Aztec and Maya Calendar
In the tonalpohualli, the sacred Aztec calendar, Saturday February 28, 1523 is:
Xihuitl:
solar year
5 - Acatl (reed)
Long Count:
Mayan calendar
11.15.3.1.9
Xiuhpohualli:
365-day calendar
16 - Cuauhuitlehua (II)
(Correlation: Alfonso Caso [adjust])
The significance of this day
Aztec facts
The conqueror Hernán Cortés arrived on the eastern shores of the Aztec empire in the year 1-Acatl (1519). It had been predicted that on such a year Quetzalcoatl would return from the east to retake his rightful share of the throne. This belief probably weakend the defense of the Aztecs.
Day Atl (Water) is governed by Xiuhtecuhtli, God of Fire, as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. Atl is a day for purification by subjecting oneself to the ordeal of conflict. It is a good day for battle, a bad day for rest. Water brings out the scorpion, who must sting its enemies or else sting itself. Atl is the day of the holy war, which is always a battle with one's own enemies within.
The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Cuetzpalin (Lizard) is ruled by Itzlacoliuhqui. The 13 days of this trecena are governed by the meting out of irrational rewards and punishments. These are 13 days of confusion, a time when the noble and ignoble have equal chance to be raised up or thrown down. The warrior must be like the lizard, who is not hurt from a high fall but, instead, immediately climbs back to its perch. These are good days to keep out of sight; bad days to attract attention.

