Achilles to Hermes

I call upon the very-great son of Maia,
the watcher over flocks from Arcadia,
the slayer of Argos and father of Pan–

But, today, I do not call on you
as Hermes before-the-gates,
nor as Hermes the cattle-stealer;

I do not call upon you as Hermes of words,
nor of the caduceus, the herald’s rod,
nor as Hermes the guide of souls.

Today, Hermes, I call upon you
as the overseer of the palaestra,
as the god of wrestling and the pankration.

Though his intentions are pure,
Herodes wishes me to learn the javelin
and the sword and to ply the battle-feats of heroes.

I am called after the Myrmidons’ leader,
but in truth I am indifferent
to the arts of armored warfare and chariots.

I would rather throw off the chlamys
than fasten on the helmet and breastplate,
and good enough for me are caestus for battle.

I go to my bouts not covered in armor
but in the oil of pressed olives, gift of Athena,
a thin glistening film not of leather nor mail.

I may not have the might of Ares in my limbs,
but I have the speed of Zeus’ messenger,
of he who is guide, quick, among the dead.

Therefore, may your many gifts be mine,
in throwing and pinning my opponents
and in speed of speech before questioners.

Let me have words to guide me and to beguile
those who seek to do me harm, and if I fail,
then as you did before Apollon, let me exhale from my guts!

Though you are a god as old as the firmament,
let me be as young and fresh-faced as you
as the flawless quicksilver is dangerous…

And let me be the messenger between brothers,
the one standing between father and children,
no dumb herm merely pointing the way at crossroads.

To you, O Hermes, may I be as a hound
and you the leader and guide of hounds
as well as hound-slayer, full of fierce graces!

*****

Hail, Thanks, and Praise to Hermes!
Hail, Thanks, and Praise to Achilles!
Hail, Thanks, and Praise to the Trophimoi!
Hail, Thanks, and Praise to the Family of Herodes Attikos!

The following is just crazy enough that it might make sense…or, at least it seems so to me in my current sick state. (!?!)

Reflecting to an extent on some things that Edward Butler said on Wyrd Ways Radio the other day, and likewise on some things he wrote elsewhere, I wonder if it might be possible to construct a Graeco-Egyptian pantheon (perhaps also incorporating Thracian and other elements as well), at least in a schematic fashion, that deals in particular with a lot of the syncretistic deities that emerge within it in an entirely novel fashion.

Take Athena-Neith here, for example:

With this figure, I’m reminded of some of the Bulgarian Orthodox icons that show Jesus holding up a figure of Mary, as if he is the “father” of her rather than she being his mother. What we have here is Athena-Neith holding up Serapis. While Serapis doesn’t exactly “equal” Zeus, various things seem to go in that direction…but, what if Athena-Neith, in line with a role corresponding to Neith’s creatrix function, was in fact the mother of Serapis (corresponding to the more chthonic side of things, e.g. Osiris and Hades) and Sabazios (corresponding to the more heavenly side of things, e.g. Zeus)? Hmm…

Then, bring in some of the other figures, like Hermanubis and Harpocrates, and of course Isis…and further figures like Karpocrates (a “young Dionysos”-type syncretism)…And, something else I’ve seen recently, which I’ll try to get a scan of or something, are figures of Harpocrates, found in Antinoöpolis, which show him with a rather larger-than-you’d-expect penis (as in “dragging on the ground”): is this a kind of Harpocrates-Priapus, perhaps? And then, there’s Antinous himself, as much a super-syncretistic deity as Sabazios or Serapis, and rather directly related to both, in my opinion…

The whole point of this exercise, thus, being to envision these different syncretistic deities not as mere combinations of what came before, and thus carbon-copy repetitions of them (or, worse yet, as a kind of debasement and sanding out and watering down of the deities), but instead as separate (but related) beings. As Tamara Siuda also said on Wyrd Ways Radio a short while back, with syncretism one deity plus one deity doesn’t equal two, it equals three: each deity individually, and then the resulting combination. So, that means that Hermanubis isn’t just Hermes and Anubis, he’s something else altogether…

Well, in any case: something to keep my illness-addled brain busy for a few minutes, and the hours to come later today.

What do you think?

Mantinoë

Hermogenes was a son of a noble family,
and you the daughter of an ancient line.

Your people came to Bithynia as colonists
and his likewise, though of native nobles he was sprung, too.

When your marriage match was made and the feast
of Hymenaios was finished, you lay together.

In your sleep that night, you saw your husband
change in form to the dragon of Mantineia.

You fled in terror from him, but he changed again
to a hound, and then a wolf, then a goat.

As a tangle of serpents he twined around your legs,
tripping you up, heralding your demise…

but no, for his aspect changed again to a god’s.
“Will you have the gift I will give you?”

It was Hermes, cadeuceus in hand,
offering you something he did not wish to speak.

“I will!” was the reply that sprang to your lips,
and gently he laid down with you, entering…

You awoke in ecstasy to your husband’s smile.
Nine months later, your son Antinous was born.

Praise to his mother, Mantinoë of Bithynia:
his mother’s whole body heals.

I am on the road again…and am typing this from the safety of a (relatively inexpensive!) hotel room in one of the northeastern suburbs of Seattle. I made the long trek down here today (leaving my office at 1:15 PM, and arriving here to the hotel right around 7 PM) because of something that will be occurring in the morning, about which I’m very anxious, but also highly optimistic.

You may recall that last week, I made the following post for Boukoklepteia. Of course, I then revealed (while on the road the following day) that most of that post was nonsense, in the tradition of Boukoklepteia. However, that post last Wednesday had in common with my Boukoklepteia post from the previous year a report of some “good news” regarding getting dream jobs. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t take too much psychologizing to figure out that because of my very bad luck in that regard, it’s something I desire highly, and have hoped and prayed for these many years.

I don’t have ultra-good news on that front yet, but I hope to soon…

I had a phone interview last week for a job I applied for in March. Tomorrow, for most of the day, I have an on-site interview, tour of the school, and also get to guest teach in one of the classes. It’s a prep school rather than a college, which I have to admit I was somewhat resistant to the idea of for many years, mainly because even if the quality of students at such places tends to be higher and they are a lot more motivated, at the same time, raging youthful hormones can have a negative impact on even the best students, and I would rather not deal with that. However, I realized over the last few months that at my current college teaching job, anywhere from a third to more-than-half of my students in many of the courses I teach have been high school students (juniors and seniors), and some of them are quite good students and do extremely well…so, this would only involve teaching younger students as well rather than college-aged ones and mature students.

I also got to thinking that one of my biggest gripes about both the high school and college-aged students I teach is that the public school system has failed them, and not adequately prepared them in any of the basic skills (especially reading and writing), and I can only do so much to address those lacks in a history or religion course in college. How could I have an impact on this short of entirely changing the public school system (which I couldn’t realistically do)? Well, this seems like a really good opportunity to help in that regard, and to make sure that some students are adequately prepared for college and later life. The philosophy of the school where I’d be working is exemplary in this and many other regards, and I am very excited about the prospect of potentially working there.

So, I’m going to do some further research tonight, take some notes on the subject I’ll be teaching tomorrow, and hope for the best.

No, alas, I did not happen upon a water nymph as in the above painting by Waterhouse (nor the dude in the woods…I’d be lucky to find or be found by either!), but I hope some nymphs might be involved in what happened earlier nonetheless. I have not been in a pool since doing Inundation at PantheaCon; last month, I was in a hotel and had hoped to be able to go to the pool, but it didn’t work out for various reasons. While I got the present hotel I’m in due to its location, I was pleased to find out they have an outdoor heated pool. Once I got here, got settled in, had some dinner, and then got some snacks for later, I came back, had a shower, and then went down to the pool for a bit. It was a beautiful day today, the sun had moved low enough that I didn’t have to worry about getting sunburned at all, and it was a great day for being in a pool. The Tarot Card of the Day by HiC today (May 13th) was the Empress, and one of the specific things stated in the write-up was “Be naked in the Sun, feeling and reveling in the warmth as the tips of the rays tickle your flesh and you experience the vibrancy of being alive, the wholeness and richness and sensory invitations of your body.” Now, while public nudity isn’t something I do, not only because it’s illegal in most places but also because it doesn’t suit me very well (for a variety of reasons), nonetheless, I was probably a bit more bare than many people would prefer…when I’m at the pool, I usually am. ;)

I considered doing the Inundation ritual, but once I was in the water, I was not feeling very sure on my feet, and though I did dunk under once, it felt a bit too much like drowning at this point…and that’s not a good state in which to do Inundation. So, rather than do that, I just sat there, in the not-as-warm-as-I-had-thought-nor-as-clean-as-I’d-prefer pool water, up to my neck in it, and just thought for a bit about my situation.

No, it wasn’t a formal introduction to the nymphs and land spirits of this area; but, it was about as close as I could get to submerging myself in the ground near to where this job might find me for the foreseeable future, and I hope that being in the water of this area was an introduction of sorts to the nymphs and other spirits of place near here, or as much of one as I can do on little notice, with not-enough-sleep.

So, the “earnest entreaty” of my title here is that I’m asking for anyone’s prayers and good thoughts for my success tomorrow, and my prosperity in the future. I had a Shinto ceremony done for this the weekend before last, and I have prayed to my gods (especially Antinous) several times about it (and will be doing so again MAJORLY in the morning before it all starts!), and likewise have asked for the prayers of several of my co-religionists. If you can likewise entreat your deities and holy powers on my behalf, I would be most grateful.

I will probably write a bit about how it all went tomorrow evening at some stage, but in the meantime, wish me luck, and with the help of Hermes, Hanuman, the kami, and Antinous (and several others!), I hope to be successful in this regard!

After this post the other day, I thought I’d be better with keeping up on my ritual calendar lately.

Nope.

I missed Fosterage Day on Tuesday (when I was teaching, traveling, and dead-tired-but-not-always-sleeping).

I am technically “not missing” the holidays of today, but I’m not able to do as much for them as I would like, or as the deities themselves would prefer, I’m sure…but, here we are.

So, a few very short poems for each of them, I hope, will at least be something rather than nothing…I say the latter to people constantly, and I know it is important deep in my heart to “at least do something,” but likewise it feels like failure to only “do something rather than nothing” instead of being able to do all that I’d prefer to…

The New Hermes

Hail to you, Antinous Neos Hermes, the great translator,
he who carries intention to action, and joy to pleasure,
delight to beauty, and deepest love into divine grace;
on this day, may you stand between us and our desires,
and translate one into the other easily and swiftly.

