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Reviewed 10 October 2026 · Calculation gmt584283-proleptic-gregorian-v1 · Prepared by the Mayan Astrology Calculator editors · Sources below

Dreamspell vs the Traditional Maya Count: Why Your Sign Can Differ

If a Dreamspell or 13 Moon site gave you a different "kin" from the one on this site, neither calculator is broken. They follow two different calendars. Dreamspell is a modern system created by José and Lloydine Argüelles from 1987, with a kit published in 1990. It sets 26 July 1987 as Kin 34 and does not count 29 February. [1][2] The traditional count used here runs without a break and matches the dates published for the living highland calendar. [3][4]

The two systems side by side

	Traditional count (Tzolk'in / Chol Q'ij)	Dreamspell (13 Moon)
Origin	Mesoamerican 260-day count. The earliest securely dated Maya example is from about 300–200 BCE [5]	Created by José and Lloydine Argüelles. Begun in 1987, kit published 1990 [1]
Who keeps it today	Daykeepers (ajq'ijab') in highland Guatemala [6]	Promoted by the Foundation for the Law of Time [7]
How the count is fixed	An unbroken day count. On this site it is tied to the Gregorian calendar by the GMT correlation, 584283 [8][4]	Anchored so that 26 July 1987 is Kin 34, "White Galactic Wizard" [2]
29 February	Counted like any other day	Not counted. Called "0.0 Hunab Ku", it is not one of the 260 signatures [1]
The numbers 1–13	Day numbers. Classic words such as jun, cha', ux [9]	"Galactic tones": Magnetic, Lunar … Cosmic [7]
The 20 names	Day signs: Imix, Ik', Ak'bal … Ajaw in Yucatec. Highland languages have their own names, e.g. K'iche' B'atz' for Chuwen [10]	"Solar seals": Red Dragon, White Wind, Blue Night … Yellow Sun [1]
Colors	Colonial Yucatec texts give colors to directions: red east, white north, black west, yellow south [11]	A fixed red–white–blue–yellow cycle across the 20 seals [1]
13-day run	Trecena, a word used by Spanish chroniclers [12]	"Wavespell" [13]
Year	The 365-day Haab', with no leap days, runs alongside [4]	13 "moons" of 28 days plus a "Day Out of Time" on 25 July [1]

Why the results differ

There are two reasons: a different anchor, and a different rule for leap days.

1. A different anchor. The traditional count has no fixed starting day of its own. It is simply the next day in a sequence that has run for more than two thousand years. To convert a Gregorian date, you need a correlation constant: the Julian Day Number of the Long Count's starting point. The Goodman–Martínez–Thompson (GMT) value is 584,283. Floyd Lounsbury later proposed 584,285, two days later, and many epigraphers use that figure. [4][14] Mark Van Stone notes that the strongest evidence for the GMT over GMT+2 is that day-keepers in Momostenango, recorded by Dennis and Barbara Tedlock, "were still using the 260-day calendar, and it fits the GMT". [4]

Dreamspell does not use a correlation constant. In the words of the Foundation for the Law of Time's Rinri newsletter, "this count was reformulated precisely so that July 26, 1987, would be White Galactic Wizard". That is Kin 34. The same passage names 26 July 1993 as Yellow Magnetic Seed (Kin 144) and 26 July 2013 as Yellow Galactic Seed (Kin 164), and the newsletter adds that Kin 1 fell 33 days before the 1987 anchor, on 23 June 1987. [2] In the traditional count, 26 July 1987 was 6 Ajaw 8 Xul. Dreamspell's Kin 34 occupies the slot that the traditional count calls 8 Ix (position 34 counting from 1 Imix). So the two systems were already 54 positions apart on the day Dreamspell was anchored.

2. A different leap-day rule. Dreamspell skips 29 February. On that day it records "0.0 Hunab Ku" and then continues the next day as if no time had passed. [1] The traditional count never pauses. The Rinri newsletter explains the choice by noting that in the Chilam Balam texts "leap year was never considered, much less counted in the Year-Bearer Count". [2] (The 365-day Haab' also has no leap day, but the 260-day count keeps counting every day.) [4]

The result is a gap that changes over time. Each 29 February, Dreamspell holds still while the traditional count moves on one day, so the difference drops by one every four years:

Date	Traditional count	Dreamspell	Gap (positions)
26 Jul 1987	6 Ajaw (position 240)	Kin 34	54
1 Jan 2000	11 Ik' (position 102)	Kin 153	51
21 Dec 2012	4 Ajaw (position 160)	Kin 207	47
10 Oct 2026	1 Imix (position 1)	Kin 45	44

Positions count from 1 Imix = 1 to 13 Ajaw = 260. Dreamspell's Kin 1 "Red Magnetic Dragon" occupies the same slot as 1 Imix, so a kin number and a traditional position can be compared directly. Our calculation; method below.

Because the gap is never zero, the two systems will almost never give the same day sign and number for the same birth date.

