Gods of Antiquity: Doorway Gods
Source: https://johntsquires.com/2019/03/18/on-the-threshold-in-a-liminal-space/
Liminal gods, gods who preside over transitional states, such as from old to new, familiar to unknown, or unconscious to conscious, anything that requires moving from one state to another or crossing a threshold. Liminal gods may also cover more specific realms, such as agriculture or gods who die and rise again.
By Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8962565
Perhaps the most widely known liminal god is Janus, the Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and ends and from whom we get the name for January, a doorway into the year. To represent his nature, Janus is most often depicted as having two faces, one facing forward to view the future, one facing back, to view the past. He is one of the few Roman gods that did not descend from a Greek god, but most likely came from the Etruscan god Culśanś. The idea of transition is so intrinsically tied to Janus' being that his name means 'door' and one of his consorts, Jana, has a name meaning 'hinge' and was associated with arches and the moon, without whom, he could not perform his function. Jana is also equated to Diana, the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, fertility, and the moon. Macrobius, a 5th century Roman author who also equated Janus to Apollow, making them a sun/moon pairing.
By Ixioini - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11229578
Another door god is Menshen 門神 from Chinese mythology. Menshen are a pair of deities (Shenshu 神荼 and Yulü 鬱壘) that also guards gates and doorways, protecting them against evil influences and allowing positive influences into the home. They are responsible for punishing evil spirits by feeding them to tigers after tying them to reeds. Their story involves protecting the Jade Emperor from the spirit of the Dragon King after the Dragon King was killed for disobeying a direct order. His generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong volunteered to watch his door. In order to free up the generals, he had their likenesses painted and placed on the doors. It is now traditional to change those paintings on the Chinese New Year.
Source: https://yokwe-yokai-of-korea.fandom.com/de/wiki/Munshin
Munshin 문신 is the Korean gods of doors. The first recorded door deity is Cheoyong, who protected his wife from the sexual acts of a disease deity. His image was hung to repel disease in the kingdom of Silla. Another tradition follows from the Taoist tradition where statues were used instead of or in addition to images.
