In Roman mythology, which was not considered mythology to the Romans but rather their religion, Janus was the doorkeeper of heaven and the god of beginnings and endings. He was also the mediator of prayers and petitions to the other gods. His blessing was asked at the beginning of every day, month and year. He also presided over the sowing of crops, which I guess makes him the god of seamstresses and farmers. Janus was represented in art with two faces, looking in opposite directions, which symbolized his knowledge of the past and the future.
Today being two-faced carries a completely different meaning.
In primitive cultures ranging from Abyssinian to Wotyak, from Hindu to Hottentot, New Year's Day was a day of chasing away the devils of the past year with bonfires and an occasional sacrifice. Many people reveled in drunken debauchery as they were possessed one last time by the demons before the evil ones were driven off with the death of the old year, not too unlike New Year's Eve today. With little to no regard for this historical perspective, we supposed Atlanta creative people would be those most likely possessed by some sort of inner demon, so we asked them to tell us their resolutions for 1998. Some, like Janus, were of two minds, citing both personal and business resolutions. Some used both sides of their brain which is often known to cause headaches.