Horoscopes · Systems of many cultures
Mayan (Tzolk'in) · Mayan day sign 7
Manik'
Deer; the hand · Kej (K'iche')
The deer, and in the Yucatec glyph a grasping hand. In K'iche' practice Kej is a day of authority and of the four 'Mam' who carry the year — and a traditional birth day for daykeepers.
The Yucatec name Manik' is of uncertain meaning, and its glyph shows a hand in a grasping gesture; in the highlands the day is Kej, 'deer'. The deer is the animal of the hunt and of the forest, a creature of balance that stands on four legs.
For the K'iche', Kej is one of the four year-bearing days — the days on which the solar year can begin — and the year bearers, called Mam, are like the four legs of a deer holding up the world. Kej is therefore a day of authority, leadership and responsibility for others. It is a traditional birth day of daykeepers and community elders. Those born on Kej are described as strong, protective and capable of carrying burdens for others, but warned against domineering or proud behaviour.
Personality
protective · responsible · strong · leading · generous · proud
Among K'iche' Maya daykeepers, a person born on Kej (Yucatec Manik') is described as strong, protective and able to carry burdens for others, a natural leader and elder. Kej, 'deer', is one of the four year-bearing days on which the solar year can begin, and the year bearers, called Mam, are imagined like the four legs of a deer holding up the world.
Daykeepers credit Kej people with authority, responsibility, steadiness, generosity and a sense of balance; the day is a traditional birth day of daykeepers and community elders, and those born on it are thought suited to guiding and protecting others. The challenges traditionally named are domineering or proud behaviour, a tendency to impose their will, and the heavy demands that leadership places on them.
In love and friendship Kej people are portrayed as loyal and protective, providers for family and community. In work they are suited to leadership, community service, spiritual guidance, forestry and work with animals and the land. As with every Maya day sign, the number of the birth day and the whole sacred calendar shape how a daykeeper reads a person's 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