Mayan Astrology

You’re probably familiar with Western Astrology and how it looks at events in the sky (e.g., planets and constellations) to determine

horoscopes and other aspects of astrology. Mayan Astrology also looks at the sky, but…and this is a really big but…it also looks at

time.

You see, Mayan Astrology doesn’t just look at zodiac signs and houses to interpret events. It interprets events in the sky according to

what is happening on the planet Earth at the time of the event. I don’t mean that it’s looking around to see if there is war going on or an

earthquake somewhere, but rather that it looks at the days and years on planet Earth.

Mayan Astrology and the Mayan Astrology Calendar

Time is at the center of Mayan Astrology. Days are grouped together to form something that

looks like a calendar. The most important is a group of 260 days which forms the Mayan Astrology Calendar, or tzolkin. The tzolkin can

be used for everything from determining when certain events will occur to identifying personality types.

The 260 days of the tzolkin contain:

Day-Signs: These are kind of like Mayan zodiac signs. The Mayan Astrology Calendar divides the year into groups of 20 days. Each

of the twenty days has its own sign, or day-sign, which reveals your personality and life purpose.

The Trecena: This is another kind of Mayan zodiac sign. If you’re familiar with Western Astrology, you might think of it as the moon

sign. The Mayan Astrology Calendar is further divided into 20 groups of thirteen days, which reveal deeper qualities of your

personality than you find with the day-signs.

The Lords of the Night: Now we’re getting into some pretty deep stuff. The Mayan Astrology Calendar is further broken down into

groups of nine days…each named for an important god of the underworld. Think of The Lords of the Night as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

– they’re the parts of yourself that you keep hidden.

The Year: The tzolkin also breaks years into groups of 52 year cycles – I did tell you Mayan Astrology is really big on time before,

right? So what’s important about this break down into groups of years? Well, each year in a cycle has its own name and its own

quality. People born in a specific year have similar qualities as other people born in the same year. Think of Chinese Astrology and its

animals – Year of the Dragon, Year of the Snake, etc.

The Cycle of Venus: Now, the tzolkin is looking at the planet Venus. Its cycle is divided into four periods which are used to mark the

calendar. The phase you’re born into tells you your social values and your role in society.

Whew! That was some work. Aren’t you glad we didn’t have to cover all 20 Mayan Calendars? (Astrology isn’t the only area where

Mayans are so detailed. They also cover agriculture just as precisely.)

I hope you were able to keep up with the tzolkin…

…because there’s one more important way in which Mayan Astrology differs from Western Astrology that you need to know about.

You know how Western Astrology looks at the four elements – earth, air, water and fire? For example, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are fire

signs?

Well, Mayan Astrology doesn’t look at the elements. It looks at directions – north, south, east and west. So each of the day-signs is also

assigned a direction, much like Western Astrology assigns an element to zodiac signs.

What does that mean for you?

Well, it means that just because you have the same day-sign as one of your friends. You’re completely different in the eyes of Mayan

Astrology because you probably have a different element for your day-sign.

Your horoscope in Mayan Astrology isn’t as simple as finding the month and day you were born on. However, if you take the time to put

all the elements of your Mayan astrological chart together, you might find a lot more detailed information than you can get with Western

Astrology.

If you want more information on Mayan Astrology, you might like: Mayan Astrology Signs

Mayan Astrology Compatibility

Mayan Long Count Astrology Explained

Lords of the Night

The Trecenas

Mayan Astrology Sign B’atz