*****

The Old Hermes

Though he is sometimes a beardless boy, a sturdy youth,
or a young bearded man, Hermes is never aged or old–
but his actions have been in the universe since it began.
Hail to you, oldest Hermes, you who connect all things.

*****

Maia the Fosterer

Hail to you, Maia, of the Kyllenian caves, mother of Hermes,
who is also foster-mother of all Arcadia through its father Arkas:
when Kallisto fell, you took the child Arkas into your care,
and your son Hermes became his foster-brother and teacher
in the rustling of cattle and the taming of wolves.
Therefore hail to you, foster-mother beyond compare,
Pleiad daughter of Atlas, nurse of bear-cubs in caves–
may we look to you for our protection and nurturance!

*****

Khaire Hermes! Khaire Maia! Khaire Khaire Antinoe!

Well, today has been mostly pleasant thus far, though not entirely to plan (and after this yesterday, what could be?–I had less than four hours of sleep, alas…); though I have to say, of the good birthday wishes I’ve been given in cards, text, and e-mail thus far today, the most unexpected and most disturbing has to be from my federal student loan holders. I’ve never had a birthday e-mail from them before, and now that they’ve sent one, which includes the ominous phrase “Wishing you a happy day today and many more to come,” it makes their end-game obvious: if you die, we’ll never get paid back, so if you can live for 30+ more years, we’ll find some way to take what you owe out of your paycheck whether you like it or not. That’s a happy thought to begin the day…! ;)

I’m a bit screwy today for various reasons, one of which is that I “have the wrong daimon” (which might be more of an existential problem than anything!). You see, today is–for me and only me–the syncretism festival of the Daimon Antinous, but I had it wrong in my head, and thought it was the festival of the Agathos Daimon and Antinous, which already happened in January of this year. That’s kind of too bad, I suppose, because that would have connected nicely with the four Isidorus hymns which are to Isis-Hermouthis/Renenutet/Agatha Tyche, and which also mention her consort Sokonopis (Sobek)-Agathos Daimon.

Which brings up the question: if males have an Agathos Daimon, and females have an Agatha Tyche, then what do metagenders have?

A Paneros, of course! ;)

But, how best to express, then, the daimon in question when we’re dealing with Antinous? The theology of Antinous as daimon comes from a very specific and not-necessarily-nice in its practical implications context; so, how do we go from that to a more general concept of this that might be applicable to individuals, especially on their natal days?

I suspect the answer can be pursued via the work of one person: Edward Butler. In a recent post, he discussed Xenocrates and his geometrical approach to theology, in which the gods are equilateral triangles, daimones are isoceles, and mortals are scalene.

To be sure, Xenocrates talks about numbers, triangles, lines, but these are playing a role like formal logic does for us. What if, instead of the symbols of formal logic, we just used geometry to express arguments? Xenocrates says that gods are equilateral triangles, daimones are isosceles, mortals scalene. These are three ways of forming a basic manifold, three possible relations between the terms in the association: a God equalizes the terms, a daimon subordinates, hierarchizes, a mortal expresses the inequality….

The triangle scheme must be applicable to the basic ontological elements of monad, dyad, mixture, to yield three kinds of mixture. The equality of the elements is not abstract, like amounts in a recipe, but equality of value. In a way, this means that for the God, all three moments are “monadic”, i.e. “authentic”, “in virtue of themselves”, while for the daimon, they are inherently dyadic, that is, adequately determined by systemic relations, while the mortal has the aporetic or relativistic side of holistic determination—each is “mixed”. There is no totalizing viewpoint in this system: I say the God “equalizes”, because the mortal *must* assume such a process.

This is interesting to me…

…because the Serpent Path has various triangles associated with it. (And you’ll see why I’ve chosen this photo of it to illustrate my point, apart from the obvious appeal of having a Serpent Path golem, whose words I will never forget: “It’s really echo-y in here,” to which I responded, “Of course it is–there’s a whole universe in there!”) The main face of the square side glyph has a very large isoceles triangle on it, linking the lower right and left points with the central upper point, and then many other smaller isoceles triangles made up of various other point connections. That largest triangle, though, often seems like it should be equilateral, but it isn’t, and I’m amazed at how often people miss this sort of optical illusion. That would mean that when one is engaging a singular side of the square side glyph, it is always an engagement between the various gods involved and one’s own daimon, which is why “Your Antinous is not my Antinous,” and the same would be true of any and every other deity involved–if nothing else, there is hierarchy and subordination and layering involved because it is daimonic rather than directly divine. We as mortals are clearly on the “short end” of the isoceles triangle, at the very bottom, and there are at least two currents running above us at all times that are more divine in nature, even if they are ultimately daimonic rather than deific. HOWEVER, the square side glyph does not exist just floating in space on its own; there are (at least) two other glyphs of the same size and shape in operation at all times, which are linked, and which therefore means that they form (from a higher–literally!–viewpoint) an equilateral triangle. This is why I think it is both easy to overlook Antinous’ divinity for so many people, but also how he manages to be fully divine, because being able to make that balance is something that only deities can do in these sorts of systems. There is, indeed, a whole universe in there to be encountered, only if one enters in through the equilateral triangle.

(And I won’t go too much into how the Tetrad and their sigil also exemplifies this, because that would be too obvious, wouldn’t it?)

With the arrival of Paneros yesterday, though, of course I’m very much in the mind of love, and given that it’s my birthday, I think now is as good a time as any to talk about the following. Last year, in 2013, when I made my trip to the Bay Area in late March/early April to see folks and hang out for a bit, on the last day, among the various things that occurred was in a mediumship session with Freyr, he told me that I need to add another name to my names or titles that is reflective of my relationship with Antinous. There have been a variety of double theophoric names attested for Antinous in Egypt, including Panantinous, Osirantinous, Hermantinous, and others, but then there’s also one that appeals to me because it is part of my legal name: Philantinous.

I might have a poem to add to all of this later, depending on whether or not the Muses are gracious with me on this day; but for now, having a somewhat extended mind-dump on some of these matters has been helpful for me–I hope it has been at least interesting and perhaps entertaining to you as well.

;)

I wasn’t sure that I’d write anything of great substance today; and, after you read what’s below, you might not be sure of that, either. ;)

However, the Internet often provides unexpected grist for this particular theological mill, so thanks be to the powers of the Internet–which I believe is in the form of a great big tap-dancing spider, personally–for providing the basis for the brief reflections which follow here.

I don’t think I need to give the link, nor mention the name, of the person who wrote what prompted the following; those who read various sections of the modern pagan internet will know upon what the following statements are based and to which they are responding.

It seems that many modern pagans enjoy nothing more than loudly eschewing labels of all sorts, as if–heavens forfend!–actually adopting one as an accurate description of their practice, identity, politics, theology, or anything else might in some way limit them forever after. Granted, I’m a person who loves to have options, and knows that in every possible situation and under every label and identifier possible, there are ALWAYS options! But, at the same time, I’ve been of the opinion for at least 16 years that we should use labels that are accurate whenever we can: that’s what language is supposed to do under the best of circumstances. The tendency to step into any situation where someone identifies as something strongly, and then to say “Well, but that’s just a label, and aren’t we more than our labels?” is a nice way to Starhawk derail any important conversation, whether it be about sexual orientation, gender identity, or theology, and I’ve seen it done with all three, and I’ve had it done against me on all of those matters. By undermining the notion of labels (and thus, language-in-general) being in any way useful in describing human experience, it undermines how seriously my identity as a pansexual, a metagender person, or a polytheist is taken by the person who is doing the Starhawking derailing, and implicitly should undermine it as well for anyone who is hearing that Starhawking derailing, and likewise should force me to realize that no, indeed, I’m not “really” those things that I’ve just identified as, if I’m being “really honest” with myself.

Bull-fucking-shit.

Last week, at the interfaith discussion I took part in, the Buddhist priestess said that “The Buddha was not a Buddhist,” to indicate that Buddhism as a spiritual path is only provisional, and would be given up if a better “skillful means” was found, or once enlightenment occurs. Fair enough.

Likewise, it is true to say that the historical Jesus (if, in fact, he existed) wasn’t a Christian, but for entirely different reasons: not because Christianity is only a provisional religion (as any Christian would tell you!), but because he was a radical reforming rabbi within Judaism who wasn’t advocating the dissolution of that religion, nor its replacement. (At least in the prevailing theories, anyway…!)

However, this kind of reasoning, for whatever purpose it may serve, falls down utterly when it comes to the gods that I worship.

Antinous was, and still is, a polytheist.

Hadrian was, and still is, a polytheist.

And, furthermore, I can’t really think of any of the gods who wasn’t a polytheist.

Hermes, one might say, invented polytheism in the Greek context, since he set up an altar to sacrifice some of Apollon’s cattle to the Twelve Gods after he stole them in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. (Though I suspect polytheism was alive and well long before that–Gaia was a polytheist, because she believed that all of her children were just as divine as she was, no matter what her consorts said nor what some of her children felt about the other ones.)

Hanuman very definitely is a polytheist, as simply to keep good faith with his devotion to Lord Ram, he also must be devoted to Sita, Lakshman, and a huge number of other deities and avatars, not to mention all of the ones from whom he received blessings or under whom he was tutored.

And the list goes on…

The only deities I can think of that aren’t polytheists are ones who are so blind as to think they’re the only deity in existence. That does not apply to Iao Sabaoth, as he is presented in the Hebrew Bible, incidentally. It may apply to the mainstream understanding of the Christian deities, or to the post-Christian understanding of some modern Jews, and likewise to the mainstream understanding of Allah in Islam. But, beyond those insistently monotheist contexts, even Allah himself is one god among many in ancient Arabic polytheism.

Not unlike the term “paganism,” so too “polytheism” isn’t a religion-as-such; it’s a theological viewpoint, but one that is shared by the gods as equally as it is amongst their human devotees. It is not “right” to be a polytheist because the gods are also polytheists, it’s simply a viewpoint that accords well with a particular understanding of reality. (If you don’t share that understanding of reality, that’s not really my concern, so don’t tell me so, nor try to get me to agree with you or even concede that your alternative viewpoint may be right, because it isn’t any of my business!) Polytheism is a theological viewpoint that lies at the basis of various religious practices that are polytheistic, certainly, but on its own, it’s not a specific religion or practice or doctrine–it’s an assessment and understanding of reality based on a set of experiences, like most religious beliefs tend to be.

