, and for the love that continues to burn for him in the memory of his gay, lesbian and transgender children, we priests of Antinous recognize and sanctify Harvey Milk as a Heroic Saint and Martyr.

CASTOR AND POLLUX TWIN GODS OF HOMOSEXUALITY

TODAY the Sun enters the Sign of Gemini — the sign of the Twins Castor and Pollux, Gods of Homosexuality.  This is the zodiac sign which ushers in a special sacred time in the Religion of Antinous, for this is the time of year when the STAR OF ANTINOUS rises, after having been hidden below the horizon since the Death of Antinous at the end of October.

We honor the Dioscuri who were born as triplets with the beautiful Helen as their sister. The mother of the three was Leda who was seduced by Zeus who came to her in the form of a swan. Leda gave birth to an egg from which emerged Castor, Pollux and Helen.

The photo above shows the Prado's Ildefonso Group, twin statue of Castor and Pollux, with a marble head of Antinous "restored" to the left figure.

The identical brothers were inseparable, and had a deep affection for one another, for which reason they were often worshipped as gods of homosexuality. Helen was constantly being abducted and in  need of rescue, which the brothers were usually successful in accomplishing, however, her beauty was eventually to lead to the Trojan War.

Castor was a skilled horseman, and Pollux was an unconquerable boxer. They took part in the voyage of the Argonauts, and with Orpheus they calmed a storm, for which reason they were worshipped as the protectors of sailors.

Later in the voyage, Castor was killed. Pollux was so overwhelmed that he begged Zeus to accept his life in exchange for his brother's. 

Out of compassion, Zeus immortalized Castor and proclaimed that Pollux would spend half the year in the underworld and half the year in heaven with his brother. 

Together they were placed in the sky as the sign of Gemini.

The Divine Twins miraculously appeared in Rome to announce the victory of the Republic over the allies of the last king by watering their horses in the Fountain of Juturna in the Forum.

Flamen Antonius has this further insight into Castor and Pollux:
"The sacredness of the Twin Gods, with their third twin sister Helen is found in Norse Mythology as the Alcis and as the twins Frey and Skirnir with their third twin sister Freya.

"The symbolism of brotherly love, and of sacrificing one's life for the immortality of a brother is at the heart of the Religion of Antinous, and is an example of the sacrifice that Antinous is said to have committed for the prolongation of the life of Hadrian. The Dioscuri are Antinous and his "rival" Aelius Caesar, and they are also seen in the two brothers of Hadrian's court, Macedo and Statianus Caesernius, who were servants, protectors, confidants, lovers, friends, witnesses and first priests of Antinous.

"The Sacred Star of Antinous rises during the sign of the brothers Castor and Pollux."

THE BIRTH OF PLATO SAINT OF ANTINOUS

ON May 21st the Religion of Antinous honors Plato, Saint of Antinous, because May 21st is Plato's birthday, and no worshipper of Antinous could possibly forget HIS birthday.

The greatest of all western mystics and philosophers was born on this day in the year 427 BC. He was originally named Aristocles, but was called Plato by one of his teachers because of the breadth of his shoulders and of his speech, and we might also say because of the magnitude of his legacy of wisdom.

He was a follower of Socrates and the majority of his works are written as Dialogues of Socrates, wherein Plato elaborates his vision of the Universe, the inner workings of mankind, the complexities of human relationships, and the virtues of civilization.

All we know about Socrates is in reality only what Plato has told us of his teacher. Out of loyalty, Plato gave all personal credit to the wisdom of his divine teacher.

Plato founded the Academy in Athens that was dedicated to the love of wisdom and to the perfection of the minds and souls of young men. The image above is a mosaic from Pompeii showing Plato and his academy assembled under his famous olive tree.

Plato studied Pythagoreanism in Italy and made further speculation into the mathematical mysticism of the first philosopher thereby creating the model upon which western monotheism is based. The Platonic system was essentially a unification of the social inquiry of Socrates with the cosmic ramifications of the teachings of Pythagoras.

