Tag Archives: Roman mythology

The Story Behind the Month…January

23 Jan

By Gloria Mwaniga

January.(English)

Januari (Swahili)

Janvier. (French)

January, the first month of the year is named after the roman god Janus who is represented with two faces looking in opposite directions as retrospective of the past and prospective of the coming year.

It is known the world over as the month where most people  start afresh.

Resolutions are made, bad habits abandoned and good ones embraced

In Kenyait is believed that what you do on the 1st of January is what you will do for the rest of the year.

It is also the toughest month in  that most people happen to be very broke then, probablyu due to overindulgence during the Christmas festivities.

Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors (ianua), beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each looking in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time, planting, marriage, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a person’s life. Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people.

Just how many of your resolutions have you broken already?

See you in February…..

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