So, there’s not much more to be said on this matter than that: the gods are polytheists, and so am I, because being so makes the most sense of what I have experienced, and of what the operational viewpoint of the gods also happens to be.

So, before the night is over and we move into the second half of the year, I want to finish talking about the last few days and the events involved in them.

Despite much of Saturday being frustrating, the evening’s events and the main reason for the trip were well worth all of the trouble. It was the second time I’ve been to a Krisha Das kirtan evening–the first being in June of 2009–and it was the 60th time KD has been to Seattle, it turns out…! This was part of the Kirtan Wallah tour, which is in support of his most recent album, which is spectacular (and which had a Kickstarter that I supported–and it was the best one I’ve ever supported, getting us our perks more than a month before the album was released to the public!).

This was the second night of his tour, and it was wonderful. There is a deep irony present that I was not as aware of going in as I was coming out of it, though: it is a “tour,” and yet this was not a “concert” or a “performance” or anything of the sort, it was participating in someone’s regular devotional practice on a magnificent scale. (It was even more obvious to me that this was the case when the opening prayer was done to Hanuman.) When the night was over, and we all sang “Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti…” that was it…there was silence, and then some very loud raindrops hit the roof for about fifteen seconds…and though applause followed that, and the audience gave him a standing ovation and started doing the particular form of clapping that tends to signify “We want an encore!” there was no encore–and, what’s more, there shouldn’t have been, and it was probably selfish of us as an audience to ask, even though it would have been blissful to have had just one more kirtan to complete the evening. (Which would have taken 15 minutes, at least!) KD didn’t have as many stories between sets this time, and at the end of almost every kirtan, the harmonium’s drone would fade out, and there would be a short period of silence. The entire effect was amazing, as it made it not just an event that one went to see, but it actually allowed those present to enter into this practice with him…which is part of the meaning of bhakti that doesn’t come through in simply translating it as “devotion.”

Afterwards, I was able to speak briefly to Nina Rao–his manager, and a kirtan singer of her own distinction, who has her own double album out, about something that may be mentioned in the next few months, and also to KD himself for a moment. It amazed me how many people just wanted to get phone selfies with him, which he was happy to do; I don’t have a phone that can do that, so I “settled” for autographs instead. ;) I also saw Devi Bhaktananda, who I have not seen for at least five years, who now runs the Bhaktananda Ashram in Lake Forest Park, WA! It is good to know that this resource exists, and I’m glad to see they’re doing well!

I made my way back to where I was staying for the night (luckily, a friend stepped in with hospitality, thank all the gods!), and as I was preparing for sleep, I took out my various sacred objects and prepared my portable shrine for the night. Amongst the various coins and other things I carry, I have a small metal box, less than an inch at its widest, that was given to me man years ago with a small image of Hanuman on it. A small object can be placed inside of it, if one removes one of the sides (which are put back in place easily), but I’ve never carried anything in it. During the course of things yesterday, the small leather pouch in which I keep the seven coins I always carry these days (depicting Antinous, Hadrian, Sabina, Disciplina, Hermes, and Cú Chulainn) somehow came loose, and all of the coins fell out of it inside my cargo trousers’ pocket. I found all of the coins in there except for the smallest one, which is about the size of a dime or smaller, which has Hadrian on one side and Disciplina on the other. I was worried sick that somehow it might have fallen out of my pocket during the day, perhaps when I was laying on the grass before the kirtan event. It turned out that one of the sides of the Hanuman box also became dislodged, which I also found easily…and inside the box was the Hadrian and Disciplina coin, thank all the gods–but especially Hanuman! Hence, this post. ;)

The next morning, after not-nearly-enough sleep, I was picked up to go to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America for the Nagoshi-no-Oharahi Taisai, or Great Mid-Year Purification ceremony. (The photo above is from a previous year, but it shows the Chi-no-Wa that is one of the major features of this ceremony.) For the first time since I’ve been going to the Shrine, this festival did not happen on a day that was sunny and warm–in fact, it was grey and raining at various points while we were there. The rain at last stopped after all the katashiro were put into the river. Soon after getting the naorae, I then did the Omikuji, with the results I already reported on, and then spent a while speaking with Brandy Williams, who is often at the major festivals at the Shrine. It was great to see her and speak a bit more than we’ve often had the chance to in recent months! They also have a new Inari shrine, located on the main Shrine grounds in a spot much more easily accessed than it was previously, beyond the bridge and the waterfall, etc.

So, it was a good weekend, with two different spiritual traditions, and also my own in the middle of it, involved in and connected with each one in a variety of ways! ;)

The Unfinished Book

You were a true child of Hermes, a son of letters,
and so like the lovers of the winged-sandal’d god
you were swept up less jealously than the west wind
and put upon a path of learning the literate arts.

But, rather than being an Amphion with his lyre
for the building of walls with song,
you became an Antheus at your death
with no flower to commemorate you.

There were no bright petals recalling your name,
no leaves on a fair-flowing stem’s greenery;
but, appropriate to your life’s work,
perhaps leaves in a book, though unfinished, will suffice.

Lucius Marius Vitalis, under Hadrian’s entourage,
friend of Antinous, first-born amongst the Sancti,
may you be remembered and praised in these words,
a small garland of flowers since you had none of your own.

Ave Lucie Marie Vitalis Sancte!

A while back (probably a month or more now), MT asked me about my daily practices, and if I could describe them. This is one of many posts I’ve been meaning to write if and when there is time, but I have to admit to some reluctance in doing so, not because I don’t want to share this or anything, but because what I do on a daily basis is really simple, basic, and doesn’t involve anything very fancy, nor is it (despite what you might suspect from this blog and if you know me otherwise!) very wordy at all…in fact, almost all of it is wordless, with a few exceptions. It will take a lot longer to explain what I do than it actually does to do any of it, which I find to be problematic…and yet, appropriate.

Some of the topics I mention here will be getting their own posts as well in the near future, so be ye warned…

When I get up in the morning (or the afternoon, depending on the day involved, what’s going on, how long–if at all–I’ve slept, etc.), I take care of my physical necessities before doing anything, which would include eating breakfast, washing, and getting dressed; sometimes, this takes longer than expected, or gets put off for a while for various reasons, but when I am ready to do my morning practices which officially declare that this is the beginning of the day, I proceed…

What it involves currently is an “around the world” circumambulation, to a certain extent, between five separate shrines I have in my room. I start with my main shrine, which is primarily Antinoan, and thus Graeco-Roman-Egyptian, hosting (almost exclusively) deities who are from or were honored in those cultures, with Antinous dominating the center of it (as seen above, which is how it appeared in early January of this year–there are small variations in it periodically).

The first thing I do when I approach the shrine is to take the Antinous pin that I wear on my outermost garments every day and put that on; it goes over my heart, so that periodically throughout the day I can look at it, but also feel it on my skin at various points. This is who I am representing in the world, and I keep that in mind throughout the day.

Then I collect the various small amulets and tokens that I leave on Sabazios’ offering tile during the night. These include the following things: an amber and wolf-bone bracelet that was a gift from Anomalous Thracian (I carry this for all sorts of reasons that I’m sure avid readers will be able to guess!); a pouch I was given by Lupa after the Bear shamanic healing ceremony she did at PantheaCon in 2010, which I carry to remember my physical health, and because my surname at birth has “bear” as a part of it (so it’s a kind of “ancestral totem” connection, if that makes any sense; a small green hardened wax (I think) image of the ancient Nilotic goddess, which I got as a “free sample” at PantheaCon handed out by some random pagan tchotchkes vendor during another person’s workshop (on amulets, it turned out!), and despite its mass-produced-ness, I cannot bear to discard such a thing, so I have used it ever since as an amulet for Hathor, who is one of the goddesses to whom I am closest, and who has been with me for the longest on a personal level (since 1994, in fact!); and, a pocket knife that belonged to my maternal grandfather, in an effort to remember my ancestors (though that is an area of my practice that is still “under construction,” and I’m just beginning to sort out some of the problems I’ve been having with it). A few other deity-specific amulets are nearby, and if it is appropriate to bring them with me on a given day, I do add them to the mix at that point.

Next, I take up most of the various coins, which I usually kiss before I put them in their pouch. (I also kiss the knife and the Hathor token when I take them up or put them down.) The first I always pick up is the Antinous medallion made by Shawn Postoff and sent to me in 2010 when I was in Michigan–obtaining that piece really set in motion the form of daily practice that I have adopted ever since, and added to gradually as materials and necessity resulted. I usually place this medallion on the lips of Antinous’ main icon (bust) on my shrine before kissing it myself. The coin right beneath it which gets added next, and both sides are kissed, is a replica coin from Alexandria, showing a bust of Antinous on one side, and the syncretized horseback-riding form of Antinous-Hermes on the reverse, which also brings Hermes into the overall constellation of the divine presences I carry with me each day. Next is the first of three Hadrian coins I carry, which has Hadrian on the obverse and an inscription to Disciplina on the reverse, both sides of which I kiss; as she is a goddess that I attempt to honor every day with my disciplined actions, that is very important. Next is a larger Hadrian replica gold coin, from Britannia, which I obtained in Newcastle-upon-Tyne during my pilgrimage in 2003, and I also add a further one that I likewise obtained there after that. The first two of these then each are placed so that their obverse faces (with Hadrian on them) are facing the obverses of the Antinous coins in the pouch; the third one is placed first in anticipation of who is about to join it, i.e. Diva Sabina Augusta, whose coin rests on a small stack of Divae on one part of my shrine. The various coins that are Antinous or any of the deified emperors or empresses rest in front of a replica of Hadrian’s Gate in Athens that is toward the front of my shrine, while the Hadrian coins themselves rest in the “gateway” of it. If there are other Divi or Divae honored on a given day whose coin images I have, I add them to the pouch as well at this stage, before proceeding to the next phase.

The next shrine I visit is my Indian shrine, where I obtain a small box showing the Drona-Mountain-carrying Hanuman on it (which I described recently and alluded to before that), which was a gift from Erynn Rowan Laurie sometime between 2008 and 2009. When I pick this up, I first praise Ram (Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram!) before kissing the box and praising Hanuman (Jai Hanuman! Jai Hanuman!). As Hanuman is the one who has taught me more about devotion than any other being, divine or living, this is important; and, Hanuman has often been the most helpful deity to me when I’ve been traveling, so that’s often a concern as well.

