Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Mayan (Tzolk'in) · Mayan day sign 3
Ak'b'al
Night, darkness, the dawn · Aq'ab'al (K'iche') · Akbal
Night and the moment before dawn. Aq'ab'al joins darkness and new light: in K'iche' practice it is the day of beginnings, of the first glimmer of morning and of secrets kept in the dark.
Ak'b'al means 'night' or 'darkness', and its glyph often shows a dark, house-like or cave-like shape with markings associated with the night sun and the underworld. In Classic thought the night was the time when the sun journeyed through the underworld before rising again.
For K'iche' daykeepers, Aq'ab'al is the dawn as much as the night: the moment when darkness gives way to light. It is therefore a day of beginnings — for starting a new task, a new home or a new relationship — and of renewal after difficulty. Those born on Aq'ab'al are described as people who bring things to light, who can start over and help others do the same, but who also carry hidden matters and must take care with secrets and with dishonesty.
Personality
renewing · hopeful · introspective · perceptive · secretive · resilient
Among K'iche' Maya daykeepers, a person born on Aq'ab'al (Yucatec Ak'b'al) is described as someone who brings things to light, a person of new beginnings and renewal. The day means both night and dawn, the moment when darkness gives way to light, and its nawal is associated with the hidden, with the home and with the promise of a fresh start after difficulty.
Daykeepers credit Aq'ab'al people with hope, resilience and the ability to begin again and to help others do the same; they are said to be perceptive about what lies concealed and capable of revealing the truth. The challenges traditionally named are that they also carry hidden matters of their own and must take care with secrets, with dishonesty and with the darker moods of the night.
In love and friendship Aq'ab'al people are portrayed as devoted and protective of home, yet sometimes private about their deepest feelings. In work they are suited to roles that open new paths: beginning enterprises, teaching, counselling and uncovering what is hidden. Aq'ab'al days are favoured for starting new tasks, homes and relationships; the number of the birth day modifies the reading, as it does for every Maya day sign.
Sources and further reading
- Time and the Highland Maya — Barbara Tedlock, 1982
- The Code of Kings — Linda Schele and Peter Mathews, 1998
- Maya Calendar Origins — Prudence M. Rice, 2007