Aztec and Maya Calendar
In the tonalpohualli, the sacred Aztec calendar, Tuesday March 9, 1540 is:
Xihuitl:
solar year
9 - Tecpatl (flint knife)
Long Count:
Mayan calendar
11.16.0.6.8
Xiuhpohualli:
365-day calendar
10 - Tlacaxipehualiztli (III)
(Correlation: Alfonso Caso [adjust])
The significance of this day
Aztec facts
The Aztec, Maya and most other mesoamerican people used the same 260-day calendar with an identical correlation. So the Aztec date 1-Cipactli corresponds to 1-Imix for the Maya, etcetera.
Day Tochtli (Rabbit) is governed by Mayahuel, Goddess of the Maguey and of Fertility, as its provider of tonalli (Shadow Soul) life energy. Tochtli is a day of self-sacrifice and service to something greater than oneself. It signifies the religious attitude which holds everything sacred and results in experiences of self-transcendence. It is a mystical day, associated by the passages of the moon. It is a good day for communing with nature and spirit, a bad day for acting against others.
The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Tecpatl (Stone Knife) is ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of the Region of the Dead, god of death. This trecena signifies an ordeal or trial that pushes one to the very threshhold of endurance: it forebodes an abrupt change in the continuity of things. These are 13 days influenced by the sun, which is a symbol of death: the stars are the warriors of the past and the sun is the gateway of that transformation. The sun is singing fire while the Evening Star guides it through the Region of the Dead: the combined efforts of the elementals are focused on producing a permanent change of heart. These are good days to shed old skins; bad days to cling to what is already known.