The next shrine I visit is my newest, which has six deities on it, but the specific one I am concerned with here is Artemis of Ephesus/Upis, from whose feet I obtain the Ephesia Grammata, and I speak their names as I pick up the leather pouch containing them, I shake the bag, and I put it in my pocket. This is for protective purposes mainly, but also serves as my primary divination system if and when needed later in the day. I’ve written a book about it, you know. ;)

The next shrine that I visit is the “Celtic” shrine–and while I am usually the first person to point out that not all Celtic cultures are the same, and they should be distinguished in various ways so as not to give the misinformed picture that they are “the same” any further purchase, the simple fact is I don’t have enough shrine space at present to give the three (and, I hope eventually, five) cultures whose deities or ancestors are honored on it their own individual spaces. From here, I collect the last of the coins to add to my coin pouch, which is the coin of Cú Chulainn. I kiss this, and once it is added to the pouch, I close it up and put it in my pocket.

The final shrine I visit in the morning is my guerilla Shinto shrine–it’s not a kamidana, by any means, but it is kind of the place-holder for one until I am in a position to get one. I put a variety of Shinto-related things there, including ema images of Sarutahiko-no-Okami and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, the zodiac year ema from the last few years, the zodiac year bells for the past few years, a white kitsune image representing the Inari which I was given a few years ago, and some wheat stalks from the Shinto shrine. I leave my omamori there, if I have one (which I do at the moment), and likewise any ofuda I might have are placed there. I do the Ni Rei Ni Hakushu Ippai (2 bows, 2 claps, 1 bow) before picking up the omamori and pray as I do so, and then once I’ve picked it up and properly greeted it, I then do the Ni Rei Ni Hakushu Ippai again.

But, that’s not the end of it!

I then return to the main Antinoan/Graeco-Roman-Egyptian shrine, and I kiss four of the images on it: Palaimon/Melkiertes, Bes, Polydeukion, and the main Antinous image. I have a specific pattern of doing the latter, which I won’t detail further here, but suffice it to say, it’s not just a single kiss. I touch the image, and if possible (which it usually is, but I sometimes get momentarily side-tracked), I have my right hand immediately go into the first part of the Ephesia Grammata protection ritual that I do each day, for my own protection as well as that of my shrine in my absence (if, indeed, I am going to be leaving the house that day). A few further gestures and short breathing exercises follow the Ephesia Grammata ritual.

And then I’m ready to go!

If there are offerings to be made on a given day (I only do food offerings on major festival days–even though there’s a lot of those for us, it’s not every single day, e.g. today there weren’t any), I do them after the completion of these basic everyday practices. If there are prayers to be said for a given occasion, I’d also do them after that; but if it is not a major festival, then I don’t do them; occasionally, I do them in a later dedicated ritual period on the holy day in question.

If I am leaving the island for work or some other activity, then the Book of Books must come with me, and it cannot be further than 10′ from me when I do (with some exceptions, which will be getting their own post soon). If I come into work, the first thing I do after I set my things down and take my coat and hat off is kiss my Antinous image at work, and then I say a few lines from “Ave Ave Antinoe” in praise of the Three Aspects of Antinous. If it is the first class of the quarter, or if I expect the subject matter or discussion may be difficult, or if I simply feel I need and/or want to, I do the “Prayer Against Persecution” as well. When I enter and leave the office for any period of time, or when I leave for the day, I also likewise kiss the Antinous image I have therein before going.

If there is a major festival of the day, at some stage I’ll write a new poem/hymn/prayer for it, as I have been doing very consistently (with some exceptions) at least for the current calendar year, which I then share here. They get used later, too, in actual rituals. Because we have so many festivals, this happens a lot, but not necessarily every single day.

At the end of the day, when I am getting ready for bed and know I won’t be going out any more in a given day/night, I do the reverse, visiting the Shinto shrine first, then the Celtic, then Artemis of Ephesus, then India, then the Antinoan shrine I replace everything in a similar fashion to how I obtained them, but in reverse order. If there are food offerings to “revert” at that point, I do; I usually try to leave them until just after midnight, at very least, unless divination otherwise confirms that I can remove them earlier. I may be awake for any number of further hours, and might be doing things on the internet, but I don’t usually leave my room after that other than to use the facilities or get some water or a snack, etc.

I am hoping to do more and better for my ancestors soon, so that will take some further integrating; and likewise, though I often look at Paneros’ image (two tiers above Artemis of Ephesus/Upis), I have not yet found the best way to honor the Tetrad++ Group in this mix on a daily basis yet; my personal hardbound copy of All-Soul, All-Body, All-Love, All-Power: A TransMythology comes with me in the same bundle as the Book of Books; though it is very sacred to me, it’s not quite on the same level as the Book of Books itself–yet–but may get there eventually.

Really, when you get down to it, all of the above takes only ten to twenty minutes a day (though sometimes prayers, rituals, or writing takes anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours longer), but because of the very physical nature of these practices, and the fact that I’m literally carrying something of weight and value on my person as a result of them, I am constantly reminded of the presence of these deities when I feel an amulet jangle in my pocket, when one of the drawstrings from the hoodie I’m wearing clinks lightly against the Antinous pin I wear over my heart, or when I am constantly checking to make sure that the Book of Books (in the Bag of Bags!) is where it should be, etc. Far more than praying or meditating every day, having these physical reminders of the presence of my deities is exactly that: having a physical reminder of them, to make it plain that these beings are not only in my head and only present for me when I’m focusing my attention specifically on them. How these things then impact my day-to-day activities is a concern, and not just when I have to go through TSA at the airport: am I changing clothes at some point during the day, and where do the coins and amulets go during that? How am I sitting on this bus, and is it uncomfortable to do so in this position because of this pocket full of amulets and coins? These kinds of questions come up much more often than one might at first realize, as I have come to find and to expect over the last four years since my practice has been of this sort. It also requires whatever clothes I wear to have certain requirements, including the need for a separate pocket that is only used for all of these sacred items–which is why I prefer cargo trousers, but hoodies with securable pockets can also work in a pinch, as can certain other things (but I, thankfully, don’t have to wear those kinds of things as often).

So, there you go: more than 2600 words on what my daily practices involve, in fairly specific (though by no means complete) detail. If this much attention can be paid to what may appear to some folks to simply be minutiae, then imagine what kind of attention I also devote to full-on ritual, and the preparations for it…! ;) I’d be happy to answer any questions on the above folks may have, and to discuss any of it…however, if the force of your discussion amounts to “You don’t really need to do that” or if you are asking “Why do that” in a way that shows you have no respect for my reasons for doing something, I will kindly hand your question back to you with your arse attached. Most of you who read these things are pretty well-behaved, so I shouldn’t have to say that; but, one never knows who might be dropping by to be a putz, either.

If I don’t do this now, I suspect I won’t get to it for another few weeks…so, here goes.

I alluded to a further film review here, here, and here previously, and now, at last, I’m getting to it. It’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. As many of you may recall from several years ago, I also reviewed the first film of that series (though I suspect no more films will be made in that series, given that I don’t think the second one did very well, alas), and I did so somewhat favorably, despite all the heat the series takes from Hellenic polytheists generally. But, if it needed to be said (though some people still don’t seem to be getting the idea), I’m not “really” a Hellenic polytheist, and certainly am not strictly one, so the opinions on that front don’t really matter much to me.

There is one notable cast change in this, i.e. Anthony Stewart Head (i.e. Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!) as Chiron; and there is additionally Stanley Tucci as Mr. D., a.k.a. Dionysos, which is rather interesting. The plot of the film is essentially a re-envisioning of the search for the Golden Fleece, which is a kind of panacea for healing and is needed to heal the guardian tree of Camp Half-Blood, where all of the Greek demigod kids and teenagers (and, one would assume from the looks of some of them, early twenty-somethings) live; the tree itself is the kataphytosized Thalia, a mortal daughter of Zeus. (Thalia, of course, refers to several different female divine beings from Greek myth.) In the process, however, Percy and friends come into conflict with Luke, the son of Hermes from the first film, who along with others wants to get the Golden Fleece to revive Kronos and overthrow Zeus and co. once and for all. I’ll return to that matter later.

Also thrown into the mix is Tyson, another son of Poseidon (like Percy), but with a cyclops, so he is likewise a cyclops. (He is shown above, with a hippocampus that comes to help them.) One of their final challenges in retrieving the Golden Fleece is to face Polyphemus, who is also a cyclops…and, should technically likewise be a half-brother of both Percy and Tyson, but the film never acknowledges this. Oh well. Many of the challenges in the “Sea of Monsters” (i.e. the Bermuda Triangle) are taken not from the story of the Argonauts, as one might expect, but instead from Homer’s Odyssey, like Polyphemus, and also Charybdis, which is the only other major “monster” in that eponymous sea that they face. And a further deity to add to the mix is Hermes, who is played by Nathan Fillion–another Joss Whedon multiple veteran (like Anthony Steward Head!)–who plays the role rather interestingly. (And, it’s funny, in the aftermath, as I watched this with my mother, I mentioned Hermes, and she said, “The UPS guy?” Yeah…that’s Hermes, I guess…?!?)

Kronos and the titans, not surprisingly, are portrayed as the superlative “evil” in this film, and the temporary revival of Kronos, while ultimately thwarted, does produce an interesting speech from Luke, to the effect that every generation of gods is destined to overthrow their parents, just like Zeus and co. did to the titans, and it is simply “their turn” now for the group of demigods who populate the film. While many of you may not have caught it, I was subtly alluding to this in my post on Greek eschatology recently when I used a photo from the first Percy Jackson film. It’s an interesting and important theme, I think, and that it has come up in popular fiction involving the Greek gods in the modern period (even though that does not qualify as “myth” for most of us…though it could for younger generations, depending on a variety of things), is quite interesting and worthy of further discussion. But, in terms of this film, it also kind of misses an opportunity, because it understands the entire thing as a matter of “good vs. evil,” for starters, and it interprets those who are overthrowing the previous generation as “evil,” when the same thing occurring in the previous generation was understood as “good.” Furthermore, the entire idea that Kronos oversees the Isles of the Blessed is missing from this film, which would have been an interesting further element to add in, considering they were on some obscure quasi-otherworldly islands for a good deal of the film, and it could have naturally segued into that, potentially. Oh well…a kind of lost opportunity.

