The 20 Maya Day Signs
The tzolkin is the Maya sacred count — twenty named day energies (the nawales) cycling alongside thirteen numbered tones, together weaving the 260-day calendar that has been kept, uninterrupted, for millennia. Each nawal is a distinct quality of attention: a way of feeling, a way of starting, a way of finishing.
Below are all twenty. Tap any card to open an interactive 3D rendering of the glyph alongside a longer reading of how that energy tends to show up — as a birth-sign, as a day-energy, and as the doorway into its trecena.
Imix
01/20primordial waters / waterlily
The first nawal — primordial waters and the fertile chaos that everything else grows out of. Origins, instinct, and the courage to start before the form is clear.
Ik'
02/20wind / breath
Wind and breath — the sign of communication, ideas in motion, and the unseen pressure that bends the trees. Ik' carries messages and stirs what is settled.
Ak'b'al
03/20night / darkness
Night, the cave, the lining of the bowl. Ak'b'al is introspection, dreaming, and the particular wisdom that only comes from spending time in the dark.
K'an
04/20lizard / seed
The seed waiting in the dark earth, and the lizard that knows the warm rocks. K'an is ripening — slow, embodied, patient knowledge that takes its time to surface.
Chikchan
05/20celestial serpent
The celestial serpent — vital force moving up the spine, magnetism, and the ancient intelligence of the body before the mind catches up.
Kimi
06/20transition / death
Transition — the gate between what was and what's next. Kimi is release, the dignified ending, and the composting that makes new soil.
Manik'
07/20deer / grasp
The deer's hoof and the open hand — grounded action, hands-on craft, and the instinctive intelligence of the body that knows the trail.
Lamat
08/20rabbit / star
Rabbit and morning star — abundance, play, and the joyful fertility that doesn't have to justify itself. Lamat is the lift in the chest after a long week.
Muluk
09/20water / jade
Water held in jade — emotion as a depth, not a weather report. Muluk is feeling that has been polished into something you can hold up to the light.
Ok
10/20dog / loyalty
The dog at the threshold — companionship, ethics, and the loyalty that doesn't need a contract. Ok is showing up, again, on purpose.
Chuwen
11/20monkey / artisan
The monkey in the loom — creativity, mischief, and the weaver's patience that lives next door to play. Chuwen makes things, and remakes them.
Eb'
12/20road / grass
The road and the long grass beside it — pilgrimage, destiny, and the patient unfolding of a path you can only see in retrospect.
B'en
13/20reed / cornstalk
Reed and cornstalk — straight-spined authority, the structure that holds a household, and the leadership that grows from being rooted.
Ix
14/20jaguar
The jaguar in the ceiba — magic, secret-keeping, and the inward power that moves silently through the high branches.
Men
15/20eagle / vision
The eagle in high air — the long view, the perspective from above, and the patient circling that finds the right line of descent.
K'ib'
16/20wax / candle
The candle, the wax, the small flame held in the hands — patience, illumination, and the slow honest reckoning with what came before.
Kab'an
17/20earth / movement
Earth in motion — synchronicity, the world speaking back, and the strange days when everything seems to be a sign.
Etz'nab'
18/20flint / mirror
Flint and obsidian mirror — the sharp truth, the reflection that doesn't soften the picture, and the discrimination that cuts cleanly.
Kawak
19/20storm / rain
The storm and the rain — the gathering clouds, the release, and the renewal that follows. Kawak is pressure that finally breaks open.
Ajaw
20/20sun / lord
Sun and lord — completion, generosity, and the rulership that comes from having actually finished what was started. Ajaw closes the count.