I know that videos are not very appreciated here on Substack. But for the kind of work that I do and the message I want to pass, they are a powerful tool.

I think it’s important to slow down and appreciate how long it takes for things to be made, with no editing for social media.

We as a society are so disconnected from each other that we don’t see the labour behind what we have around us: the food on our tables, the clothing we wear and the different art mediums we consume. The ideas of time and value are lost.

Everything is instant to us.

And with the rise of AI, the tendency is to get worse.

I have been working on this shirt collar for quite some time now (as I mentioned here), and it has been very satisfying to see how it’s unfolding.

So I hope this gives you a small glimpse on the unseen work behind everything.

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Cotton threads, 
on a bamboo cloth, 
and a thousand French knots. 

By blessed Starlight 
made manifest,
from Heaven to Earth,
in perfect marriage,
align my souls,
with cosmic wonders 
from above
descending,
to kiss the soil of my heart
where the Garden of Eros 
shall grow.

- A prayer 

Almost four years ago, I had just moved to Milan, started a new job (the first one after the pandemic), and really got into my spiritual practice.
I started paying more attention to my diet and lifestyle, getting back to my ballet classes, and tried to dedicate more time to my creative work. Anyway, there was a feeling of renewal and promise, combined with the colors and perfumes of spring, just like this year.

At that time, it had already been quite a while since I had worked on a project. The first one was my graduation collection in 2019 (mentioned here), and the second was an experiment during the lockdown (briefly mentioned here). So I was feeling the creative impulse again, to start something new. Something that reflected the beauty of spring and the promise of a new life.

The fact that I’m writing this in 2026 may already tell you that things didn’t go as I had planned back then...
From 2022 to 2025, many things happened: a big business trip that sent me to live in Paris for six months, being hospitalised three times and coming close to death, initiations and elevations, buying a new house and moving again, and many more “smaller” situations that made me put this project on hold. Even though, from time to time, especially between 2024 and 2025, I managed to nurture this project into something that I now see as concrete enough to be shown, at least as a work in progress.

Who for thy sake would give their manlihood
And consecrate their being; I at least
Have done so, made thy lips my daily food,
And in thy temples found a goodlier feast
Than this starved age can give me, spite of all
Its new-found creeds so sceptical and so dogmatical.

It all started with this poem by Oscar Wilde, The Garden of Eros.
The homoerotic undertones of his writing, describing the blooming of spring, were the seed that inspired this project, as they resonated quite a lot with my life experiences back then. The cultural context surrounding Oscar Wilde was also relevant to me: the ultimate dandy, involved with the Aesthetic Movement, the importance given to beauty and craft, and his influence on menswear. His style is a celebration of refined classical suits, carefully crafted, but always with what I think of as a “queer twist.”

The Fair Folk were also an inspiration.
In folklore, they are usually represented with regal and aristocratic clothing, rather than the “hippie dresses” commonly associated with pop culture representations of nature spirits today. They were dressed as lords and ladies, princes and princesses of the Otherworld.

So I wanted a menswear collection based on:

• soft tailoring

• a reflection on Wilde’s colorful and homoerotic representation of spring

• a highlight on craft

• an otherworldly vibe

This a holistic project, as it’s connected to a poetry collection I’m writing (with some poems already published here), and a series of embroidery art pieces.
So in the end, the whole project should be quite big (at least big enough for me, as an independent artist with a full-time job to balance).

I really can’t give any estimate on when it will be ready.
But I can show you the garden being planted, and its flowers growing...

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The collar

The first step of this collection was starting to work on this embroidered collar.
This was the very first thing I started back in 2023 and had to stop many times, due to hospitalisations, house moves, etc.

As you can imagine, it’s a very slow process, with many tiny French knots covering its surface. I’m using a bamboo fabric as a base, and cotton fabric to create this flowering effect. I wanted to create a “flower bed,” and it would be beautiful to cover a bigger surface than a collar, but for now I’m focusing on this small detail to see how it goes (working on it in breaks over three years definitely didn’t help).

When finished, this shirt will be part of an outfit that I have not yet started making.

The suit

This is my favorite piece so far, and also the first one to be completed.
I found this beautiful curtain fabric at a flea market in Milan and immediately thought it would fit my collection: the colors, the patterns, and its antique nature were distinctly “Garden of Eros” to me.

I started working on a classical suit with it, changing the trousers to make them oversized. The challenge was figuring out how to cut the fabric without ruining its pattern, and making sure it matched while assembling the garment. I tried to work with invisible stitches so I wouldn’t ruin the pattern. I wanted the fabric to look pristine even when the whole suit was finished.

Regarding the composition, the seller told me it was linen.
Quite frankly, I doubt that very much.
But as an upcycled fabric, I can accept it...

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The (second) suit

While with the first suit I changed the proportions of the trousers, with this one I decided to change the top. Instead of a classical jacket, I repurposed a bolero jacket that I had already made during the pandemic.

I made this jacket with a very structured and rustic hemp fabric, and I had many meters of this fabric left at home (I still do, actually). I still want to update the embroidery so it’s more in line with the color palette of this collection.

At that same flea market, I found another beautiful fabric that I wanted to use, as I felt it reflected the idea of the Garden. Based on the bolero, I made a pair of trousers in the same fabric to create the suit, keeping a classical shape, and added pocket details using the other upcycled fabric.

Since I thought the fabric was too beautiful to be limited to a small pocket decoration, I decided to make it a three-piece suit (technically not a suit because it’s not all made from the same fabric, but whatever...), adding a waistcoat to unify the bolero and the trousers.

Also, the buttons I used for this suit are my absolute favorite.

So, I have embroideries to finish and other pieces to sew, but slowly, the Garden of Eros keeps growing...

In the meantime, here you can check out other pieces of my work related to this project, until the whole garden blooms.

The Weave is a section of my publication where I explore aspects of fashion and costume history, and how they relate to the way we see and consume fashion today, with a special focus on material culture, craft techniques, sustainability, menswear, and queer masculinity.

This piece explores fashion as a symbol of overconsumption, superficiality, and the desire to maintain social appearances.

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The sumptuary laws became a fascinating subject to me, and I briefly mentioned them here and here, and how they were meant, in part, to keep society virtuous during a time of increasing wealth and material possession.

I truly believe that fashion, costume, and textile history exist at the same intellectual level as fields like history, sociology, and archaeology, and I have never quite understood why this cultural potential is so often overlooked, or why the fashion industry itself seems to promote the sense of superficiality that people associate with it.

By studying these laws and how people interacted with the moral values, clothing, and image of their time, I began to see patterns and dynamics that are still present today. Even though they may not provide clear answers, they can offer some insight on many aspects of contemporary fashion and how the public engages with it.

Fashion as a class battlefield:

Until the 13th century, clothing was primarily about functionality. It was during this period that attention to detail, materials, and meaning began to emerge. As my former costume history professor used to say, this marked the birth of fashion as a pursuit of aesthetics and opulence.

By the 15th and 16th centuries, a period marked by increasing social mobility, the bourgeoisie were getting closer to the nobility. Fashion became the medium through which these classes asserted their positions. Those who were not born into nobility but were rising economically began to seek out materials and garments associated with the aristocracy. In contrast, many nobles pushed for sumptuary laws not only to promote virtue, but also to reinforce class divisions.

