happy janus day! ....month!

So Janus is the Roman god of transitions, new beginnings and what not. He was most often worshipped at celebrations like births, weddings, harvests, anything that marked a major change. He's depicted with 2 heads looking in opposite directions, originally with one face bearded and the other clean shaven to represent the sun and the moon, and those faces appeared on early Roman coins. Unfortunately not a lot is written about his cult of followers, except that it was said that when Romulus and his men kidnapped the women of the Sabines, Janus saved the day by making a hot spring appear stopping the men in their tracks. So in times of war the doors of his temple were left open so that he could intervene again. The doors stayed closed during times of peace. However his most lasting impression is the month that carries his name, January, as its the transition into the new year. Fun facts.

The thing I really dig about Janus though is when he's called the god of doorways. It makes me think of that liminal space, not quite in and not quite out, and as one who often gets made fun of for lurking in doorways I was just pretty excited that doorways would get their own God.

But more importantly, that liminal space is just where the clown type of fella fits in. Always perched precariously between acceptibility and ridiculousness. So I have to wonder why there aren't more nerdy clown types paying homage or working Janus in some how. And by "have to wonder" I mean it's not the least bit surprising. But should still be a thing that happens.

This sort of thing, as was the last thing I wrote about, isn't so much a profound observation of the world or performance or clowning or anything, or even some exciting new statement of never-before-thought-of ideas, but it makes me very happy to put these interests of mine into a sort of context, since these ideas of liminal space and performance and what not repeat themselves over and over throughout our lives, and find connections in very unlikely places. Warms the tummy.