Hail, Janus!

In Roman mythology, Janus (or Ianus) was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. He was worshiped (via animal sacrifice, given Roman custom and practice) at the beginning of any new venture, births, deaths, marriages, and as a young person entered adulthood.

Janus is usually depicted as having two faces: one looking forward and one looking back. Sometimes one face is young and the other more mature with a beard. He represents a unification of past and future, and how the present is the gateway to both.

I need to get my head wrapped around that.

In our current "civilized" Western culture, we don't have a god for changes, for big transitions; I think we really need one. Christianity, with its one God, seems totally focused on the next life and chooses to ignore the past, especially the events before one is "saved" as unimportant. It might be easier to embrace change if we accept that part of us will always look back, but that we can look forward at the same time. That is a type of optimism that I might be able to practice. Far easier, anyway, than the relentless cheeriness of only looking forward, as if the past didn't matter. That kind of Pollyanna-ism always seems to fall short for me.

During times of war, the doors to Janus' temple were always left open, only to be ceremoneously closed when peace was declared. This didn't happen very often. Life is change, and conflict seems woven into the fabric of who we are. It would be nice, I guess, if we could have a little peace and shut the door, saving the moment for a little bit longer before we charge ahead into the next cycle of beginnings and endings. But isn't it better to know that even the ancient Romans knew how to celebrate the transition?

While it would be pleasant to have a few still, quiet moments, I'm going to see today as my Janus gate. I may still look back, but that doesn't mean I can't still look forward at the same time. If I keep the gate flung wide, then the new things in my life can come.