Maya Calendar Tzolkin: 260 Days, Your Kin and Your Galactic Signature

The Tzolkin is the 260-day calendar of the Maya and the heart of the Maya calendar as it is used for personality readings today. It arises from two counts that run side by side: 20 solar seals and 13 tones. Every day combines one seal with one tone and is called a kin; after 260 days the cycle starts over.

The name Tzolkin is a modern coinage from Yucatec Maya and is usually translated as “count of days”. Many peoples of Mesoamerica knew the 260-day calendar; the Aztecs called it the tonalpohualli. The K'iche' in the highlands of Guatemala still keep it today as the Cholq'ij.

How the Tzolkin Is Built

Picture two gears: one with 13 teeth for the tones, one with 20 teeth for the seals. Every day both turn by one tooth. Kin 1 combines tone 1 with the first seal, the Red Dragon, kin 2 combines tone 2 with the White Wind, and so on. After tone 13 the tones start again at 1, while the seals keep counting up to 20. Only after 13 × 20 = 260 days are both gears back at the start.

Why exactly 260 days is not settled. Explanations include 20 as the base of the Maya's vigesimal number system, 13 as a sacred number, the approximate length of a pregnancy and the rhythm of maize growing. Alongside the Tzolkin, the Maya kept a solar year of 365 days, the Haab. Together, the two only return to the same combination after 52 years.

Kin and Galactic Signature

A kin is a day in the Tzolkin, numbered from 1 to 260. The Yucatec word means “day” and “sun”. Every kin combines a seal with a tone: kin 1 is the Red Magnetic Dragon, kin 14 the White Magnetic Wizard, kin 260 the Yellow Cosmic Sun.

The galactic signature is the name the Dreamspell gives to your birth kin. It is made up of color, tone and seal and can be read like a short sentence: the seal says which quality you bring, the tone how you express it. In the White Magnetic Wizard, the wizard's receptivity meets tone 1, which stands for unity and purpose: a quiet presence that attracts what belongs to its goal.

Your birth tone is the tone of your birth kin. In the Dreamspell the 13 tones are called Magnetic, Lunar, Electric, Self-Existing, Overtone, Rhythmic, Resonant, Galactic, Solar, Planetary, Spectral, Crystal and Cosmic. What they mean is described in the article on the 13 galactic tones; how 13 days become a wave, in the article on the wavespell.

The 20 Solar Seals and Their Two Names

The names that are common in the West come from the Dreamspell. Next to them stand the Yucatec day signs and the images that the tradition of the Maya and their neighboring peoples associates with them. The overview of the 20 Maya solar seals presents them in more detail.

No.	Dreamspell	Yucatec	Image in the tradition
1	Red Dragon	Imix	Crocodile
2	White Wind	Ik	Wind
3	Blue Night	Akbal	Night, house
4	Yellow Seed	Kan	Maize, lizard
5	Red Serpent	Chicchan	Serpent
6	White Worldbridger	Cimi	Death
7	Blue Hand	Manik	Deer
8	Yellow Star	Lamat	Star (Venus), rabbit
9	Red Moon	Muluc	Water
10	White Dog	Oc	Dog
11	Blue Monkey	Chuen	Monkey
12	Yellow Human	Eb	Road, grass
13	Red Skywalker	Ben	Reed
14	White Wizard	Ix	Jaguar
15	Blue Eagle	Men	Eagle
16	Yellow Warrior	Cib	Vulture, owl
17	Red Earth	Caban	Earth, movement
18	White Mirror	Etznab	Flint
19	Blue Storm	Cauac	Rain, storm
20	Yellow Sun	Ahau	Lord, sun

How to Calculate Your Kin

Your kin is based on your date of birth. The Dreamspell converts it into a number from 1 to 260; it does not count February 29. From the kin number, seal and tone follow from two simple divisions:

• Seal: divide the kin number by 20. The remainder is the number of the seal in the table; a remainder of 0 stands for 20, the Yellow Sun.
• Tone: divide the kin number by 13. The remainder is the tone; a remainder of 0 stands for tone 13.

An example: 131 divided by 20 leaves a remainder of 11, which is the Blue Monkey. 131 divided by 13 leaves a remainder of 1, the magnetic tone. So kin 131 is the Blue Magnetic Monkey.

The Dreamspell and the Traditional Count

The kin that UmbraLux and many modern readings give follows the Dreamspell of the American José Argüelles. The color names of the seals, the names of the tones and the idea of the galactic signature all come from him. The ancient Maya did not know this system.

The traditional day count, still kept in the highlands of Guatemala today, is an unbroken cycle that counts February 29 as well. The Dreamspell, by contrast, sets its count independently and leaves out the leap day. That is why the two counts are several weeks apart, the gap shifts by one day with every leap year, and the same date usually has a different seal and a different tone there. This is not a calculation error: they are two calendars with the same structure. When you look up your signature elsewhere, check which count is being used.

How to Work with Your Kin

Your kin is not a verdict of fate but a prompt for self-observation. Read your seal first, then your tone, and ask yourself where you recognize both in your life and where you don't. Questions like these can help: What does time mean to me, a clock or a rhythm? Which side of my kin do I recognize most clearly today?

Some people also pay attention to the kin of the day and use it as a prompt for everyday life; the article on the daily energy of the kin describes how.

UmbraLux calculates your kin from your date of birth using the Dreamspell count and shows your kin, solar seal and tone in your profile. Verus, your AI companion in the app, knows your seal and your kin and can talk with you about what they might mean for you. In the library you will find all 260 kin, the 20 seals and the 13 tones.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Tzolkin

What is a kin in the Maya calendar?

A kin is a day in the 260-day Tzolkin calendar, numbered from 1 to 260. Every kin combines one of the 20 solar seals with one of the 13 tones. In the Dreamspell, your birth kin is called your galactic signature.

How do I find my birth tone?

Your birth tone is the tone of your birth kin. Divide the kin number by 13: the remainder is your tone, and a remainder of 0 stands for tone 13. UmbraLux shows your tone, seal and kin directly in your profile.

Why do other calculators show a different kin?

Because there are two counts. The Dreamspell, which UmbraLux uses, sets its count independently and leaves out February 29; the traditional day count from Guatemala runs on without a break. Calculators that follow the traditional count therefore usually arrive at a different seal and a different tone.

Did the Maya calendar end in 2012?

No. On 21 December 2012 the Long Count, a different Maya calendar for long periods of time, completed a great cycle of 13 baktuns. After that it simply kept counting, and the Tzolkin runs on independently of it anyway. More on this in the article on the Long Count calendar.

What is the difference between the Tzolkin and the galactic signature?

The Tzolkin is the whole calendar with its 260 kin. The galactic signature is your personal entry in it: the kin of your birthday with its color, tone and seal.