Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Mayan (Tzolk'in) · Mayan day sign 5
Chikchan
Serpent · Kan (K'iche') · Chicchan
The serpent: energy, power and the movement of life. In K'iche' practice Kan is the feathered serpent's day — a day of strength, justice and the life-force, but also of conflict.
Chikchan is the serpent, shown in the glyph by the scaled markings of a snake's skin. Serpents were among the most important symbols of Maya religion: the vision serpent through which ancestors and gods appeared, and the feathered serpent known in K'iche' as Q'ukumatz and in central Mexico as Quetzalcoatl.
In the K'iche' count the day is called Kan and is linked with the energy that runs through the body and the earth — the force felt by daykeepers as 'lightning in the blood' when they divine. It is a day of power, intelligence and justice, used for prayers for strength and for the righting of wrongs. Those born on Kan are described as strong-willed, perceptive and passionate, natural leaders who must take care not to provoke conflict or act out of anger.
Personality
strong-willed · perceptive · passionate · just · energetic · intense
Among K'iche' Maya daykeepers, a person born on Kan (Yucatec Chikchan) is described as strong-willed, perceptive and passionate, a natural leader animated by the serpent's power. The day is linked with the energy that runs through the body and the earth, which daykeepers feel as 'lightning in the blood' when they divine, and with the feathered serpent Q'ukumatz of K'iche' tradition.
Daykeepers credit Kan people with intelligence, vitality, a strong sense of justice and the capacity to lead and to right wrongs; they are said to be quick to perceive what others are thinking and to have a gift for healing and spiritual work. The challenges traditionally named are a tendency to provoke conflict, to act out of anger, and to let passion overrule judgement.
In love and friendship Kan people are portrayed as intense, loyal and magnetic, protective of those close to them. In work they are suited to leadership, law and the pursuit of justice, healing and spiritual vocations. Kan days are used for prayers for strength and for the righting of wrongs; the number of the birth day and the whole sacred count shape the reading, as for every nawal.
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