Is Janus the god of portals?
Is Janus the god of portals? Strictly speaking, that's exactly what he is; the god of beginnings and endings, transitions, doorways and gates. Yet there is a surprising amount of complexity to this two-faced god.
Janus is notable in that he is the exception to the rule that all members of the Roman pantheon have ancient Greek counterparts. Janus has none; even the ancient Romans believed that Janus stood alone and was unique to them. What is even more remarkable is that not only did the ancient Roman and Greek scholars and historiographers think this was strange, they themselves had trouble accounting for Janus' anomalous role in their culture.
On the one hand, Janus was almost certainly foremost among the archaic Latin and/or Etruscan deities, considered an equal of Jupiter in significance. Yet, even by the time of the Roman Republic, his exact nature had been confused in the mists of time. Janus was so important that only the Rex sacorum, the highest ranking priest, could perform his rites. Janus was invoked at the beginning of any rite, prayer or petition, no matter to which god it was addressed. Janus was thus seen as the guardian of the gates to heaven.
Janus was an incredibly unusual deity even at the time. Through the ages he has defied easy categorisation. His presence permeated the sacred and the profane, he presided over the past and the future, order and chaos. He was lofty, ruling over the passage of time like a uranic deity, yet also ubiquitous enough to guard and govern the doorway to a humble dwelling as much as the crossing of the mighty Tiber (literal and spiritual boundary of Rome).
What's more, even the name Janus is cloaked in mystery. The ancients believed, although even they didn't all agree, or know for certain, that his name was derived from the ancient Latin for 'to go" or "to move". Sound familiar agents? Combined with his intrinsic placement as a temporal force, the name Janus can be interpreted as the personification of "time to move".
The other thing we know about Janus concerns the gates of his temple. The enormous gates of the Temple of Juno in Rome were opened when Rome was at War and closed only during times of Peace. Ancient writers disagreed as to the meaning or purpose of this symbolism. Virgil believed that the spirit of war and bloodlust was kept chained in the temple, only to be unleashed when needed during war. This view is complicated by the fact that an altar to peace was later constructed within the temple.
I believe this god of strange, binary contradictions has much to teach us. Could it represent a super/Vesuvian MAGNUS? Was Rome predicated or founded on bending the portals to their will by attempting to use both xm and cm or what we know as the blue and the green? Did they seek to nourish their civilisation with the benefits of both the N'Zeer and the Shapers while attempting to be masters of their own fate? Did the tiny, insignificant tribe of ancient Latins possess ancient, sacred knowledge of how to open the gates (portals)/limina? This knowledge would have been closely guarded by the Salii (the same sect of patrician priests who guarded the Ancile and it's 12 copies)....Perhaps the rituals, rites, symbolism and invocations lasted long after the original meanings passed from popular understanding.
Cicero De Natura Deorum II 67: "Cumque in omnibus rebus vim habent maxumam prima et extrema, principem in sacrificando Ianum esse voluerunt, quod ab eundo nomen est ductum, ex quo transitiones perviae iani foresque in liminibus profanarum aedium ianuae nominantur"." "As in everything the first and the last things have the greatest force, they wanted that Janus be the first in sacrificial actions, because his name is derived from going, from which fact previous passages are named iani and the hollows in the boundary of secular houses ianuae."
For Context:
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/3SDvwhb6rpe
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/HhJxVrr89eG
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/AgoroD8xYGs
As ever, I look forward to reading the thoughts of my fellow investigators.
Edgar Allan Wright Hank Johnson John Hanke flint dille
Janus is notable in that he is the exception to the rule that all members of the Roman pantheon have ancient Greek counterparts. Janus has none; even the ancient Romans believed that Janus stood alone and was unique to them. What is even more remarkable is that not only did the ancient Roman and Greek scholars and historiographers think this was strange, they themselves had trouble accounting for Janus' anomalous role in their culture.
On the one hand, Janus was almost certainly foremost among the archaic Latin and/or Etruscan deities, considered an equal of Jupiter in significance. Yet, even by the time of the Roman Republic, his exact nature had been confused in the mists of time. Janus was so important that only the Rex sacorum, the highest ranking priest, could perform his rites. Janus was invoked at the beginning of any rite, prayer or petition, no matter to which god it was addressed. Janus was thus seen as the guardian of the gates to heaven.
Janus was an incredibly unusual deity even at the time. Through the ages he has defied easy categorisation. His presence permeated the sacred and the profane, he presided over the past and the future, order and chaos. He was lofty, ruling over the passage of time like a uranic deity, yet also ubiquitous enough to guard and govern the doorway to a humble dwelling as much as the crossing of the mighty Tiber (literal and spiritual boundary of Rome).
What's more, even the name Janus is cloaked in mystery. The ancients believed, although even they didn't all agree, or know for certain, that his name was derived from the ancient Latin for 'to go" or "to move". Sound familiar agents? Combined with his intrinsic placement as a temporal force, the name Janus can be interpreted as the personification of "time to move".
The other thing we know about Janus concerns the gates of his temple. The enormous gates of the Temple of Juno in Rome were opened when Rome was at War and closed only during times of Peace. Ancient writers disagreed as to the meaning or purpose of this symbolism. Virgil believed that the spirit of war and bloodlust was kept chained in the temple, only to be unleashed when needed during war. This view is complicated by the fact that an altar to peace was later constructed within the temple.
