New Year's Eve!

The penultimate post of the year! So how is the new year celebrated in Italy?

Lentils are eaten, grapes are on the dinner table, newly minted coins are left on the windowsill. In Naples, there's a tradition of throwing old things out the window. Some think it's where "out with the old, in with the new" came from. I think some folks got drunk n started throwing shit, but who knows? ;) Red underwear is also worn for good luck and protection:

it was just considered lucky to wear something new and red (a lucky colour) on the last/first day of the year. However, the Church came to disapprove of the superstition, viewing it as the first step down the slippery slope leading to astrology, spiritualism and occultism. Therefore people were forced to take the tradition underground (and under trousers) to avoid getting a scolding from the local priest about how they would burn in hell along with their fancy new red clothes. If you are planning to be in Sardinia for the big night, you'll have to change the colour of your pants; there, green undies bring good luck.

If the first person you see on New Year's Day is of the opposite sex, it's good luck. Sex on the first day is also good luck for your nookie prospects through the year. Whatever you do on capodanno sets the tone for the rest of the year:

I wrote last night about a working involving Janus. Here it is! Let me know if you decide to play along at home.

It starts at Midnight when everyone screams HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! and means it. During the countdown, feel the presence of Janus. Janus is there, automatically invoked by the raising of energy.. the 10.... 9.... etc. Feel the eyes in the back of your head, seeing into the past. Feel your sight sharpen as you look ahead into the future. You are on a threshold, have a clean slate and can make what you want of it. This is the time for road opening!

On a small piece of paper write main goals for the year. Add a drop or spray of Road Opener and fold the paper. Tie it with a red ribbon, capturing the will that this be done in the knot. This can be done right at midnight if alone or where others won't notice it. The note and tie can be made earlier and kept in a pocket at midnight.

Before going to sleep, its placed on the altar or kept close if away from home. On the kalends of every month, the invocation below is repeated. At that time or on the full moon, what has been done in pursuit of the goal is written or reviewed/recounted.

Since everyone has their individual style of magic, both low and high, I'm not going to give instructions on how to handle a working the whole year 'round- it depends entirely on what an individual's goals are. Money and love call for different ingredients, different procedures. It can be as simple as setting a candle on top of the written intent and letting the magic work its way. The note can be put in a bag along with complimentary herbs and charms and carried. If the paper can be folded small enough, it can be placed in a locket or bracelet charm to wear.

Why the kalends? Juno's day was the kalends, the first of each lunar month and Janus had the epithet Ianus Iunonius. We already know that Diana and Juno were related in function and epithet in Lucina- bonus synchronicity!

After lighting incense and a libation of wine:

Janus, Janus, heed my call;
Auspicious words from my lips fall;
Open door and open gate;
Manifest what I create!

This is chanted to raise energy with the paper held against the lips. Once the knot is tied, the following is said with it held to the lips again, like whispering into it:

My plan, like you, from chaos to form;
My goals and dreams become life's norm.


Then go make it happen!

When goals have been achieved, or have changed, or at the end of the year, the paper is burned.

Tomorrow: The last post of the year!

Twelfth Night, or What you Will

Yes! More Shakespeare! This one involves more of the cross dressing, gender swapping, servant mischief, weddings, parties, and fun that we've come to expect from Edward DeVere's comedies. The story was based in part on an Italian tale, Ingannati (The Deceived/The Deception). The Italian play was hosted on the last day of Carnival in February, 1532. And here's where we get back into our year long theme of how calendars are much more fluid than we like to believe, or at least were more fluid than they are today! Speaking of fluid, this blog entry is not; It looks like I'll be jumping back and forth. I hope you can keep up with my bizarre train of thought because we'll be switching tracks often!

The debate about the birthday of baby Jesus includes January 6th as a potential date, 12 nights after the old solstice night of December 25th. The "epiphany" is said to refer to the birth of Jesus.

I've posted before about the feast of Lucia on December 13th being the 12 days before old solstice. December 25th was the old solstice date. Thanks to earth's strange tilt and wobble action on its axis, past and present astronomical timing varies. Thanks to the many varied changes in the calendar system, things are much further off than in ancient days! AKA: Ow, headache looking at the old and new calendars and the changes they went through!

