Aztec and Maya Calendar
In the tonalpohualli, the sacred Aztec calendar, Friday July 27, 2012 is:
Xihuitl:
solar year
13 - Tecpatl (flint knife)
Long Count:
Mayan calendar
12.19.19.10.13
Xiuhpohualli:
365-day calendar
15 - Quecholli (XV)
(Correlation: Alfonso Caso [adjust])
The significance of this day
Aztec facts
The Aztecs did not use a leap year correction but they knew the length of a solar year is neither 365 nor 365.25 days. Presumably they kept some count of days to register astronomical events but no evidence of an Aztec Long Count exists.
On day 13-Acatl the present age, the Fifth Sun, was born (see Tonatiuh).
Day Acatl (Reed) is governed by Tezcatlipoca as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. Acatl is the scepter of authority which is, paradoxically, hollow. It is a day when the arrows of fate fall from the sky like lightningbolts. A good day to seek justice, a bad day to act against others.
The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Cipactli (Crocodile) is ruled by Tonacatecuhtli, Lord of Nurturance, the primordial god of creation and fertility. Cipactli is god of the land, the great earth monster, floating on the sea of stars. This is the first trecena of the sacred year. The 13 days of this trecena are governed by the primordial urge to create order out of chaos. The three means by which the Old Ones established order are still our most important treasures: speech, agriculture, and the family. The lineage of thought runs from seed to fruit to seed: these are good days to participate in the community; bad days for solitude.