“An English Puritan named Philip Stubbs writes in The Anatomie of Abuses (1583):”

“Now in England there is such a mixture of dress and with it such ridiculous exaggeration that any person is allowed to go about in any dress he may desire or procure by any means, so that it is really difficult to know who is noble, who is worthy of respect, who is a gentleman or who is not…”

“In La civil conversazione (1574), Italian diplomat Stefano Guazzo states:”

“The indiscretion of some ignoble rich people, who are not ashamed to dress nobly and bear arms meant only to knights … no distinction between their ranks is known any more, and you see that the peasants presume to compete in clothing with the craftsmen, and the craftsmen with the merchants, and the merchants with the nobles.”

And in 1565, an anonymous letter was written in Milan as a protest, stating:

If it were said that the great decorum of a city is the power of its clothes to distinguish at first sight the ignoble from the noble...

The height of this dynamic came in the 18th century, particularly in the court of Versailles. The nobles’ attempt to differentiate themselves from the bourgeoisie gave rise to increasingly extravagant fabrics, garments, and silhouettes. Versailles became the center of a fashion system driven by novelty and excess. Soon the first magazine to cover the idea of fashion, the Mercure Galant, would put Versailles as the official trendsetter, creating a sort of ‘trickle down’ fashion system:

1. The court of Versailles

2. The old nobility (and other royal and noble courts around the continent)

3. The Parisian high class

4. The ‘new rich’

5. The urban lower classes

6. The countryside

   

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Material culture

The rise of a new class with access to goods once reserved for the old nobility was not the only factor driving this culture of appearances. Economic growth also introduced new materials and production methods, often aimed at reducing costs.

People now had access to silk blended with linen, wool, or other cheaper materials, and decorative motifs and elements were getting smaller, requiring less time and fewer resources to produce. Knitted pieces started to replace garments that were traditionally made with woven fabrics, such as the tights, which could be considered one of the first cases of ready-to-wear, as people could buy the ready-made pieces directly, instead of ordering made-to-measure.

There was also the emergence of clothing rental for special occasions, allowing individuals to present themselves in a certain way without excessive expense. This enabled not only the wealthy bourgeoisie, but also the middle classes, to participate in this system of appearances.

Fashion people

The superficiality of this race for novelty and appearances within fashion soon became apparent. As the fashion system was closely tied to the French court, many of its critics were English writers, who viewed this consumption-driven approach as incompatible with values of modesty and moderation promoted by the growing Protestant culture of English society.

This little rant, written anonymously, shows the English opposition to the new fashion system:

Is there another nation on the face of the earth today that can compare with us in this abominable sin of pride? Our excess in dress would say no, for both men and women of all conditions and ranks, from the highest to the lowest, sin so monstrously...

... And just as men and women overindulge in the substance of their dress, so too do they daily display their abominable pride in their inconstancy, for no color, shape, or form satisfies them entirely.

But the English were not the only ones to speak out against this new way of dressing. The Dutch, influenced by similar Puritan ideals, also opposed the culture emerging from Versailles. Bernard de Mandeville, in The Fable of the Bees, described fashion as a tool for climbing the social hierarchy:

People, if they are not otherwise known, are usually honored according to their clothing and other adornments... This is what drives all those who are aware of their little merit to wear, if they can, clothes superior to their rank, especially in large and populous cities where obscure people can meet fifty strangers in an hour for one well-known person, and thus have the pleasure of being esteemed by a large majority not for what they are, but for what they appear to be. And this is too strong a temptation for many.

But what does all of this have to do with fashion today? If we look closer, these dynamics are still happening: The quiet luxury of the ‘old money’ people, mostly hidden from others, serves to distance them from the extravagance and attention-seeking of the ‘new rich’, who are desperate to be seen, envied, and desired. While those with no money, contemporary peasants consumed by social media and influencer culture, try at all costs to resemble the new rich, going for cheap knockoffs. Or for those of the working class with a bit more privilege, saving money in order to be able to show a designer piece. In the same way, the bourgeoisie started to consume the new inventions of the 15th century.

The mannerisms are also copied, transformed and exaggerated in order to portray a higher position, with an unnecessary sense of superiority, arrogance and bitterness. What is important is to not be perceived as what you really are.

It’s like the ouroboros: There is the urge to create and show perfect, fabricated version of yourself, in order to feel closer to those you aspire to be, which in turn will influence others more unprivileged than you to do the same. And those at the ‘top’ will continue to distance themselves further, feeding the fire that is the dissonance between the self and performance.

And the masses will stand in awe.

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Breeze, 
Gentle breeze, 
and green earth 
under my feet.
What is this place 
out of time 
and space?

The emerald serpent 
has bitten me, 
and fire invaded.

Breeze, 
gentle breeze, 
and with green earth 
under my feet.

I walk into
This place 
out of time,
full of desire 
for Life
that pulses, 
from the warmth 
and bees flying,
flower to flower. 

Breeze, 
gentle breeze,
and green earth 
under my feet.

I hear 
the distant sea,
Her roaring 
voice calls to me,
and I dance
one with the waves.
Touching green earth 
under my feet.

I tasted
the sweet fig
from this holy tree.
The seed 
Of lust 
Is now in me. 

Breeze,
gentle breeze,
who touches 
my skin
and open me bare,
with fresh 
green Earth 
under my feet. 

I have tasted
every fruit 
of this Eden. 
The knowledge 
of life, love
and lust 
are in me, 
and the Body
is the key,
to Mysteries 
revealed.
This body, 
electric, 
that feels,
smells and dances.
A body that 
tastes and kisses.

In love and pleasure,

A body
that lives.
With this gentle 
breeze, 
and green earth 
under its feet.

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It has been quite some time that I don’t publish any poetry here, so I decided to share one for my first post of February.

A step into the Garden of Eros, and how it unfolded during meditation and by working with the Mysteries.

Uniting body, mind and spirit through Divine Ecstasy.

from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

As I already said it here, It may be a bit pretentious to start this piece with a Darwin quote, specially when it’s about something ‘serious’ as fashion and clothing, but I’m fascinated by the idea of metamorphosis that it evokes to me: Fibers and raw materials being transformed into woven textiles, that in turn, will be used as pieces to cover and transform our image into how we want to be perceived.

Before I started fashion school, my knowledge and consumption of clothing was done with basically no reflection on materials, construction and labor. I would wear cotton or polyester, and never understand why the Brazilian heat was hotter and more unbearable every time I had the later on my body. I also didn’t care about what cotton I was wearing, the tinctures used, and how it was cultivated. Which is normal, as people outside of an industry are not obliged to know its technicalities in extensive detail. Things obviously changed when I started to research more about different textiles and fibers, either for my own creations or for buying new pieces.

Hemp was the first one to get my attention, probably because back then it was a completely new finding for me. It sounded like a miraculous fiber when I first heard about it: A durable and resistant fiber and yet, it softens with use, improves soil health and requires less water and no pesticides for cultivation, it’s UV resistant, breathable and naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic. I also loved the aesthetic of it. Raw, a bit wrinkly and soft.

