Tzolkin Daily Energy: How to Find Today's Kin

What is the daily energy in the Tzolkin?

The daily energy in the Maya calendar is the kin of the day: one of the 260 days of the Tzolkin, each named after one of 20 solar seals and one of 13 tones. The seal says what the day is about, the tone how it moves. On 7 October 2026, for example, it is Kin 42, the White Electric Wind: communication (wind) that gets going and connects (tone 3).

Seals and tones run on side by side: tone 13 is followed by tone 1 again, the 20th seal by the first. Only after 13 × 20 = 260 days does the same combination return. The names, colours and tones in this text are those of the Dreamspell, published by José and Lloydine Argüelles in 1990, which UmbraLux follows too. Maya communities in the Guatemalan highlands still keep the Tzolkin today with their own count; on most days it lands on a different day sign.

How to find the kin of the day

The quickest way is the Mayan kin calculator: it takes any date, today's included, and shows seal, tone, wavespell and castle. By hand it works like this:

1. Pick a starting point. In the Dreamspell, 21 December 2012 was Kin 207, the Blue Crystal Hand.
2. Count the days. Count the days from there to your date and subtract every 29 February: the Dreamspell does not count it (it calls it "0.0 Hunab Ku"; in UmbraLux it keeps the kin of 28 February).
3. Bring it into 260. Add the counted days to 207 and subtract 260 until a number from 1 to 260 remains. That is the kin.
4. Read seal and tone. Seal = remainder of (kin − 1) ÷ 20, plus 1. Tone = remainder of (kin − 1) ÷ 13, plus 1.

Example, 7 October 2026: from 21 Dec 2012 it is 5,038 days; without the three 29 Februaries (2016, 2020, 2024), 5,035 remain. 207 + 5,035 = 5,242, minus 20 × 260 = 42. Seal: 41 ÷ 20 leaves 1, plus 1 = seal 2, the White Wind. Tone: 41 ÷ 13 leaves 2, plus 1 = tone 3, Electric. Kin 42 lies in the Yellow Sun wavespell, which began with Kin 40, and in the first of the five castles, the Red Castle (Kin 1–52).

A shortcut for later: because the Dreamspell counts every year as exactly 365 days, the kin of any calendar date moves on by 105 each year. So 7 October 2027 is Kin 147.

The 13 tones as the rhythm of the day

The 13 tones count the days of a wavespell from 1 to 13. In the Dreamspell each tone has an action, a power and an essence; the questions come from the Argüelles' 13 Moon calendar. Read as a question for the day:

Tone	Action · power · essence	Question for the day
1 Magnetic	unify · attract · purpose	What is my purpose?
2 Lunar	polarize · stabilize · challenge	What is my challenge?
3 Electric	activate · bond · service	How can I best serve?
4 Self-Existing	define · measure · form	What is the form of my service?
5 Overtone	empower · command · radiance	How can I best empower myself?
6 Rhythmic	organize · balance · equality	How can I extend my equality to others?
7 Resonant	channel · inspire · attunement	How can I attune my service to others?
8 Galactic	harmonize · model · integrity	Do I live what I believe?
9 Solar	pulse · realize · intention	How do I attain my purpose?
10 Planetary	perfect · produce · manifestation	How do I perfect what I do?
11 Spectral	dissolve · release · liberation	How do I release and let go?
12 Crystal	dedicate · universalize · cooperation	How can I dedicate myself to all that lives?
13 Cosmic	endure · transcend · presence	How can I expand my joy and love?

More on each tone and its place in the wavespell: The 13 Maya tones and their meaning.

The 20 solar seals as the theme of the day

The seal gives the day its theme. In the Dreamspell the 20 seals follow the colour sequence red (initiates), white (refines), blue (transforms), yellow (ripens). The first is the Red Dragon (Yucatec Imix), the twentieth the Yellow Sun (Ahau). Each appears 13 times in the Tzolkin, once with every tone. The meaning of all 20 seals is in The 20 Maya solar seals.

Read for the day: the tone says which phase a plan is in, the seal what it is about. On Kin 42, for example, tone 3 sets in motion what the Yellow Sun wavespell began on Kin 40, and the White Wind turns it towards speaking, listening and breath. The full reading of Kin 42 is in the library, as for each of the 260 kins.

How to use the daily energy in everyday life

The Dreamspell reads the kin of the day as an invitation to pay attention, not as a forecast. Three ways to work with it:

• One question in the morning. Look up kin, seal and tone and take the tone's question from the table into your day. In the evening, note briefly where it showed up.
• Plan in wavespells. A wavespell has 13 days. If you let a plan run with it, you set the aim on tone 1, let go of what no longer holds on tone 11 and close on tone 13. It is a planning aid, not a rule.
• Compare with your own kin. Your birth kin stays the same for life. When the day's kin appears in your kin's oracle (as your guide or antipode, say), the day's theme is worth a second look.

UmbraLux calculates your birth kin from your date of birth and shows it in your profile, next to Human Design, numerology and astrology. The app does not show the kin of the day; that is what the calculator is for.

FAQ: Tzolkin daily energy

Which kin is today?

Enter today's date in the Mayan kin calculator, or count from 21 Dec 2012 (Kin 207) as above. A fixed point to remember: 7 October 2026 is Kin 42; every day after it is one kin on, and Kin 260 is followed by Kin 1.

Why do different Maya calendars show different kins?

There are two counts. The Argüelles' Dreamspell leaves out 29 February and is aligned to 26 July as the start of its year. The traditional Maya count has run on without interruption for centuries. Both use 20 signs and 13 numbers but mostly land on different days. UmbraLux calculates by the Dreamspell.

What is the difference between birth kin and day kin?

The birth kin is the kin of your birthday and in the Dreamspell describes your personal signature. The day kin applies to everyone on that day. Every 260 days the two coincide; that day is called your galactic birthday.

What is a wavespell?

A wavespell is 13 days from tone 1 to tone 13. The seal of its first day gives it its name and theme. 20 wavespells make up the Tzolkin, and every four wavespells (52 days) form one of the five castles.

Do I have to follow the Tzolkin?

No. In the Dreamspell the Tzolkin is a tool for self-observation, not a set of rules. It says nothing about whether a day will go well.

Does the Tzolkin have to do with the 13 Moon calendar?

Both come from the Argüelles. The 13 Moon calendar divides the year into 13 moons of 28 days plus a Day Out of Time (25 July); the kin of the day runs on in the Tzolkin independently of it.

Sources

• José and Lloydine Argüelles: Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013 (1990), the origin of the seal and tone names and of the count without 29 February (Wikipedia: Dreamspell, José Argüelles).
• The traditional 260-day calendar and its use in Guatemala today: Wikipedia: Tzolkʼin.
• The example (Kin 42, wavespell, castle) is calculated with UmbraLux's kin calculation, which the calculator uses as well.