Aztec and Maya Calendar
In the tonalpohualli, the sacred Aztec calendar, Saturday May 18, 2024 is:
Xihuitl:
solar year
12 - Tecpatl (flint knife)
Xiuhpohualli:
365-day calendar
8 - Ochpaniztli (XI)
Long Count:
Mayan calendar
13.0.11.10.6
(Correlation: Alfonso Caso - Nicholson's veintena alignment [adjust])
The significance of this day
Day Miquiztli (Death, known as Cimi in Maya) is governed by Tecciztecatl, the Moon God, as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. It is a good day for reflecting on your priorities in life, a bad day for ignoring possibilities. It is a day of transformation, signifying that briefest moment between old endings and new beginnings.
The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Ollin (Movement) is ruled by Tlazolteotl. This trecena is governed by the goddess of cotton and weaving, of sexuality and childbirth, she who is the eater of sins: it is the sign of the Scavenger, who feeds not on power but on the ills that darken the heart. The rainbow serpent, symbol of pleasure and folly, levitates amidst a shroud of smoke and shadow: these are 13 days of stolen secrets and odd twists of fate. The earth itself shakes: the ills created by shock can sometimes only be cured by greater shock. These are good days for self-purification; bad days for self-gratification.
Aztec facts
In the years after the conquest of Mexico, the xiuhpohualli (solar calendar) became tied to the Julian calendar as used by the Spaniards. This effectively introduced a leap year to the Aztec calendar every four years (this site provides the pre-conquest calendar).