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Bamboo was the second big one that I got into. It’s also breathable, antimicrobial, hypoallergenic and UV resistant. But different from hemp, it looks much more refined and sophisticated as a fabric in my opinion. Sometimes it can get closer to silk, although it still wrinkles depending on where and how you wear it. What sets me back with bamboo is that although the fiber in itself is sustainable and has health benefits, it can be produced in a way that requires a lot of resources and produces a lot of waste. It’s still better than regular cotton and polyester, but it requires more research if one is looking for the most sustainable option.

Nettle soon came to my radar too, with very similar properties as hemp, but it has more strength and durability, it’s fast growing. In my opinion, at least by the fabrics I could find, I also think that nettle looks and feels more sophisticated and refined in comparison to hemp. Its a very versatile fiber. I once made a cardigan with a nettle jersey fabric and it’s quite warm, but I also worked with lightweight and almost transparent nettle woven textiles.

These three fibers were giving me the excitement of discovery, and still are the ‘shinning things’ that I look for when I want to star a new project or get a new piece. But when I think about mainstream availability, there are indeed better options for people who are not really into fashion, or that don’t want to spend much time researching about fabrics:

Linen has all the properties of hemp and nettle. It’s perfect for summer as it absorbs and dries moist quickly, and as it has a low elasticity, it also has the rustic and wrinkly aesthetic of hemp. It’s by far one of the most available and affordable sustainable fibers for sewists, fiber artists, designers and consumers. Last summer I had the opportunity to visit Belfast, which has a rich history as a linen capital and wrote about it here.

Organic cotton is a tricky one. The advantage is that it doesn’t require the use of pesticides and other toxic substances, and it’s also relatively easy to find. But in terms of water and land usage, there is no difference from regular cotton. Regenerative cotton might be the most sustainable option, growing the fiber with practices that improve soil health and biodiversity. But for the sake of transparency, I must say that I couldn’t find any fabric made of regenerative cotton yet. Maybe I have to make more research about it, or if there is a company that sells it near me.

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But besides being environmentally friendly and having many benefits to the human body, another aspect of natural fabrics that I’m obsessed with, is how serene they look. Something that I believe to be truly beautiful.

There are many sustainable ways to dye a fabric, but I just love this clean slate visual that they have in their natural form. A sense of softness that doesn’t disrupts. A calmness when you gaze at them, and how it feels when they touch your skin. I like to use small embroidery and fabric manipulations as a form of decoration, but never too much, in order to keep this otherworldly purity.

It may sound exaggerated, but having this sort of connection to what you consume is also a way to reduce unnecessary waste. Sustainability is not only about the most optimal and innovative material, but a change in mindset: It’s when we ask ourselves why we need something, and what it means to us, and then everything has more depth and intention. Is a way of self reflection, and really paying attention to your thoughts and needs. It’s a way to consecrate your life, to make it holy and connect yourself to the environment around.

When I started to dress with the forest 
We were together as one. 
I returned a body to dust 
and earth
In a weaving of (re)connection,
Of a thousand fingers
Who threaded every fiber.

Barefoot, wild and free. With a yellow band on her waist, she unties the love knots. Freeing herself from any social bond and rules.

“Mit vir der Wellein” (Meaning “with your consent” in old German) is written in this brothel pillow case found in Basel in the 1400’s. I had the privilege to see this piece in an exhibition in Zurich (mentioned here) that I visited over a year ago.

In the scene, we can see a prostitute with a flower garland on her hair, a flowing dress and a yellow band on her waist, untying love knots from a tree with our consent, as she says. A provocation, as regardless of how she is seen and how marginalized she is for her ‘crimes’, she can only perform her deeds by the request and desire of the righteous men who throw stones at her.

But how do we know that she is indeed a sex worker? There were many dress codes, laws and signals regarding clothing in that period, and wearing a yellow waistband was one those. This knitted wool piece shows how they were viewed as deceivers, untying love knots symbolizing the sanctity of marriage. The yellow band was symbolic because the color was a considered a symbol of deceit, infidelity and treachery, and often used in art to represent characters related to it.

This affresco shows the “Juda’s kiss”, at the Capella degli Scrovegni, in Padova, Italy. Painted by Giotto, it shows the most famous treachery of Christianity, and even in her, the yellow mantle was used to dress Judas as the traitor.

In another Affresco, we can see Judas selling himself to the Devil, accepting the silver coins as a payment for his services.

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But the presence of a yellow band was not the only instrument used to signal the virtue of a woman as already from the late 1200’s, a series of laws regarding dressing were put in place.

They varied, concerning the length of the dress, how colorful it could be, and how many jewels and stones could be used to decorate the garment. There were also a number of limitations on textiles, where elaborated patterns and materials like silk were forbidden. The idea was not only to promote modesty against indecency, but also to suppress any expression of individuality.

Social class and different stages of life played a role on what one could wear or not. Most noblewomen were allowed to wear more expensive and detailed textiles and jewelry if the cut of the garment itself was modest enough, while unmarried young women were allowed to be a bit more ‘extravagant’ as a way to call the attention of potential suitors.

With time, the pursuit of modesty went hand in hand with social stratification, with the introduction of taxes and fines for illegal garments. In Florence, one could simply pay a fine, mark and declare their piece of garment, then they would be good to go. A luxury that lower class citizens couldn’t afford.

So, a summary of Tuscany’s Sumptuary laws:

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• Textiles: Too many colors, patterns and decorations such as embroidery, stones, pearls and beads were forbidden, along with fibers like silk. Not only women, but also men were allowed to wear one or two colors in the same outfit while simple and geometric patterns were allowed. Embroidery pieces were allowed, as long only the hems were embroidered, and no gold thread was used.

• Headpieces: It was a custom of the time to make braids intertwined with cloth stripes. Naturally, silk, pearls and jewelry were forbidden and the look needed to be the most modest as possible. Head garlands were also allowed, and often were used as a way of styling without catching the attention from legislators.

• The undershirt: As it was an underwear, it wasn’t contemplated by the regulations, as it was a given that were supposed to be hidden. They were usually made of cotton or linen.

• Giubba: It was worn write above the undershirt, but it was still considered to be an intimate undergarment. But the presence of legislation to regulate how they should be made indicates that there were moments when they were supposed to be seen in certain contexts. The pieces could be bi-color, divided in half or striped.

• The tunic: Also called Gonnella, the first piece to be worn and seen, it covered both the Giubba and the Undershirt. It could be worn both on a domestic or elegant environment. It was a long piece of dress, following the measurement guidelines, with no waist line and very fitted sleeves. The sleeve buttons should be sown in a straight line, couldn’t be made of gold, and if silver was used, it had a weight limit. The number of buttons also couldn’t surpass the elbow.

• Guarnaca: Almost like an ‘over tunic’. It was worn over the Gonnella, and had larges sleeves so the ones from the under tunic could be seen. Both pieces were usually worn with matched fabrics, or with a two-color contrast.

• The mantle: It was one of the most important pieces to indicate statues and social class of the woman wearing it. Unmarried woman could wear mantles with simple ornaments and decorations (always avoiding pearls and too much gold and other precious stones), and using fur as lining was also forbidden.

• Footwear: There aren’t many rule regarding footwear, as they were supposed to be hidden by the length of the Guarnaca, with the exception of places like Florence, where decorations such as embroidery and leather-carving were forbidden. The general rules regarding footwear were more related to the erotic nature the feet had to them, as it was forbidden for shoemakers to touch a woman’s feet.

