Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Mayan (Tzolk'in) · Mayan day sign 18
Etz'nab'
Flint; obsidian knife · Tijax (K'iche') · Etznab
The flint or obsidian blade: cutting, sacrifice and surgery. K'iche' Tijax is the day of healers who 'cut' illness away — and of quarrels and sharp words.
Etz'nab' is the flint or obsidian blade, shown in its glyph as a patterned knife-point. Blades were tools of sacrifice and bloodletting in Classic ritual, and of everyday cutting and healing.
In the K'iche' count the day is Tijax, the obsidian knife. It is considered a strong and two-sided day: a day for healers, who cut out illness, and for ending what must be ended, but also a day of conflict, quarrels and sudden injury. Prayers on Tijax days ask for protection from violence and accidents and for help in healing. Those born on Tijax are described as decisive, sharp-minded healers and fighters who must be careful with their words.
Personality
decisive · sharp-minded · healing · courageous · direct · intense
Among K'iche' Maya daykeepers, a person born on Tijax (Yucatec Etz'nab') is described as decisive and sharp-minded, a healer and a fighter who must be careful with words. Tijax is the obsidian or flint knife, and it is considered a strong and two-sided day: a day for healers who cut out illness and for ending what must be ended, but also a day of conflict and sudden injury.
Daykeepers credit Tijax people with courage, clarity, honesty and the ability to cut through confusion and to heal; they are said to be good at making difficult decisions and at protecting others. The challenges traditionally named are a sharp tongue, quarrels, a quick temper and a tendency to wound with words or to be drawn into conflict and accidents.
In love and friendship Tijax people are portrayed as loyal and honest but intense, sometimes cutting in their frankness. In work they are suited to medicine and surgery, healing, law, the defence of others and any role that demands decisive action. Prayers on Tijax days ask for protection from violence and accidents and for help in healing; the number of the birth day shapes the full reading.
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