Roman mythology featured a singular god with two faces. His name was Janus. One face looked backward, the other forward — and so Janus was the god of doors, gateways, beginnings, and endings, guarding every threshold one passes through coming and going. The Romans felt it only fitting to name the first month of the new year after this god. The moment of looking back on the year just gone while looking ahead to the one to come was the very image of Janus, who sees both directions at once. And so Januarius, "the month of Janus," became English January. Perhaps we, too, resemble Janus when we sit down at the start of each year to plan the months ahead.