MAY

1- The Sacred Boar Hunt (Per. An. I)

Hadrian and Antinous arrive at the sacred city of Bithynium, the home of Antinous, in the late spring of the year 129. They are depicted on one of the tondos of the Arch of Constantine, engaged in a Boar Hunt. This hunt takes place in the ancestral forests of Antinous, in Phrygia, and it's meaning is closely connected to the Mysteries of Adonis, and Freyr. It represents the full vigor of his strength, courage and skill as a hunter. This festival is a commemoration of the joy of life, in celebration of indulgence and sensual fulfillment. It is the midpoint of the Antinoine year, in direct opposition to the Death of Antinous in October. The Sacred Boar Hunt represents the pinnacle of the life of Antinous.

6- Nazis storm the Institute for Sexual Science

On this day in 1933, the Nazis stormed and shut down the Institute for Sexual Science founded by Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin Germany in 1919. In collaboration with the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, the institute was founded for the research of human sexology, primarily for the purpose of refuting "Paragraph 175", which was the German Law that made homosexual acts illegal. The work of the institute was a reflection of the widespread gay liberation that prevaled in Germany after the World War I, which was specifically targeted during the rise of Adolf Hitler as one of the foremost problems infecting German purity. The storming of the Institute for Sexual Science was the first step in the persecution of homosexuals, who were later sentenced to labor in the concentration camps, the extreme cruelty of which usually resulted in death. The symbol of the Pink Triangle, the homosexual form of the yellow star of the Jews, was born after the fall of the forward thinking Institute. It is the symbol of our repression, just as the rainbow flag is the symbol of our freedom. The storming of the Institute was the beginning of the dark ages which were to last until the riot at the Stonewall in 1969.

10- The Antinoopolitan Lovers

A funerary portrait found at Antinoopolis portrays two men, referred to as the Tondo of the Brothers, who were perhaps buried together. It shows a light skinned young man standing beside a darker skinned man, but there is no physical resemblance between them, which casts doubt on their relationship as brothers and raises another possibility, that they are lovers. The Tondo has been dated between 130-150 AD which would place them as nearly contemporaries of Antinous, living in his holy city during the height of the Religion of Antinous. But of even more significance are the small images of Greco-Egyptian gods placed above their shoulders. The darker man is guarded by Hermanubis, a god of the underworld adored in the nearby city of Hermopolis. The Lighter skinned and more beautifully dressed boy is watched over by a deity at first identified as Harpocrates, but now believed to be…OsirAntinous, the patron god of Antinoopolis. This would make the Tondo of the Lovers the only painting of Antinous to have survived, and the only image of two probable members of his cult. The small inscription beneath the image of OsirAntinous reads 15 Pachon, which is a date of the Greek calendar that corresponds to the 10th of May. Whether this refers to the date of their death is unknown, but it is honored here as the day of their consecration.

14- St. Magnus Hirschfeld

The Father of Gay Liberation, Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld, died on this day in 1935, while in exile form his native Germany in Nice, France. He was born in Kolberg, Germany, now part of Poland, he was of Jewish ancestry and began his career as a medical doctor but very soon devoted his life to the study of homosexuality. In 1897 he founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which was an organization whose publication, called The Year Book of Intermediate Sexual Types, was devoted to the repeal of "Paragraph 175", a law passed by the Reichstag in 1869. The work of the committee included an ongoing petition supported by the scientific studies of Dr. Hirschfeld into human sexuality. This study culminated in the formation of the Institute for Sexual Science in 1919. Dr. Hirschfeld spent the majority of his career writing and lecturing around the world on the nature of homosexuality and other "intermediate" sexual types, including cross dressers. The word "transsexual" was coined by Dr. Hirschfeld to describe the phenomenon that he argued was a natural extension of human sexuality. His philosophy centered on the contention that there was a third sex, called the Uranian, which was neither male nor female, but a combination of both that was manifested in homosexuality, which was not to be considered an impure deviation, or even as an illness, but as a natural and phenomenal component of human nature. For his work, the Nazis targeted Dr. Hirschfeld as an example of Jewish influence infecting the purity of the German people, luring the Arian race into impure and destructive perversity. He was ultimately driven into exile and burned in effigy as an emblem of evil. The slogan with which he began his speeches, "Uranians of the World, Unite!" was not to be realized until our own time. For his courage and his career of some thirty years, all of which was spent in tireless devotion to the cause of Gay Liberation, Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld is venerated as the origin and champion of the cause of the Pink Triangle, and as a Heroic Martyr Saint of the Religion of Antinous.

