Maya day · Tzolkʼin
Mayan Library ↗★ · Symbols Collection
The signs of the days.
The twenty day-signs of the Maya Tzolkʼin and of the Mexica Tonalpohualli, the Maya numbers, and the symbols of the sky. Today’s sign shines in every list.
- 01Today’s signs
- 02Maya day-signs
- 03Mexica day-signs
- 04Maya numbers
- 05Signs of the sky
- 06Words of the count
Maya glyphs: Wikimedia Commons, as in the Mayan Library · Mexica pictograms: drawn for NEO after the Codex Borgia
01Today’s signs
The day in its three counts.
Choose any day: the wheels turn until its sign stands on top.
Mexica day · Tonalpohualli
Mexican Library ↗…
The twenty Mexica day-signsNEO day · the sky of the day
13 counts ↗…
The same day in 13 counts02Maya day-signs
The twenty nawales of the Tzolkʼin.
Each day-sign is a nawal: a guide and a way of being. With the thirteen tones it makes the 260 days of the sacred count.
Nothing here matches yet. Ask the librarian.
Imix
Crocodile
Primordial waters and the earth crocodile: the beginning of the count, nourishment and new starts.
Ikʼ
Wind
Wind and the breath of life: spirit, communication and the spoken word.
Akʼbʼal
Night
Night before the dawn: the house, dreams and the inner world.
Kʼan
Maize
The maize seed: abundance, growth and the net that gathers the harvest.
Chikchan
Serpent
The serpent: vital force, instinct and the energy of the body.
Kimi
Death
Death and the ancestors: transformation, rest and renewal.
Manikʼ
Deer
The deer and the hand: healing, work and the four pillars of the world.
Lamat
Star
The star Venus and the rabbit: harmony, fertility and plenty.
Muluk
Water
Water and offering: purification, feelings and the payment to the earth.
Ok
Dog
The dog: loyalty, guidance and the law of the community.
Chuwen
Monkey
The monkey and the thread of time: the arts, play and the artisan.
Ebʼ
Road
The road: destiny, travel and the path of each life.
Bʼen
Reed
The reed and the maize stalk: growth, the home and the hearth.
Ix
Jaguar
The jaguar: the strength of the earth, the night and the sacred altars.
Men
Eagle
The eagle: vision, the wise elders and the heights.
Kibʼ
Waxing
The vulture and the owl: forgiveness, conscience and the wisdom of the ancestors.
Kabʼan
Earth
The earth in movement: thought, knowledge and the earthquake.
Etzʼnabʼ
Flint
Flint: the mirror of truth, clear decisions and the healing of the body.
Kawak
Storm
Storm and rain: family, community and the cleansing of the sky.
Ajaw
Sun
The sun and the lord: light, wholeness and the ancestors at the close of the count.
03Mexica day-signs
The twenty signs of the Tonalpohualli.
The count of days of the Mexica, with the patron of every sign, as painted in the Codex Borgia.
Nothing here matches yet. Ask the librarian.
Cipactli
Crocodile
The earth crocodile from whose body the world was made: beginnings. Patron: Tonacatecuhtli.
Ehécatl
Wind
The breath of Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl, who sweeps the road for the rain. Patron: Quetzalcoatl.
Calli
House
The dwelling and the west: rest and the inner life. Patron: Tepeyollotl.
Cuetzpalin
Lizard
The lizard: vitality and the return of the rains. Patron: Huehuecoyotl.
Cóatl
Serpent
The serpent of earth and water. Patron: Chalchiuhtlicue.
Miquiztli
Death
Death and Mictlan, the land of the dead. Patron: Tecciztecatl, the moon.
Mázatl
Deer
The deer of the wild hills. Patron: Tlaloc.
Tochtli
Rabbit
The rabbit: fertility, pulque and the moon. Patron: Mayahuel.
Atl
Water
Flowing water. Patron: Xiuhtecuhtli, lord of fire and time.
Itzcuintli
Dog
The dog who guides the dead across the river of Mictlan. Patron: Mictlantecuhtli.
Ozomatli
Monkey
The monkey: play, dance and the arts. Patron: Xochipilli.
Malinalli
Grass
The twisted grass: endurance and renewal. Patron: Patecatl.
Ácatl
Reed
The reed and the arrow: authority and the turning of the year. Patron: Tezcatlipoca.
Océlotl
Jaguar
The jaguar, warrior of the night. Patron: Tlazolteotl.
Cuauhtli
Eagle
The eagle, warrior of the sun. Patron: Xipe Totec.
Cozcacuauhtli
Vulture
The vulture: long life and the wisdom of the elders. Patron: Itzpapalotl.
Ollin
Movement
Movement: the sign of the Fifth Sun, Nahui Ollin. Patron: Xolotl.
Técpatl
Flint
Flint: the knife of offering. Patron: Chalchiuhtotolin.
Quiáhuitl
Rain
The rain of the sky. Patron: Chantico.
Xóchitl
Flower
The flower: beauty, art and love. Patron: Xochiquetzal.
04Maya numbers
Dots, bars and the shell.
A dot is one, a bar is five, a shell is zero: the Maya counted in twenties and knew zero centuries before Europe.
- 0zero
- 1one
- 2two
- 3three
- 4four
- 5five
- 6six
- 7seven
- 8eight
- 9nine
- 10ten
- 11eleven
- 12twelve
- 13thirteen
- 14fourteen
- 15fifteen
- 16sixteen
- 17seventeen
- 18eighteen
- 19nineteen
05Signs of the sky
The symbols of the Solar System.
The signs that astronomy has used for centuries for the Sun, the Moon and the planets.
Sun
Our star
A 4.6-billion-year-old star holding 99.8% of the Solar System's mass.
Mercury
The swift messenger
The closest planet to the Sun; a year of 88 days.
Venus
The morning and evening star
The hottest planet, wrapped in clouds; Mesoamerica tracked its 584-day cycle.
Earth
Our home
The only world known to hold life; one ocean, one atmosphere, one bioregion.
Moon
Earth's companion
Its 29.5-day cycle gave many peoples their months.
Mars
The red planet
Iron-red deserts and the tallest volcano in the Solar System.
Jupiter
The giant
The largest planet; its storm, the Great Red Spot, is larger than Earth.
Saturn
The ringed planet
Rings of ice and rock; a year of 29.5 Earth years.
Uranus
The tilted giant
An ice giant spinning on its side.
Neptune
The far blue world
The farthest planet, found by mathematics in 1846.
06Words of the count
The terms of the library.
Every concept is a term, connected, in every language, with its sources.
- Tzolk'in
- The sacred count of 260 days: 20 day-signs combined with 13 numbers.
- Haab'
- The solar year of 18 months of 20 days plus the 5 days of Wayeb'.
- Long Count
- A count of days in a modified base 20 (a tun of 18 × 20 days) from the era date 13.0.0.0.0, 11 August 3114 BCE, used for historical dates.
- Wayeb'
- The five closing days of the Haab', a time of caution.
- Nawal (Nahual)
- The day-sign and spirit companion that guides a person from birth.
- Tonalpohualli
- The count of days: 260 days made of 20 day-signs and 13 numbers.
- Xiuhpohualli
- The count of the year: 18 months of 20 days plus 5 days.
- Nemontemi
- The five closing days of the xiuhpohualli.
- Xiuhmolpilli
- The binding of the years: the 52-year cycle.
- Tonalli
- The heat and destiny given to a person by the day of birth.