In the end, the Golden Fleece works a bit too well, and not only heals the tree into which Thalia was kataphytosized, but it brings her back to life. Given that she is a child of Zeus, that kind of puts Percy in a strange position as a son of one of the “big three” (as they are called in the first film), so how that will go in the next film is anyone’s guess (unless you’ve read the books…which I haven’t, though I might consider doing so now).

But, my main interest in reviewing this film is not to praise it, nor to lambast it either–it was entertaining enough, and to be honest, I find Logan Lerman (who plays Percy) quite cute, and likewise for the rest of the cast!–rather I wanted to draw out the theme I touched on above. One thing the film got right is that these attempted overthrowings of the ruling generation of divinities often bring back those who were imprisoned or punished as a result of the previous generation’s triumph, or to avert it, and so this film actually did get that right with bringing back Kronos. (Had they brought back the Hekatoncheires, perhaps they would have been successful!) Thus, that this theme has emerged in popular culture is quite intriguing; and while skeptics will certainly say “It’s just a kid’s film based on a kid’s book, you shouldn’t read too much into it,” I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to dismiss it so easily. No, the author and filmmakers are not polytheists, and this isn’t myth; and yet, when things do pop up in popular culture, no matter how obscure or apparently innocuous, I think it is worth us taking notice. Deities and other divine beings don’t only speak to or through us as polytheists, nor only via media we prefer or produce, and even though this film didn’t do well, more people have seen it than have read my books, Sannion, Galina’s, and Raven Kaldera’s combined, times a thousand…and that isn’t to demean or diminish our work (and especially theirs!) at all, it’s only to point out what impact popular media has, and how we might be well-served to acknowledge and perhaps engage it when it may be useful and appealing to do so.

As I’m sure Mr. D. and Percy agree. ;)

…some of which are more–and a different type of–amusing than others…!?!

First, the most common search terms that have turned up pages on my blog recently include the following four things:

–polytheist nuns
–how a continuum with exclusivity at one end and inclusivity at the other can be used to describe religious views
–aedicula antinoi a small shrine of antinous
–hot egyptian goddess

Aha! Here’s the culprit!

This is amusing to me because, really, only the third thing on this list at all applies to this blog, in a vague and non-specific (by being so specific as to only usefully turn up the present blog!) sort of fashion…Maybe #1 and #4 could, too, but far less so on the latter than the former, though I’m no nun but am certainly in favor of their existence. As for the second one…that is weird that it’s been a search term appearing on the top of the list for the past two weeks or so.

Sannion’s search-term poetry posts are far more interesting than what I turn up here, alas. :(

And speaking of San-San-san (see what I did there?–though maybe it will make more sense in the context of the next thing on the present list…!?!), quite a while back he posted a variety of things about the rather poorly-known sea-god Glaukos and his relation to various other deities, including Melikertes (better known post-apotheosis as Palaimon). THis was significant to me over the last twenty-four hours in connection to Portunalia yesterday, because Portunus is who the Romans most often syncretized Palaimon to in their own pantheon…So, being that I’m myself, I had to follow up on this matter last night at 3 AM.

Even though Theoi.com has a lot on Glaukos and on Palaimon/Melikertes, the passage below concerning mostly a lot of miscellaneous lore about Glaukos, and two tidbits connecting him to Melikertes, does no occur on the site. It is from Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae Book VII:

Nausicrates in The Skippers: “A. Two sons, they say, gentle and fair, of the t god who before this has often appeared in the ocean’s embrace to seafaring folk, and who, they say, foretells the fortunes of mortals. B. You mean Glaucus. A. You’ve got it.” Now the sea-god Glaucus, as Theolytus of Methymna says in his Epic of Bacchus, fell in love with Ariadne when she was carried away by Dionysus on the island of Dia; overpowered by Dionysus, he was bound hand and foot in the withes of a grape vine, but released when he entreated him in these words: “A city, then, there is by the side of the sea, Anthedon, over against Euboea, hard by the currents of Euripus. There is my birthplace, and the father who gat me was Copeus.” But Promathidas of Heracleia, in his Hemiambi, derives the birth of Glaucus from Polybus, the son of Hermes, and Euboea, the daughter of Larymnus. And Mnaseas, in the third book of his European History, derives his descent from Anthedon and Alcyonê; having proved himself a good seaman and diver, Glaucus came to be called Pontius. He carried away Symê, the daughter of Ialysus and Dotis, sailing back to Asia, and settled the island, which was deserted, near Caria, giving it the name Symê from his wife. The epic poet Euanthes, on the other hand, in his Hymn to Glaucus, says that he was a son of Poseidon and the nymph Naïs, and that, falling in love with Ariadne, he lay with her in the island of Dia when she had been deserted by Theseus. Aristotle, in The Constitution of Delos, says that Glaucus settled in delos in company with the Nereids, and gives prophecies to those who desire them. Possis of Magnesia, in the third book of his Account of the Amazons, says that Glaucus was the architect of the Argo and was its pilot at the time when Jason fought in company with the Etruscans, being the only one who escaped without a wound in the naval battle; but by Zeus’ decree he disappeared in the depths of the ocean, and in this way became a sea divinity. He was seen only by Jason. Nicanor of Cyrene, in Changes of Name, says that Melicertes had his name changed to Glaucus. Alexander Aetolus also gives an account of him in the poem entitled The Fisherman. He says that Glaucus was engulfed in the sea “after he had eaten an herb which the untilled earth bears in springtime for shining Helios in the isles of the Blest. And Helios tenders that herb unfailing, as a soul-satisfying supper to his steeds, that they may accomplish their course unwearied, and no distress may overtake any in their mid-journey.” Aeschrion of Samos, in one of his iambic poems, says that the each-god Glaucus fell in love with Hydnê, daughter of Scyllus, the diver of Scionê. He also has his own story to tell about the herb, which if eaten made one immortal: “Thou hast found even the food of the gods, dog’s-tooth grass which Cronus sowed.” Nicander, in the third book of Europia, records that glaucus was loved by Nereus. Again, in the first book of his Aetolian History, Nicander says that Apollo was taught the art of prophecy you Glaucus; and that Glaucus was once hunting on Oreia, which is a high mountain in Aetolia, when he caught a hare; since it was faint after the pursuit he took it to a spring, and just as it was breathing its last gasp he rubbed it with the grass which grew about. The hare completely revived with the help of the herb; and Glaucus, recognizing the virtues of the herb, tasted of it and was seized with a divine madness; and when a storm arose by Zeus’ decree, he cast himself into the sea. But Hedylus of Samos (or Athens) declares that Glaucus cast himself into the sea through love of Melicertes; and Hedylê, this poet’s mother, who was the daughter of Moschinê, the Attic poetess of iambic verse, records in the poem entitled Scylla that Glaucus, in love with Scylla, entered her cave carrying “gifts, either cockleshells from the Erythraean crag, or the still wingless young of halcyons — toys for the nymph before whom he was diffident. But even the Siren, virgin neighbour, pitied his tears; for she was swimming back to those shores and the borders of Aetna.”

So, this potentially has a lot of relevance for a variety of reasons: either there was some sort of syncretism between Glaukos and Melikertes/Palaimon, or Glaukos loved Melikertes and threw himself into the sea because of it, and perhaps achieved apotheosis for his trouble. This is all the more interesting because Hedylos of Samos was said to have loved someone called Glaukos for whom he threw himself into the sea, and his father’s name was Melikertes. That clears things up considerably, dunnit? ;)

[And while we're on Theoi.com, here's a really handy list of deified mortals in Greek myth, and there's a lot more than you might have thought, even apart from the large number of heroes...all of these, though, were not (just) heroes, but were considered full-on deities.]

A short while ago, I posted about the Thermae Romae film, but it turns out (as I was told in the comments) there is also an anime of it, which I was able to view recently. While it was also enjoyable, I can’t say that it was quite as good as the live-action film, though it has its moments, and is different at various parts. The episode in the anime featuring Konsei-sama, Priapus, and Fascinus (though the latter is not called that) is highly amusing, and involves some interesting Japanese puns–namely, tintinabulum, which is what they keep calling the small Fascinus figure that is also a bell, apparently sounds a lot like a word in Japanese that means “dangling penis.” Who knew? ;) But, of course, one of the main things I was concerned with was the portrayal of Antinous and Hadrian in it, and there was a small bit of historical wrongness on that score: to wit, there is a short “history lesson” when Antinous is mentioned, and they go on to say that male homosexuality was looked down upon by the Romans, which isn’t strictly speaking true, and that Hadrian was derided for this…but of course, they fail to mention that the only people who we have on historical record who do that are Christians. Oh well.

They use actual Antinous statue photos (shown above from the anime) when they mention making statues of him, and though the Farnese does get used, they’re also using the “Capitoline Antinous,” which is actually not Antinous at all, but Hermes. Overall, the art is pretty good, but the animation leaves a lot to be desired; it’s a bit more like a motion comic than it is like a proper anime. Oh well…It’s still quite amusing, if you’re interested in modern takes on ancient Rome combined in with historical comparativism. ;)

And finally, I owe my knowledge of the following to Edward Butler, who alerted me to it recently. It appears that archaeologists are hoping to find sculptural reliefs from a temple to Hadrian in Kyzikos (Turkey), and they have already found one of the largest column capitals ever in the area where they think it might be. Turkey has certainly turned up some interesting things relating to Hadrian in recent history, so hopefully this will be another such example, and soon!

So, those brief stories are all I have for today. I hope that these amused you as much as they did me…and if not, tell me something else that amuses you in the comments below!

Nine Questions

I. Numenios to Antinous on the Lion Hunt

N: Was it your spear-head that was too dull?
A: No, for it was so sharp it could cut a hair
of the lion’s mane going downstream in the Nile.

N: Then was it the spear shaft that was too weak?
A: No, for the spear shaft was of adamant,
as hard as the heart of Hades himself.

N: Could it have been your horse was lacking?
A: No, for the horse beneath me was strong,
his like not seen since Areion coursed the earth.

N: Then perhaps could it have been a bad bridle?
A: No, for a finer bridle was not placed on a horse
since Bellerophon tamed the Pegasus of old.

N: Was it the sandals on your feet caused you to slip?
A: No, for Hermes himself does not have better
than these which were placed over my soles.

N: Then perhaps your tunic was too loose?
A: No, for Athena’s skilled weaving is in it,
and no cloth fitted form of body better.

N: Well, then, your loincloth, perhaps, was too tight?
A: No, for this one is of Indian silk
as fine as was placed around Dionysos’ waist.

