In the beginning, there was an idea.

I've loved myths and folktales as long as I can remember. They were among the first material I read as a young child, and knowing them has enriched my sense of spirituality and made me feel like a part of something greater. Being a writer, I tell stories as well, but no matter what I write about, I always feel as though these stories, these ancient tales that were passed down from generation to generation, are more perfect than anything that has come from the mind of a writer in this day and age. So, recently, I began to toy with the idea of sharing these myths with readers all over the world. Only a few days before this blog was created, my mother and I were talking and she suggested I make a blog and gather together information that would otherwise remain scattered over literature and the Internet. Why not myths? Why not make a blog that tells, picks apart, and analyzes popular (and even not-so-popular) myths, stories and folktales from around the world?

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!

Yes, that's right; it's that time again. Time to stay up late and get suitably hammered while you wait for the ball to drop in Times Square. Tomorrow, it will be 2012, and (according to the Mayans) we now have less than a year before the current era is scheduled to end.

Fun times, huh?

If I remember correctly, the last time I gave the Myth Fix spotlight to a particular deity, the subject was from the Roman pantheon. In the spirit of the New Year, I've selected another Roman God: Janus.

Statue of Janus in the Vatican

Unlike many Gods in the pantheon, who were in a large part borrowed from the Greeks, Janus is uniquely Roman.As a God of transition, Janus has quite a bit on his plate. He represents doorways, beginnings, endings, and, more generally, time. He is depicted with two faces, one looking into the past, the other into the future. He also lent his name to the month of January, as it is the first month in the Western year. Rites to Janus were performed by the Romans at the beginning and end of each month, the beginning and end of the military season, and, of course, the New Year. New Year traditions included the giving of gifts and the offering of prayers to Janus.


Sources:
Essential Visual History of World Mythology. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic ;, 2008. Print.
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