Mesoamerican Day Signs

myth:mesoamerican_day_signs

The Aztec tonalpohualli and the Maya tzolkin are both 260-day sacred calendars of twenty named day-signs turning through thirteen numbers — and many of those twenty signs are creatures: Cipactli the sea-monster, Cuetzpalin the lizard, Coatl the serpent, Ocelotl the jaguar, Cuauhtli the eagle, Calli the deer, Itzcuintli the dog. Time written as a bestiary of twenty beasts turning in a cycle of 260 sacred days. — Mesoamerican tradition