Tzolkʼin

Tzolkʼin (t͡sol ˈkʼin, formerly and commonly tzolkin) is the name bestowed by Mayanists on the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar originated by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The tzolkʼin, the basic cycle of the Maya calendar, is a preeminent component in the society and rituals of the ancient and the modern Maya. The tzolkʼin is still used by several Maya communities in the Guatemalan highlands. While its use has been spreading in this region, this practice is opposed by Evangelical Christian converts in some Maya communities. The word tzolkʼin, meaning "division of days", is a western coinage in Yucatec Maya. Contemporary Maya groups who have maintained an unbroken count for over 500 years in the tzolk'in use other terms in their languages. For instance, the Kʼicheʼ use the term Aj Ilabal Qʼij [aχ ilaɓal ʠiχ] or Rajilabal Kʼij [ɾaχ ilaɓal ʠiχ], 'the sense of the day' or 'the round of the days' and the Kaqchikel use the term Chol Qʼij [tʃol ʠiχ], 'the organization of time'. The names of this calendar among the pre-Columbian Maya are not widely known. The corresponding Postclassic Aztec calendar was called tonalpohualli in the Nahuatl language. The tzolkʼin calendar combines a cycle of twenty named days with another cycle of thirteen numbers (the trecena), to produce 260 unique days (20 × 13 = 260). Each successive named day is numbered from 1 to 13, and then starting again at 1. The 20 individual named days are the following: The tzolkʼin does not have a generally recognized start and end, although there are specific references in the books of Chilam Balam to 1 Imix as the beginning day. Each of the twenty days has its specific primary association connected to the day name's meaning. Imix : 'Crocodile' – the reptilian body of the planet earth, or world Ik : 'Wind' – breath, life. Also violence. Akbal : 'Night-house' – darkness, the underworld, realm of the nocturnal jaguar-sun. Kan : 'Maize' – sign of the young maize lord who brings abundance, ripeness. Also lizard, net.