As the New Year approaches, I think it’s worth reflecting a little on my goals for the future of this site.
Firstly, I want to publish something at least once a month going forward, though I know I might fail at that, since the Muse, whoever she happens to be, is fickle, and though she may be present one day, she may depart before the opus has been completed. Ideally, I’d have something new and insightful to say every week, but I simply don’t.
Secondly, I want to publish my first Norwegian posts on here. I have long since finished my first draft of a translation of Proclus’ Hieratic Art, but I lost interest during the editing process (as often happens), so hopefully I can get back to it and publish a proofread and legible version soon. Before that, however, I wrote a personal essay in the beginning of December, Om Identitet, which I recently got back to editing after reading a marvelously apt quote in Johannes Picus inspired me to do a final rewrite of certain sections. Since it’s a personal essay, I feel somewhat uncomfortable posting it online rather than simply sharing it among friends, but it’s something I would like to get less anxious about.
Thirdly, I have long wanted to do a theological exposition on certain ancient hymns à la Taylor’s Orphic Hymns. I’m a scholiast at heart, I’ve discovered, and have an easier time organising my thoughts around some related text than when simply writing off the cuff. I’m still unsure if I feel capable enough to translate the words of the hymns, considering I think the translation of such holy texts needs to be done right and in an inspired manner.
Fourthly, I started writing a Latin holiday calendar, I think, two years ago by now, and part of that is what I posted on the Divalia. A goal for me this coming year will be to post these as they come, and to continue researching all the holidays I can find. (Relatedly, I will try to read Ovid’s Fasti chronologically for the third year in a row, and hopefully this time I actually make it to the end. Third time’s the charm!)
Fifthly, I have been toying with the idea of making shorter, less polished posts as well, possibly just florilegia of things I have read recently with minimal commentary (presumably in some form of translation if I didn’t read it in English).
Finally, I want to get back to my YouTube channel,1 hopefully to recite some of the posts here, as well as little things from ancient literature. I would like to integrate these two creative outlets to a greater degree, since I actually originally intended for the channel to host far more original works than it currently has, and I know some people don’t like reading if they can listen instead.
To sign off, let’s hear it from Ausonius:
Jane, veni! Novus anne, veni! Renovate, veni, Sol!
Come, Janus! Come, New Year! Restored Sun, come!
Conjectanea 