Janus, the Roman New Year Deity

‘Janus’ 1st is an arbitrary New Year, according to the Gregorian calendar, a Christianized version based on the solar Roman Julian calendar. Ancient Pagan Celtic New Year was at Samhain, All Hallows Eve followed by All Hallows Day — All Saints Day in the current Christian calendar, and started off the new Year Wheel with the ‘birth’ tree (Beith/Berkana/Birch) of the thirteen Celtic lunar calendar of trees (28-day-moon/months equaling 364 days, plus one day=365 days to equilibrate with the solar year).

That was the time when the shamanic ‘saviour’/hero/heroine (Arthur/Psyche/Orpheus, etc.) made the Underworld Descent to rescue or ‘redeem’ the soul of the solar harvest divine child/year-king across the ancient northern hemispheric world (Arthur, Christ, Attis, Mithras, Tamuz, Damuzi, etc., etc.) or maiden aspect of the harvest goddess (Kore, Persephone, Psyche, Lilith, Ereshkigal, etc., etc.), and bring it back to the world above ground at the winter solstice, in or as the incipient life of Spring and the growing light.

But a globally observed, wholly artificially constructed ‘New Year’s Day’ is still pretty remarkable, even as it stands for the near-complete Eurocentric cultural domination of the world, having started with the West, with its essentially Roman notions of ceremonial time.

In the pre-Christian tribal world of Western Europe, today was the 6th Day of Alder Moon, Alder being the third month of the 13-month-and-a-day Celtic lunar calendar. It was a day given to local versions of the Fates, or Lares, when the hearth fires were nourished, the light encouraged, and individual and collective destinies envisioned.

Celtic New Year was Samhain (All Hallows Day), observed as the first last quarter moon after the fall equinox, or Mabon, marking the winnowing harvest festival of Mabon ap Modron (‘Son of Mother’) and his descent into the Underworld prior to his advent back onto the (Northern hemisphere) stage as triumphant light at the spring equinox at Oestre, having been reborn at midwinter solstice and nurtured into brightness at Brigit Day festival of lights — lunar/solar temporal symbiosis here too, just with a different point of the wheel as the starting point for the turning of the year.