N: Then perhaps the sun was too bright in your eyes?
A: No, for Helios is never unwelcome in sight,
nor does Apollon fail at aiding the hunter.

N: Then what, Antinous, caused you to fall before the lion?
A: Nothing, Numenios, other than my own fault–
no one responsible, none other to blame, but myself.

The Hidden Labor of Herakles

“Tell me, O Herakles, slayer of the Nemean Lion,
what happened when you went down to Hades’ realm
in pursuit of Cerberus of the three-heads.”

“I shall not stint in detailing my travails
to you, Antinous, when I went on that errand,
the last of my many labors for Eurystheus.

“Through the nekuomanteion hard by the Euxine
I descended to the land of the shades,
and was able to pass by Charon without word or fee–

“It was a trick I had learned from my shipmate,
Orpheus, which he had told to me in my mourning
for Hylas, in order to retrieve his soul from death–

“And I found the throne-room of the dread lord
with his wolf-skin cap, and at his side the beautiful
Lady, the Maiden, Queen of the just and unjust dead.

“I saw the feast set forth for Theseus,
and laughed at his fate, full of more hubris
than Aktaion had with one thought of Artemis.

“‘State your business, O son of Zeus,’
my uncle beckoned to me upon my arrival,
his Lady quiet at his side, looking down.

“‘I come to take Cerberus to the face of Gaia,
and I intend to do so without weapons, uncle,’
I answered him, without a breath of pause.

“‘It is only without weapons he can be taken,’
Hades answered me back, and saw me smirk,
and then paused for a moment before continuing:

“‘But it is not wrestling that you will have
with the three-headed hound of Hades, Herakles.
You cannot rely on the strength of your body.’

“This was unexpected, to say the least,
and I felt my entrails tighten within me
at what Hades might suggest instead of strength.

“‘My Lady and Queen will put this test before you,’
he finished, and the Lady rose and walked, wordless,
and I was barely able to keep up in following.

“She floated, ethereal, as if her feet were of the air
across the colorless plains and the barren fields,
the countless fruitless orchards of barbed branches.

“We came to the vestibule of Hades, a spot
on the far side of Styx, but not beyond the gate
which Cerberus guards, restless, without sleeping.

“There before me were creatures I had seen before:
two serpents I had strangled in my cradle,
the Nemean Lion, skinless, writhing on the ground,

“The Hydra’s severed heads and its blood-drained body,
Geryon of the triple heads and triple bodies with an arrow
through each forehead, and Orthrus lifeless at his feet,

“Eurytion the monstrous herdsman likewise in torpor,
and the dragon Ladon in pieces twined on tree limbs,
an innumerable flock of bruised bronze Stymphalian birds,

“And the strangled giant Cacus, deprived of air
when I crushed his throat and the fires within
could no longer lash out and bring calamity to men.

“Monsters all, the work of my labors eleven and beyond,
gathered as shades, no longer alive but not fully dead
and without a place in Hades or elsewhere.

“‘Your works, Herakles,’ the Lady said to me,
words that chilled my soul to its core
and made my limbs shiver in anguish.

“Even the lowliest shades in Hades, whose descendants
have never offered them sacrifice or libation
nor had their names sung or their bodies buried or burned

“Would not linger in such misery for all eternity,
until the pillar of Atlas is cut down from the heavens
and all the Gigantes rage across the earth.

“She said not a word further, and this confused me,
for I was no seer like Tiresias, no oracle or exegete
who could see what it was I was tasked with at the time.

“It then occurred to me that my works were not complete,
that though I had killed these formidable adversaries
and had rid the world of terrors it was happy to see go,

“I had not done what was really required:
monsters are not troubling because of the havoc they cause,
they are simply creatures out-of-place with their surroundings,

“And these ones, even in Hades, had no place–
my role was not to slay them, but instead
to put them in their proper place…which wasn’t Hades.

“There are several paths which the three-headed hound
guards on the far shore of the Styx:
the wide path to Hades itself, traveled by many,

“A narrower path that few are able to tread,
and a dark path that leads immeasurably beyond
deep into the realm of Tartaros far below.

“I would lead them there, not for punishment,
nor for their condemnation, but because that place
of such sublime ferocity and incalculable power

“Is the only rightful home for such a brood
of creatures that no mere mortal could dispatch,
that no god would come to reclaim in their deaths.

“But Cerberus himself would not let me pass,
his three maws foaming as he spat ear-breaking barks
and threatened to snap my head off my shoulders.

“I brought the body of Orthrus, two-headed, in my arms
and set him before Cerberus, his litter-mate,
and the three-headed hound whimpered his lament.

“A breath not of life returned to the dead dog,
and he stood on his own four feet, beckoning
his fellow monstrosities to follow him forward.

“I lead them as far as I could go into Tartaros,
and saw things it is not proper to speak
and met beings whose names cannot form words.

“When I returned to Cerberus’ side, he was as tame
as the friendliest lap-dog raised for the queens of Thebes.
On his back, the shade of Hylas rode, joyless.

“‘Take your reward, hero, and go swiftly to the surface,
but do not look forward where the hound and the shade lead you.’
A strange order, for certain, but I kept it in mind.

“I walked backwards, like the cattle under Hermes’ watch,
and felt Cerberus’ serpentine tail behind me,
wagging madly, a moving leash leading me upwards.

“But when I thought the first glimpses of light
across the Euxine sea on the horizon
gleamed on the walls of the cavern as we emerged,

“I looked forward to what I hoped was a new day
on which young Hylas would be with me again
and I would see him grow to manhood with honor.

“It was not to be, for as soon as I saw him
and thought for a moment of the future,
his form faded before me, not to be seen again…

“Until many years later, on the Isle of the Blessed,
for it was only the shade of his bodily form
that occupied the lifeless plains of Hades.

“The three-headed hound remained, however,
and I brought him, docile, to kneel before Eurystheus
and complete the labors he imposed upon me.

“At Eleusis, I came for purification,
but was refused entry into the Mysteries
by a surly torch-bearer with his snide responses.

“I had seen mysteries far greater already,
in the darkness of Holy Nyx in Tartaros,
had seen a flame more brilliant than Hekate’s torches,

“And I had seen the Maiden herself, the Queen below.
The torchbearer could not resist my response,
and the purifications were given to me

“Even despite the blood on my hands
from monsters or centaurs or my own children.
That is my tale for you today, Antinous.”

“And may all the gods above and below
honor you for the telling of it, Herakles,
greatest amongs the heroes who walked the earth.”

*****

Hail to Herakles! Hail, Hail Antinous!

Just a short while ago, I had the usual first installment of the Lion Hunt ritual, written by Erynn Rowan Laurie several years back (involving nine red candles, and prayers to Antinous the Lover, Antinous the Liberator, and Antinous the Navigator as well as Apollon, Dionysos, and Hermes in syncretized forms), along with Amaranthia L. V. Cunicula in what was likely the most surreal Lion Hunt ritual I’ve ever yet had (which will be detailed further in a subsequent post); we had hoped to be joined by others, but in the general “theme” of this festival being failure, that didn’t quite go to plan, alas…

I’ve described today’s holiday to some people who don’t know much about Antinous as the “Antinoan Yom Kippur,” not in the sense that it is the holiest day of our ritual year (that would be Foundation Day!), but because it is the day on which we honestly confront all of the things in our life that would qualify as failures. As important as it is to acknowledge and celebrate our successes, we likewise do need to honestly call “failure” what it is likewise when it has occurred, and not seek to redefine “success” entirely to make every learning experience (and nothing teaches one more poignantly nor deeply than colossal failure!) that comes with pain and discomfort and disaster as equally as when they come easily or pleasurably. (Is it possible to have “pleasurable failure”?–I wonder…) We do this in order to, hopefully, generate enough good fertilizer (Hail Sterculinus!) to lay as silt at the bottom of the deifying Nile to then generate the Red Nile Lotus flower tomorrow. But we must first call a spade a spade, and own up to all of the honest failures that we make in our lives…the thousands of them (or more) that we might have, and that I know I certainly have.

And, I feel, I need to do this publicly, because I am a sacred functionary in the Ekklesía Antínoou, and thus I am accountable to the people in that community–and, whether you are a member of our e-mail list or not, whether you consider yourself a member or not, whether you’ve been to our rituals or not, if you are a regular reader of this blog and think there is anything at all useful in it, then you are part of my extended community and therefore, I am accountable to you, dear reader! (Whether you like it or not!) I am not someone who, in the way-too-American (and often excessive and harmful) trend of rugged individualism that all too often permeates modern American paganism, is in favor of a reduced sense of accountability, because any reduction of that sense means that I am less responsible, and just as much as I serve the many gods (but particularly Antinous and friends) and am thus accountable to them, likewise the readership of this blog, my other writings, my books, and the groups I am involved with are likewise people to whom I am accountable. I may not always measure up to their expectations, nor in some cases can I even contemplate fulfilling them, nor is it my primary goal to “please everyone” nor to be “all things to all people” (especially since both are impossible!), but nonetheless I do recognize that, as someone who is a (reluctant) leader, there are some expectations and responsibilities for accepting and pursuing that role. You have been kind enough to consider my random writings and thoughts about Antinous (or other deities and divine powers) useful in your own spiritual path and practice, and this is an inestimable honor and blessing and compliment which I can never properly repay, but it is likewise a tremendous responsibility and a serious consideration for me at all times to represent Antinous as faithfully, beautifully, joyously, generously, and gladly as possible. Thus, this yearly public accounting is a necessity, in my view, and an apt one to do at this time for all sorts of reasons.

I’ve just looked over last year’s post of this nature, and I’m dismayed to see there are still some similar (or exact) things yet left undone from that list here…damn. Multiply all of what you see below by about 20, and you’ll get a notion of what my daily “to-do” list includes, and no matter how high my standards are nor how lofty the expectations are that I set for myself (and thus, more often than not, fail at) happen to be, nonetheless these are worthy things to aspire toward, in my view, and I genuinely do want to commit to getting them done, sooner rather than later if at all possible.

[And, lest anyone get the wrong idea: Antinous requires almost none of what I will list below; these are all things I have taken on voluntarily out of love and devotion for him because of the joy it gives him, and me. Yes, Antinous is just that cool times a billion!]

Thus, here’s a list of nine (amongst the many further!) things I’ve screwed up with this year and have failed to do (we won’t even start with all of the things that I’ve failed to do right…!?!).

