WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: Be Like JANUS

Ancient sculpture of Janus

You know his face(s) but you may not know his name. Janus is the ancient Greco/Roman god with two faces (hence the plural face-s). He is often depicted with one smiling image, the other frowning or, one bearded and one not. We often associate his visage(s) with the theater arts as the dual faces are supposed to represent the full range of emotion that should be presented by an actor - from joy to sadness. But, Janus is so much more than that. He is also the god of beginnings, endings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways and passages. And, the reason he is depicted with two faces is that he is capable of seeing into both the past AND future.

Pretty cool, right? 

As the god of doorways and passages, the ancient Romans would hang the image of the frowning/angry Janus above the entrance looking out, while hanging the laughing/happy one peering in. This was thought to be done so that the god's angry countenance would keep evil spirits away from the home while the friendly face would keep the good ones in.

Janus is a very versatile god, embodying many positive attributes like inner vision and acceptance. But, the one I relate to best is as the god of doorways and passages because I believe it to be a metaphor on how we should live our own lives: we should look to avoid the evil in the world, keeping it as a safe distance while, at the same time, looking inward to keep and hold the better angels of our nature.

So, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, be a good god. Be like JANUS.

F LoBuono