I believe this god of strange, binary contradictions has much to teach us. Could it represent a super/Vesuvian MAGNUS? Was Rome predicated or founded on bending the portals to their will by attempting to use both xm and cm or what we know as the blue and the green? Did they seek to nourish their civilisation with the benefits of both the N'Zeer and the Shapers while attempting to be masters of their own fate? Did the tiny, insignificant tribe of ancient Latins possess ancient, sacred knowledge of how to open the gates (portals)/limina? This knowledge would have been closely guarded by the Salii (the same sect of patrician priests who guarded the Ancile and it's 12 copies)....Perhaps the rituals, rites, symbolism and invocations lasted long after the original meanings passed from popular understanding.
Cicero De Natura Deorum II 67: "Cumque in omnibus rebus vim habent maxumam prima et extrema, principem in sacrificando Ianum esse voluerunt, quod ab eundo nomen est ductum, ex quo transitiones perviae iani foresque in liminibus profanarum aedium ianuae nominantur"." "As in everything the first and the last things have the greatest force, they wanted that Janus be the first in sacrificial actions, because his name is derived from going, from which fact previous passages are named iani and the hollows in the boundary of secular houses ianuae."
For Context:
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/3SDvwhb6rpe
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/HhJxVrr89eG
https://plus.google.com/113334464233687310319/posts/AgoroD8xYGs
As ever, I look forward to reading the thoughts of my fellow investigators.
Edgar Allan Wright Hank Johnson John Hanke flint dille
nice - a completely side note - your mention of Janus as god of the portals gets me to thinking - could we match other roman/greek gods and even other cultural deities to a function within the XM world....
ReplyDeletehere are a couple of Niantic media that mention Janus - http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/pac/IB/01/item/MWH.jpg
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nianticproject.com/?id=sc604a
Considering the antiquity associated with Janus, I think it is more likely he started the portal/human interface. It seems to me that both the N'Zeer and the Shapers came later. They saw the potential, they cultivated the interface to their own ends, drowning out what came before in their zeal to lay claim to this valuable resource. Yet even with their want of ownership, they still cannot completely control that which they did not truly create. Thus why Janus must be invoked before providing rites to other, later, deities.
ReplyDeleteMatching other gods to the XM world? Of course. The glyphs one consistency is that XM and creative thought nourish each other (through (creating?) the portals). Remember the original portals were centered on either the transmission of thought or the storage of thought. (Post Offices, Fire stations, Libraries, and IMDB) Subsequent portals were either the result of thought or the encouragement of thought. If the N'zeer and Shapers thrive on this interaction, then it would stand to reason they would cultivate more of it. Hence the Muses, and every other deity associated with the Arts and Creative Ability.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the Romans, who clearly had high-placed members of multiple magnus cabals, would develop a new god of portals whose nature explicitly invokes duality is fascinating. Specifically, they saw something about the domain Janus represents that was not already covered by Mercury (fast travel/hyperthreading), Apollo (artistic and scientific inspiration), or other deities they inherited from the Greeks.
ReplyDeleteYa know - a lot of the glyphs are mirrors of each other to mean opposite things - perhaps this ties into the whole Janus concept as well
ReplyDeleteWas Rome the first time the Shapers and N'zeer were identified as distinct entities whose influence on XM hotspots were similar in nature but opposing in intent? Were they the first to systematize the viewpoint of power spots as soft places allowing access to... something... on the other side? Is that why this is the period that the Vesuvian Magnus was forged?
ReplyDeleteYou could match other gods to functions, but it is important to note that in many of Ianus's origin stories, he was a posthumously deified human...so he was more than likely a sensitive.
ReplyDeleteMike Wissinger Has a good point. I believe however that the concept of warring deities is much older. Also Temples and other significant structures were often built on Power spots, in part because they lent a "soft" spot to more readily access that something. It may be that the eternal struggle was more keenly expressed with the Romans, as they are known for many Firsts, which contributed to their rather rapid rise to Empire status.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, the title of the August 2013 Investigator Board at www.nianticproject.com was 'The Janus Revelation.'
ReplyDeleteNever really figured out what that meant.
Then end of that month was where Klue insisted on seeing a certain glyph sequence. Also someone was commenting about deluding the Resistance during Minotaur.
ReplyDelete“Listen to me,” cried Syme with extraordinary emphasis. “Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stopping and hiding a face? If we could only get round in front—”
ReplyDeleteSteven Wilson, again you pushed me forward by your post! I remember a question
ReplyDeletehttps://plus.google.com/105838193018678917660/posts/RvTdeSud1Ph
Is Janus the beginning, the born and the root of all?
There is a theme of duality we could see in patterns. For example the glyphs. If Janus is unique and only dual within himself. Then I would answer: Yes, he is the origin.
I still thoroughly believe the shapers and the N'zeer are two faces of the same coin. The mentioning of Janus only further fuels my research into the duality and intermingling of the shapers and N'zeer
ReplyDeleteAchim S. Janus is the past and future united in the present. It is worth noting that the gates of Janus open in times of war, bringing forth the idea that conflict brings the possibility of new outcomes. Janus himself was identified with Quirinus, a Sabine god of war.
ReplyDelete