1) In this past year, I have not always been as attentive to students (both in Academia Antinoi and at my collegiate job) and to general correspondents (friends, casual contacts, or spiritual colleagues) as I should have been–and, what’s more, I thoroughly enjoy the sorts of contact and interaction I get in most of these situations, and would always like to do more of it.

2) I deeply regret not being as attentive to the Ekklesía Antínoou list or to the Mystai Antínoou list, as there are important discussions which need to take place on the latter in particular, but my reluctance to do so, and my increasing aversion to certain forms of social media (made all the more unappealing by the ways in which those media have been revised to be less useful than they were before) has made my desire to reach out on one of those lists in particular far less than it ought to be for someone who is ostensibly in a role of leadership. No one has suggested deposing me thus far, but perhaps they should…?!?

3) I acknowledge that my own severe case of bibliophilia has (more often than not, alas) overwhelmed my practical senses too often over the last year. I hope to be more disciplined about this in the future.

4) I have had a number of failures in terms of working on (and preferably completing!) devotional projects, some of which will be mentioned below. The things I’m thinking of specifically are: further verses on a song for Bendis and the Thracian deities (in Greek); the dance for Quinquatrus and other occasions for Mars, Minerva, and Hercules; the new set of Apollonian Ephesia Grammata that I owe Antinous; the votive stele depicting Pancrates/Pachrates of Heliopolis; the proper dedication of my medical I.D. bracelet to the gods; dedication of some item to Paneros to add to the things I carry with me daily, and further Tetrad++ work; and, trying in general to do “more doing” and making of things rather than having all of my creative and artistic energies being devoted to writing.

5) That having been said, I have also failed to complete (or, in some cases, start) a huge number of devotional writing projects or editing projects. These include: the second volume of The Doctor’s Notes, which will have as its main title Studium Antinoi (since the first volume came out in 2011, we’re going on three years of unfinished business there!), a short piece on Scáthach, the completion of For the Queens of Heaven, and likewise the two further Tetrad++ books, some translations from Latin that I’ve wanted to do for–on a few occasions–more than a decade, and the editing projects on the cynocephali devotional and the queer magic anthology. This list is VERY far from exhaustive.

6) I have been very aware that my living space needs to be much cleaner, because it is intended to be not just my living, studying, and working space, but also a sanctuary for myself and others in terms of its functionality as a shrine to various gods where rituals can be held. I’ve resolved over the last month to get it done by August 1, then by August 13, and then by today…but, I’m really hoping it will actually be done by tomorrow, and that my failures today can lead to an increased resolve to get that taken care of…because it will help immeasurably in all sorts of other ways, too.

7) Speaking of shrines, I have wanted to create some virtual shrines here on the blog for the entire Antinoan pantheon (and perhaps some other friends/guests, too), but have not yet done so. I hope that may change by Foundation Day, if not sooner.

8) I continue in the very bad habit of not taking as good of care with my health as I (still) could, now that I have (some) insurance and can more easily defray the costs involved. I hope to be doing more regular exercise this coming quarter of college teaching.

9) And finally (for here and now), I have a ton to do with developing and further pursuing veneration of and contact with my genetic ancestors. There are a TON of problems there, and I suspect for a variety of reasons that my inherent lacks in that area may have been, and in fact existentially are, compensated for by my divine connections and my easier connections to the Ekklesía Antínoou’s Sancta/e/i as our lineal and group ancestors. That having been said, I need to get some divination and professional work done on this, I suspect, and so I need to put some money aside and belly up to the bar, so to speak, and get this done sooner rather than later, if possible…

So, those are the things I am most troubled by at present, and which I will be working the hardest to improve upon in the immediate future–I know I can make some headway on several of them with a little bit of elbow grease and the help of Disciplina, but others may take longer and more effort…Oh well, I’m willing to work at it!

I have more to write in a few moments…but, that part of my observance of the festival of the Lion Hunt is now complete. If this gives you insight into what my goals are, or just presents an occasion for schadenfreude for you: hey, then it’s been worth it. ;)

In the spirit of my entry from a few months back on whether Hadrian is more like Hades or Demeter, here’s another such syncretistic spot of speculative theology.

And remember: the “is” in the subject line above, and that underlies this entire discussion, is an “is” of metaphor, not an “is” of equation. ;)

Of course, Hanuman is in my thoughts quite a bit of the time, and is part of my daily practices. I’ve recently completed a 100+ hour look into him, and back in June, he also got involved in syncretistic relationships in my personal practices even more heavily than he had as a result of the Tetrad++ work. He’s appeared in my dreams on occasion (including a time I documented here), and I even wrote a story about him several years ago. As important as he is in teaching me about devotion, I can’t really get rid of his influences on me, nor would I really want to do so.

And, in the forthcoming Studium Antinoi: The Doctor’s Notes, Volume Two (which won’t be out until next year, at least), there will be an essay detailing how Hanuman is connected with or similar to Antinous in various ways. I still stand by that piece, but I think the present might be somewhat more interesting for various reasons…and may, thus, get incorporated into it at some point. We shall see…

In many respects, it would almost seem that Hadrian is more comparable to Hanuman for a variety of reasons. Antinous is a god, full-on, whereas Hadrian is ultimately only a Divus, which is much higher than many humans ever get to be, but still not as high as a god, or even as a hero. He was the first devotee of Antinous, and thus it is under Hadrian’s tutelage, whether we realize it or not, that all of us do devotion to Antinous. Hadrian was also a great warrior, a great traveler, and a great student, just like Hanuman. So, in certain respects, it would seem that Hadrian is more like Hanuman than Antinous would be.

And yet, if one takes the evidence of that very important ancient text for the understanding of Antinous and his cultus, namely the Obelisk of Antinous, then Antinous himself becomes more like Hanuman. The east side of the Obelisk is largely a prayer to Re-Harakhte by Antinous on behalf of the well-being of Hadrian and Sabina. (And anyone who thinks that Diva Sabina is marginal to the cultus of Antinous has to eat their words when this source is taken into account!) It is as if Antinous was their constant devotee, and still is (!?!), even though he is fully divine himself. Thus, Hadrian and Sabina are like the Ram and Sita of Hanuman.

And yet again: does it only have to be one or the other? Certainly not! The great thing about polytheism is that different deities can be just as devoted to one another as humans can be devoted to them. In Hinduism, Shiva worships Vishnu, and in some forms of the story, the love Shiva has (or shares) with Vishnu (or Vishnu’s female form, Mohini) comes to be incarnate in Hanuman himself. Thus, we can think of Antinous and Hadrian not unlike the human and eventually divine instantiation of the (non-pejorative) loves of Ganymede and Zeus, or Persephone and Hades, perhaps, if we are to use Greek models.

[I'm also just in envy of how many awesome images of Hanuman come up in a quick Google search! It would be great if the modern iconographic tradition of Antinous were this rich and varied...!?!]

[If anyone can tell me who the last two on the right are, I'd be grateful!]

Then there’s the phenomenon of Panchamukha (Five-Faced), or–as I just found out–Ekdash-Mukhi (which I’m guessing means Twelve-Faced?!?–so, suck it, eleven-headed Ravan!) Hanuman, which is as good an image of super-syncretism as could ever be imagined, I think. Who might the other four, or even eleven, faces of such a form of Antinous be? Here’s a rough guess at it:

Five-Faced:
1. Antinous
2. Hadrian
3. Hermes
4. Dionysos
5. Apollon

Twelve-Faced:
1. Antinous
2. Hadrian
3. Dionysos
4. Hermes
5. Apollon
6. Pan
7. Silvanus
8. Osiris
9. Attis
10. Adonis
11. Herakles
12. Poseidon

Interesting, eh? ;)

So, who wants to step up to make art for these things? Or, really, if you have any comments whatsoever on these matters, please feel free to share them.

…Whoever you might think they are–Thoth and Seshat, Hermes and Athena, Ganesha and Saraswati and Hanuman, Brigit the Poet and Lug, Odin, Ogmios, Mercury, WHOMEVER!!!–I could use any spare prayers you might have to offer these deities, and any others who might be the gods of computers.

I may have mentioned the other day that my desktop computer was non-functional. Yesterday, I was told by an Apple Genius the data could be recovered, but not by them, and luckily one of the places that can do it was closer than the nearest Apple store. I took it there this morning, and was told that if it is recoverable, it would probably be ready by the end of work today. I won’t find out until I’m done teaching my class this afternoon (it’s the first day of the quarter), but I am very hopeful…

If they are not able to recover it, then there are further options that can be pursued.

I will be extremely distraught if it doesn’t work out, as I have a lot of PDFs on there that I won’t be able to easily replace, not to mention pretty much all of my publications, and several further things I was working on…If it isn’t able to be recovered, Studium Antinoi: The Doctor’s Notes, Volume Two will not be do-able pretty much at all as it was originally planned, and it would likely take me 3-5 years to attempt to re-create it; if it is recoverable, then it should be done in the next year.

So, needless to say, THIS IS IMPORTANT. I’m hoping it all works out, and with the help of Antinous and many other gods, I hope to be reporting to you with positive news later this evening.

One day, someone doing literary archaeology on the Ekklesía Antínoou might find a few things that are “odd,” needless to say, in the earliest version of the Antinoan Petition which exists in my earliest Antinous ritual book. One of those things is the name “Antinous Philesios” (though given there as “Philesius”). It is one of several names that has dropped out or otherwise been revised as of the later versions of the Antinoan Petition.

But, how did it get there in the first place, and what exactly does it signify?

The first question is easier to answer than the second. To put it bluntly, there are a variety of names that were used in some of the early modern Antinoan prayers and other materials (and the Antinoan Petition dates from July of 2003 in its original form) that were simply harvested from the index of Royston Lambert’s Beloved and God without any critical or contextual consideration whatsoever, and were assumed to be connected with Antinous (because “why else would they be mentioned in the book otherwise?”), simply because the ostensible founder of the earlier Antinous group said so, and people including myself simply went along with it without question, which we should not have done. This example, however, is–I am ashamed to say–not one of those.

This one originates from my own researches into Antinoan matters, specifically through the essay on Antinous written by John Addington Symonds, in which he says the following:

The Bithynian coins generally give youthful portraits of Antinous upon the obverse, with the title of Heros or Theos ; while the reverse is stamped with a pastoral figure, sometimes bearing the talaria, sometimes accompanied by » feeding ox or a boar or a star. This youth is supposed to be Philesius, the son of Hermes.