Januarius was not always the first month of the year. Earlier it had begun, perhaps more sensibly, in March (Martius) with the onset of Spring. Januarius and Februarius were added by Numa Pompilius, one of Rome's kings in the pre-Republic days. He also moved the beginning of the year to Januarius and set the number of days equal to 29 because Romans considered odd numbers lucky. Notice that all of the festivals are held on odd-numbered days. Centuries later Julius Caesar set the length to 31, as well as adding days elsewhere to fix the problem of the months no longer corresponding to the seasons, a result of the fact that the Roman year was shorter than the actual solar year. 

So we have: A festival of the divine midwife 12 days before old solstice, the current celebration of the old solstice as birthday and a celebration 12 days after the old solstice. One month after that, we have the Parentalia Novindialia, a nine day festival honoring ancestors and Lares. The Celts had the Imbolc festival where we once again find a maiden wearing a crown of candles. The church then baptized the festival and called it candlemas. There's also a whole host of other Italian festivals throughout the remainder of January, including the Compitalia which moved every year, between December and January and was thought to be part of the continuation of the Saturnalia feast. And don't forget La Befana! The elder woman who brings gifts at the hearth for the children! I still believe her to be an aspect of Vesta or the Elder midwife, whereas Lucina is the younger aspect, She is the elder, sort of a reversal from Saturn's Old Man Winter and transformation into Baby New Year. I've never liked the story about "the wise men" asking La Befa for directions. Why? Men never ask for directions! ;) La Befana might well be derrived from L'epifania, the epiphany. Is She the personification of Light born into the world? Another case of the Man bringing down and covering up the Matriarchy? Turning Her into a crone who is forever chasing after the men? Yes! I knew I could work a conspiracy theory into this!

Just some fun confusion when trying to untangle the thread of past practices and their influence on what we do today. I find it interesting that Twelfth Night was first performed on what is considered the end of the carnival season which started on Hallow's Eve and ends with Candlemas. There was a superstition that your decorations had to be taken down by February 2nd. That has been changed to taken down on January 6th. I personally play it close to the later and take it down before the Festival of Janus on January 9th. Can't exactly make with the new year when you have decorations up for the old year.

Speaking of New Year... January was NOT the start of the year, it used to be March! We started, back in the day, with Spring and Mars, the Ram, as the dawn of the new year. However, the Roman calendar was shorter than the actual path of the earth around the sun, and so January and February were added to the calendar and January made the start of the year with honors due him, then to Februus, the month of cleansing, and then we came to March and the proper start of the year, or at least the start of the military campaign season. There's another example of the old calendar no longer matching up thanks to the tilt-a-whirl of a planet we're on: The Precession of the equinoxes! The Ram hasn't been on the horizon in 2,000 years. It's been the fish!

Let's add the next layer! Carnival! ok, wait lets not and say we didn't. Between all of this calendrical fun and my continued reading of Macrobius, I'm getting a thick headache. I have, however, been given a ritual for the new year. I've been contemplating which date to do it: Should it be on the first? On the 9th, which is the festival of Janus and the Full Moon? Both? ;)

The ritual involves the icon of Janus as the joining of Diana and Apollo. An ancient scholar, Nigidius, was a senator who was also "a Pythagorean and a Mage," is quoted by Macrobius as assuring us that Diana = Jana and Janus = Apollo, or Dianus with Apollo being an imported name and Dianus being a local name. This was the topic of one of my early posts, I just didn't have Macrobius and Nigidius on hand to back me up ;)

To review: Janus and Jana were most often spelled as Iana and Ianus. The names Jupiter and Juno were the same as well: Iuno and Iupiter. (Was it just easier to chisel an I than a J or was the J not in the Italic alphabet?)

The word "of" is rendered many different ways in Italian, including d'

Why is that interesting? Because now we have D'Iana and D'Ianus, or, Diana and Dianus.

