Where this knowledge comes from

A living tradition, not a museum

The count of 20 nawales and 13 numbers that Maya Time works with belongs to the living tradition of the K'iche' highlands of Guatemala. It is not a relic or an ancient curiosity, but a practice carried forward without a break.

To this day, real daykeepers, the ajq'ijab', keep this count. They carry responsibility for their communities, learn over many years, are called to the work, and hold knowledge passed on through speech and relationship.

We ask you to hold this in mind: what you see here is a small, respectful approach to something that is lived, breathed, and kept elsewhere.

What we are and what we are not

Maya Time is a tool for reflection, not divination. The energies of a day can invite you to notice something, to pause, or to look at a question differently. They do not predict your future, and they decide nothing for you.

We are not ajq'ijab'. We are not daykeepers, and we do not claim to speak in their name. A real reading, a calling, a ceremony belong to the living tradition and to the people who carry it.

What we offer is a quiet mirror: calendar dates calculated with care, and a warm, invitational reading you can use to reflect for yourself.

How we try to be respectful

We write invitationally, never deterministically. Energies colour, incline, and invite; they do not cause anything and they do not foretell. You remain the one who interprets.

We do not universalise. We do not say the Maya as though all Maya peoples were one, because different communities keep different counts and meanings. We name the source as precisely as we can: the K'iche' highland tradition.

We do not quietly blend systems. Where we show terms like Tzolkin as a layer of comparison, we mark it as such. And we invent nothing: no made-up history, no fabricated numbers, no promises about healing or fate.

Three systems, kept separate

Maya Time shows the same day-energy in several voices. At its core is the Nawal reading of the K'iche' highlands. Beside it stands the Tzolk'in view, the same count shown with its Yucatec names and a lighter language.

The integrated view only draws together where the voices touch. It does not blend the counts or claim a unity that is not there.

Why we keep the K'ichean names

We write the day-signs in their K'ichean forms, with their apostrophes: Iq', Aq'ab'al, K'at, Q'anil, Tz'i, B'atz, E', Tz'ikin, No'j. These spellings are not decoration; they carry the sound and meaning of the language they come from.

The apostrophes and the exact run of letters make a difference. Smoothing them away or anglicising them would blur their origin and make the language smaller than it is.

By leaving the names as they belong, we keep the connection to the living tradition visible, rather than hiding it.

How we want to give back

We work with knowledge that comes from a living tradition, and that carries an obligation. So we are open about our sourcing, make no false claims to authority, and never claim to replace living traditions or to simulate ceremony.

We keep our sources in the open, keep the language respectful, and clearly name what is calculation, what is interpretation, and what is a modern presentation. As Maya Time grows, we want to use a part of it to support cultural and indigenous projects led by these communities themselves.