Here is how Flamen Antinoalis Antonius Subia explain's the significance of Saint Plato:

"In the vision of Love that Plato expounded, Venus Urania, Celestial Love, is glorified as highest form of human affection, above the earthly requirements of procreation. The love between two men, what is innocently called Platonic Love, was considered by Plato to be the most divine form of relationship.

"Hadrian, in all ways the most Platonic of all Emperors, the veritable manifestation of the Philosopher King as glorified by Plato in The Republic, was demonstrating the meaning of Venus Urania, for all the world to see, in his passion for Antinous.

"For the beautiful light in which Plato illuminated the inner nature of homosexual love, he is venerated as a divine Saint of the Religion of Antinous."

AS THE BEES MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEAR WE REMEMBER ANTINOUS-ARISTAEUS

AS we celebrate World Bee Day on May 20th, we mourn the fact that a mysterious malady is wiping out as many as half of the beehives needed to pollinate much of produce in North America and many other parts of the world.

This is a crisis of mythic proportions ... in the truest sense of the word. In Classical Mythology the world's bees all vanished ... and it took the daring plunge of a brave Hero to find the divine powers to bring the bees back ... and to save mankind.

It is all there in Virgil's version of the story of Aristaeus (Aristée/Aristaios).

As this statue in the Louvre shows, Antinous was identified by the Ancients with Aristaeus ... they both descended into a river and emerged with godly powers.

Aristaeus was the son of Apollo and the river-nymph Cyrene and his assignment on the earthly plane was to teach mortal humans the art of farming and cultivating crops and tending livestock and keeping bees.

Honey was practically a form of ambrosia, or at least the nearest thing to ambrosia that mortal men had. It was the job of Aristaios to teach men how to cunningly harvest honey without being stung.

But Aristaeus had inadvertently caused the death of Eurydice by causing her to tread upon a venomous serpent. Her death and Orpheus's attempt to bring her back to the earthly plane were the origins of the Orphic Mysteries.

Shortly after Eurydice died, the bees which Aristaeus had been nurturing all began dying of a unexplainable cause. Nothing he could do seemed to prevent them from dying and soon they were all gone and humans were deprived of honey, beeswax, mead and the many other products which bees provide to man, not to mention the fact that, without bees, there was nobody to pollinate plants. The situation was dire.

Here's what Bulfinch writes, quoting Virgil:

"Aristæus, who first taught the management of bees, was the son of the water-nymph Cyrene. His bees had perished, and he resorted for aid to his mother. He stood at the river side and thus addressed her: 'O mother, the pride of my life is taken from me! I have lost my precious bees. My care and skill have availed me nothing, and you my mother have not warded off from me the blow of misfortune.'

"His mother heard these complaints as she sat in her palace at the bottom of the river, with her attendant nymphs around her. They were engaged in female occupations, spinning and weaving, while one told stories to amuse the rest. The sad voice of Aristæus interrupting their occupation, one of them put her head above the water and seeing him, returned and gave information to his mother, who ordered that he should be brought into her presence.

"The river at her command opened itself and let him pass in, while it stood curled like a mountain on either side. He descended to the region where the fountains of the great rivers lie; he saw the enormous receptacles of waters and was almost deafened with the roar, while he surveyed them hurrying off in various directions to water the face of the earth.

"Arriving at his mother’s apartment, he was hospitably received by Cyrene and her nymphs, who spread their table with the richest dainties. They first poured out libations to Neptune, then regaled themselves with the feast, and after that Cyrene thus addressed him: 'There is an old prophet named Proteus, who dwells in the sea and is a favorite of Neptune, whose herd of sea-calves he pastures. We nymphs hold him in great respect, for he is a learned sage and knows all things, past, present, and to come. He can tell you, my son, the cause of the mortality among your bees, and how you may remedy it.'"

