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

Number 10 in the Tzolk'in (Dreamspell: "Planetary" Tone)

Number 10 is the tenth day of every thirteen-day run in the Tzolk'in. It is written as two bars. Its head variant is a skull, and the skull's fleshless lower jaw was added to the heads for 3 to 9 to write 13 to 19, so it works like a "ten" digit. The Classic Maya word was lajun. K'iche' laju(j) survives in the place name Xe' Laju, "Below Ten [No'j]". Dreamspell calls 10 the "Planetary" tone. [1][2][3][4]

Number 10 at a glance

Place in each 13-day run (trecena)	Day 10 of 13
Classic Maya word	lajun (Kettunen & Helmke 2020: 48) [1]
K'iche' word	laju(j) (as in the place name Xe' Laju[j No'j], "Below Ten No'j") [3]
Bar-and-dot form	Two bars [2]
Head-variant form	A skull with a truncated nose and fleshless jaws; its fleshless lower jaw adds 10 to the heads for 3–9 to form 13–19 (Morley 1915: 100) [2]
Days with this number in 260	20 (once with each day sign)
Dreamspell name (modern, from 1987)	"Planetary" tone [4]

How number 10 moves through the 260 days

The Tzolk'in pairs a running number from 1 to 13 with a running list of 20 day signs. Both advance by one each day, so a given pairing, such as 10 Ok, returns only after 260 days. [5][6] Number 10 therefore comes round every 13 days, each time with a different day sign: 20 times in each 260-day cycle. It is always the tenth day of a thirteen-day run. Spanish chroniclers called that run a trecena, "a group of thirteen", and Dreamspell calls it a "wavespell". [7] The day before a 10 is always a 9, and the day after is always an 11.

In the trecena that opened on 1 Imix, 10 October 2026, number 10 falls on 19 Oct 2026, the day 10 Ok (Haab' 3 Sak'). [8] The next eight days carrying number 10:

Date	Tzolk'in	Haab'
19 Oct 2026	10 Ok	3 Sak'
1 Nov 2026	10 Ak'bal	16 Sak'
14 Nov 2026	10 Kib	9 Keh
27 Nov 2026	10 Muluk	2 Mak
10 Dec 2026	10 Ik'	15 Mak
23 Dec 2026	10 Men	8 K'ank'in
5 Jan 2027	10 Lamat	1 Muwan
18 Jan 2027	10 Imix	14 Muwan

How scribes wrote number 10

Ten is two bars: "two lines meant ten years" (Morley 1915: 91). [2] With two bars and no dots, 10 is one of the easier numbers to read on a weathered monument. Numbers from 11 to 13 add one, two or three dots above the bars.

The skull head: a "ten" you can add

Morley called the head for 10 "extremely important". It is "clearly the fleshless skull, having the truncated nose and fleshless jaws". Its key feature, the fleshless lower jaw, "stands for the numerical value 10". Scribes attached that jaw to the heads for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to write 13 through 19 (Morley 1915: 100). [2] Most head numerals are shown in profile. Morley knew one front-facing 10, on Zoomorph B at Quiriguá, where the fleshless jaw runs across the whole lower face (Morley 1915: 100). [2]

The system has exceptions. The heads for 11 and 12 do not carry the skull's jaw, so they were not built as 10 + 1 and 10 + 2 (Morley 1915: 100). [2] For 13, scribes had two choices: a head of its own, or the head for 3 plus the jaw of 10 (Morley 1915: 101). [2] See Number 11, Number 12 and Number 13.

Ten in a K'iche' place name

The K'iche' chronicles name a settlement in the southern Quetzaltenango basin Xe' Laju, "Below Ten". Christenson explains that it is a shortened form of Xe' Laju[j No'j], "Below Ten No'j", where Ten No'j is "a day on the traditional highland Maya calendar". He notes that its exact location is unknown (Christenson 2007: 260). [3] The name gives us the K'iche' word laju(j) for ten. It also shows that calendar days could name places as well as people.

In living practice

We have not found a published source that gives the number 10 on its own a fixed meaning in highland daykeeping. The skull head is a writing convention, and we do not read it as a "death" meaning for people born on a 10. The Dreamspell "Planetary" keywords (manifestation, perfect, produce) are modern.

