How to Practice Mayan Astrology: The Tzolkin Calendar and Your Life Path

by Bruce Scofield, Barry C. Orr

A contemporary and practical guide to Mayan astrological techniques

• Discusses the logic and meaning of the 20 day-signs of the Mayan calendar

• Explains the many cycles of Mayan astrology, such as the 9-day cycle of the Night Lords and the 13-day trecena

• Contains extensive tables of Mayan astrological data, allowing readers to cast their own Mayan horoscopes

How to Practice Mayan Astrology presents a contemporary guide to one of the most sophisticated astrological systems ever developed. Like other ancient peoples, the Maya looked to the cycles of the planets as markers of time and designators of order. The predictable cycles they observed became codified in the Mayan calendar and astrological system as a way of organizing the seeming chaos of human life.

Mayan astrology is based on 20 named days that are cycled 13 times to create a 260-day calendar, the Tzolkin. The authors explain the symbolism, logic, and meaning of the 20 day-signs; how these signs reflect 260 possible personality types; and how they can be used for divination. They also explain the important role of the Four Directions and the planet Venus in one’s personality matrix and life issues. Included are extensive, easy-to-use tables of Mayan astrological data, allowing readers to determine their day-signs, to see how these signs are also influenced by the cycle of the Night Lords and the 13-day trecena, and to cast their own horoscopes.

Genres: Spirituality, Astrology

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2006

Reviews

[Jayme Horne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a bit kitschy in the promise to help those who follow Western Astrology find a new system to build off as well. But with that does some really great information and insights into how the Maya conceptualized their cosmologies. It also explains the 260-day calendar in a very digestible way, especially for non-scholars. This book has a lot of great information, even if the premise is a bit silly.

[Dallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never read a book on Mayan astrology before, even though the subject sounded rather intriguing. I came away from this book not really knowing how to practice Mayan astrology, as the name implies, but having a new idea about personality times, actually. The Mayan breakdown is not like year of the Dragon makes you this way or Pisces makes you that way. It takes like five different things into account, and there are many, many possibilities for different personality combinations, showing a really well-rounded idea of humanity. I'm actually using this information to help develop the characters in the novel that I am writing. It really gives me a better idea about who people are and what that means within society, as well as giving me ideas based on an important, ancient culture.