Believe it or not, on New Year’s Eve, we still celebrate the ancient Roman religion/myth of Janus, who presided over the beginning and end. So one face looked at the past and the other the coming new year. In fact, January is named after Janus. He also represented the beginning and end of the conflict. In ancient Rome, the Temple of Janus stood in the Roman Forum with doors on both ends and inside was a statue of Janus, who is always represented as the two-faced god. The doors of his temple were open in times of war and closed to mark peace. This represented that things could change politically during a war.
Janus, therefore, represented war and peace. This may be particularly true as the Neocons are determined to usher in World War III. They are scheming to create war BEFORE the election just in case Trump wins overwhelmingly to trap him into a war that he cannot negotiate his way out of. The critical periods in 2024 will be January, April, and July/August 2024.
So when we celebrate New Year’s Eve, we say goodbye to the past and look forward to the future, a concept stemming from Janus. So much of today is traditions extending back thousands of years and terms like your Achilles’ Heel, named after the Greek warrior who died at the battle of Troy. It was said that when he was born, his mother dipped him in a sacred river to protect him but held him by his heel, which the water never touched. He was shot in his heel with an arrow and died. This statue shows him pulling the arrow from his heel as he died.
The Greeks were masters in creating stories handed down through the centuries—even the state of New Jersey in Latin in Nove Caesaria – the land of the new Caesar. Even Christmas Day, December 25th, was the feast day of the ancient sun god – Sol.
Our Republican comes from Rome, and Democracy comes from Athens. Legal Codes go back even before Babylon.
So when we celebrate New Year’s Day, let us hope the doors are slammed shut rather than wide open.