On the following page, Symonds states:

Allusions to Harpocrates, Lunus, Aristeus, Philesius, Vertumnus, Castor, Herakles, Ganymedes, show how the divinising fancy played around the beauty of his youth, and sought to connect him with myths already honoured in the pious conscience.

In Lambert’s book, however, the attribution of the figure on the reverse of the coins is said to be “Hermes Nomios,” not Philesios. (And I don’t have Blum’s article on the numismatics of Antinous handy at present to check on what he suggests…) Pretty much all of these other attributions Symonds gives have verifiable connections to Antinous otherwise, but Philesios does not.

However, it’s not to say that they’re not connected in some strange way…but not through direct syncretism, but instead through shared temple space having to do with Hadrian.

In his Periplus Ponti Euxine, Arrian of Nikomedia writes to Hadrian that a statue of himself, as well as some other statues, in a temple on the Black Sea coast in Trebizond, is inadequate and needs to be replaced. The temple was for Hermes, it seems, but in addition to the Hermes statue and Hadrian’s image, there was also one of “Philesios.” Lambert, incidentally, suggests that this temple to Hermes was actually for Antinous-Hermes, but that is not clear by the statements from Arrian, so that suggestion should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

So, yet again: who is this “Philesios”? It is possible that he is a local hero, and perhaps even a son of Hermes, hence his inclusion in a temple of Hermes. However, the tendency has been to see Philesios as being connected to the temple complex of Apollon at Didyma, the second-most famous oracle of Apollon in the ancient world, where there was a statue of “Apollon Philesios” in honor of Apollon’s kissing of Branchos, who was either one of his sons or one of his mortal male lovers, and who was the eponymous founder of the Branchidae line that oversaw the temple at Didyma. It is thus an epithet of Apollon which specifically highlights his role in friendship and the making of alliances, so to speak. The image itself is likely the one shown above, often known as the “Apollon [by] Kanachos,” according to Pliny and others who applied the Philesios epithet to it.

Now, whether or not there was a pastoral hero and son of Hermes called Philesios that perhaps someone syncretized Antinous to in the ancient world, or whether the Hermes at the Trebizond temple where Hadrian’s statue was so badly done that Arrian needed to order another one was also syncretized to Antinous, we cannot say for certain. But, I think it might remain a conjectural possibility that we modern folks can add the epithet–whether it is a heroic syncretism or merely yet another Apollonian epithet that Antinous might be able to adopt, in token of friendship or in the favors between lovers–to Antinous in our modern cultus.

I don’t know: what do you think?

I have to admit, one of the things that initially appealed to me about Wicca when I first heard of it back when I was first getting into paganism and polytheism was the symbolism of the chalice, and in particular its (potential) connections to the grail mythos, which was HUGE for me in my late teenage years, since I’d had several visions and other experiences of something grail-esque before that, and before I even knew the (Christian) stories of the grail and its connection to King Arthur and so forth.

While a large part of that was a literary mystery that seemed inexhaustible, and was going to potentially be a subject for my own poetic explorations at some point, the literary mystery is pretty much solved as a result of John Carey’s work, and you need read only one book on the subject for all of the answers, full-stop.

However, the visual connections to chalices and other attractive, potentially magical drinking vessels, persists for me, I must say, and I have a few different vessels of various sorts that I use in rituals from time to time, and more in storage. But, at some point in the future, I’d love to add replicas of the following to my collection–but, would the replicas be something to drink out of, even in ritual, I wonder? Let’s see the examples first.

Since I spoke of the grail above, I must name this one first: the Ardagh Chalice, which is one of the treasures of Ireland that can be seen at the National Museum (for free!). I have spent several hours looking at it in there, and some of the other objects in that section of the museum known as the “Treasury.” Though it is a Christian object, it’s also a great example of high-status “Celtic” metalwork of the early middle ages, and one need not pay attention to the names of the saints on it or the cross in order to use it, I don’t think. Perhaps in important CR rituals, it could have both symbolic as well as practical usages. But, not unlike the medieval Irish, one might also have to provide a “liturgical straw” for it, so that people do not commit the “sin” of biting the rim of the cup while drinking from it (and no, that’s not a joke–they actually had such straws to prevent such sins!).

Then there’s this one, an object from the British Museum that I shall always connect with Antinous for various reasons, namely the Warren Cup, named for its first known owner, Edward Perry “Ned” warren (a Sanctus of the Ekklesía Antínoou), which was only acquired by the British Museum about fifteen years ago after languishing in obscurity in storerooms and such of museums too embarrassed to display it for decades. Ned Warren did write poems mentioning Antinous during his teenage years, it turns out (which I’d love to see!), and certainly would have known his story and appreciated his image greatly during his life and as he toured Europe and increased his own collections of ancient Greek and Roman art. The reason the Warren Cup and Antinous are connected for me, though, has to do with the British Museum–or, rather, the British Museum Store, specifically the one which used to be in terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport, where I spent a lot of time when I was going back and forth between the U.S. and Ireland from 2000 to 2006. I had not yet visited the British Museum itself when I went into the store and saw two different things: the Warren Cup replica they sold, and an Antinous bust they also sold (my first one, actually, which they now admit is really Hermes!). Little did I know at the time that Ned Warren and Antinous had other connections. In any case, it might be interesting to use in rituals for hero cultus and other events associated with the liturgical life of the Ekklesía Antínoou and modern Antinoan devotion.

What do you think? Replicas of these items are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, so it’s not as if I’ll be going right out to get these, even if I did have the money (there are other greater priorities meanwhile when funds become available), but if you had such objects, would you simply display them–whether on a shrine of a deity, tradition, or pantheon or otherwise–or would you actively use them for offerings to the deities concerned and other such uses? I’d be interested in your thoughts on these matters!

So, at last, the nine days of the Sacred Nights of Antinous are coming to an end for this year. It has been a strange nine days, to say the least…Many things did occur, some still have not, and others have occurred but not to the extent expected or desired. Such is life…

However, one thing does remain to be done, that I knew would be happening now, and I will do that at the end of the present post.

My biggest regret for this particular period is that a certain poem I was supposed to have written and shared on Foundation Day didn’t get shared, or even written. However, the “foundation” proper for it has been laid, and I think it needs to settle slightly before that can take place. I suspect this will occur before the Natalis Antinoi in less than four weeks. We shall hope so…

One of the most unexpected matters–apart from that one of the P.S.U. students did show up to my ritual–was that I received a very brief greeting from the head of the old Antinous group. I replied in kind. I don’t think we’ll be sharing a great correspondence like we used to in the old days, by any means, and probably won’t be talking with each other much at all as a result of this; and yet, something about it seemed appropriate, strangely. It was noteworthy, in any case (which is why I’m mentioning it here!).

I still have a number of devotional goals that I have also not met, some of which are going on several years now…but, I hope to perhaps make some progress on a few of those in the coming weeks and months that remain of this calendar year.

One thing which did occur is that a number of deity images arrived to me today, including a new Egyptian Antinous (in better shape than the other one I have), Bes, Tutu, and Arensnuphis (another lion-headed Nubian god); soon, Hathor will also arrive, so that with Bes and Antinous, the Antinoöpolitan Triad will be complete and will be at the center of my main shrine. (I already have two images of Hathor, but this one coming will match the other two more perfectly.) Ash also arrived, which means that Set will have a boyfriend to go along with his three (and soon-to-be four) wives, which is a good thing, too! ;)

And, I will be starting some ancestor work this evening, which I’ve been preparing for over the past several weeks. Now that Antinous the Liberator is fully here and operating, some of that work can occur on a more effective level, I think, than it would have otherwise. I was considering beginning on my maternal grandfather’s death-date, which was October 13th, but that didn’t pan out; so, instead, I’m beginning on his birth-date, which is today (Nov. 1), and it would have been his 90th birthday. I hope all goes very well with that.

So, finally, to the “big reveal” that I was going to do today, but which is something that actually happened in 2013, but which I didn’t even allude to quite in that post. It has to do with names.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of names. Names are like door-handles: they allow one to get access to something more easily, and the more of them there are, the more doors that can be opened, so to speak. This applies to deities, certainly, but I think it also applies to humans, particularly when there are situationally-appropriate names that go with particular traditions, roles, and so forth.

In my primary spiritual name that I use here, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, a lot of people have wondered over the years what the “P.” stands for. Way back when I wrote The Phillupic Hymns, I mentioned that the “P.” stands for Publius, but that I was sometimes called “Phillupus,” which I came up with many years before, combining my given name with “Lupus,” but the “P.” doesn’t actually stand for that, and never has; and, given the final name of Lupus in my spiritual moniker, that would be cumbersomely repetitive. The “P.” for Publius comes from me being named after P. Sufenas, the Lupercus from Naples who was the Phratriarch of Antinous in that city.

In an amusing occurrence several years ago, Eddy Gutiérrez/Hyperion Sanctus, at the end of an interview he did with me that was never broadcast, thought it stood for “Pater,” as in a religious title, which I later joked about in terms of him being the only person who has ever called me “daddy.” However, now it stands for something else.

In Egypt, there are lots of occasions where two people share each other’s names and they are combined together, like Niankhnum and Khnumhotep (shown here), who were probably lovers. There are also a variety of double theophoric names, like Sarapammon (from Serapis and Ammon), and there are a variety of these that occur with Antinous, like Hermantinous, Besantinous, etc. One of them which also does occur, though, which isn’t so much a double name (theophoric or otherwise), is Philantinous. When I first learned of that, I thought it was pretty presumptuous to take it for myself, even though the first four letters of it are part of my given name, and I’d had other names like that using those first four letters.

But then, last year, in early April of 2013, Freyr told me in an oracular session that I needed to take a new name in relation to my devotional status with Antinous, and when I asked if that was the name, he gave me an enthusiastic “Yes!” So, the “P.” now no longer just stands for Publius, or for Phillupus, but also Philantinous. Whether this indicates a current or eventual syncretism of sorts with Antinous, who can truly say, but nonetheless, from the god’s lips to the gods’ ears, perhaps…! ;)

So, just as Besa and Hir-Wer got new names when they become Antinoöpolis on Foundation Day 1884 years ago, so too as a result of this past Foundation Day, I’ve got a new name (though I’ve had it for a while) that must now be mentioned publicly.

For all of these gifts and unexpected blessings and wonders that occurred over the Sacred Nights this year, I say:

Hail, Hail, Hail Antinous the Liberator!