THE FACE OF JANUS
Janus in Roman mythology and Religion is the god of beginnings, endings and everything in-between. He is usually referred to as the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages and endings.
There is a general belief that the month of January is named after him even though this might not be entirely true. His image is usually depicted as having two faces; one looking forward to the future and the other looking backward to the past.
It was believed by the Romans that he lived at the limits of the earth and the extremity of heaven . He was believed to have five children; Canens, Aithex, Olistene, Tiberinus and Fontus.
It is not a strange saying that whatever has a beginning also has an end. Therefore, if Janus is the god of beginnings and endings he was therefore involved of almost everything that occurs in the earth.
The Romans were a people of perpetual warfare because they wanted to rule the world. Since Janus was the god of beginnings and endings, the Romans had to honour and acknowledge him in some way and that they did by erecting a building (not a temple) for him.
Since Janus is depicted as a two-faced god, the building erected for him has two gates which signify the beginning and end of conflicts and wars. Both gates were opened in times of war and closed at the end of the wars. It is quite obvious that one can easily count how many times the gates were shut due to the consistent wars and conflicts the Romans got involved in.
As the god of transitions his functions also entailed birth, journeys and exchange.
Janus had no special priest assigned to him but the king of the sacred rites (rex sacrorum) carried out his ceremonies. Irrespective of the god that is being celebrated, Janus was always invoked at the beginning of the ceremony, why? Because he is the god of beginnings.
The Romans claimed Janus distinctively as their own and even ancient Greeks did not have an equivalent of him. Janus has a double nature because movement and change are interconnected. Since Janus is the god of transition/motion he sets actions on course and he is in charge of all beginnings.
Janus is present at the major entrances into Rome where his prowess as the guardian of the entrances is manifested. So because of Janus, no matter how severe the war is, it can never enter into the city.
In general, Janus is at the origin of time as the guardian of the gates of heaven even Jupiter himself is able to move back and forth because of Janus. Janus is the master of time and in one of his temples, the hands of his statue is positioned to signify 355 –the number of days in a lunar year.
Janus it is believed is in charge of all beginnings whether concrete or abstract, whether religion or even the gods themselves.
It is believed that Janus holds the access to heaven and to the other gods and that is why he must first be invoked before one attempts to relate with any other god including Jupiter who was considered the greatest.
The one who has control of time has control of life itself and this places Janus at the helm of affairs. There is still so much to say about the god of beginnings – Janus - but for now, selah