Tzolk’in
Mayan zodiac signs
The real Maya calendar has no twelve-month zodiac: it has a 260-day count of 20 day signs and 13 numbers. Find your Maya day sign and learn how the “Mayan astrology” you see online relates to it.
Tzolk’in calculator
Find your Mayan day sign
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The 20 day signs
| # | Day sign | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imix | crocodile, earth |
| 2 | Ik’ | wind |
| 3 | Ak’b’al | night, darkness |
| 4 | K’an | maize, seed |
| 5 | Chikchan | serpent |
| 6 | Kimi | death |
| 7 | Manik’ | deer |
| 8 | Lamat | star, Venus |
| 9 | Muluk | water, jade |
| 10 | Ok | dog |
| 11 | Chuwen | monkey |
| 12 | Eb’ | road, grass |
| 13 | B’en | reed, maize stalk |
| 14 | Ix | jaguar |
| 15 | Men | eagle |
| 16 | K’ib’ | vulture, owl |
| 17 | Kab’an | earth, movement |
| 18 | Etz’nab’ | flint |
| 19 | Kawak | storm, rain |
| 20 | Ajaw | lord, sun |
How the tzolk’in works
Each day combines a number from 1 to 13 with one of 20 day signs, so the same combination repeats every 260 days. The tzolk’in ran alongside the 365-day haab’ and the Long Count; together they identified every day. The calendar is still kept by daykeepers (ajq’ij) in highland Guatemala.
What about the “Mayan zodiac” charts?
Charts that give a Maya sign for a range of Gregorian dates (for example “Jaguar: May 3 to May 30”) are a modern invention with no basis in Maya sources, because the day signs repeat every 20 days rather than covering months. The authentic equivalent of a birth sign is your day sign in the tzolk’in, which this calculator gives.
The correlation question
Converting between Maya and Gregorian dates requires a correlation constant. We use the GMT correlation (584283), accepted by most Mayanists, which places the end of the 13th b’ak’tun on December 21, 2012 (4 Ajaw 3 K’ank’in).
Frequently asked questions
What is my Mayan zodiac sign?
In the authentic calendar, your birth sign is the tzolk’in day of your birth, such as 8 Ix. Use the calculator above.
Is the Mayan calendar the same as the Aztec?
They are related: the Aztec tonalpohualli uses the same 20 signs with Nahuatl names. See the Aztec day signs.
Sources
Updated · How we write and check this guide