Janus

Araiké Da Silva

Sculpture - Volcanic Stone

40 x 40 x 20 cm

Janus was originally a god of light and the sun, the male counterpart of Jana or Diana, and only gradually became the god of all origins, of beginnings and endings, of entrances and exits, of doors and gates, the father of all things (including springs) and of all gods. His name belongs to the same word family as ianua, the Latin word for door and ianus for any unsealed arched passageway. The month of January is also named after him. Janus symbolises the duality in the eternal laws, such as creation/destruction, life/death, light/darkness, beginning/end, future/past, left/right, etc. It is the realisation that everything divine always contains an opponent. Both sides of duality always elude objective judgement and are therefore neither good nor bad.