Jana is not a known goddess. We get to know her husband and brother Janus better, who named the first month of the year. An interesting tidbit here is that Jana gave June the name through her reincarnation as the Roman Juno. I think of the Hebrew tradition that the year consists of two half years, one beginning on Rosh Hashanah in autumn and the other on Pesach in spring. Perhaps the Romans had a similar tradition, one year from mid-winter to mid-summer, the year of Janus, and another from the summer solstice to mid-winter, the year of Janus.
Jana is the goddess of doors. You could say that the saying “when God closes a door, She opens a window” fits Jana perfectly. There are many types of doors in life. Some lead us to a whole new life, and these should be celebrated, as we celebrate graduation. Jana is also the goddess of initiations. Some doors don’t have doors, and going through them only widens life. These doors can be used in both directions. An example of this is the journey from one role we have in life to another role. Travel is another of Jana’s domains.
She is the Goddess of beginnings, including The New Year. She has two faces, she faces the new and the old year at the same time, future and past. Jana’s role as gatekeeper reminds me of the Tarot High Priestess, sitting with Her moon in front of the gate and like a sphinx, waiting for you to answer the question correctly before she allows you to enter the Empress’s paradise.
In the Italian tradition, the new year begins in Midwinter. In Finland, midwinter is a time of divination. Two types of divination are especially practiced; divination in mirror and divination with molded tin (Molyedomancy). Both are sacred to Jana, because she, the Goddess who sees everything, uses every reflective surface as Her window. She is the Goddess of the Moon, and what is the Moon but a huge mirror that reflects the light of the Sun on Earth?
Jana is also the goddess of divination, and if she likes you, she will allow you to see things through her eyes. His are all kinds of divination and mirror divination.
Her animal is the peacock, and Jana’s eyes are on the beautiful peacock’s tail. This is the reason why peacock feathers bring luck. Jana can see the interior of your house through your eyes. In some countries, peacock feathers bring bad luck: people don’t want a pagan goddess to see inside their homes.
Jana became Diana and Juno, and both goddesses still have their qualities. Diana kept Juno’s moon and peacocks. The Holy Spirit of Christianity is also Jana transformed.
When the Greek gods took over the Roman Pantheon, Jana lived as Juno Lucina, which is Juno’s name as the goddess of childbirth. Labor is just another beginning, entering through a door, and Lucina means “The Light.” Juno Lucina became Saint Lucia, which is celebrated on December 13. That was the day of the winter solstice according to the old reckoning (the Julian calendar), and Saint Lucia is the holy patriot of the blind.