The Ekklesía Antínoou is excited to be participating in the upcoming Many Gods West conference this weekend, August 5-7, in Olympia, Washington. Members will be hosting a discussion and ritual on Saturday evening titled River Gods West: Antinoan Devotions to Cascadian River Deities
Much of Devotional Polytheism is local practice. Regardless of where our Gods originated we are often practicing our rites and devotions at our home altars or temples, in our local forests, and in the shadow of our local mountains. Antinous was made a God in the waters of the sacred Nile River in Egypt, but His devotees are all over the world doing devotion near their own local rivers. The Ekklesia Antinoou will host a discussion on how to bring wider mythology into local practice, and will invite attendees to participate in a devotional ritual to Antinous that honors River Gods and Antinous, focusing on the spirits and deities of various rivers worldwide, but especially the rivers of the Pacific Northwest and the Deschutes River in Washington that ends in Olympia.
We wish Christodelphia Mythistórima (Sister Krissy Fiction), Jay Logan, Otter, any other devotees of Antinous who will be present, and all those in attendance at the ritual and at the conference, the blessings of the beautiful boy on this undertaking!
The Magistrates of the Ekklesía would also like to remind readers that P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, while an esteemed devotee, scholar, and poet of Antinous, and founder of the Ekklesía Antinoou for whom we have much gratitude and respect, is no longer a member, does not speak for us, and has no authority to determine who may communicate with Antinous. Nor do we, as Magistrates, have any such authority.
We strongly affirm that any person, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ethnic origin, age, culture, disabilities, nationality, race, or socioeconomic status, may approach Antinous directly and worship him as they see fit, without recourse to the Ekklesía, or to any other person. The Ekklesía Antínoou defines ourselves as a queer, Graeco-Roman-Egyptian, syncretist, reconstructionist, polytheist group devoted to the spirituality and worship of Antinous and related divine figures. Our purpose is not to act as intermediaries between Antinous and individuals, nor to establish dogma or make proclamations on how individuals choose to fashion their own devotional practices. Rather, our hope is to offer information and resources here on the Naós Antínoou blog and web site, as well as our Facebook page, that will make it easier for individuals to approach our God in their own practice with confidence and respect, and seek His blessing, which is His to give or withhold as He chooses.
May the blessings of Antinous abound to all who will be in attendance at Many Gods West, and to all who practice devotion to him!
Ave Vive Antinoe!
Otter building an altar along the bank of Deschutes River, Olympia, WA.
Naos Antinoou: A Temple of Antinous 
Ave ave Antinoe!
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Good luck with it!
Point of order:
[P.S.V.L.] is no longer a member, does not speak for us, and has no authority to determine who may communicate with Antinous.
When have I ever claimed otherwise?
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So you have not told people not to contact Antinous? I’m afraid I may be hallucinating if so.
I look forward to attending this over the weekend, yall 🙂
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You’re taking that statement entirely out of context. That was in response to a very specific situation, in which I performed divination, and was given that message to convey by Antinous to the very specific people involved, as I wrote in my entry on this, and as I wrote in my message to the individuals concerned.
[If someone human had been wronged by another party, and a mutual acquaintance was asked by the parties wronging the individual could get in touch with the wronged person, and the wronged party said they didn’t want to be contacted by them and to tell the people who wronged them not to contact them, would that be something that you would respect? I’d think you probably would. That is the situation in the case in question.]
At every public occasion in which I presented on behalf of the EA, when I was the Magistratum, I said that I speak “from, but not for, the tradition of the EA.” I don’t know how it could be clearer than that.
If you are assuming that my divination with Antinous on that occasion was incorrect or corrupted, that’s an entirely different matter. You’re free to assume that, of course, and I can’t argue with you if you do assume that. If that is the case, though, then why should anything I’ve ever done in relation to Antinous be considered trustworthy?
These questions aren’t bad ones to ask, but they also have implications that I don’t think are entirely positive, either, in the present circumstances.
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