THE TZOLK'IN: THE COUNT OF DAYS
The Tzolk'in is the Sacred Calendar that the Maya utilized for their own sacred personal journey. It is both a master calendar providing a unifying pattern for all creation and the hub of the Mayan calendar system.
The meaning of the Tzolk’in is mostly given as “the count of days” [but] it may also be translated into “pieces of the sun” and by inference to “pieces of divine creation”, which may come closest to its true meaning given that among the Maya, the sun has often been identified with God.*
The Tzolk’in calendar is based on a system of twenty day signs or sun signs, combined with the thirteen numbers of the trecena (a count of thirteen days) to produce 260 unique days (13x20=260). Each Tzolk’in round begins with the first number and the first day sign (1 Imix), and each of the thirteen numbers then repeats twenty times, once for each of the twenty day signs. Each round ends with 13 Ahau.
The below table provides a listing of the beginning dates of the Tzolk’in rounds in the current Galactic Underworld:
Tzolk'in Rounds
| January 5, 1999 | February 17, 2006 |
| September 22, 1999 | November 4, 2006 |
| June 7, 2000 | July 22, 2007 |
| February 23, 2001 | April 7, 2008 |
| November 10, 2001 | December 23, 2008 |
| July 28, 2002 | September 9, 2009 |
| December 30, 2003 | May 27, 2010 |
| April 14, 2003 | February 11, 2011 |
| September 15, 2004 | October 29, 2011 |
| June 2, 2005 |
In the upper navigation links, you can see one titled "the daily tzolkin." This is the same set of calendar rings as in the "calendar" link, but it allows you to calculate the Day sign/Tone combination for any day since 1900, including loved ones' birthdays, special occasions, important events, or simply today's date.
Use the Daily Tzolk'in to learn about the combinations of sacred energies—once the wheels stop turning, you can click on the day signs or tone symbols to open up a dialog that will tell you more about their meanings.
* Excerpt from Solving the Greatest Mystery of Our Time: The Mayan Calendar, by Carl Johan Calleman, p. 221.