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The Seventh Tone of the Tzolk'in

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The Seventh Tone of the Tzolk'in

This is the seventh of the thirteen numbers, or tones, that combine with the twenty day signs to form the 260-day Tzolk'in. In living Maya daykeeping the coefficient is simply the number seven, wuqub', and seven stands at the exact centre of the thirteen, a place of balance and attunement in the rhythm of the trecena. The name recorded here, Resonant, and its keyword of attunement and inspiration belong to the modern Dreamspell system of Jose Arguelles, a New Age overlay from the 1980s that is distinct from the Maya calendar and not part of traditional daykeeping. The daykeepers reckon by the number itself. The authentic element is the coefficient seven and its role in the interlocking of thirteen numbers with twenty day signs that produces the 260 unique days of the sacred count.

The seventh of the thirteen numbers that combine with the twenty day signs to generate the Tzolk'in's 260-day count, marking the midpoint of its trecena, the thirteen-day period within which this is the fourth day counting from the centre in either direction. Seven recurs as a significant number elsewhere in Maya tradition independent of the Tzolk'in specifically, notably in the Popol Vuh's account of the Hero Twins' underworld trials in Xibalba, though scholars caution against assuming every appearance of a small number across different Maya sources reflects one single, unified numerological system rather than separate traditions that happen to share culturally significant numbers.

Sources Time and the Highland MayaBarbara Tedlock with Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013Jose Arguelles

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