Konzepte des Maya-Kalenders

Die Lange Zählung der Maya und der 13-Baktun-Zyklus

Die Lange Zählung ist die Maya-Antwort auf absolute Datierung — eine lineare Tageszählung ab dem mythischen Schöpfungstag 11. August 3114 v. Chr. Fünf vigesimale Einheiten fixieren jedes Ereignis tagesgenau über Jahrtausende.

The five Long Count units

Long Count is mostly base-20, with one twist. K'in (1 day) → Winal (20 k'in) → Tun (18 winal = 360 days) → K'atun (20 tun = 7,200 days) → B'ak'tun (20 k'atun = 144,000 days). The break at winal-to-tun (18 not 20) keeps a tun close to a solar year. A Long Count date is written big-endian and dot-separated: 12.19.6.15.2. Higher units exist on rare inscriptions — piktun (~7,890 years), kalabtun, k'inchiltun — but five fields handle all historical needs.

The epoch: 11 August 3114 BCE

Long Count 0.0.0.0.0 corresponds to the Tzolk'in/Haab' date 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u, equivalent to 11 August 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar (or 6 September 3114 BCE in Julian). This is Julian Day Number 584,283 — the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson (GMT) correlation that academic Mayanists use. The same correlation aligns with the unbroken Tzolk'in count kept by Guatemalan day-keepers. AMS radiocarbon studies have since reinforced GMT against rival correlations.

The 13-baktun Great Cycle and 2012

A Great Cycle is 13 baktuns = 1,872,000 days = ~5,125 tropical years. The current cycle ran from 0.0.0.0.0 (11 Aug 3114 BCE) to 13.0.0.0.0 on the winter solstice, 21 December 2012 (4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in). Maya cosmology described this as a renewal — like an odometer rolling — not the world ending. The 14th baktun is now in motion; the next major rollover (14.0.0.0.0) lands on 21 March 2407.

Calendar Round: how Long Count meshes with Tzolk'in and Haab'

A complete Maya date stacks all three calendars: 12.19.6.15.2 11 Ik' 10 K'ank'in. The Tzolk'in/Haab' pair is the Calendar Round — period LCM(260, 365) = 18,980 days, or 52 Haab' years. A date like 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u repeats only once per Calendar Round, so the Long Count exists precisely to disambiguate which 52-year era an event belongs to.

Why the Long Count matters today

For astrology, the Long Count places a person in cosmic history. We are early in the 14th baktun (started 21 Dec 2012) — useful narrative framing for readings about generational shifts, cycles ending, and what comes next. Computationally, Long Count is the cleanest data structure: convert Gregorian to a day count, then derive Tzolk'in and Haab' positions from it.

Häufig gestellte Fragen

  • What does 13.0.0.0.0 mean?

    It is the Long Count date that ended the 13-baktun cycle on 21 December 2012, signalling the start of the 14th baktun — a calendrical reset, not a prophecy of doom.

  • How long is one baktun?

    One baktun is 144,000 days, roughly 394 solar years.

  • What is the GMT correlation?

    The Goodman-Martinez-Thompson constant (584,283) maps Maya Long Count day 0 to Julian Day Number 584,283, equivalent to 11 August 3114 BCE Gregorian.

  • Why is the tun 360 days, not 400?

    Long Count is mostly base-20, but the winal-to-tun step uses 18 instead of 20, keeping the tun close to a solar year.

  • When does the 14th baktun end?

    At Long Count 14.0.0.0.0 on 21 March 2407 — about 394 years after 21 December 2012.