15- Mercury

We lift up our hearts to the great wing-footed God Mercury on this day. Father of Antinous, son of Zeus and Maia. Mercury is the god of speed, the Lord of commerce, communication, and cunning. He is forever young and beautiful, the patron of skilled athletes, especially runners, and yet he possesses the infinite wisdom of extreme old age. When Mercury was one day old, he charmed Apollo by stealing the sun god's prized cattle and crafting an ingenious story to cover his tracks. Apollo fell in love with Mercury and from that day forward became his godfather and protector, presenting him to Olympus. Zeus was so taken by his son Mercury that he made him the messenger of the gods, and placed the sacred Cadeus, the serpent-entwined rod in his hand. Hermes (as he was called by the Greeks) was charged with escorting the souls of the dead to the underworld, and to relay messages between heaven and hell. Thus he acquired his mystic powers, which were the inspiration of the Hermits, and of their religion known as Hermeticism. He was known to them as Hermes Tristmegistus, the "thrice-great" and was said to have taught the secret knowledge of salvation to mankind. As Hermes of the crossroads, he was a Phallic god, whose image was a herme, or column with a bearded head and a large penis that was placed at forks in the road to protect travelers. Mercury made love to Venus and was father of Pan, Priapus, Hermaphroditus, and of Fortuna. He was the craftiest inventor, who created the lyre, which he gave to Apollo, and he invented written language, weights and measurement. Mercury was the god of good business, but also of dishonesty and absolute capitalism. He invented dice and was the lord of gambling and all games of chance. Antinous was often compared to Mercury in the statues and in the fragments, his powers of youth, virility and physical fitness were central parts of the Antinous religion, but the hermetic sages, from whom so much of the salvation of Antinous extends, deepened this fascade. He is, along with Dionysus, Apollo and Osiris, a major facet of the spirituality of Antinous. We acknowledge and extol Mercury, the wing-footed god, and pray to him as Antinous to run by our side and give us good fortune throughout our travels and in our communication with the divine

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15- Antinous in Jerusalem (Per. An. II)

Hadrian and Antinous, cross the Jordan river and enter Jerusalem in 130. There they remain for much of summer of 130, while Hadrian investigates the Jewish faith and issues controversial decrees such as outlawing circumcision. It may have been during this visit that Hadrian made plans to rebuild Jerusalem after the fashion of the Greeks, and may even have begun work on the reconstruction of the Temple Mount, however dedicating the new Temple to Jupiter Capitolinus. His actions and disregard for the Jewish religion led to the rebellion of Bar Kochba, and the long Jewish war. The result of this war was that Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina, and all Jewish and Christian Churches were replaced with Temples to Venus and Adonis. Israel was renamed Palestine, and the Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem except once a year on Passover, this was the beginning of the Diaspora.

 

21- Castor and Pollux

The Divine Twins, Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri 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 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 together with Orpheus were able to calm a storm at sea, for which reason they were worshipped as the protectors of sailors. Later in the voyage, Castor was killed, and 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. 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.

 

21- Hadrian Returns to Rome (Per. An. III)

Hadrian returns from the journey to the East alone, without Antinous, with only his circle of companions as comfort. He has already inaugurated the foundation of the new religion, but it is not until his return that the full scope of his effort is manifested. He commissions the reproduction of images of Antinous on a vast scale and orders the construction of hundreds of Temples, consecrating a devoted priesthood. The Return of Hadrian to Rome is when the seed of the old religion of Antinous was delineated and implemented, and it is sacred as the occasion when the proliferation of images began. Hundreds of these images remain and are the guiding star of the New Religion of Antinous. It was also at this time that the sacred precinct of the Villa of Tibur, known as the Canopus, with its long colonnaded pool was constructed, which is believed to be an architectural allegory of the Nile and the Divine Mystery of Antinous.