The story goes on to say a river nymph escorted Aristaeus to the cave of Proteus where he subdued the cantankerous old prophet (who was a shape-shifter and tried unsuccessfully to elude Aristaeus by changing form). Aristaeus told him of his plight and wanted to know the cause of this misfortune and how to remedy it. Bulfinch writes:

"At these words the prophet, fixing on him his gray eyes with a piercing look, thus spoke: 'You receive the merited reward of your deeds, by which Eurydice met her death, for in flying from you she trod upon a serpent, of whose bite she died. To avenge her death, the nymphs, her companions, have sent this destruction to your bees. You have to appease their anger, and thus it must be done: Select four bulls, of perfect form and size, and four cows of equal beauty, build four altars to the nymphs, and sacrifice the animals, leaving their carcasses in the leafy grove. To Orpheus and Eurydice you shall pay such funeral honors as may allay their resentment. Returning after nine days, you will examine the bodies of the cattle slain and see what will befall.'

"Aristæus faithfully obeyed these directions. He sacrificed the cattle, he left their bodies in the grove, he offered funeral honors to the shades of Orpheus and Eurydice; then returning on the ninth day he examined the bodies of the animals, and, wonderful to relate! a swarm of bees had taken possession of one of the carcasses and were pursuing their labors there as in a hive."

So there we have it! Even the most illiterate and ignorant peasant would know the story of Aristaeus and the bees and the plunge into the river to unravel a Sacred Mystery. Aristaeus survived the plunge and emerged with Secret Knowledge which was of a great service to mankind.

For without bees to pollinate orchards and crops, mankind can scarcely survive ... a fact which has come home to haunt us today as bee populations dwindle worldwide and food riots rage in developing countries.

Ancient peoples, even those who could not read or write, could look at the statue of Antinous-Aristaeus and immediately see the Sacred Symbolism ... Like Aristaios, Antinous is a god who took the plunge into a river and who emerged with knowledge of Sacred Mysteries.

Wearing a sun hat, carrying a farm tool and holding an olive sprig, Antinous-Aristaeus symbolizes the union of sunshine and water (Apollo/Cyrene) combined with ingenuity and hard work and the ability to dive into the spiritual depths ... defying death ... and to emerge with a miracle which benefits all humankind.

ASTRO FORECAST: MAY 19th—29th, 2022

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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MAY 19th to 29th, 2022

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THURSDAY, MAY 19th, 2022

This week, the Sun is in a positively profound trine with Pluto and the Star of Antinous that enables you to get down and dirty and show what is really inside of you ... deep ... down ... inside. This is a good day to grow beyond yourself ... shed your old shy image the way a snake sheds its skin ... and present your shining inner self to the world.

FRIDAY, MAY 20th, 2022

This weekend, 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, MAY 21st, 2022

This weekend, your brain is ablaze with often confusing and conflicting ideas when Retrograde Mercury aligns with the Sun. Old astrology texts dating back to Ancient Rome call this a potentially hazardous time, and speak of a "Scorched Mercury" which impairs communications and judgement. But in ANTINOUS MOON MAGIC, we see that very differently. This Sun/Mercury conjunction is indeed intense, but in a positive way. Antinous/Mercury focuses the gay spiritual light of his heavenly father Ra-Herakhte right at you. Open your spiritual heart to the light and joy and permit it to burn away all doubt and all fear and trepidation. Most people live in spiritual darkness. They are like people who live in caves and are afraid of sunlight because it hurts their eyes. But should we shun the light and stay in the cave with them? Antinous/Mercury says it's safe to open your spiritual eyes — and spiritual heart — and become accustomed to the light.

SUNDAY, MAY 22nd, 2022

This weekend, we come to the Pisces Third Quarter Moon, which is what we call the THE LOTUS MOON in Antinous Moon Magic. The LOTUS MOON means the week will be a time of joyous anticipation of something big which is just beyond the horizon. It is perhaps the most spiritual of all the Lunar Phase Spirits because it knows that its wait will not be in vain. It is waiting for something it knows must and will come to pass. It is a perfect night for casting the Antinous Moon Magic "Lotus Moon Spell" to obtain your heart's desire.