• Fur: Artisans needed a license to work with the most precious fur such as stoat, which the use was also reserved to member of the higher class, such as nobles, doctors, knights and lawyers and their wives.

• Belts: As usual, precious materials like silver threads, gold, jewels and stones were forbidden, and there was a weight limit on the belts that could be worn. Teenagers and unmarried young woman were allowed to wear more decorated pieces.

• Bags: Small bags attached to the belt or gonnella usually had the same restrictions as the belts, regarding the presence of precious materials and decoration. But women in general were not supposed to wear them, as shown in most artistic representations, they were usually reserved for men.

• Gloves: A symbol of power, they were reserved to member of high society, as long as they were not made of silk. Interesting enough, prostitutes were also obliged to wear white gloves as a sign of recognition. For that reason, women that were not outcast from society usually wore blue gloves.

  

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As mentioned before, all of these rules could be avoided by the noblewomen and wives of lawyers, doctors and knights as long as they kept the desired standard of modesty. And with time, most of the Sumptuary laws turned into a way to raise funds and taxes for the State, being less about morality and more about who can ‘flex’ their status.

In this scenario, prostitutes were in a particular position. In some places in Tuscany they were indirectly allowed to be as extravagant and lavish as they could afford, as by being prostitutes, they were not even considered worthy of being regulated by society’s virtue based laws, but were required to wear some identifier such as white gloves and yellow scarves sometimes. The relationship of Yellow color and the lack of morals, with the yellow band or scarf, was kept in most of Italy and German speaking countries.

Other European regions had their own identifiers and regulations, like in France and England, where they were forbidden to wear jewels, fur or other ‘respectable’ garment pieces. Caps and Striped hoods were also a common piece for prostitutes. In Milan they wore black cloaks, while the striped hoods were common in Britain. Switzerland was a particular case, as we have art showing the usage of the yellow band (see the tapestry in the beginning of the post), but also the presence of red caps in cities like Zurich and Bern.

Most of my references for this piece are from the past exhibition “Bodies in the middle age” in Zurich, and from the book “Moda a Firenze e in Toscana nel trecento” (Fashion in Florence and Tuscany in 1300) for those who can read in Italian :)

But the Sumptuary laws are a vast subject, with a lot of regional and chronological variations. So I hope you enjoyed this small summary, and that it might inspire you to take your research further.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think.

Down on my tree
I see you.
Your face is the universe,
and your hands 
black as the Cosmos
are on mine.

I see you,
dressed of moonlight.
Moving
space and time 
with dance. 

I see you,
celestial child
of the Mother Divine.
Under blessed Light
I see you, 
and your dance 
reveals to me
the Mysteries
of Her.

I see you,
my sibling of the moon, 
as the Faerie blood 
in me, 
is the same in you. 

“Scent,
seducing.
So sweet is He.
His pink skin calling unto me.
And then I was one with Him,
when the Garden was growing
on my wrists,
and my veins burning
In purest fire.
When I laid back in the bed
of Hyacinths and Dandelions.
My hands were His,
and He touched myself
with blessed and soft fingers.
Possessed in ecstasy so high,
to bring forth
the brightest starlight.”

This was my very first post on Substack, and the beginning of a cozy and stimulating journey on the social media landscape.

It was also the first post of a series that I desperately need to update: Queer Folklore. As I mentioned in my post, this embroidery was inspired by the myth and Dionysos and Prosymnus, and how the Fig may be related to queerness and desire.

The embroidery is made with cotton thread on a linen cloth, that was later used as a pocket for a Linen over shirt also made by myself. Not before being properly consecrated on my Shrine to Antinous-Dionysos.

My best friend then proposed a trip to Belfast.

I was always fascinated by the emerald Island, and spent time there to study English in Limerick some years ago. I was in love with the fairy lore, the landscape and the homeland of two of my favorite writers: W.B Yeats and Oscar Wilde. So I was down to return there.

I was positively surprised when a trip inspired by folklore, poetry and connection with nature actually became an opportunity to learn an interesting piece of fashion and textile history, and how Belfast is the center for one of my favorite fibers to work with.

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A folk production

As with many other fibers and spinning techniques, the production of linen was mostly done in the countryside by children and women who would perform a long manual process of turning flax seeds into fiber and thread. Men would then take part in the process of weaving the threads into fabrics with spinning wheels and hand looms. The result would be a brown linen textile, sold at markets to be bleached and dyed. Although it was a long and intensive process, Ireland was already known for its Linen production, exporting most of it to England.

The first changes into the traditional, and familiar production of linen in the countryside started with the arrival of French Huguenots, Calvinist protestants who settled in Northern Ireland by the end of the 17th century, bringing with them new work force and techniques. The Linen Board would then be established in 1711 to oversee the growth of new ways of production and to import newer and better seeds into the country, and in 1784, the White linen Hall was built in Belfast in a way to compete with the linen market of Dublin.

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The birth of an Industry

In 1845 the company called Combe Barbour was created, and this would raise the levels of production from countryside tradition to a urban industry. They were located in the Falls Road area of West Belfast, and produced machinery not only for linen textile, but also for other fibers such as jute, hemp, rope and cotton. Another historical machinery manufacturer was James Mackie & Sons, who would also export their machines worldwide.

As we all know by now, the process of industrialization created a way for a faster and cheaper production, that traditional handmade methods from the countryside could not compete. The rural exodus then started, with a large a migration flow into the city, with people looking to work in the new linen mills.

The industry had another boom in 1861 with the outbreak of the US civil war impacting the supply chain of US cotton and increasing the demand for Irish linen.

By 1900, over 65.000 people worked at the Irish linen mills, mainly in Belfast. The working conditions weren’t easy, working for 6 days a week for over 12 hours per day. Most workers were women who continued to work after marriage, or who returned right after child birth. Work safety varied according to occupation, with the final stages of production such as embroidery, having a very low pay but safer and healthier working conditions.

Today, at least within the Irish linen industry, the working conditions are far better. Although textile and garment workers around the world, are still working under the same (or worse) conditions than those from the linen mills of over a hundred years ago.

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A sustainable fiber

In terms of sustainability, linen is far superior than cotton by needing less resources to be produced, but this is not their only benefit:

• Flax plants are CO2-neutral

• Flax grows without competing with directly with food crops

• It’s a durable fiber, that also becomes softer with use.

• It’s lightweight and breathable, and in the context of menswear, is perfect for summer suits.

Some of my creations in Linen here

“And then I became almost an idolater: I acquired a statue of Aphrodite, to which I burnt incense and brought flowers every morning.”

Besides all its problems, Milan is considered the “gay haven” of Italy, with the whole neighborhood of Porta Venezia dedicated to the Queer community. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to me that there is also an entire book store dedicated to Queer and Feminist literature.

If I decided to write a Substack for every book and subject one can find there, and how it relates to Queerness, from fashion and art history to poetry, literature, cinema and political science, I wouldn’t have the time to write about anything else. So for now I will focus on a particular book that I found there: The “Confessions of an Italian invert to Émile Zola”. (Or confessions of a homosexual if we make a literal translate of the title in the Italian version.)

As I’ve written on this note, the book offers great insights on the Fashion and elements of gay social customs of the time, and some behaviors that we can even see among gay men today.

