The Tzolkin is a 260-day sacred calendar that the Maya used alongside the 365-day solar calendar (Haab). The two interlocking cycles together form the Calendar Round - a period of 52 years before any date combination repeats. Within the Tzolkin, every day has a name and a number. Your birth day in the Tzolkin gives you your day sign and your trecena number, which together constitute your Mayan zodiac.
The 20 Day Signs - Nahuales
The Tzolkin runs on 20 day signs cycling through 13 numbers, producing 260 unique combinations. The 20 day signs are: Imix (Crocodile), Ik (Wind), Akbal (Night), Kan (Corn/Lizard), Chicchan (Serpent), Cimi (Death), Manik (Hand/Deer), Lamat (Rabbit), Muluc (Water/Rain), Oc (Dog), Chuen (Monkey), Eb (Road/Grass), Ben (Reed), Ix (Jaguar), Men (Eagle), Cib (Owl/Vulture), Caban (Earth/Movement), Etznab (Flint), Cauac (Storm), Ahau (Sun/Flower).
Each day sign carries a Nahual - a spirit companion animal. The Jaguar (Ix) is the protector of the night forest, associated with shamanic power and inner sight. The Eagle (Men) governs long-range vision and the capacity to see what others cannot from below. The Serpent (Chicchan) holds the energy of life force and transformation. The Monkey (Chuen) is the artist-trickster, connected to creativity and the human capacity for play. The Corn/Lizard (Kan) is the seed energy, potential in storage, the intelligence of the body.
The Trecena Number
The trecena is the 13-number sequence that runs alongside the 20 day signs. Your trecena number (1 through 13) modifies and qualifies your day sign. The number 1 is the beginning, the initiation, pure potential; a day sign paired with 1 is at its most archetypal and unfiltered. The number 7 is the axis point, the center of the trecena cycle - days with 7 carry peak energy and visibility. The number 13 is completion, the culmination before the next cycle begins.
A person born on 7-Eagle, for example, carries eagle vision at its most amplified moment - the midpoint of the trecena, where the energy of that cycle is most visible. A person born on 1-Serpent carries the serpent''s transformative energy in its most raw, initiatory form.
How to Read Your Result
The calculator returns your day sign, your Nahual animal, your trecena number, and the primary traits associated with that combination. In Maya cosmology, the day sign describes your fundamental nature and your relationship to time and the community; the trecena number describes the quality of energy you were born into.
Enter your birth date and discover your place in the Tzolkin.
