Day Signs: Native American Astrology from Ancient Mexico

This is the new and expanded version of Day-Signs, originally published in 1991. In this edition there are some content and organizational changes in the introductory chapters, the listings of people born under each of the day-signs has been expanded, and the day-sign look-up tables now go to 2029. The original delineations of the 20 day-signs remain at the heart of the book, and these have been updated to include the author's latest insights. They are the first ever to be described in psychological terms, and the only ones produced by the analysis of over 400 examples. For those interested in astrology, it may come as a surprise to learn that the Maya and Aztecs of ancient Mexico and Central America had developed a comprehensive system of signs and cycles, very little of which has survived in the indigenous population to the present day. Tantalizing pieces of this astrological system do exist but there are many parts missing. One thing is known, however, and that is the central role of the 20 named days called day-signs. It is the reconstruction and reinterpretation of these symbolic images that is the subject of this book. The 20 day-signs are like a zodiac - a cycle of development that moves through various stages from origin to completion. Each of the day-signs has distinct qualities and as the 20 signs cycle through the calendar dates, they move with a secondary cycle of 13 numbers that deepen meanings. Finally, after 13 cycles of the 20 day-signs and 20 cycles of the 13 numbers, the larger cycle, called the Tzolkin by the Maya and Tonalpouhalli by the Aztecs, begins again. This 260-day cycle is at the core of the ancient astrology of the Americas and an understanding of it is a prerequisite to comprehending the other components of the system. Here, in this book, is a modern interpretation of each of the signs, translated from an ancient mindset into the shared reality of the present. Even though the rediscovery of ancient native American astrology is far from complete, readers will be fascinated that significant variations in personality, discovered in a strange culture a long time ago, are just as relevant today.