Comprising a collection of anonymous letters, written by an Italian noblemen to the famous French writer Emile Zola as a form of a confession and liberation. A way to offer himself to be studied (a touch of narcissism that is very easy to grasp by his letters) and find an explanation for his condition. Which in the end, turned into a celebration of his sexuality, vanity and aestheticism.

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The male figure

Our anonymous aristocrat brings us to 1889, during the reigns of King Umberto I of Italy and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Although there is no clear indication of who he is, we do know that he is from a minor noble family from Naples, and mentioned that his grandfather married an English noblewoman. This marriage was the introduction of the Anglomania in the family, and had a direct influence on his fashion sense.

“I enjoy the correct and straight chic of the English, from which we follow all the simple and singular fashion. I love the black, which enhances my blond and gracious image. I also enjoy the most interesting shirts and undergarments and the most elegant and fashionable boots”

A direct quote from the book, with a rough translation from Italian. It shows us not only his (low-key obnoxious) vanity, but also an idea of the menswear of the time, specifically the English. Or at least, the idea of how it was perceived by an Italian nobleman.

Already entering the 90’s and following the English fashion, he probably would be wearing a morning coat in a matched three-piece suit, all in black as his preference. The morning coat was originally worn by upper class men as riding coat, but by the 50’s it had replaced the Frock as the preferred formal wear.

Combining some research with what he says in the letters, I believe his morning suit to be made as it follows:

• Matching V-notch lapels for both the coat and waistcoat

• Single breasted waistcoat, made with the same fabric as the trousers and coat. Usually black or dark gray. It could be decorated with a golden watch-fob that our Italian aristocrat probably used.

• The edges of the coat are cut as a soft and fluid line towards the back, which was the most iconic aspect of the morning coat, together with two decorative buttons on the back.

• By the 90’s, the hem of the trousers would have a crease down the front of each leg.

• A cravat. Usually gray or blue.

• The morning coat would have three to five buttons.

• A hat was usually part of the outfit, although it was becoming more reserved to formal settings with the times.

• Cuff links and cravat pins could also be worn as part of the outfit.

• He also mentioned his use of the Mosche(wasps): Small fake skin moles, that were usually made of cloth.

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The Aesthete

Throughout the letters, the anonymous aristocrat shows a characteristic that is common to many queer people: The desire for Beauty and a Passion for the arts.

By analyzing more of his quotes, and my own experience as a queer creative, the answer for this sensibility might be on the very oppression and emotional distress we feel while growing up.

…I desired and called for death, in the horrible solitude that I was in…

…And why should I be ashamed for what I have done? Wasn’t Nature’s first mistake to condemn me to an eternal sterility.

All of my thoughts and excitements were dedicated to the Heroes… I still remember the sweet emotions on those long moments passed on the Museum’s corridors, where I could see the beautiful Heroes and naked Gods.

Even though from time to time I torment myself with laments for not being men enough or a woman. I enjoy comparing myself to the mythical Heroes, and that Hyacinth and Ganymede were not different from me, and were loved and adored by the most powerful and beautiful Gods.

In my experience, many queer people become very introspective because of the suffering from the outside world. We start to look within, and be more aware and open to our feeling and emotions (regardless of how dark they can be). We also start to look for places that we might feel safe, so our sensibility leads us to a world of Beauty. Where we can see our love, desires and identities made manifest through the lens of art.

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The shadow

I don’t feel the need to put the exact quotes from the book, as they might be triggering for some people (something to also take into account before picking up the book).

In his letters, the anonymous aristocrat makes many remarks that are problematic to say the least. We can see misogyny, internalized homophobia, some form of what we would call transphobia today, racism, antisemitism, classism and elitism.

They might offer a tool to study the culture and mind of the time, as I don’t think his contemporaries were much more tolerant than him, but these aspects of his letters and thought can offer us a reflection that many gay men and other marginalized people need to make: Being part of an oppressed group does not exclude you from participating in other forms of oppression.

Unfortunately it is not uncommon to find gay men expressing and defending ideas that go against our own broader community, especially those who can pass as the ideal hyper masculine white male. It’s a phenomenon that it’s still present today and has been part of the gay community since forever.

(The book ‘Faggots and their friends between revolutions’ (mentioned here) explore this struggle between faggots, fairies and lesbians against the empire of men, of which some queer men were complicit.)

So may we always search for Beauty, through fashion, art and pleasure. But also through community, healing and acceptance, so we may finally dissipate the shadows.

Love is One, and One is All

References:

• “How to read a suit” by Lydia Edwards

• “The perfect Gentlemen” by James Sheerwood

• “The Italian invert - a gay man’s confession to Émile Zola"

I was walking 
in the garden of the Goddess,
purified 
and dressed 
by the infinity 
of the sky.

In this garden 
Born of Her lust, 
The Flower Prince dances,
and His perfume is
this stirring fire.
From Him is the Eros
that brings forth 
Life.
The seduction 
of bees, pollinating,
and the fecundity of
the sacred creatures 
in the Garden...
All come 
from His gift 
which is desire. 

I was walking 
In the Garden of the Goddess,
Cleansed and bare.
Intoxicated,
Full of desire,
Full of Him.
Who was One
With me.

I was walking...

And He led me there, 
by earnest scent 
and burning fire
to this watery 
mirror, reflecting 
the endless
of galaxies.
"Who is this God
In front of me?"
I asked, gazing
The calming surface.

"I am all that you see.
I am you, 
And you are me" 

I was walking 
in the Garden of the Goddess
and the Flower Prince 
danced to me.
In blooming,
The sacred incense 
that was His skin, 
A key to Mystery: 
"Behold! 
And look how Beautiful 
I am!" 
His dance revealed 
to me, what I cannot see: 
A Love that vanishes
within time,
Eternal and ephemeral.

The Mystery of myself.

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- Botanic Garden of Padova, Italy

It’s passing the thread through the needle with patience.

It’s hand-stitching calmly and carefully,

It’s to feel and manipulate the fabric, the textures

and remind yourself from where those fibers came

It’s loving the creative process made manifest

by your own hands or by others,

and find community in the knowledge

everything you own and make,

in one way or another,

needed to pass through the hands of hundreds of people,

from the simple natural elements of the Great Mother,

to the thread and fabric you stitch

to bless your body.

More at: A Slow fashion fairy tale

"A story told in a dream

About the boy who was taken,

Covered by the purest threads.

A tale about the Boy and the Fairy Prince."

This project was the end of a long and complicated journey, and the beginning of a never ending story that I bound myself to tell.

I graduated from fashion school six years ago, and by the end of my third year, when I was supposed to design and produce my final collection, I was completed disenchanted by where I was and what I was doing. My mental health struggles didn’t allow me to follow the course as I wanted, and the whole fashion environment was making me doubt my career of choice.

So I asked myself: “How can I finally end this, without throwing away all the time and money spent for this course?”

And I found two guiding principles that I used during this process, and that I wanted to manifest into the world through my work:

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Slow Fashion -

“A movement that seeks to slow down the current fast paced routine of the fashion industry. That seeks to promote craftsmanship, respect for the people and the environment, and artistic and self expression over trends and over-consumption.”

I started with fashion school after a year of studying Art History in Florence.

