Skip to main content

Happy New Year!! Janus returns...

 First, Happy New Year Dear Reader!

So, in keeping with my evolving subject matter, let’s raise  a glass of champagne to the new year, and be grateful that Donald baby is no longer in the White House! Let us also be thankful to be living in such an exciting time!

And, I mean excitement in not always a pleasant sense!

And, so let us investigate a bit of the holiday known as New Years, shall we? 

Here's a nice quote from a fairly reputable source:

Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honor the month's namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future.

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/new-years#:~:text=January%201%20Becomes%20New%20Year's%20Day,-The%20early%20Roman&text=As%20part%20of%20his%20reform,and%20forward%20into%20the%20future.

So, who exactly was this god named Janus?  He was also known as the god of two faces, one perhaps facing the past, and the other the future  He is also incorrectly and currently known as the god of the modern theater.  Honestly, it amazes me how these ancient deities and traditions are usurped by modern institutions, it almost seems to me a matter of convenience--oooh! I like that statue, let's make it our logo!  Honestly, I wonder at our modern age and sensibilities, sometimes.

Here is a representation of the classical image of the god:


And this passage is a more correct definition of the god:

Janus has no parallel in the Greek pantheon, making him an exclusively Roman god. A duel headed  god, with one head looking forward and the other behind, he marked actual and metaphorical thresholds in time and space. Janus guarded crossing places and thresholds, beginnings and endings and acted as an intermediary between the gods and mortals.

https://historyandarchaeologyonline.com/the-god-janus/

 Kind of interesting, eh? 

In this century, we celebrate New Year's Day, mainly watching the Rose Parade, and looking at a huge and gaudy ball drop the night before--that is, if we're sober enough to be able to count.

So, what were the traditions that the Romans observed, regarding the New Year? Let's see.

The Romans observed this day as one of feasting, and also as a doorway to consider the past, and contemplate the future.  However, I think that you can pretty much guarantee the fact that the Romans celebrated the new year with one hell of a lot of feasting and drinking.  One custom that I always found rather interesting (in a repulsive way) was that Romans always made it a point to consume too much food and drink at a feast, and then vomit, so that they could partake of every dish and drink served.  But, what were Romans, if not architects of excess?

And, did you know that the celebration of the new year in January, is not the same for all cultures?  Indeed, many Celtic nations honored the transition of the old year into the new in March--why?  Well, this was the time of the vernal equinox.  To me, this seems to be much more appropriate, but I still like the practice of spending the night and following day with my family.  After all, what are we now, but ephemeral creatures in a world of changing traditions?

So, in closing, enjoy the New Year, and remember that not all traditions have been followed for thousands of years--it just goes to show you how influential the nineteenth century was in establishing the patterns of life in the West.

Happy New Year, Dear Reader, make it a good one!  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Into the Minds of Moria: Hitler's good little orc, Reinhard Heydrich

Hannah Arendt, who wrote an account of the trial of Eichmann in Jerusalem, characterized Nazism as "the banality of  evil."  What exactly does that mean? BANALITY:  "the quality of being boring, ordinary, and not original."   https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/banality  At least according to the Cambridge University dictionary.  But, do I agree with Arendt's use of that term? Yes and no.  Hitler's inner circle were extraordinarily ordinary men, not gifted with either intellect or extensive education (excepting perhaps Albert Speer).  And yet, these men were truly gifted in their collective hatred and paranoia ...of just about everything and everyone. But, there were special orcs,  even within the circle of Hitler's closest minions.  This is the story of one of the worst: Hitler’s favorite orc. All right.  You caught me.  That orc is actually from the World of Warcraft. OK. Let me introduce you to this f...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Do You Deny then, Mr. Chivington, that you're a vicious psycho hose beast?' No sir, Mr. Congressman sir, I swear I didn't know there was anyone there! The tragic massacre at Sand Creek, 1864.

What images come to your mind, when you dream of the American West, Dear Reader? Something like this? I know that this is one of the more recognized fantasies about the western experience.  Hopefully by now, we all know that this depiction is COMPLETE bulls*&t. THERE WERE ALREADY PEOPLE THERE, FOLKS. When I think of the American western experience, I always have these images in my head: For my druthers, I prefer pictures like the above.  Images that compel impressions of space and wild beauty. Buffalo, coupled (of course) with that endless sky.  Whenever I think about the American West, I think poetically.  I think tectonically.  It's impossible to gage this landscape against the span of a single human life.  But, that is essentially what we have to do here, isn't it Dear Reader? We must create condensed sketches of larger events, even if those happenings are tragic in nature.    Which brings us to Sand Creek. The events surrounding the M...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ignominious acts, Ethnocentrism, and the World War 2 internment of Japanese Americans, part one

  Be Like the Cactus Let not harsh tongues, that wag in vain, Discourage you. In spite of pain, Be like the cactus, which through rain, And storm, and thunder, can remain. Kimii Nagata https://japaneseinternmentmemories.wordpress.com/category/japanese-internement-poetry/ Manzanar, yesterday and today. When I was a kid, back in the Neo-lithic era, one of the books we had to read was entitled Farewell to Manzanar.   I don't remember it really, now that I'm in my dotage, but I do remember being shocked that the internment of Japanese Americans occurred during the second world war.  Here's a link to the book online:   https://www.rgandara.com/uploads/1/2/3/7/123702754/james_d._houstonjames_a._houstonjeanne_wakatsuki_houston_-_farewell_to_manzanar__2013_houghton_mifflin_harcourt_trade_and_reference_houghton_mifflin_harcourt_hmh_books_for_young_readers___1_.pdf   We also used to drive past what remained of the camp on our way to Mammoth Mountain--a ski resort....
Post a Comment
Read more