Meaning
The old Yucatec meaning of Men is the wise one or the craftsman. Thompson read the glyph as the old moon goddess of weaving and gave the day to her; the Classic reading may be tz'ikiin, bird, which is also the K'iche' name.
The highland reading is the bird and what it sees. The Komon Tohil daykeepers make Tz'ikin the Creator represented by all that is in space and the day of merchants and of trade; the Maya' Wuj manual gives bird, eagle and freedom, long sight and abundance.
Our reading: vision, freedom and fair exchange, carried by people described as warm and far-sighted but restless when tied down. The daykeepers pray about trade and livelihood on this day; they do not forecast them. The words are ours.
In the highlands today
Andrés Xiloj of Momostenango put the day tersely in 2005: the day of want and of cost. Maya' Wuj makes it a day for partnerships.
Tz'ikin is never a year bearer, and its direction and colour are not attested for the day itself.
The glyph and the old readings
Thompson's Yucatec augury for the day is the weaver or wise one, his highland one the bird.
The Central Mexican day of the same position is Cuauhtli, the eagle, which is close to the Maya' Wuj reading but belongs to a different count.
In the count
Tz'ikin comes round every twentieth day, thirteen times in the 260: on days 15, 35, 55, 75, 95, 115, 135, 155, 175, 195, 215, 235 and 255, with the numbers 2, 9, 3, 10, 4, 11, 5, 12, 6, 13, 7, 1 and 8 in that order, so 2 Tz'ikin is its first day in the count and 8 Tz'ikin its last. In the nawal cross of a person born on Tz'ikin, the day eight before (conception) falls on Kej, the day eight after (destiny) on Aq'ab'al, six before (the right hand) on Toj and six after (the left hand) on Imox, each with its own number.
Correspondences
Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.
- Thompson's reading of the glyph (1950)
- the old moon goddess of weaving sourced
- Presiding god of the day, after Thompson
- the old moon goddess sourced
- Old augury, Yucatan and the highlands, after Thompson
- weaver, wise one (Yucatan); bird (highlands); gradings differ between communities disputed
- The name, as the Zunil daykeepers explain it
- bird; the Creator of the universe, all that is in space; the day of merchants and of trade sourced
- Direction and colour
- west, black (ek'): read off the four-direction cycle; not attested for this day itself, and not shown on our chart unverified
- Our reading
- Vision, freedom and fair exchange: warm and far-sighted, restless when tied down. our construction
How the schools read it
- Classic inscriptions (epigraphers)
- Reading of the glyph: Tz'ikiin or Men?
- J. Eric S. Thompson, 1950
- The glyph as the old moon goddess of weaving; the day's god the old moon goddess.
- Komon Tohil daykeepers, Zunil
- Bird; the Creator of the universe, all that is in space; the day of merchants and of trade.
- The Maya' Wuj manual
- Bird, eagle, freedom; long sight and abundance; a day for partnerships.
- Momostenango (Andrés Xiloj, 2005)
- The day of want and of cost.
- The Central Mexican count (tonalpohualli)
- Cuauhtli, eagle: the day of the same position in a related but different count.
- Dreamspell (1990)
- "Blue Eagle" for the same position in its own count; not our name for the sign.
- EsoTerrier
- Vision, freedom and fair exchange: warm and far-sighted, restless when tied down. Our words.
Claims about it
-
Tz'ikin is the "Blue Eagle".
falseWhat the record shows: That is a Dreamspell name from a modern count of 1990, not the Maya day.
-
Tz'ikin is the most excellent of all days.
disputedWhat the record shows: A grading from some lists. The gradings differ between communities, and we read none of them as a fortune.
-
Tz'ikin has a list of suitable jobs and matching signs.
unverifiedWhat the record shows: No Maya source gives these; Western sites added them.
