◉ Mayan Day Sign Calculator: Tzolk'in & Galactic Signature
Umbriel calculates your Mayan day sign free, in both the traditional count and the modern Dreamspell version, and explains why the two often disagree.
The Tzolk'in is a 260-day sacred calendar pairing twenty day signs with thirteen numbers.
OTHER SYSTEMNot astrology: its own system, presented as such.
- What you'll needBirth date
- What you getYour Tzolk'in day sign and number, plus your Dreamspell galactic signature
- CostFree, no account required
What the Tzolk'in is
The Tzolk'in cycles twenty named days (Imix, Ik', Ak'bal, K'an and so on) against the numbers one to thirteen. Because 20 and 13 share no factors, a given pairing like 4 Ajaw returns only once every 260 days. This calendar has been kept continuously for well over two thousand years and is still in daily use by Maya calendar keepers in Guatemala.
There's a genuine fork here. The traditional count follows the correlation that has run unbroken to the present day. The Dreamspell, a 1980s system by José Argüelles that produces a 'galactic signature' with a colour, seal and tone: uses a different correlation and skips leap days, so it often gives a different answer.
Umbriel shows you both, clearly labelled, rather than picking a side. If your day sign here doesn't match one you were given elsewhere, this is almost always why.
How Umbriel computes it
This tool converts your birth date into a Tzolk'in day sign and tone by counting days, and also gives a Dreamspell signature. The date is turned into a Julian Day Number using the Gregorian calendar. For the traditional count, the sign is (Julian Day Number plus 16) modulo 20, which picks one of twenty day names starting from Imix, and the tone is (Julian Day Number plus 5) modulo 13, plus 1, which gives a number from 1 to 13. Because 20 and 13 share no common factor, a sign and tone pair repeats every 260 days, and the page also finds the next dates your sign (every 20 days) and full day (every 260) come round. The Dreamspell count is anchored on 26 July 2013 being Kin 164, counts days from there, does not count 29 February, and takes the seal as (kin minus 1) modulo 20 and the tone as (kin minus 1) modulo 13, plus 1. The two counts often give different results for the same date, and Umbriel shows both. Only the calendar date is used, with no time of day or place, and nothing astronomical is measured, so no astronomical accuracy applies. It is a symbolic calendar system layered on a date, and the meanings shown for each sign and tone are a fixed table of short descriptions.
What's in your result
- Your day signOne of twenty. Each with its own imagery, direction and colour in the traditional system.
- Your toneA number from 1 to 13, describing the quality or 'pitch' of the day.
- The 260-day cycleTwenty signs against thirteen numbers. Every combination returns once per Tzolk'in round.
- The Dreamspell signatureThe modern version's seal, colour and galactic tone, shown alongside the traditional count.
- Why the two differDifferent correlation constants and the Dreamspell's handling of leap years.
Common questions
Why is my Mayan day sign different on other sites?
Because two different systems are in circulation. The traditional Tzolk'in count and the 1980s Dreamspell use different correlations, so they frequently disagree. Umbriel shows both rather than presenting one as the answer.
Do I need my birth time?
No: the Tzolk'in day sign depends only on the date. Days change at dawn, not midnight in traditional practice, so a birth in the small hours may sit on the previous day sign.
Is the Tzolk'in still used?
Yes. Maya calendar keepers, particularly in the Guatemalan highlands, have maintained the count continuously. It is a living calendar, not a historical curiosity.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, both systems, no account needed.
Do I need an account or an email address?
No. There is no sign-up, no email capture and no free trial. Enter your details and the result is drawn in your own browser.
Related free tools
Umbriel offers every system here as a set of prompts to think with, never as a statement of fact about who you are. Take what's useful, leave the rest.