 

21- St. Plato

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. What is known of Socrates is in reality the assertions of Plato who out of loyalty 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. 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. 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 Ecclesia Antinoi.

30- St. Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc was burned as a heretic on this day in 1431. She was a peasant girl who led the armies of the King of France against the occupying forces of the English. She claimed to have been chosen by God to drive the English from France and deliver the country to her King. Joan of Arc said that she conversed daily with Saints Catherine and Margaret and St. Michael the Archangel. Her greatest victory was the liberation of Orleans, where Charles, then Dauphin, was crowned as King of France. She was later captured by the English and subsequently tried by the Church and burned as a heretic. The focus of her trial was upon the nature of her visions, which the inquisitors condemned as Demonic, and upon her refusal to wear women's clothing. Joan of Arc was in essence the most courageous of all transvestites, whose insistence upon male dress and hair style, and occupation as a warrior was the excuse used by the Church for her condemnation and subsequent burning as a heretic. The Church however reversed this decision in 1909 by beatifying her, and then finally consecrating her as a saint in 1920. Though she is a saint of the Catholic Church and a devoted Christian, it is for her courage as a transvestite and possibly as a sacred lesbian that she is included as a Heroic Martyr Saint of Ecclesia Antinoi.

 

4- St. Socrates

The most Divine and gentlest of all Philosophers was born on this day in 469. He was the son of the sculptor Sophroniscus, an artist, whose profession Socrates attempted during his youth. The artist's love of beauty was to be the foremost drive of his life. The fortune that his father's art left gave the young Socrates the independence to begin a life spent in the adoration and service of wisdom. He was told that the Oracle of Delphi had pronounced that there was no man wiser than he, but because he felt that he was the greatest fool, he spent his life trying to disprove the Oracle by questioning the most purportedly wise men only to discover that those who professed wisdom were the least possessed of it. His method of inquiry was the birth of human science because he found that those who understood virtue would naturally follow in its ways, while those who were ignorant of virtue would proceed without its benefit. He proclaimed that "the proper study of mankind is man," and his philosophy centered on temperance, piety, duty to parents, brotherly love, fidelity in friendship, and diligence. He was an admirer of male, youthful beauty, and devoted his life towards the awakening of virtue in the hearts of young men. For this, in the year 400 B.C. he was put on trial by the many enemies he had made in the ruling classes of the city of Athens and condemned with these words: "Socrates is guilty of crime; first, for not worshipping the gods whom the city worships, and for introducing new divinities of his own; next for corrupting the youth. The penalty due is death." He was sentenced to drink poison, which he readily accepted, dying as a virtuous martyr, for homosexuality and for human social consciousness. Though he never wrote a word, he is remembered through the writings of his student, Plato, whose legacy eclipsed that of Socrates, though it was delivered and upheld as the very words of Plato's master, the Divine Philosopher Socrates, who was said by Cicero to have bright the love of wisdom down from the heavens to mankind.

4- St. George Cecil Ives

George Cecil Ives was born on October 1, 1867 in England. While in London, in 1892, a gentleman by the name of Lord Alfred Douglas encouraged him to join "The Cause" which was an early British movement to bring an end to homosexual persecution. Ives was a friend of Oscar Wilde and attempted to enlist him, but was unsuccessful. In 1897, believing that "The Cause" could not be openly discussed due to the extreme moral restriction of his age, Ives decide to proceed underground and founded the Order of Chaeronea which was a secret society for homosexuals. The name and spirit of the order was taken from the battle in which the Sacred Band of Thebes, the corps of 300 pairs of gay lovers were defeated by Alexander and Phillip at the Battle of Chaeronea. The 300 had to be annihilated Alexander because they refused to surrender. Taking this Army of Lovers as their model for courage in the face of oppression, the Order of Chaeronea organized powerful and wealthy homosexuals who were otherwise unable to meet in public, into a secret political and spiritual force. George Cecil Ives, the guiding light of this first religious organization devoted to the sacredness of homosexuality, worked closely with other prominent homosexuals of the time such as Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld and Edward Carpenter. In his voluminous writings, George Cecil Ives refers to Walt Whitman as "The Prophet" and used lines from Whitman's poetry in the ritual and ceremony of the Order of Chaeronea. He is numbered as one of the Uranian poets, and referred to Antinous as a symbol of Male beauty and perfection. For his effort to undermine the oppression of homosexuals, for the holiness and sanctity upon which he upheld our sexuality, and for calling out to our beloved Antinous, we thank George Cecil Ives, and pray to him to aid us in the continuation of his divinely inspired work. He died on this day in 1950.

