Aztec Day Signs: The Twenty Signs of the Tonalpohualli

The Aztec day signs are the twenty named days of the tonalpohualli, the 260-day sacred calendar of the Nahua peoples of central Mexico, including the Mexica of Tenochtitlan. Each day combined one of the twenty signs with a number from one to thirteen, and the resulting day name shaped rituals, names and fortunes.

How the tonalpohualli worked

The twenty day signs ran in a fixed order alongside the numbers one to thirteen. Because 13 × 20 = 260, it took 260 days for every combination to occur once. A person was often named after the day of their birth, such as 1 Reed or 7 Flower, and priests read the calendar in painted books, the codices, to find auspicious days. The tonalpohualli ran alongside a 365-day solar year, and the two meshed every 52 years.

The twenty day signs

| # | Day sign | Meaning | |---|---|---| | 1 | Cipactli | crocodile, caiman | | 2 | Ehecatl | wind | | 3 | Calli | house | | 4 | Cuetzpalin | lizard | | 5 | Coatl | serpent | | 6 | Miquiztli | death | | 7 | Mazatl | deer | | 8 | Tochtli | rabbit | | 9 | Atl | water | | 10 | Itzcuintli | dog | | 11 | Ozomatli | monkey | | 12 | Malinalli | grass | | 13 | Acatl | reed | | 14 | Ocelotl | jaguar | | 15 | Cuauhtli | eagle | | 16 | Cozcacuauhtli | vulture | | 17 | Ollin | movement | | 18 | Tecpatl | flint | | 19 | Quiahuitl | rain | | 20 | Xochitl | flower |

Signs, patrons and meanings

Each day sign had patron deities and associations that varied between sources. Modern "meanings" of the signs are simplifications of a complex divinatory system, so the stories linked above start from the name of each sign and what the sources record about it.

Day signs in jewellery

A day sign can mark a birthday in the Nahua calendar or simply celebrate the graphic power of Mexica art. AURYN's Mesoamerican designs can be found in the charms collection, and our guide to the Maya day signs sets out the parallel Maya calendar.