Janus and Hogmanay

January is thought to be named for either the Roman god Janus, or the female goddess Juno-Janus. Greek for gateway, Janus relates to beginnings and ends, doorways, entrances and departures. Depicted with two faces- one to look forward and one to look backwards, the idea is that all things in the future bear some mark of the past and, thus, it is good to be able to see both clearly. January 2021will be a time of opportunity. A time to reflect on the past and learn from it, and a time to plan for the future and renew our strength to embrace it.

Alfred Tennyson wrote this-

“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring happy bells across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”

I don’t know if old Tenny was talking about Hogmanay, with the ringing of the bells, bit, but my family plans to  engage in a little utensil rattling at the stroke of midnight to drive off the last vestiges of 2020 and announce our openness to the possibilities of 2021.

If you are unfamiliar with the customs surrounding Hogmanay, they include gifting food or drink, banging pot and pans or ringing bells, visiting friends to be the first person of the year to cross a loved one’s threshold, and burning juniper branches to fumigate the house, and swinging fireballs around over your head. 

For reasons that escape me, I am discouraged from the doing the latter two by my wife. 

Happy New Year to all-