8- St. Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Born in Stendal, Germany on December 9, 1717, he is called the father of modern archaeology because of his scientific studies of the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy. He was a student of classical art and his many writings, including the famous History of Ancient Art, are a testament to his adoration of the male form as manifested in Greek and Roman sculpture. He wrote openly about his homosexual relationships as early as 1763, and eventually found employment with Cardinal Allesandro Albani, whose art collection he catalogued. Winckelmann is among the first to conduct a serious study of the art of Antinous, and to have written openly about the significance of the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous. He is also believed to have been part of the first revival of the religion of Antinous, and Priapus, led in secret by Cardinal Albani. Winckelmann was murdered in his hotel room in Trieste Germany by a young man with whom he was having a casual love affair, on the 8th of June 1768. He was stabbed multiple times including repeated wounds to the groin, evidently out of sexual violence. For his work as a student of the art of Antinous, and as an early believer the religion of Antinous, and for the violence of his death, Johann Joachim Winckelmann is revered as an Innocent Martyr of the religion of Antinous, perhaps the most specifically Antinoine of all those who died as a consequence of their desire for beautiful men.

In this painting by Anton Von Maron, Winckelmann sits in a magnificent costume, gazing on an engraving of Antinous and writting his thoughts, as though the painter has distracted him from his meditation...but we can be be sure that Winckelmann wanted us to know that Antinous was at the forefront of his thoughts.
Closeup of Antinous

 

21- Apollo

The Delphinea is the celebration of the beautiful, golden-haired god of light, Apollo, and of his triumph over the great and monstrous Python which was wrapped around holy mount Parnassus. The Python was the creation of Juno, a creature of jealousy whose coils were meant only to stifle and constrict the grace of that which was to proceed from the Sacred Way of the holy city of Delphi. Apollo shot the Python and destroyed it, when he was only three days old, which is like the brilliance of the Sun dispelling the covering of night. He set the black stone which had fallen from the sky, called the Omphalos, over the navel of the Earth, and charged a Sibyl, a priestess of the Great Mother to watch over the stone and to convey his wisdom to mankind. The Oracle of Delphi, called a Pythoness was overtaken, while seated atop a golden tripod, by a fire that is the breath of the God. Apollo is the Flower Prince reborn, he is the Twin brother of Dionysus, the Twin brother of Diana. He is the Son of Zeus, and the inheritor of his Kingdom, just as Aelius Caesar was the chosen son of Hadrian. Apollo is the God of wisdom and art, the speaker of truth, the deliverer of radiance, reason and beauty. Apollo is the God of Socrates and Plato, and he is the God of Pythagoras who claimed to be his son, exhibiting a golden thigh as proof. Apollo is the unconquered light, the full manifested brilliance, power and wisdom of Orpheus. Of all the gods, Apollo is the most boy loving, though the touch of his heart was invariably fatal, he is the genius of the dying, boy-gods. We pray to Apollo, the great god of homosexuality, and seek his guidance on this day, the longest day of the year.

21- Antinous in Ephesus (Per. An. I)

The Temple of Ephesus was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was consecrated to Artemis, in her Asian element as a Phrygian-Hittite goddess of the hunt, a youthful manifestation of the Great Goddess of Mount Ida and Dydimus. The old Temple had burned down on the night that Alexander the Great was born, but after his conquest, Alexander ordered the reconstruction of the Temple, which was still standing when Hadrian visited. Artemis is considered the female Antinous, as his divine twin, the only goddess to exhibit lesbian qualities. She was worshipped as Diana alongside Antinous by the funeral society of Lanuvium. Ephesus was one of the first cities to proclaim Hadrian a living God, and one of the first to adhere to his veneration as a Divus. The presence of Antinous and Hadrian with their very pronounced Artemisian qualities must have made a deep impression on the Ephesians, in that they were aware that the city was being visited by living gods. It is to Artemis of Ephesus that this day is Sacred, as the female twin of Antinous, the Bithynian hunter god.