I had a passion for costume and fabrics, and felt the need to do something more practical than just the study of the history of art. But I must confess that I didn’t know anything about fashion and how the industry actually works.

I threw myself into a place of over-production, marketing-induced mental health issues, harmful standards and stereotypes and a complete disregard for the impact we have in the environment. So I wanted my work to be the opposite of that.

What is slow fashion to me?:

It’s passing the thread through the needle with patience.

It’s hand-stitching calmly and carefully,

It’s to feel and manipulate the fabric, the textures

and remind yourself from where those fibers came

It’s loving the creative process made manifest

by your own hands or by others,

and find community in the knowledge

everything you own and make,

in one way or another,

needed to pass through the hands of hundreds of people,

from the simple natural elements of the Great Mother,

to the thread and fabric you stitch

to bless your body.

And at the risk of sounding pretentious, this quote from Darwin (that also inspired an album of my favorite band), even though he was talking about evolution and a completely different subject, to me it summarizes the creative power of transformation we have in our hands:

As I said, it may sound pretentious to relate this quote to just “making clothes”, as nowadays craftsmanship is not valued, and fashion as whole is considered to be vein and non-important by the majority of people.

But it’s part of our history and our development in the world, as we are a species of ‘crafters’. It’s part of our cultural heritage, on how we study the past and also it’s how many communities still pass their tradition to the generation to come. It’s also an act of resistance against the mindless production and consumption present in our culture since the industrial revolution.

Crafting is a powerful thing, and I like to highlight the grandeur of it.

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A walk into Faerie-

I needed a source of inspiration that wasn’t a reflection of the “trend’s forecasting” mentality that was pushed during the lessons.

Maybe it’s not the best ‘business plan’ to focus most of my art on spirituality, since it was my career of choice, and faith and religion are touchy subjects to a lot of people. But I couldn’t do something that is not ‘me’, as narcissistic as it may sound…

During the time of my graduation I wasn’t initiated and ordained as Priest yet, but Spirituality always had a considerate space in my life. I was used to write poetry and do other forms of creative media to put out my experiences with meditation and trance work.

An attempt to manifest glimpses of the other side through my work.

This process of making art based on spiritual experiences is actually quite common among other Witches, regardless of initiations and different traditions.

We are a community of artists, writers, performers and seekers of Beauty.

So if I wanted to escape the industry’s mentality, it was only natural to look for what was already a big part of my life.

Most of the process came from meditation, prayer and offerings in the altar of the Gods, but also by looking into the work of other artists, who even though might not have a spiritual element to it, were inspired by the same folklore and legends that are the basis of Neo-paganism today.

I remember that Loreena McKennitt’s interpretation of ‘Stolen Child’ by W.B Yeats, and the work of Brian Froud, with his illustrations and oracles of the world of faerie were very influential to me.

“Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.”

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And so, that’s how my graduation collection came to be.

A collection Inspired by the imperfection and asymmetry of nature, using linen as the most important element and handcrafted modifications, creating textures and shapes through the fabrics.

I look at them now, and can see a lot of imperfections and techniques that were not well executed.

But I also see the progress I made during my 3 years of study, what I can do now after 6 years of graduation, and all the journey I need to continue, to learn and practice things that are not yet part of my skills.

It’s an old collection, and I didn’t produce that much during this time (especially during the pandemic). But that collection set the tone for all of my creative work, and sometimes I still use the old patterns for new creations.

And that is the whole point of being Slow…

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I seek something 
that I cannot see,
but that I feel
as I walk down 
the stream
of fresh water,
at his most holy 
Garden. 

I seek something 
that is not of this world
and yet, 
It’s all around
as I feel the warmth 
on my skin 
from this golden light 
that burns sweet desire. 

The Flower Prince 
is within me
through sweat 
and sweet scent 
of daffodils. 

His lips are 
on me,
by the taste 
of succulent 
red of oranges
and scarlet nectar 
that kiss my body. 
A nourishment 
of the senses from a world 
beyond and within myself. 

I seek something 
that I cannot see. 
But I feel it
when my perfumed Prince
comes inside me. 

- H. Gibaldi 

Love is One, and One is All

I want to be like Narcissus.
To drown into the cold 
spring waters 
of the Mother. 
To the self,
and ego dissolve. 
To be one
with the streams of life. 
To surface, purest 

in yellow bright. 

- “A desire”
H. Gibaldi

Last Friday we had the first quarter Moon in Cancer, and to those who follow the modern Religion of Antinous, this moon is called the “Narcissus Moon”.

We all know the story of Narcissus, but it’s relation to Queerness in Art history and literature are not very well known.

The original myth of Narcissus can be seen as a cautionary tale about excessive vanity, but throughout history it was retold by many artists an writers as a tale of dying for the beauty of a forbidden love. A impossible desire that he can’t fulfill.

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He is the source of inspiration for the work of many famous gay poets, such as García Lorca, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Oscar Wilde.

Poor Narcissus

Your dim fragrance

And the dim heart of the river

I want to stay at your edge

Flower of love

Poor Narcissus

Ripples and sleeping fish

Cross your white eyes

Songbirds and butterflies

I so tall beside you

Flower of love

Poor Narcissus

How wide-awake the frogs are

They won’t stay out of the surface

In which your madness and my madness

Mirrors itself

Poor Narcissus

My sorrow

Self of my sorrow

- “Narcissus” by Fernando García Lorca. Roughly translated to English.

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The myth found a place for itself in the work of Aesthetic and Decadent artists, as a celebration of not only an idealized male beauty, but of a beauty and desire worthy dying for.

Or on a mystical sense, such as the Narcissus Moon of Antinous, an embrace of self-love. Removing distractions and focusing on the reflection you see in waters of your own consciousness.

It is forever gazing into its own reflection and whispering to itself: You are Divine! The reflection and the viewer are one and the same. The Spirit of Narcissus is the Divinity which holds a mirror up to ourselves.

A very particular poem to me, that I wrote while recovering from surgery. I would spend most the day just laying in bed, staring at my window and imagining life outside. 

As the bird eats
The succulent fruit,
and flowers are kissed
by the host of bees,
I see creatures in my garden
from a world unseen.
Behind perfumed
evergreens.

I see creatures in my garden,
hidden at the trees.
All those luminous eyes
behind the shadows,
staring back at me.

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There is infinity in heaven,
A space in between
Where the land meets the sea.

I walk with my feet
At the pink sand,
In this sacred Island,
alone among the stars.

By perfume of crocuses
and lilies, the trail was made,
to the mysteries of the Grove
where the incense is burnt.

There is Fire within 
all who came in Her name,
In the warmth of spring
with fine linens on our skin,
coming together
In touch and kiss.

And She who bears witness
To this dance of lust,
blesses The land
With ever flowing breasts.

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A realization of the Mysteries

All quiet and slow
with bird’s singing 
popping 
on my head and soul
as I walk, hear and feel
my feet into the soil. 
Bathed in light 
that is golden and warm 
into my skin, 
this heavenly fire.

Lost in this maze
of Earth green 
and colorful sparkling
by spirits unseen 
to those who cannot see,
but showed to us. 
For we are one with them:
Blood from Earth 
and body from Stars.
Under the ever watching Eye
of our Queen
on Her throne Alpine. 

