Janus

Lord of Beginnings

**Also known as:** Giano; Dianus

**Feast:** 1 January

**Pantheon**: Roman

**Title**: God of Portals and Transitions

## Information

Janus is the two-faced spirit, but in the most positive sense of that term. Janus literally has two faces, indicating his power to see from all directions and perspectives. He sees the past and future simultaneously. Janus is a guardian and protector.

Janus is among the most ancient and significant deities of the Roman pantheon. He was in the Roman region long before the Romans arrived. Before the arrival of Jupiter, he may have been the preeminent male spirit. Officially superseded by Jupiter within the context of the Roman pantheon, Janus retained his right to be first.

Similar to modern traditions involving Eshu Elegbara, Janus is the first spirit invoked before any invocations, sacrifices, or offerings made to other Roman deities. Jupiter then follows as “king,” followed by whomever else might be invoked.

The Roman Temple of Janus had double doors, known as the Gates of War. The temple was a visible symbol of peace or war. When there was peace throughout Rome, the doors of his temple were shut. This was a rare occurrence.

In 153 BCE, the Romans changed their calendar, moving the New Year from the spring equinox to 1 January, the feast day of Janus, Spirit of Beginnings. With one face, Janus looks back on the old year; with the other he looks forward to the new. Roman New Year’s rituals incorporating the feast of Janus lasted for six days of joyous, raucous celebrating. Festivities included drinking, feasting, and decorating homes and buildings with holly, mistletoe, and lights.

* Invoke Janus when you wish to begin a new, when you need to make a fresh start.
* Invoke him before beginning new projects, ventures, and relationships.
* Invoke him to understand the past.

**Favoured people: Diviners; he seems to like pretty women, too.**

**Iconography:** Janus has two faces: one looking forward, the other back. Sometimes one face is young; the other old.

**Consort:** His original consort seems to have been Jana (Diana), but he was eventually paired with Juturna.

**Sacred site:** The Janiculum Hill in Western Rome, center of his veneration

**Tree:** Oak

**Number:** 1

**Time:** The month of January is dedicated to Janus.

**Offerings:** His traditional Roman offering was whole-grain farro wheat mixed with salt; also Ianual, a type of focaccia (flat, oven-baked Italian bread) made with flour, eggs, oil, and cheese served during rituals thanking Janus for providing a bountiful harvest.

**See Also:** Diana; Eshu Elegbara; Jupiter; Juturna

## Smite Lore

Many fear change. Venturing into the unknown. Deviating from a path of safety and certainty into something unexpected. But life is change; a journey through doorways both physical and emotional, with every moment a passage to something new, and it is Janus, God of Portals and Transitions that governs this.

Bearing two faces, Janus is ever looking to the future and to the past, knowing both but controlling neither. He is only the in-between, found in the changing of seasons, at the birth of a child, at the entrances to the temple and the tavern. For this reason the Romans named the first month after him: January – a portal between the old year and the new.

Yet the Roman emperors also attribute a strange tradition to Janus. At each end of his temple stand massive doors. In times of peace, these doors are closed, but in times of war, flung open. As Rome rose to power, rarely were these doors shut, but almost four hundred years of peace have clothed Rome since then and the temple has grown dusty with absence.

## Appearance in Modern Media

From SmiteFrom Shin Megami TenseiFrom Rangers of OblivionFrom Age of IshtariaFrom Reign of DragonsFrom Kamihime Project
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes