by Janus and Tammikuu
Janus – etching, 40 x 37.5 cm.
As I crack open new calendars, I think about January and the Roman god Janus and about looking back and looking forward. I wonder about the Finnish name for this month, Tammikuu which means oak month. The Finnish wikipedia says this (my loose translation):
“Tammikuu” is the year’s first month and midwinter in the northern hemisphere, which suggests the name for the month. In the Häme dialect “tammi” also means heart or nucleus, or alternatively navel, centre, axis. “Tammikuu” has sometimes been called heart month.
I like the notion of a month devoted to the heart and centering oneself. Certainly I’m pulling into myself a little these early January days as I contemplate and indulge over some books. I read by the windows for it’s been snowing steadily since before midnight last night – so beautiful to watch! Even with thaws alternating with night time freezing, there’s still a lot of snow on the ground, now building up again. I don’t remember having such a long continuous snowy period here, almost three weeks now. I love it but admit it’s getting a little tiring navigating it. I’m lucky to be able to stay home if I wish though I did get up to the library and the food store yesterday. This long spell of winter whiteness may be coming to an end with temperatures about to climb and rain about to pour, creating flooded streets and darker days. I have mixed feelings about returning to normal life.
Instead of putting up another snow photo, I thought it appropriate to re-post (from here) an old etching of mine which happens to be called Janus. Hope you enjoy it.
January 3, 2009 in Canada and BC, Culture, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric by Marja-Leena
Wow, just catching up here. You do have lots of snow! And some beautiful photos to show for it. I’m getting used to the snow again here – we were out tromping around in it for two hours this morning, working up an appetite. Snow on the ground, all cleared and plowed, is one thing, but getting round when it’s snowing and doing all the shoveling and clearing out – those are more of a challenge. Ah well, it is pretty. Heart month – I like that. Enjoy! And Happy 2009 to you and yours.
A wonderful etching … and deeply felt on my part! Enjoy the snow while you can. Rain is nice, but snow is prettier!
Beautiful print, and just right for the new year. Happy New Year and looking forward to visiting your blog often this year!
An interesting depiction of Janus, guardian of doors, gateways and beginnings, and usually depicted looking in two directions, with two faces.
I like Tammikuu more than January and will try to think of it as such.
Leslee, thanks. The snow in the Vancouver region is usually very heavy and wet, few cars have snow tires, we have big hills, and municipalities do not have enough snow-clearing equipment to deal with a once-in-40 years quantity of snow. So it’s no wonder things get paralyzed here! But yes, it is pretty.
Joan, thank you! I’m sure you appreciate the rain in your area.
Dear Julia-in-Prague, (I have another commentor Julia, now in the UK) – Thank you for your kind words, I read your blog regularly as well, especially for your stories about Prague a place we loved in our visit in 2002. Wishing you a Happy New Year too!
Joe, you can’t see it too well in this small photo but there is a suggestion of two faces overlapping, in the use of multiple lines which is most obvious in the mouth area. I did this print back in 1983, I think. It represents my first breakthrough in relearning printmaking after not doing any since art school. I realize as I write this that this print really is surprisingly autobiographical! It’s about me at the gateway between the past, where I was still searching for my artistic path, and the future where I have become a professional artist specializing in printmaking. Thanks so much for tweaking my thoughts here, Joe! And I’m glad you like Tammikuu!
Fascinating meanings for ‘tammi’. When I lived in the Far East, I noticed that the Japanese would point to the nose (instead of the area around the breastbone) to indicate “me” and to the belly (instead of the head) when asked where thinking takes place.
rouchswalwe, cultural differences are truly fascinating. I think I’d have trouble getting my head, er belly, around this if I were in Japan. I’ve not heard of these even though we’ve had a Japanese exchange student and our eldest daughter has been such in Japan two times.
Do you think this might be a case of the young ones being exposed to “Western” culture, thereby losing bits and pieces of their own?
Rouchswalwe, yes, that sounds very likely. I remember feeling quite appalled at how much American ‘culture’ was dominating Europe on my visits in the 60’s.
I like this description of January. Getting to the heart of things.
I do think your Janus etching is appropriate — inward looking, and perhaps a bit sleepy?
herhimnbryn, glad you think so!
Bee, eyes closed in exhaustion, perhaps? 🙂
I’m very bad on myths, legends, USW, and have great difficulty in relating their truths to modern modes of thought. Since Janus appeared to look left and then right I thought he was sneaky – a lookout for a drugs handover (I bought all five series of the The Wire for Christmas and am enmeshed in its complexities). And of course there is the modern meaning of two-faced. It turns out I done him wrong. My apologies.
He’s lovely, with his heart-shaped face. I thought at first he must be something very old.
Happy Tammikuu!
Perfect message and perfect image for this month, thank you!
Barrett, I’m not very knowledgeable either (what is USW, something like UFO?) but they interest me where they have in some way become part of our culture, and the net is a great resource to learn more. And it gives me something to write about, heh. When making this print, I didn’t know it was going to be Janus until I realized I had a gate and a two-faced head, and that it fit in with my thoughts and feelings at the time (as I commented to Joe). Your thinking was on a different path, no apologies necessary!
Lucy, thanks! Same to you.
Natalie, thanks to you for the words! May it be a creative January for you.
USW is und so weiter, the German for etcetera. A feeble attempt on my part to suggest I’m not a one-trick pony (linquistically).
Barrett, thanks for the translation. You are too modest and put me to shame with my limited French and German.