B'en (Reed): Mayan day sign Meaning

The reed or growing maize stalk. In K'iche' practice Aj is the day of the home and household, of children and of the maize that sustains the family.

B'en is the reed or green cane, and in the highland count Aj means the growing maize stalk or cane. In central Mexico the corresponding sign is Acatl, the reed.

For K'iche' daykeepers, Aj is the day of the home: its walls were traditionally made of cane, and the day is used for prayers for the family, children, and the house and its fields. It is also the day of the rod of authority of a community leader. Those born on Aj are described as upright, protective and devoted to their households, strong and growing like the maize stalk, though they may become rigid or quarrelsome at home.

Personality

upright · protective · devoted · strong · growing · authoritative

Among K'iche' Maya daykeepers, a person born on Aj (Yucatec B'en) is described as upright, protective and devoted to household and family, strong and growing like the maize stalk. Aj means the green cane or maize stalk, and the day is the day of the home, whose walls were traditionally made of cane, and of the rod of authority carried by a community leader.

Daykeepers credit Aj people with integrity, steadiness, a sense of responsibility and the ability to make their homes, fields and communities flourish; they are said to be good providers and leaders who stand straight under pressure. The challenges traditionally named are rigidity, quarrelsomeness at home, and a tendency to become stubborn or controlling when their authority is questioned.

In love and friendship Aj people are portrayed as faithful and protective, devoted parents and partners. In work they are suited to farming, building, leadership in the community, education and roles that care for families. Daykeepers use Aj days for prayers for the family, children, the house and its fields; as always, the number of the birth day shapes how a person's nawal is read.

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