21- The Entry into Egypt (Per. An. II)

Hadrian and Antinous, accompanied by their immediate circle of companions crossed the desert of Sinai and entered Egypt in the summer of the year 130. The majority of the Imperial court made the journey by sea and reunited with Hadrian at Alexandria. They visited and restored the tomb of Pompey the Great at Pelusium, where the desert meets the Delta and the Sea. Dio Casius reports that when Hadrian saw the ruins of Pompey's tomb he said "Strange lack of tomb for one with shrines overwhelmed!" These words were like a prophesy of the future of the religion of Antinous, who entered Egypt with the shadow of Pompey and his vanished tomb, looming over him. The entry into Egypt is sacred to Isis whom the travelers thanked after traversing the desert and entering the outskirts of the green Delta.

21- The Sacred Obelisk (Per. An. III)

Hadrian commissioned an obelisk to be carved and dedicated to Antinous. It was written in hieroglyphic by an Egyptian scribe and was possibly erected over the tomb of Antinous at Hadrian's Villa at Tibur, but was moved several times and is now located on Monte Pincio outside of Rome. It is the most sacred surviving document of the Religion of Antinous, detailing the deification of Hadrian, Sabina and Antinous after the Egyptian fashion. The Obelisk is associated with the Sun and with the Phallus and is therefore venerated as part of the Delphinea.

"The God, Osiris-Antinous the Justified, has become a youth, with perfect countenance and festively-decorated eyes, …strength, whose heart is glad like the heart of a strong-armed hero, after he received the order of the gods at the time of his death.

The celebration of the Sacred Obelisk of Antinous marks the end of the three years cycle of the Peregrination, it is observed by recitation and meditation on the holy words that are the most precious of the few relics of the religion of Antinous.

 

 

22- Hyacinthus

The beautiful boy from Sparta known as Hyacinthus, whose astonishing beauty and long, flowing blonde hair, was first noticed by Zephyrus, the God of the West Wind. The moisture laden Zephyrus fell madly in love with the boy, and attempted many times to seduce Hyacinth, but every time the boy rejected the wind god whose breeze is the most lovely and most arousing. It was then that Apollo noticed Hyacinthus and fell completely in love with him also, however when Apollo revealed his love to Hyacinth, he was not rejected, but his shinning love was returned many fold. The two, who were like twins, whose long, blonde curls, rustled together in the jealous wind of Zephyrus, enjoined a passionate love affair, until one day, the sight of their happiness proved too much for Zephyrus to endure, and while Apollo and Hyacinthus were throwing the discus together, the wind god sent a gust of air, when Apollo threw the golden disk, causing it to fall directly on the perfect head of Hyacinthus who died instantly from the blow. It was all an accident, and a tragedy, but Apollo was beside himself with grief, like Hadrian holding the body of his beloved Antinous. The Sun God turned the blood that flowed through the soft curls into the flower that we call the Hyacinth. The Death of Hyacinthus is the divine metaphor for the beauty and tragedy of life taken from the young in their full vigor, falling victim to the accidents of youth. It is also a warning to those who would approach the majesty of the great god Apollo, who is rightfully called the Far-Shooter, and the falling of the golden discus is a sign that the powers of the sun at this time of the year, though at their greatest, are slowly fading. The disk strikes Hyacinth on the head and the days grow shorter

 

 

27- The Stonewall Riots

In 1969, the patrons of the Stonewall bar in New York fought back against the police who were attempting to raid and arrest them. It was the first resistance by homosexuals against the repression of two thousand years, and the beginning of the Gay Liberation movement. The event is remembered world wide on Gay Pride Day, though the celebration of the event does not always take place on the actual day. The importance of the Stonewall Riots are the awakening of gay consciousness, the throwing off of the coils of the python that had for so many centuries enveloped our divine form of Love. This sacred revolt is holy to Apollo, Dionysus, and Diana combined as the guardian spirits of Homosexuality. Our modern Gay society was born on this occasion, and all of the peace and freedom that we have obtained in the these short decades are due to the courage that erupted on that Sacred Night in front of the Stonewall Bar.

