The Chamber of Janus is deep within the mountain. It is a perfectly matched room with two apparent halves. Like Gemini the twins, but encompassed in a single individual, this dilapidated room underlies the dualism that is Janus. There are aged and scared mosaics upon the walls, implying that even areas this deep in the caldera where penetrated by the presence conflict which ripped apart the Gauntlet of the Four Quarters.
The chamber is perhaps ten pace wide and hemispherical in shape. There are two higher regiones to be found within in the Chamber of Janus. The base level is weak in its magical strength (perhaps even weaker than the base regio of the mountain) and shows signs of damage with malicious intent. The fact that it has fallen prey to neglect has only heightened the problems in the area. It seems as though the area has suffered unduly so, as though it were especially prone to such things. This area is in special contrast to the regio directly above it. This rooms can only attest to the strength of atrophy. It is also a testament to the dangers of domination by one aspect.
The higher level, similar in geometry and base appearance, but much cleaner, The coin in the center is rotating slowly, allowing perusal of its perfect and unmarred features. Thesis and antithesis, this room also reflects back upon the lower regio. Subtle hints about change and fate, coupled with chance and fortune are abound. It abounds with dichotomies. But it is also about symbiotes and the synergy between the contrasts. Mosaics which pair off the elements, yet conjoin them. As with all of Aristotle's metaphysics, is not that which is defined, partly defined by what it is not?
In the highest regio, the coin is spinning so fast that it cannot be seen discretely, but instead produces two effects, an amalgam or juxtaposition of the two faces on the coin and at certain angles there is an optical effect which induces visions and time loss. The chamber itself partakes of the ideals of harmony and dualism, synergy and synthesis.
January is named for Janus, the Twofold God, who looks both ways: to the inside and the outside, to the past and the future, to the old year and the new year, to the old order and the new order (e.g. Saturnian and Jovian). He was the first to build temples and to ordain religious rituals (such as the Saturnalia), so he is the first to be called upon by name in rituals. He proclaimed the inviolability of the house, the entries and exits of which are dedicated to him; he is the Divine Gatekeeper. There is an alchemical mystery in the nature of Janus, for the ancient physicists said that He comprises both Apollo and Diana (Sun and Moon). To see this it's necessary to understand that by the laws of phonetic variation Diana, Jana and Iana are all equivalent. (So we discover that Diana was the ancestor of the Janae nymphs, that is, the Giane of Sardinia and Aguane of Italy.) So also, Dianus, the solar counterpart of Diana, is the same as Janus and Ianus. Further, Janus, who is a guide on the roads, corresponds to Apollo Aguieus, the Guardian of Streets, the counterpart of Diana Trivia, the Guardian of the Crossroads. Thus we have the solar spirit of the straight path and the lunar spirit of the fork in the road. The two faces of Janus represent the two Gates of Heaven (the rising and setting places of the sun), and as Gatekeeper of the Gods, he must allow entry of all prayers and sacrifices. So also he is the Gatekeeper of both Heaven and Hell. Indeed he is often portrayed Quadratus, with four faces looking to the Four Quarters of the World. As solar God, Janus measures the year, and so he shows 300 with his right hand and 65 with his left, and he has 12 altars and authority over the Kalends (first day) of each month. Beyond this he is the rotating heavens, which always return to the place where they began. Thus the Phoenicians portray him as the Ouroboros Serpent, the snake swallowing its own tail. In the Hymn of the Salii he is called "God of Gods." Alchemically, he is the universal solvent for, as Marcus Messala explained, Janus "fashions all things and guides them," and he is the agent of unification that brings together the naturally heavy elements (water and earth), which are cold, with their opposites, the naturally light elements (air and fire), which are hot. In this way the Quintessence is synthesized. |
Last modified: Thurs Nov 19, 1998 / Jeremiah Genest