OK so we have touched on the Tzolkin and Haab calendars. Before we get to the Long Count calendar, (which is the last one, aren't you glad?), let's touch upon the Lords of the Night.
Simply, every day is associated with a creature known as a Lord of the Night. there are nine Lords, and they take turns watching over the days. You will recall the Mayans are all about cycles, so these nine Lords work in a rotation. Yes, that means we have yet another cycle in the Mayan time keeping world.
We do not have names for the Lords of the Night, those have been lost over the years. But we do have glyphs of each of them, and scholars simple have called them G1-G9. (Not to be confused with the Aztec Nine lords of the Night, which have names). Collectively they are known as bolon ti ku, "Nine of them".
Attractive, no? So the Lords of the night simply run in order for nine days and then restart.
And now we will wrap up our calendar discussion with the Long Count next blog.
J.T. Turner
Mayanist