- H. Gibaldi

This piece came into my mind some weeks ago, while I was walking in the gardens of the Venaria Reale in Torino, where I had the privilege to visit my first exhibition dedicated to the work of William Blake and his contemporaries. Inspired by the art and ideas presented at the exhibition, and in communion with the denizens of the invisible world of that garden.

Of course I could never claim my work to be in the same level as Blake`s, but he has a direct influence on me, both artistically and spiritually, since I found a pocket translation of his “The marriage of heaven and hell” in an small newsstand in Rio de Janeiro over 12 years ago.

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The magic of polarity -

Much of what interests me from Blake`s work, comes from his claims about receiving a revelation from the spiritual realm, and his poetry and paintings being some sort of a prophetical work. Glimpses of a higher reality.

In ‘The marriage of heaven and hell’, the book begins with "The argument" and "The Voice of the Devil":

The argument:

"As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years since its advent: the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is the Angel sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up. Now is the dominion of Edom and the return of Adam into Paradise (see Isaiah, chapters XXXIV and XXXV) Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence. From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil. Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy. Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell”

The voice of the Devil:

"All Bibles or sacred codes have been the causes of the following Errors:

1. That Man has two real existing principles, viz. a Body and a Soul.

2. That Energy, called Evil, is alone from the Body, and that Reason, called Good, is alone from the Soul.

3. That God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Energies.

But the following Contraries to these are True.

1. Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age.

2. Energy is the only life and is from the Body, and Reason is the bound or outward circumference of Energy.

3. Energy is Eternal Delight."

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I found these two parts very interesting for some reasons:

The argument talks about the contraries that are necessary for human progression, which is pretty much the basis of a book on polarity magic: ‘Bending the binary’, by Gardnerian and Minoan-Sisterhood Priestess Deborah Lipp.

Which shouldn`t be a surprise since Blake was alive during the time period where all these ideas of polarity and duality started to become ingrained in British occultism, something that Deborah herself mentions on her book. These passages also remind me of the concept of the ‘Divine Twins’ and the 3 souls of the Feri tradition of Witchcraft. With all opposites and polarities being the Twins made manifest: Beauty and pain, light and dark... the Holy Dove and the Winged serpent.

The duality of Good = Reason and Evil = Energy, relates to me as "good" being the Talker (The rational soul), and "Evil" being our raw energy and potential of the Fetch (The animal soul).

And our Fetch is Eternal delight, experiencing all the world`s pleasures and sensations.

‘The voice of the Devil’ has some interesting points about the body and soul being the same, that the body is just our souls experiencing the five senses, and that our Energy/Fetch is our life force that acts inside the limits of our Reason/talker. Another similarity with Deborah Lipp`s work, where she presents the polarity of Force&Form.

The proverbs of hell -

Here Blake claims to have being taken by an angel through Heaven and Hell, and wrote the wisdom he received there.

"As I was walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius, which to Angels look like torment and insanity, I collected some of their Proverbs; thinking that as the sayings used in a nation mark its character, so the Proverbs of Hell show the nature of Infernal wisdom better than any description of buildings or garments. When I came home: on the abyss of the five senses, where a flat-sided steep frowns over the present world, I saw a mighty Devil folded in black clouds, hovering on the sides of the rock; with corroding fires he wrote the following sentence, now perceived by the minds of men, and read by them on earth: How do you know but every Bird that cuts the airy way, Is an immense world of delight, closed by your senses five?"

Proverbs of Hell:

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy."

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."

"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."

"He whose face gives no light shall never become a star." "Eternity is in love with the productions of time"

"Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion."

"The pride of the peacock is the glory of God."

"The lust of the goat is the bounty of God."

"The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God."

" The nakedness of woman is the work of God."

"Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you."

"Exuberance is Beauty."

As Blake`s work is very simbolic, I think there is no precise interpretation of the proverbs could mean. I see them as statements serving as a starting point for spiritual and philosophical contemplation, if one is familiar with Blake`s world view. They are keys that we can give to our “Fetch” to unlock deeper layers of reality, hiddin to our “Talker”.

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The world of Faery -

"The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged and numerous senses could perceive."

And his conversation with the prophet Isaiah:

"The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert that God spoke to them, and whether they did not think at the time that they would be misunderstood, and so be the cause of imposition. Isaiah answered: ‘I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organic perception; but my senses discovered the infinite in everything..."

Even if Blake's intentions and ideas were different from my own, I relate to the idea of the Gods and the ‘world of Faery’ being the senses of nature, and to connect with them you just need to open you perception to the "Infinite in everything"

“ While many people would dismissed fairies and spirits as make-believe or superstition, they never helles persisted in the visual arts of the time. Artists like Blake and Henry Fuseli brought new imaginative life to the fairy and spirit realm. Their images were frequently populated by female characters, who appeared in enticing and enchanting ways. Faeries became closely intertwined with fantasy women in art and literature of the day, offering a kind of guilty pleasure for viewers. Both might be dangerous in their desirability, reflecting contemporary anxieties about female sexuality. They also stand in for the imagination itself, suggesting its freedom but also its potentially transformative effect on the subject and body - for better or worse.”

Leaving the pieces of British 18th century misogyny aside, another point of convergence is the folk origins of Faeries, as the union of angels and demons.

The Magical Children of this perfect marriage of Heaven and Hell, the very definition of polarity, limiality and creative impulse.

The Sun can't touch His Flower,
deep in the stillness of the Earth,
this seed that was sacrificed. 
Now the spirit lies
in the land of Eternity, beyond
the threads of time. 

The seed at the Mother's hand, 
From the deepest roots
To rays of light,
Everlasting life
She brings
To the seed that will reborn,
and grow and bloom,
to kiss the Sun's mighty horns. 

- H.Gibaldi

A week after Imbolc/Candlemas nature starts to stir, and life blooms again. The light within the Earth, although faint, grows day by day to fill our senses with its warm.

For this is the promise of the Wheel.

Love is One, and One is All.

   "Thirteen young men walking in the temple, an empty and silent place. The full moon reigning supreme on the sky that night, surrounded by little stars.  It was a moon of power, sharing magic with her light. 
   They were still walking in the dark halls of the temple. Not only empty and silent, but in ruins. The beauty made by human's taken by the Time, lord of us all. 
   The silver light coming in from the large windows. Roots and roses growing from the ground, crows chanting their runes... 
Nature was invading that place. And the men were still walking, with their satin robes shining with the candle's flame. 
   They walked for a while, going to the hidden corners of the temple. 
The moon wasn't there anymore, neither the crows, the roots nor roses. But there was a door, red as the devil's lips, and the guardian was in front of it. 

"Come my lovers. It's time now" 

The altar in the center of the ceremonial room, 
and the shining goblet of holy water, sparkling as starlight. 
The Guardian was standing behind the altar 
and the men were side by side, in front of him. 

They were ready to continue:
Opening the red book.
The Guardian put His hands 
above the water. 
Sealing the act with a silent prayer
One by one
The men came to drink.
Together, 
Lips with Lips 
Sealing with kisses
Their new Brotherhood.

The initiation was complete."

- H.Gibaldi

A curious finding -

Three years ago I had the opportunity to live in Paris for six months. The brand that I work for was about to open a pop-up store there, and I was invited to stay in the city during the whole period. The experience in itself was out of this world, with all the things I was able to explore and experiment during my time there. But one particular coincidence (or synchronicity) has a special place in my heart.

