The Mayan Calendar

As a part of my Mayan language classes I`ve been learning snippets of Mayan culture (mostly so my brain won`t explode from too many Mam words) and this week I got to learn all about the Mayan calendar.

The Mayan calendar has 2o symbols and is completely different from the Western calendar that most countries follow. Each symbol signifies one day and once the 20 days are cycled through, it begins again with the first day. Though the population of Guatemala generally follows the Western calendar now, may people still conslut the Mayan calendar to guide them.

For example, day 6 is Asmaq or forgiveness. Children who are born on this day are said to have extra capacity for forgiving others. Also, if you have wronged someone and would like to ask their forgiveness, you would wait until this day to have the most favor when approaching them.

Here`s a photo of some of the symbols (I`ve been painting them to keep my fingers in something artistic)...