29- St. Edward Carpenter

The last of the three Uranian Patriarchs, Edward Carpenter was born in Brighton England on the 29th of August 1844, to a very large middleclass family. While his brothers went into the military, Edward became a scholar, with great success and eventually even taught at Cambridge where he was required to become ordained as a curate of the Anglican Church. It was at this time, when he was 24, that he first read Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman and was completely changed. He resigned his position at Cambridge and devoted his life to the working class, becoming a socialist philosopher, lecturing, organizing and speaking for working men. When his parents died he received an inheritance that he used to purchase a rural estate at Millthrope, which he turned into a veritable Socialist Commune. He repressed his homosexuality for much of his life, channeling his desire into politically inspired friendships, but the Millthrope house gave him the freedom to express his feelings more openly, and he began to write books on the subject of Uranian Love. He was deeply influenced by Hindu spirituality, and visited India, all of which emerged in his spiritual view of the Socialist movement, which was not so much about political revolution, but directed towards a change in human consciousness, of which homosexuality rapidly became his greatest cause. While returning from India he met George Merrill on the train, the younger man soon moved into the house at Millthrope, the two became inseparable lovers whose relationship lasted over forty years. In 1908, he published The Intermediate Sex, the first widely available book on the subject of homosexuality. After the death of John Addington Symmonds, with whom he had been closely allied, Edward Carpenter assumed the role as torch bearer, and subsequently published dozens of books and essays for the cause of gay liberation. He died on the 28th of June, 1929, in Guildford England, and though not widely known at the time, was to later become a spiritual patriarch for the gay liberation movement of the late sixties and seventies. He is regarded as a Saint and Patriarch of Ecclesia Antinoi, and remembered as one of the first fathers whose work changed the world with subtle power.

JULY

8 & 9- The Ascension and Consecration of Hadrian

Hadrian was declared Emperor by the Legions when Trajan died suddenly while campaigning in Parthia on August 8th, 117. It is said that the Divine Empress Plotina forged the will of her husband and gave the throne to Hadrian. After assuming power, Hadrian first settled the conflict with the Persian King, signing a peace treaty that was to last through the whole of his reign. Settling other matters in the East, Hadrian waited a full year before returning to Rome, and on July 9th, 118, he entered the Holy City and was formally and ritually installed as Emperor by the Senate. He was then consecrated as Pontifex Maximus, highest priest of the Roman Religion, and head of all foreign cults. He inherited from the warrior-king Trajan the largest empire that the western world had ever known, Rome at her greatest size and strength, and he wisely chose not to continue to expand the frontiers, but to turn instead to the development of the interior. He visited every province, traveling more than any other emperor before or after, dedicating his power to art, literature, legal reform and the promotion of peace, prosperity, and the united religious consciousness of Roman citizenship after his beloved Athenian model. Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus was to assume responsibility as the spiritual leader of the Empire, Father of the Country with a vigor unparallel by his predecessors, and was to be one of the foremost builders of cities, temples, and public structures world-wide. For his love of Antinous and the extraordinary gesture of deifying our god, we worship and venerate Hadrian as the founder of our faith and as our immortal father, the lover of Antinous.

 

10- The Apotheosis of Hadrian

After a prolonged illness, at Baiae, on the Bay of Naples, Hadrian died on July 10, 138. His ashes were placed in the mausoleum on the bank of the Tibur that is now called Castelo San Angelo. Though the Senate wished to condemn his memory for atrocities committed against them during his final years, Antoninus Pius persuaded them to declare Hadrian a God. A temple was build for him known as the Hadrianeum on the Campus Marius, whose remains are now part of the Roman Stock Exchange. Hadrian the God is venerated as the manifestation of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Earth, the ruler and guiding force behind the Antonine Dynasty, the most sacred family of emperors, whose reign is the Golden Age of Rome, because of the peace and prosperity that it maintained, which was the result of the wisdom of Hadrian's far-sighted and divine plan stretching out over the world. We worship and adore Hadrian the God, Savior of the Cosmos.