MONDAY, MAY 23rd, 2022

On Monday, Retrograde Mercury slips "backwards" out of convivial Gemini and glides back into grounded Taurus to slip off his talaria winged sandals and chill and contemplate his investments for the next couple of weeks until Mercury wings into chatty Gemini again on 14 June.

TUESDAY, MAY 24th, 2022

On Tuesday, the Sun forms a sextile with lucky Jupiter. This is the sort of day that the Latin expression "Carpe Diem" (Seize the Day) was created for. Be sure to buy a lottery ticket ... and be sure to share the winnings with everybody around you.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25th, 2022

On Wednesday, Mars eagerly leaves watery Pisces and enters fiery Aries, where the war god feels much more at home and where it will stay until July 5th. This leaves Mars free to radiate far more energy to all of us, so you can expect to feel "re-charged" in coming days and weeks. Just one word of caution: The Martian transition from Pisces to Aries is very abrupt. Tempers may flare. Just turn a blind eye to hurtful remarks made during the heat of the moment.

THURS-FRIDAY, MAY 26th-27th, 2022

This week, Venus square Pluto creates an explosive situation for interpersonal relationships. It begins at the breakfast table over corn flakes when you say you want to go shopping and your alpha-male boyfriend starts in saying that it's typical of you to go off and spend money and waste time while he has to clean the house. Next thing you know, the two of you have been screaming at each other for hours. Remember that astrology is a tool to master such situations. Venus-square-Pluto is a golden opportunity to rediscover the things you love about your lover. Okay, so he's a bitch-on-wheels. So what? He's your bitch-on-wheels and the two of you love each other. Make a stab at helping him clean the house — and sneak online and buy needless stuff on eBay when he's not looking.

SATURDAY, MAY 28th, 2022

This weekend, Venus enters the earthy and sensual realm of Taurus, where the Love Goddess will remain until 22 June 2022. The flirting of the past few weeks Venus spent in Aries is now over. Taurus Venus loves romantic cuddling with good food, good wine, flowers, candles and soft music. Venus in Taurus brings the need for reliability, steadfastness and loyalty. Having a partner whom you can lean on and rely on when the going gets tough is high on the priority list.

SUNDAY, MAY 29th, 2022

This weekend, the war god Mars aligns with Jupiter in perfect alignment in fiery Aries with marching orders to makeover the world. With Mars conjunct Jupiter, you have an abundance of energy and enthusiasm to take on tasks that would frighten all but the most courageous. In order to get what you want, you are energized to assert yourself fearlessly, even in the face of danger. You may sense even a rather reckless faith in your ability to tempt fate and take chances, never doubting that you will succeed. Be careful that what you lack in finesse you make up for in arrogance. On the global level, overweening tyrants use this energy to make over the world according to their own idea of what perfection should be.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK:

Another exciting week lies ahead between May 30th and June 5th, 2022, when we come to the Gemini New Moon — a good time to set a goal for the coming four weeks. And given the presence of Gemini energy, it's an auspicious time to begin gathering the information you will need to set this mission in motion. In Antinous Moon Magic we call the Gemini New Moon the MERCURY/HERMES MOON because the mercurial and seemingly fickle energy of Gemini is in the spotlight during this New Moon period, amping up agitation and nervous energy ... More details next time ....

ANTINOUS MAY HAVE SEEN THIS TEMPLE UNEARTHED NOW IN HELIOPOLIS EGYPT

A new discovery at a temple in Egypt which Hadrian and Antinous visited has revealed clues to the mysterious last native-born pharaohs of Egypt: Nectanebo I and his stepson Nectanebo II ... the legendary father of Alexander the Great.

A German-Egyptian team of archaeologists unearthed a sanctuary to Nectanebo in the temple precinct of Heliopolis.

It was there that Hadrian, according to historian Royston Lambert, may have cast a magical spell that rebounded and resulted in the death of his beloved Antinous. 

During that fateful final trip up the Nile, just weeks before Antinous died, it was said that Hadrian and Antinous stopped at Heliopolis. 

