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Begin Again: January and the God of Change

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Janus, Roman Deity, Vatican Museum
Janus, Roman Deity, Vatican Museum

Why do we begin a New Year with a month called "January?" It's named for Janus, the Roman deity associated with endings and new beginnings, the god of change. He's usually depicted as having two faces, one that ushers out the old and one that greets the new. Janus is considered a threshold god, a gateway, a doorway god. He presided over the beginning and end of conflict, and served as a harbinger of war and peace. The Janus gates of an enclosure in Rome were opened in time of war, and then closed to celebrate the arrival of peace. Janus is therefore a god of sacred transitions, associated with birth, journey and the ubiquity of change.


Which way do we face in times of change? January 2025 is a precipice, when we will be called to face what is changing in our lives with courage, respect, and integrity. Facing the unknown can be intimidating, even terrifying. A liminal space, an in-between place or a threshold moment, often finds us in a state of *pause* for this reason.


Once we get our bearings, how we embrace the change before us sharpens our commitment and sculpts our character. A threshold moment is an opportunity for reflection, an invitation to compost the chaos and detritus of what has gone before us and a chance to feed the momentum of the good that is still possible. Some things that we are closing a door on, that have given us life and energy in the past, may no longer serve us. And other opportunities that are opening before us may invite us to broaden our perspective and embrace a wider vision. Like Janus, the god of change, we can face both with poise and resolve.


Whatever this special month signifies for all of us, it is possible to begin again with the strength of our pack. Also known as the "Wolf Month" from its Saxon roots, January reminds us to be mindful of listening, and learn the art of howling for our pack when nourishment may be scarce and warmth requires bonding together for safety and survival. Essential skills.


As pack creatures, wolves travel through life with complex and fierce social cohesion. A pack's social matrix of Alpha female/male pairs, Betas, or mid-ranking members, and Omegas, the playful bonding experts, guarantees their survival in the wild. The social structure indicates specialized roles are accentuated, and each role serves the good of the whole. An alpha does not retain the role of alpha if the primary service of being able to provide food and habitat for the whole pack is unfulfilled. Roles shift when the need arises. Primarily, the roles distinguish each member's investment in the unified pack.


"Living in a pack not only facilitates the raising and feeding of pups, coordinated and collaborative hunting, and the defense of territory, it also allows for the formation of many unique emotional bonds between pack members, the foundation for cooperative living. Wolves care for each other as individuals. They form friendships and nurture their own sick and injured. Pack structure enables communication, the education of the young and the transfer of knowledge across generations. Wolves and other highly social animals have and pass on what can be best described as culture. A family group can persevere for several generations, even decades, carrying knowledge and information through the years, from generation to generation. Wolves play together into old age, they raise their young as a group, and they care for injured companions. When they lose a pack mate, there is evidence that they suffer and mourn that loss. When we look at wolves, we are looking at tribes—extended families, each with its own homeland, history, knowledge, and indeed, culture." https://www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves/social-wolf/


More than anything, as we face 2025, we must embrace change with the same principle and practice that stabilizes and galvanizes the wolf pack: each member exists for the wider "We." If we need to howl, yes, by all means. HOWL! Let our howling be for our mates, for our pack. Let's begin again.


"I'll Begin Again"

by Leslie Bricusse (from the musical 'Scrooge')


I'll begin again

I will build my life

I will live to know

That I fulfilled my life


I'll begin today

Throw away the past

And the future I build

Will be something that will last


I will take the time

That I have left to live

And I'll give it all

That I have left to give


I will live my days

For my fellow men

And I'll live in praise

Of that moment when

I was able to begin again


I will start anew

I will make amends

And I will make quite certain

That the story ends


On a note of hope

On a strong amen

And I'll thank the world

And remember when

I was able to begin

Again



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