11- Castalia

The well of Castalia was a spring that flowed from Mount Parnassus at Dephi, the sanctuary of Apollo. It was created when Pegasus, the winged horse, struck his hoof against a rock and water gushed forth. The name Castalia is derived from a Nymph named Castalia, a daughter of the river Achelous, who when pursued by Apollo, threw herself in the spring that took her name. It was the most holy spring at Delphi and was said to be the place where Apollo and the Muses bathed. Pilgrims washed in the sacred water before visiting the Pythoness. It was said that the water of Castalia possessed the gift of poetry, and any man who drank there would derive poetic vision. Castalia is also a metaphor for the Well of Knowledge, and was said to be the fountain from which wisdom and learning poured from the heart of Apollo. We venerate the wisdom-gushing Well of Castalia on this day, half a year distant from the Well of Juturna, and bath in preparation for the transition of the Peregrination year. We pray to Castalia to sweeten our tongue, as Antinous once bathed there, exposing the pure beauty of his flesh to the cold, fresh-gushing pool that imparts inspiration of the mind. In reverence of the wisdom and poetic elegance of Antinous, we bath in our own Fountains of Castalia.

20- The Birth of Alexander

It is said that on the night before the mother of Alexander, Olympias, was to be married to King Phillip of Macedonia, she dreamt that a thunderbolt struck her body and filled it with power. After the marriage, it is said that Phillip peeked into her chamber, and found her lying with a serpent, and that he afterward dreamt that her womb was sealed and that a lion dwelled within her. And on the night that he was born, 20th of June, 356 BCE, the great Temple at Ephesus was burned to the ground by a vandal, because the goddess Artemis was away, assisting with the birth of Alexander the Great. He was considered to be the son of Zeus, and this divine origin was what was given as an explanation for the unprecedented conquests that he accomplished. In his youth Aristotle, a student of Plato, educated him along with his following of young princes, who were later serve as his generals, and the founders of great dynastic monarchies of the Hellenistic world. Foremost of these was his ever loyal and devoted Hepheistion, whose reciprocated love for Alexander was homosexual in nature. In one of their first battles, while Phillip was still king, the young Alexander proved himself by defeating the Sacred Band of Thebes, the army of homosexual lovers who were the most famous and courageous warriors of their time. Alexander is said to have wept at their destruction, and buried them with honor, erecting a statue of a Lion over their grave. He would later go one to conquer the entire Eastern world, Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Egypt, and all of Persian, as far East as India. The Empire of Alexander spread Greek culture throughout the world, and made the communication of far-distant ideas possible so that the new Hellenistic culture that he created, was a combination of classical Greece and of the exotic cultures that were imported from every corner. After the death of Alexander, at only 33 years of age, he was deified by his generals who divided his great Empire among themselves. We praise the glorious warrior Alexander of Macedonia, and elevate him, and worship him as a God, an example of the greatness of homosexuality, and a heroic protector of the divine Antinous.

25- The Inundation of the Nile

25- The Sacred Star of Antinous

A new star appeared in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. The court astrologers declared that it was Antinous taking his place in the heavens. Hadrian ordered them to draw a new constellation embraced by the Eagle, and called it ANTINOUS. The Roman historian, Dio Casius was skeptical that a new star had appeared in the sky, but simultaneously, the leader of the Jewish revolt named Bar Kochba, which means "Son of the Star," was declared the Messiah because a celestial event had proclaimed him the savior of Israel. The mystery of the star is real, a celestial even of great magnitude occurred shortly after the death of Antinous within the constellation of the Eagle for the New God. The three sacred stars of the constellation Aquila, named Tarzad, Altair and Alshain, rise above the horizon just after dark on this night and are an allegory of the assumption of Ganymede into heaven. We believe that the star must have occured during the Inundation of the Nile in the year 131, approximately nine months after Antinous had died. The star would have coincided with the miraculous flooding of the Nile which confirmed the deification of Antinous. The Star would have coincided with the miraculous inundation and been taken as a sign that Antinous had ascended into the heavens to take his place among the eternal heroes.

 

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