11 PM - 1 Am                 Tzu - Rat

 1 AM – 3 AM                 Ch’ou - Ox

 3 AM – 5 AM                 Yin - Tiger

 5 AM – 7 AM                 Mao - Rabbit

 7 AM – 9 AM                 Ch’en - Dragon

 9 AM - 11AM                 Szu - Snake

11 AM –1 PM                 Wu - Horse

 1 PM – 3 PM                Wei - Sheep

 3 PM – 5 PM                Shen - Monkey

 5 PM -  7 PM                Yu - Rooster

 7 PM – 9 PM                Hsu - Dog

 9 PM – 11 PM                Hai - Pig

 

 

Aztec Calendar

                Like the Chinese calendar the Aztec calendar will most familiar to many readers from placemats in Mexican restaurants. The magnificent CUAUHXICALLI or “Eagle Bowl,” more commonly termed the “Calendar Stone” or “Sun Stone” is a major symbol of Mexican culture and pride –but few people understand what all it represents.

            Engraved upon the Cuauhxicalli in intricate detail is the complicated Aztec calendar, surrounding the face of TONATIUH, the Sun God of the Present Age. Like many other peoples the Aztecs thought of the world in terms of successive Ages which marked new beginnings for the world.

            Like the Egyptians with their Lunar liturgical calendar and Solar civil calendar, the Aztecs used two simultaneous calendar systems. These were the Tonalpohualli (Reckoning of Days), a liturgical calendar of 260 days: and the Xiupohualli (Reckoning of Years), a civil calendar of 360 days plus five epogamenal days called Nemontemi (Empty Days).

            The Tonalpohualli was very ancient and long pre-dated the Aztecs, having been used by many Meso-American peoples before and beside them, notably the Maya who knew it as the Tzolkin. It seems to have originated when people noted that the Sun passed a specific sacred spot near the Mayan city of Copan every 260 days. This 260 day year was then divided into 20 months of 13 days each (Trecena in Spanish), which were numbered.

            The Tonalpohualli was recorded in a book called the Tonalamatl, which was consulted whenever a child was born, so that a horoscope could immediately be laid out. If it was considered that the child was born on an unlucky day, the horoscope would not be read until the following day in the hope that by thus fixing a different “official” birth date the bad luck could be avoided.

            In addition to Astrological divination, the Tonalpohualli was also used to set the dates for religious ceremonies and select auspicious dates for important events.

                The Xiupohualli on the other hand was a civil calendar and was based upon the Solar year. The Xiupohualli had 360 days, which were divided into 18 months of 20 days each (called vientenas in Spanish). The months were further divided into four 5 day weeks.

The addition of five epogamenal days made a 365 day year. The Aztecs called their epogamenal days Nemontemi or “Empty Days” and regarded them as being between the year preceding and the year following, a “time our of time” similar in flavor to Samhain and reserved for religious activities alone.

While the Tonalpohualli was used for religious purposes and the Xiupohualli for civil ones, the two calendars came together for divinatory purposes. The 20 day names used in the Solar Xiupohualli calendar were combined in sequence with the 13 numerical day names of the Tonalpohualli calendar. Like the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the Chinese, the Tonalpohualli and Xiupohualli were of differing lengths –consequently the combination of day names and numbers did not repeat exactly but rather in a series of unique variations. This continued in a cycle of 18, 980 days, or 52 years, during which no two days had exactly the same name and number.  This 52 year cycle was considered extremely important and magical by the Aztecs and like the Chinese 60 year cycle, was used as we use centuries, and in fact is often referred to as the “Meso-American Century.” 

The end of each 52 year cycle was marked by a 12 day ceremony called Xiuhmolpilli, or “Binding up of Years” –this was the most important ceremony of the Aztec religion.

The Aztecs believed that the end of each 52 year cycle was potentially the end of the world, and that the world must be revived and renewed in order to continue. The Xiuhmolpilli festival began with the extinguishment of all fires to mark the end of the old cycle. Days of fasting and abstinence followed. On the 12th day the appearance of a specific star signaled that the world has been renewed and a new 52 year cycle begun –a new fire was ceremonially struck in the Temple and every home relit its own fires from it.