Worked examples

All traditional results use GMT 584283. Dreamspell results use the anchor and leap-day rule above. You can check two of them against published sources: the Smithsonian gives 1 January 2000 as 11 Ik' 10 K'ank'in and 21 December 2012 as 4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in. [6]

Birth date	Traditional (this site)	Haab'	Dreamspell
26 Jul 1987	6 Ajaw	8 Xul	Kin 34, White Galactic Wizard
15 May 1990	3 K'an	17 Wo'	Kin 17, Red Self-Existing Earth
1 Jan 2000	11 Ik'	10 K'ank'in	Kin 153, Red Planetary Skywalker
28 Feb 2000	4 Ajaw	8 K'ayab	Kin 211, Blue Electric Monkey
29 Feb 2000	5 Imix	9 K'ayab	0.0 Hunab Ku (no kin)
1 Mar 2000	6 Ik'	10 K'ayab	Kin 212, Yellow Self-Existing Human
21 Dec 2012	4 Ajaw	3 K'ank'in	Kin 207, Blue Crystal Hand
10 Oct 2026	1 Imix	14 Yax	Kin 45, Red Rhythmic Serpent

Look at the three days around 29 February 2000. The traditional count moves 4 Ajaw → 5 Imix → 6 Ik', one step a day. Dreamspell goes straight from Kin 211 to Kin 212 and gives the leap day no kin at all.

If you were born on 29 February

In the traditional count your birth day has a sign and number like any other day. For 29 February 2000 it is 5 Imix. In Dreamspell your birth date has no galactic signature. It is "0.0 Hunab Ku". [1] Dreamspell practitioners have their own conventions for this, and we do not try to settle them here. Our reports always use the traditional result.

Terms you'll meet on Dreamspell sites

These words belong to the Dreamspell system. A Lake Atitlán culture site notes that kin, solar seal, galactic tone and wavespell "do not come from any Maya language or community". [13] Each has a rough traditional counterpart:

Dreamspell term	What it means there	Closest traditional idea
Kin (1–260)	Position in the 260-day "galactic spin"	A day in the Tzolk'in, named by number + day sign
Solar seal	One of the 20 named images (Red Dragon …)	One of the 20 day signs
Galactic tone	One of the 13 named numbers (Magnetic …)	The day number 1–13
Galactic signature	Tone + color + seal, e.g. "Red Planetary Skywalker"	The day name, e.g. 11 Ik'
Wavespell	A 13-kin run	A trecena
13 Moon calendar	13 × 28 days + Day Out of Time	No traditional equivalent. The traditional solar year is the Haab' (18 × 20 + 5) [6]

So when someone asks "What is my galactic signature?", the traditional answer is your day name: a number and a day sign, counted from your birth date without skipping days.

Who uses the traditional count today

The 260-day count is not only an archaeological object. The Smithsonian's Living Maya Time describes highland Guatemalan daykeepers who "celebrate a new year ceremony called Wajxaqib', B'atz", when "new calendar Day Keepers are initiated". [6] Guatemala's Ministry of Culture published 18 January 2025 and the government portal 5 October 2025 as Waqxaqib' B'atz' dates. [3][15] With GMT 584283, both days come out as 8 Chuwen, the Yucatec name for the day K'iche' calls B'atz'. [10] This public, checkable agreement is the main reason we use the GMT count. See Number 8 for upcoming dates.

Why this site uses the traditional count

• It matches living practice. As shown above, our dates match the 8 B'atz' dates published in Guatemala. [3][4]
• It is transparent. Our methodology page publishes the full formula: subtract 584,283 from the Julian Day Number, then number = ((days + 3) mod 13) + 1 and day index = (days + 19) mod 20. [8]
• It is stable. We are not changing the count, so nobody's result changes. Reports already issued keep the same day sign and number. Only the labels are clearer.
• We name the alternatives. Some scholars and tools use 584285 or 584286, which move results by two or three days. [8][4]

We still show the Dreamspell name next to your number, clearly labelled, because many readers know it. We do not mix the two systems or present Dreamspell names as Maya terms. In the words of the AtitlanVida guide, "presenting one as the other does a disservice to both". [13]

A note for Dreamspell readers

If Dreamspell is meaningful to you, this page is not asking you to give it up. It is a coherent modern system with its own logic, and many people use it thoughtfully. Our aim is narrower: to say clearly which calendar a result comes from. If you want to read your date in the count kept by Maya daykeepers, the converter above gives you both results side by side.

How the converter calculates

For readers who want to check our numbers.

Traditional (GMT 584283) [8]

1. JDN = Julian Day Number of the date (proleptic Gregorian).
2. days = JDN − 584283.
3. Number = ((days + 3) mod 13) + 1. Day sign index = (days + 19) mod 20, where 0 = Imix and 19 = Ajaw.
4. Haab' position = (days + 348) mod 365. Positions 0–359 are 18 months of 20 days starting at Pop, and 360–364 are Wayeb'.