Dreamspell: the "Planetary" tone (a modern system)

This section describes the modern Dreamspell system (José & Lloydine Argüelles, from 1987; Dreamspell kit 1990), not the traditional Maya count. [9]

In Dreamspell, tone 10 is called "Planetary". The Foundation for the Law of Time lists its essence as manifestation, its power as perfect and its action as produce. [4] These are Dreamspell teachings. They are not translations of a Maya word, and we have not found them in Classic, colonial or ethnographic sources.

Dreamspell also counts days differently. It fixes 26 July 1987 as Kin 34 and does not count 29 February. [10][9] So a Dreamspell tone 10 day is usually not a traditional number 10 day. For example, 19 Oct 2026 is 10 Ok in the traditional count but Kin 54, "White Lunar Wizard" in Dreamspell. Our reports show the Dreamspell name as a labelled alias next to the traditional number. Is "Planetary" a Maya term? How the two counts differ →

Number 10 with each of the 20 day signs

Each link opens the 10 section of that day sign's page. Dates are the next occurrence on or after 10 October 2026 (GMT 584283).

Day	Next date	Day	Next date
10 Imix	18 Jan 2027	10 Chuwen	28 May 2027
10 Ik'	10 Dec 2026	10 Eb	19 Apr 2027
10 Ak'bal	1 Nov 2026	10 Ben	11 Mar 2027
10 K'an	10 Jun 2027	10 Ix	31 Jan 2027
10 Chikchan	2 May 2027	10 Men	23 Dec 2026
10 Kimi	24 Mar 2027	10 Kib	14 Nov 2026
10 Manik'	13 Feb 2027	10 Kaban	23 Jun 2027
10 Lamat	5 Jan 2027	10 Etz'nab	15 May 2027
10 Muluk	27 Nov 2026	10 Kawak	6 Apr 2027
10 Ok	19 Oct 2026	10 Ajaw	26 Feb 2027

← Number 9 · All 13 numbers · Number 11 →

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Questions about number 10

Is "galactic tone" a Maya term?
No. "Galactic tone", and "Planetary" as the name for 10, come from the modern Dreamspell system (from 1987). [9][11] Maya sources speak of the days' numbers. The English word trecena comes from Spanish chroniclers. [7]

Why does another calculator give me a different number?
Most likely it uses Dreamspell, which anchors its count to 26 July 1987 and skips 29 February. The traditional count runs without a break and matches the dates published by Guatemala's Ministry of Culture. [10][12] A few calculators also use the 584285 or 584286 correlation, which moves results by two or three days. [13]

Is 10 a good or bad number?
We have not found a traditional source that ranks the thirteen numbers, and we do not rank them.

Does the skull head mean that 10 is a number of death?
No source we know of says so. The skull is the conventional head numeral for 10 in inscriptions. [2] It is a way of writing the number, not a reading for people.

Why don't 11 and 12 use the skull jaw?
Morley observed that their heads lack the jaw, so they were not formed as 10 + 1 or 10 + 2. Later research has identified at least the 11 head as a distinct deity. [2][14]

Sources

1. 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
2. Morley, Sylvanus G. An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 57. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1915, ch. IV (pp. 87–103, "Bar and Dot Numerals" and "Head-variant Numerals"). https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Introduction_to_the_Study_of_the_Maya_Hieroglyphs/Chapter_4
3. 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
4. Foundation for the Law of Time. "Learning the 13 Galactic Tones and 20 Solar Seals." https://lawoftime.org/infobooth/sealsandtones.html
5. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. "The Calendar System." Living Maya Time. https://maya.nmai.si.edu/calendar/calendar-system
6. Morley, Sylvanus G. An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 57. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1915, ch. III (pp. 41–43, 79–82). https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Introduction_to_the_Study_of_the_Maya_Hieroglyphs/Chapter_3
7. "Trecena." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trecena
8. Mayan Astrology Calculator. "Calculation Methodology and Cultural Scope." https://mayanastrologycalculator.com/methodology
9. "Dreamspell." Wikipedia (used for dates of the system and 13 Moon structure; cites Argüelles & Argüelles 1990). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamspell
10. 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
11. AtitlanVida. "Two Distinct Streams: The Traditional Cholq'ij and the Dreamspell." https://atitlanvida.com/culture/tzolkin/traditional-vs-dreamspell/
12. 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/
13. Van Stone, Mark. "2012 FAQ." FAMSI. https://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/faq.html
14. Stuart, David. "Day Sign Notes: Caban." Maya Decipherment, 12 August 2024. https://mayadecipherment.com/2024/08/12/day-sign-notes-caban/