JANUARY, the first month in the modern calendar, consist ing of 31 days. The name (Lat. lanuarius) is derived from the two-faced Roman god Janus, to whose care the month was dedicated as looking both into the past and the future, and as the deity who busied himself with the beginnings of all enterprises.
The consecration of the month took place by an offering of meal, salt, frankincense and wine, each of which was new. The Anglo Saxons called January 1Vulfmonath, in allusion to the fact that hunger then made the wolves bold enough to come into the villages (see CALENDAR) .