This means that the symbolism of Janus is the creation of the universe. Diana divided Herself and created her brother. The Deus Biceps represents that moment of creation. That is why Janus is honored at all beginnings. Last night I said that Janus is potential energy itself. I will refine that: The symbolism represents Beginnings, both primal and mundane- the move from chaos to order, the original begetting of creation. For the kabalists out there, I'd say it represents the moment when Keter splits into Binah and Chokmah. Keter also has the title: The Primordial point. So am I rockin with the spheres now? Must ask the Evil Twin- it might be time to finish our Muppet Tree of Life! Ha!

Sincere apologies for switching tracks tonight. Looks like last night's post on Janus wasn't complete. I'm still not done with Macrobius, you'll be seeing more from there. Let's close with some famous words from Twelfth Night:

But be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Let's make it a Great year!

Back and Forth

Since I've been looking back at the past year and preparing for the one on the horizon, I thought it was high time to post something proper about Janus!


He is an Italic deity with no syncretic counterpart to be found in other cultures. Latin or specifically Etruscan in origin, He shares the Etruscan name for door, janua.

The earliest representations, however, appear to have been the two-faced heads, which are frequently seen on Etruscan medals found at Volaterrae. A statue with four faces was brought to Rome after the conquest of the Etruscan town of Falerii (Serv. ad Aen. vi. 607; Macrob. l. c.)

I was recently reading Macrobius, the second book cited above and it has been very helpful in understanding Janus and Saturn and their relationship and positions within the pantheon of Rome.

While He might be considered a "minor" deity these days, He was a pretty big deal in ancient Italy. Not only was He the one invoked at the new year, He was invoked at the start of the new day and the new month and the new season for sowing seed. Why sowing seed? Wasn't Saturn credited with that? Glad you asked! Legend has it that Janus was King of Italia and when Saturn fled Jupiter, He was welcomed by Janus in exchange for sharing the secrets of sowing seed. Janus has his own city! The Janiculum, or as it's also known: Gianicolo! For those who have been following for a while, this past September I went to the Feast of San Gennaro, aka Saint Januarius. Just sayin... thought it would be appropriate to include that here in a post about Janus ;) From the holy wiki:

The Janiculum was a center for the cult of the god Janus, and the fact that it overlooked the city made it a good place for augurs to observe the auspices.
In Roman mythology, Janiculum is the name of an ancient town founded by the god Janus

I've wondered too, is Janus an epithet? Janus, God of new beginnings, doorways, choices, keys... Is He an aspect of another deity? He feels similar to Mercury and Hermes and Terminus, but something about him is vastly different. He has also been identified with Sol and with Apollo:

The identity of Janus with the Sun was commonly expressed by his indicating with the fingers of the right hand, and in later times by his counting in his right hand 300 pebbles, and in his left. In some representations he held in his right hand a staff or sceptre, and in his left a key by which he is symbolically described as the god who had power over the entrance of heaven; hence he had the surnames of Patulcus or Patulcius, and Clusius or Clusiviuns. 

While the others travel past, give rise to, or mark boundaries, Janus is the God of that moment when you are neither here nor there- on the lintel, neither inside or out; Potential energy itself.

Here is the perfect poem for Janus and so tonight I dedicate it to Him!

Dear, Limnal God of beginnings and endings, May my choices be wise, my transitions be easy! Hail Janus!

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Society of Saturn

Don't worry, we're not changing our blog focus or Patron! Tonight I've been musing on the company Saturn keeps, especially festival-wise.

All within the same week we have: Consualia, Saturnalia, Eponalia, Opalia, Divalia, and Larentalia.

Consus was the deity charged with the storage and protecting of the grain, particularly underground. Beasts of burden were given the day off. Actually, they were given the weekend off: a few days later was the Eponalia. here is an allegedly Gaulish Goddess of horses who was "transferred" into the Roman cult. The name might have been, but Demeter was worshiped as a horse Goddess in antiquity, especially in reference to Her relationship with Neptune with whom she had children. Demeter is also the Goddess of the grain, oft syncretized with Ceres. She was a daughter of Saturn and Ops and in addition to teaching humanity how to grow the stuff, She was also in charge of teaching humanity how to preserve and prepare it. 

Looks like we have a theme!

Opis  was the wife of Saturn, a cthonic Goddess- THE cthonic Goddess!

