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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 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.

   "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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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 poem I wrote is not directly inspired by any folklore around the fig, but I think it fits the main mood of the piece of legend that indeed inspired one of my embroidery projects.

I have in my collection the book “300.00 kisses: Tales of Queer love from the ancient world”,  by Seán Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall. An anthology of poetry, legend and philosophic discussions around queer love in classical literature in a contemporary manner, which includes the story of Dionysos and Prosymnus.

In the story, the God was on His way to Hades in search for His mother Selene, and found a mortal shepherd called Prosymnus. Seeing that the God did not know the way to descent, the shepherd offered his assistance to Dionysos, promising to show the way to Hades, in exchange to become one with the God through intercourse. The God made an oath to fulfill the request, and then followed His way to the underworld.

When the God was able to come back, He searched for Prosymnus in order to fulfill the oath, only to discover that the shepherd was long dead. As a way to keep His word, Dionysus took the branch of a fig tree that was growing at the shepherd’s tomb, and created a phallus, that the God used on Himself. Thus, fulfilling the promise made to Prosymnus

This myth might be an explanation of why the phallus and the fig are present in some accounts of the mystery cults dedicated to Dionysus, as a God of ritual ecstasy to reach divinity. Although we need to keep in mind that this myth as we know today, is a reconstruction made by Clement of Alexandria, an early christian writer, in his criticism on pagan Gods. So we don’t know how factual it really is to the original story, and how much of it were the author highlighting aspects that were against his christian worldview. Interesting enough, the fig is also part of the christian symbolic landscape, as some theorize that the fruit eaten by Eve was in fact a fig, a story of temptation and sexual awareness, that leads to the fall of human kind from the state of innocence.

Other than that, the fig has always been a symbol of fertility and fecundity in the warmth of the Mediterranean, being a sweet summer fruit in Italy.

May its sweetness lead us to the dionysiac realms of art and poetry.