Book lovers who went/live in Paris might know the Shakespeare and CO. store and their amazing collection of all kinds of books. While browsing the store one book instantly caught my attention: ‘Queer heroes of myth and legend: A celebration of gay Gods, sapphic Saints and queerness through the ages.’ By Dan Jones. The title is pretty much self-explanatory. It’s a collection of myths, stories and historical accounts related to queerness. And to my surprise, there was a chapter dedicated to the Minoan Brotherhood, a neopagan Tradition that I happen to be a Priest of.

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Eddie Buczynski: drawing down the Bull of Heavens -

Although not very well known by the mainstream, Eddie was a prominent figure and activist for gay rights within the NYC pagan scene in the 70’s. Coming from a working-class background, Eddie was always in line with counter-culture movements and soon found his place in Greenwich Village where he could be himself.

Since his childhood, Eddie always had a calling for spiritual service, and originally wanted to be ordained as a Catholic priest, before abandoning the church for their mistreatment of queer people. His desire for a deep spirituality, and his life in the alternative scene in the Lower East Side would lead him to pursue the neopagan and modern witchcraft movements that were growing in the US.

He became a member of the Church of the Eternal source, a form of Egyptian neopaganism of the time, before engaging with the Welsh tradition of Lady Gwen Thompson, allegedly a hereditary family tradition coming all the the way to the Salem witch trials (yes, people were still playing this card back in the 70’s). Eddie would then leave the tradition less than amicably after refusing Lady Gwen’s romantic advances.

After the Welsh tradition, he found his way into Gardnerian wicca/witchcraft until completing his training and achieving High Priesthood. Eddie would become the coven-leader of the “Brooklyn Heights Coven of Witches” with Lady Rhea as High-Priestess, until Craft politics and witch-wars of the period made him distance himself from the mainstream Craft community. Eddie’s struggles were somehow always related to his sexuality, dealing with the homophobic tendencies of the Craft/Gardnerian movements of the time.

Tired of all the drama and attacks, Eddie decided to search and develop a spiritual tradition that not only accepted who he was, but also celebrated homo-eroticism and love as a core aspect. His academic research, occult training and poetic inspiration led to the creation of the Minoan Brotherhood: A modern and homoerotic Tradition of the Craft that celebrates life, magic and nature in the service of the Gods and Spirits of ancient Crete through the Forms of the Great Mother and Her Divine Son.

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The mythical inspiration -

“…It is an involvement in a reconstruction of the Pagan Mystery-cult worship of the Great Mother Goddess of the Bronze-age Aegean (circa 2000B.C.) and Her Divine Son, who is the Patron of Male Homosexuality.” - Eddie Buczynski

Eddie formed the Brotherhood while still living in NYC, before the beginning of his studies in archaeology. Which might have led him to be overexcited about theories and pieces of information still considered to be accurate at the time.

Personally, as an initiate, I can see some differences in approach between the two phases of Eddie’s life, with later material being not only occult-inspired but also more related to the academic knowledge of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations.

I can see two possible main inspirations from the ancient world that planted the seed of the Brotherhood in Eddie’s mind:

- The Kuretes were a group of warriors/priests/magicians in the service of the Goddess Rhea, and were in charge to protect Her Divine Son, Zeus-Kouros/Velkanos in ancient Crete from His father Cronus. They would beat their spears and shields to hide the young God’s cry and would eventually become His tutors and guides during the God’s life. The young God would then become the Patron of masculine rites of passage, from boyhood to man and warrior, that could have homoerotic undertones

.The first time I came upon this theory was from the book ‘Secondo natura’ by Italian historian and lawyer Eva Cantarella, and later on I was able to find a similar theory presented on the pages of ‘Witchcraft and the gay counterculture’ by Arthur Evans, a book that was also of great philosophical inspiration to Eddie.

- The Sacred band of Thebes was a troop part of the Theban army around 4th century BC, consisting of 150 male couples. The idea behind this particular formation was that, by fighting alongside your loved one, there would be nothing able to stop you from fighting as fiercely as possible to protect your companion.

Most of the content and beliefs of the Tradition are oath-bound secrets, but from these two elements, one mythological and other historical, we can see how the Minoan Brotherhood was conceived to be a mystical fellowship bound by love. A modern and homoerotic Tradition of the Craft that celebrates life, magic and nature in the service of the Gods and Spirits of ancient Crete through the Forms of the Great Mother and Her Divine Son.

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The Gay spirit-

“Finally, sick of all the shit flying back and forth from coven to coven (mainly concerning me), along with threats, death curses, slander etc., I decided that, in order to find fulfillment in my religious beliefs, I must find a pagan cult which would welcome me as I am – a proud gay man…” - Eddie Buczynski

Eddie was a product of his time and environment. Besides his knowledge of the occult and his work in academia, most of the pulse of the Brotherhood comes from his struggles as a gay man in a homophobic society.

The already mentioned “Witchcraft and the gay counterculture” by Arthur Evans was of great influence on the activist side of Eddie. Presenting him the idea of a historical social oppression of gender and sexual non conforming people, and how they (we) were related to old practices and pieces of folklore that survived through time, in order to be persecuted as sexual and religious deviants.

Arthur Evans himself was inspired by the Radical Faeries: A counter cultural movement loosely inspired by eco-spiritualism and neopaganism, dedicated to the creation of an alternative gay scene that rejects the consumerist, heavily capitalistic and sometimes toxic tendencies of mainstream urban gay environments. A philosophy that rejects the idea of assimilation and conforming to what is considered to be a ‘proper homosexual’ by straight people.

Another foundational is the “The faggots & their friends between revolutions” by Larry Mitchell, that tells through poetry, short stories and non-linear narratives the tale of the ‘the faggots, queens, faeries, strong women and lesbians’ who together resist the dominion of the dying empire of ‘The men’, through communal living, artistic expression and love.

This cultural background and experience made Eddie completely reject the need to be accepted and assimilated by the Craft community of the time, if it meant that he also needed to hide who he was. Creating almost out of spite, a spiritual community for all those marginalized by the dying empire, as he was also responsible for the earliest tradition of the Craft to go against gender essentialism: The NewYork-Wica tradition, a branch of Gardnerian witchcraft/wicca without the strict gender roles. And although I couldn’t find any tangible record, I’ve heard stories on how Eddie’s lineage was the first to be open to POC in the US during the 70’s

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Eddie died because of AIDS related complications, which led many of contemporary initiates of his line to be somewhat active in sharing information and fighting the stigma related to the condition. He was also consecrated as a Saint of the Hollywood Temple of Antinous, another LGBT-focused religion that is very close to me.

The Minoan Brotherhood was born to be (together with many other traditions that came before & later), a spiritual refuge for gay men. As most gay men’s contact with spirituality is through strict and non-accepting dominant religions, most of us tend to reject the idea of a spiritual quest completely. And although I genuinely believe that no one needs to be religious in order to have a fulfilling life, most of us don’t even have the choice, as usually the doors of spiritual communities are often closed to us.

Eddie’s life mission was to give us the choice, if we so desire, to follow the enchanted path of the Spirit.

Love is One, and One is All.

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