That is the town near Mennefer (Memphis/Cairo) where the Egyptian magician/priest Pancrates gave to Hadrian (or rather sold to him for an exorbitant sum) a magical spell which could bind another man's affections to him forever ... when the spell was cast properly.

If cast wrong, the spell would result in the death of the other man.

There was some speculation in ancient times as to whether the death of Antinous may have be related to this strange Egyptian spell. 

Whether we believe in the efficacy of Ancient Egyptian Spellcasting, Hadrian most certainly DID believe in magical spells.  

Assuming Hadrian cast the spell a few days or weeks prior to the death of Antinous ... that would certainly explain his inordinate grief at the Blessed Boy's death and his penance in declaring Antinous a god ... perhaps out of a profound sense of guilt.

The temple precinct of Heliopolis was steeped in magical lore and Nectanebo and his stepson were the focus of many legends. 

King Nectanebo or Nektanebos I (Nekhetenebef Kheperkara, may he live forever!) was an army general who became pharaoh and founder of the last native dynasty of Egypt, the thirtieth. 

Nectanebo was a great builder and restorer, to an extent not seen in Egypt for centuries. 

Nectanebo is very well known for the splendid "retro-style" monuments he

erected throughout Egypt, carefully copying the "Classical Middle Egyptian" style of the 12th Dynasty when Egyptian art and literature were at their peak.

The 30th Dynasty marked the final blooming of Egyptian art ahead of a long and inexorable decline in workmanship and artistry in succeeding centuries.

Nektanebos is especially for the many sphinx avenues he laid out in front of temples.

Now Mahmoud Afify, head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, has announced the discovery of a sanctuary of Nectanebo I (380-363 BC) in the temple precinct of Heliopolis. 

According to a report in ANSAmed, the building was constructed with limestone reliefs and columns, and had lower wall zones made of black basalt. Aiman Ashmawy, head of the Egyptian team, added that the eastern gate was made of brown silicified sandstone and decorated with inscriptions and ritual scenes. 

The team also unearthed a bronze figurine of the goddess Bastet, basalt slabs carved with images of Nile gods and accompanying texts, and sculptor's practice pieces.

Researchers from the University of Leipzig/Germany have also uncovered a workshop dating from the 4th century BC in the south-east of the temple precinct as well as a new possible temple site of Ramses II, evident by fragments of a colossal statuary and large blocks with wall relief.

Nektanebos founded the 30th Dynasty … the last dynasty of native-born Egyptian pharaohs. 

His stepson Nektanebos II is also well-known as a sorceror-king who, when the Persian fleet was bearing down on Egypt, used effigy model ships in a tank to cast magical spells that destroyed the invading forces at sea before they could reach the landing beaches.

In the eyes of the Egyptians, he was their last great king prior to the gradual descent into serfdom under the Persians, Greeks and, finally, the Romans.

Nectanebo II was ultimately defeated and, in the summer of 342 BC, Artaxerxes entered Memphis/Heliopolis, where the Persians installed a satrap.

Nectanebo fled to Upper Egypt and finally to Nubia, where he was granted asylum. He, however, preserved a degree of power there for some time. With the help of Chababash, Nectanebo made a vain attempt to regain the throne.

Soon after Alexander the Great's godhood was confirmed by the Oracle of Zeus Ammon, a rumor was begun that Nectanebo II, following defeat in his last battle, did not travel to Nubia but instead to the court of Philip II of Macedon in the guise of an Egyptian magician/priest. 

There, while Philip was away on campaign, Nectanebo convinced Philip's wife Olympias that Amun was to come to her and that they would father a son. Nectanebo, disguising himself as Amun, slept with Olympias and from his issue came Alexander. 

This myth would hold strong appeal for Egyptians who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule.

Hadrian loved tales of mystery and magic and … as pharaoh of Egypt himself … no doubt was very familiar with the legend of Nectanebo, the magician/pharaoh who was the father of Alexander.