Check: 1 January 2000 → JDN 2,451,545 → days 1,867,262 → 11 Ik' 10 K'ank'in, Long Count 12.19.6.15.2, as given by the Smithsonian. [6]

Dreamspell [2][1]

1. If the date is 29 February, return "0.0 Hunab Ku".
2. d = days from 26 July 1987 to the date, not counting any 29 February in between (negative for earlier dates).
3. Kin = ((33 + d) mod 260) + 1. Tone = ((Kin − 1) mod 13) + 1. Seal = ((Kin − 1) mod 20) + 1, with 1 = Red Dragon … 20 = Yellow Sun.

Check: this reproduces every anchor quoted in the Rinri newsletter: Kin 1 on 23 June 1987, Kin 34 on 26 July 1987, Kin 55 and 56 on 16–17 August 1987, Kin 144 on 26 July 1993 and Kin 164 on 26 July 2013. [2]

Questions

Which one is right?
They answer different questions. The traditional count is the calendar kept by Maya daykeepers. Dreamspell is a modern calendar with its own rules. Each is internally consistent. Our reports use the traditional count.

Can I use my Dreamspell kin to order a report here?
No. Reports are generated from your birth date using the traditional count. Enter your date, not your kin, and the report shows your Dreamspell name as a labelled alias.

I was born on 29 February. What is my sign?
In the traditional count, you have a normal day name. For example, 29 February 2000 is 5 Imix. In Dreamspell the date is "0.0 Hunab Ku" and has no kin. [1]

What is the difference between 584283, 584285 and 584286?
They are correlation constants: different estimates of how the Maya Long Count lines up with our calendar. 584283 (GMT) is used here. 584285 is Lounsbury's adjustment, two days later. 584286 is a further variant some tools offer. [4][8] The Dreamspell difference is much larger and is not a correlation question at all.

Has this site changed my result?
No. The calculation has always been GMT 584283. What changed is the labelling: numbers come first and Dreamspell names are marked as Dreamspell.

Sources

1. "Dreamspell." Wikipedia (used for dates of the system and 13 Moon structure; cites Argüelles & Argüelles 1990). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamspell
2. Foundation for the Law of Time (Galactic Research Institute). "The Wizard's Count and the Triumph of the Synchronic Order." Rinri Project Newsletter, Phoenix Edition, vol. 2, no. 1. https://www.lawoftime.org/pdfs/Rinri-II-2.1.pdf
3. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala. "La importancia Waqxaqib' B'atz en la cosmovisión Maya." 18 January 2025. https://noticias.mcd.gob.gt/2025/01/18/la-importancia-waqxaqib-batz/
4. Van Stone, Mark. "2012 FAQ." FAMSI. https://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/faq.html
5. Stuart, David, Heather Hurst, Boris Beltrán, and William Saturno. "An early Maya calendar record from San Bartolo, Guatemala." Science Advances 8, no. 15 (2022): eabl9290. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abl9290
6. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. "The Calendar System." Living Maya Time. https://maya.nmai.si.edu/calendar/calendar-system
7. Foundation for the Law of Time. "Learning the 13 Galactic Tones and 20 Solar Seals." https://lawoftime.org/infobooth/sealsandtones.html
8. Mayan Astrology Calculator. "Calculation Methodology and Cultural Scope." https://mayanastrologycalculator.com/methodology
9. Kettunen, Harri, and Christophe Helmke. Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs, 17th rev. ed. Wayeb, 2020, p. 48 (Table VI, Classic Maya numerals). https://www.mesoweb.org/resources/handbook/IMH2020.pdf
10. Christenson, Allen J. Popol Vuh: Sacred Book of the Quiché Maya People. Electronic edition, Mesoweb, 2007 (of the 2003 print edition). https://www.mesoweb.com/publications/Christenson/PopolVuh.pdf
11. Stuart, David. "Day Sign Notes: Imix / Imox." Maya Decipherment, 14 August 2025. https://mayadecipherment.com/2025/08/14/day-sign-notes-imix-imox/
12. "Trecena." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trecena
13. AtitlanVida. "Two Distinct Streams: The Traditional Cholq'ij and the Dreamspell." https://atitlanvida.com/culture/tzolkin/traditional-vs-dreamspell/
14. Kettunen, Harri, and Christophe Helmke. Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs, 17th rev. ed. Wayeb, 2020, p. 49 (Tzolk'in, Haab and Calendar Round). https://www.mesoweb.org/resources/handbook/IMH2020.pdf
15. Gobierno de Guatemala / Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes. "Hoy 5 de octubre: El Waqxaqib' B'atz' marca el inicio y el equilibrio en el Calendario Maya." 5 October 2025. https://guatemala.gob.gt/hoy-5-de-octubre-el-waqxaqib-batz-marca-el-inicio-y-el-equilibrio-en-el-calendario-maya/