Quoth the holy wiki:

The Latin word ops means "riches, goods, abundance, gifts, munificence, plenty". The word is also related to opus, which means "work", particularly in the sense of "working the earth, ploughing, sowing". This activity was deemed sacred, and was often attended by religious rituals intended to obtain the good will of chthonic deities such as Ops and Consus. Ops is also related to the Sanskrit word ápnas ("goods, property").

I've seen her referred to as a Sabine Goddess but haven't yet found the source material. Wiki goes on to report that King Titus Tatius, a Sabine monarch, instituted Her cult.

I'm going to pause here and save the other festivals for a subsequent post and focus on the theme at play:

• Father who provides the seed and, as Time itself, makes it grow

• Mother who hosts the seed from whom abundance and riches spring

• Daughter who brings the grain to humanity and teaches its arts

• Son(?) who stores and protects it

Aside from the frantic frolicking of Saturnalia proper, this week is about surviving the Winter and having something to plant in the Spring, something to look forward to. Makes you wonder at the Saturnalia traditions; The frolicking fun was allegedly started to lift spirits after Rome was beaten by Carthage. Sounds similar to Lincoln instituting the Thanksgiving celebration we know today during the Civil War.


There are many references to Saturnalia on the internet, many quoting Macrobius' Saturnalia. I'm currently working my way through it in both Latin and the on line English translations. So far it's driving me crazy! There's an interesting passage on Janus, the Janiculum, and Saturn! I can't wait to delve into the relationship between these two!

If you'd like to check it out with me, take a gander starting right above p51. I've included the google translate link.

Io Saturnalia!

Best.Italian.Ever.

No, the post isn't about me! It's about Leonardo Da Vinci! The Renaissance Man. One of the most famous artists in history. One of us. The man even has his own code! If you haven't heard of The Da Vinci code, just stop reading this now and go enjoy the delicious conspiracy theories. Even better, go get yourself a copy of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the book it's based on. Conspiracies abound about this man. We don't know much about his personal life, only the writings he has left behind for us.

He was a neo-platonist, a vegetarian, and he wrote about finding a cave and being afraid of what was inside, but overcome by curiosity to discover what was in there. Sounds like one of my earlier posts on Parmenides or Empedocles! So what is this cave? Where is Vinci? Is it a literal cave? Was it a metaphor for initiation? I think it was both. Vinci is a small town in the hills of Tuscany. There could easily have been a literal cave near his home.

One of The Loyal Horde posted a link on facebook today about one of the many theories behind the Mona Lisa. I'm a conspiracy theory fan (it goes well with my being a syncretist- I like to world to fit together neatly!) so this just floated my boat. Here is an excerpt from the article she posted:

“The Mona Lisa's landscape is not a fantasy, but a precise survey map of Rome and its vicinity. The survey cleverly defines the two extremes of religion, marking the center of Christianity on the right side, and the center of paganism on the left. The dome of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican is one end of the survey, and the site of the cult practices of the goddess Diana at Lake Nemi is the other. A line between the two endpoints, 29.5 km apart, intersects the Tempietto of Bramante,” says Lund.

The Tempietto of Bramante is at the top of Janiculum Hill, the ancient, pre-roman cult center of Janus. It was officially annexed as part of Rome in the mid 600s BCE. What is it called in Italian? il Gianicolo. Sound like San Gennaro? Not a coincidence!

The author, Scott Lund, discusses the theory that The Mona Lisa is also Anima Sol (an anagram) which refers to Janus, and the "missing" columns of the painting which frame the rest as an arch, another symbol of Janus. I agree with the author that the Mona Lisa wasn't a commissioned painting for a rich noble- it took 16 years to complete! And she's wearing no jewelry. Seriously, you're rich and this is you photo shoot and you don't bling it up? Riiight. ;)

He has other interesting theories about the placement of the basilica, the tempietto, and Lake Nemi and how they line up. I'm not surprised. It makes perfect sense that Capitoline Hill, a male center of worship and Lake Nemi, a female centered area of worship have, directly in the center, Janus looking in either direction, both male and female. He gets into wormhole theories, which are still a bit beyond the scope of my practice (the most I'll think about ancient alients as deities is when I watch the movie Stargate!) but the article, and site, are worth exploring if only for the questions they raise.