Time, carried through generations.
The sacred Maya calendar is a living tradition, carried by daykeepers in Maya communities in Guatemala. Its place in ceremony and community life reaches far beyond an individual reading.
Attention, held over generations.
Maya knowledge of time grew through sustained observation and precise mathematics. The changing position of the Sun marked the seasons; the Moon and the appearances of Venus were recorded in astronomical tables. Knowledge of the sky was also part of ritual and community life.
The Dresden Codex preserves sacred almanacs alongside tables concerned with Venus and eclipses. It is one surviving record within a much wider intellectual and cultural inheritance.
Artwork credits
Glyphs by CJLL Wright, adapted by Bluebalam and Kilom691, via Wikimedia Commons. Composition, scale and color adapted by Maya Together.
Artwork licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Download sources and licenses.
Tzolk’in. The sacred count.
The 260-day sacred calendar, Tzolk’in, is called Chol Q’ij in K’iche’ Maya. It brings together twenty day names and a cycle of thirteen numbers. Maya daykeepers, known in the Guatemalan highlands as Ajq’ijab’, continue to care for this knowledge and its place in community life.
Within the broader Maya understanding of time, this sacred count has its own place. Its 260-day rhythm sits alongside the 365-day Haab and the observation of the sky, carrying a sacred meaning that continues into the present.
From attention to relationship.
Our own approach begins with that attention: noticing what we bring, staying curious about what we overlook, and making room for difference. A reading offers possibilities to consider alongside lived experience.
Explore a relationshipMaya Together
Different gifts. Stronger together.
The Maya calendar is our starting point. Understanding what we bring to one another is our purpose.
Images and creative work
The Dresden Codex image is credited to SLUB Dresden, whose digital catalog marks the reproduction as public domain.
The art prints offered by Maya Together are contemporary original designs inspired by day themes. They are not reproductions of Maya glyphs or artwork attributed to a Maya artist. The historical manuscript shown on this page is separate from the print collection.