Janus

The Trickster's paradoxical nature, combining two opposing aspects, often makes him a threshold deity — a god, if you will, of transitional space. This was true, for example of the archaic Roman god Janus, whose name means 'door'

Kalsched explicitly identifies Janus as the archetypal model for threshold deities, grounding the Trickster's dual, liminal nature in the Roman god whose very name encodes the concept of passageway and transition.

Kalsched, Donald, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defences of the Personal Spirit, 1996thesis

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The image of the double-faced Janus head amplifies this paradox of eternity within time. One face looks backward to the past; the other looks forward to the future. To be identified with either face is to be captive in stone, victim of fixed laws and fixed authorities.

Woodman deploys the double-faced Janus as a psychological symbol for temporal imprisonment, arguing that identification with either the backward or forward gaze traps the psyche in rigidity and prevents access to the eternal present.

Woodman, Marion, Addiction to Perfection: The Still Unravished Bride: A Psychological Study, 1982thesis

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Janus 104

Harrison's index entry situates Janus within the broad comparative-religion substrate of Themis, confirming his presence in the classical mythological sources that underpin depth-psychological appropriations of the figure.

Harrison, Jane Ellen, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912aside

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