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

Number 2 in the Tzolk'in (Dreamspell: "Lunar" Tone)

Number 2 is the second day of every thirteen-day run in the Tzolk'in. Scribes wrote it as two dots. Its portrait-head form is so rare that Morley knew only two examples. The Classic Maya word was probably cha', and Allen Christenson's Popol Vuh commentary glosses K'iche' kaib' as "simply the number two". In Dreamspell it is the "Lunar" tone, a modern label. [1][2][3][4]

Number 2 at a glance

Place in each 13-day run (trecena)	Day 2 of 13
Classic Maya word	cha' (Kettunen & Helmke 2020: 48) [1]
K'iche' word	kaib' (Christenson: "Kaib' is simply the number two") [3]
Bar-and-dot form	Two dots [2]
Head-variant form	Found only twice in Morley's day (Piedras Negras Lintel 2 and the Temple of the Initial Series at Holactun). An oval at the top of the head is the only shared feature, and Morley called the evidence "insufficient" (Morley 1915: 98) [2]
Days with this number in 260	20 (once with each day sign)
Dreamspell name (modern, from 1987)	"Lunar" tone [4]

How number 2 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 2 Ik', returns only after 260 days. [5][6] Number 2 therefore comes round every 13 days, each time with a different day sign: 20 times in each 260-day cycle. It is always the second 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 2 is always a 1, and the day after is always a 3.

In the trecena that opened on 1 Imix, 10 October 2026, number 2 falls on 11 Oct 2026, the day 2 Ik' (Haab' 15 Yax). [8] The next eight days carrying number 2:

Date	Tzolk'in	Haab'
11 Oct 2026	2 Ik'	15 Yax
24 Oct 2026	2 Men	8 Sak'
6 Nov 2026	2 Lamat	1 Keh
19 Nov 2026	2 Imix	14 Keh
2 Dec 2026	2 Ix	7 Mak
15 Dec 2026	2 Manik'	0 K'ank'in
28 Dec 2026	2 Ajaw	13 K'ank'in
10 Jan 2027	2 Ben	6 Muwan

How scribes wrote number 2

Two is two dots. [2] An 18th-century Yucatec writer, quoted by Brinton and reprinted by Morley, listed the bar-and-dot numbers from 1 to 13. Two dots appear twice in that list, once on their own and once above two bars: "two dots for two years… a dot above two lines, eleven; if two dots, twelve" (Morley 1915: 91). [2] Like 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16 and 17, the number 2 left gaps in a square glyph block. Monument carvers often filled the gap with decorative elements that have no numerical value, and on weathered stones those fillers can be mistaken for a third dot (Morley 1915: 88–91). [2]

The head variant for 2 is one of the least understood. Morley found only two examples, on Lintel 2 at Piedras Negras and on the tablet of the Temple of the Initial Series at Holactun. He accepted an oval at the top of the head as its distinguishing mark while "admitting at the same time that the evidence is insufficient" (Morley 1915: 98). [2]

Number 2 in K'iche' and in the Popol Vuh

In Christenson's annotated Popol Vuh, a K'iche' lord appears as K'o Kaib', "Lord Two". Christenson explains that "Kaib' is simply the number two". He gives several possible reasons for the name: a large posterity, an important division of the lineage, or the second generation of lords (Christenson 2007: 236). [3] This is a personal name, not a day of the calendar. We cite it only for the K'iche' word.

Number 2 and the current k'atun

The Maya Long Count groups days into larger periods. A k'atun is 7,200 days, about 19.7 years. A k'atun always ends on a day named Ajaw, and colonial Yucatec chronicles named each k'atun after the full name of its ending day, as in "Katun 2 Ahau" (Morley 1915: 79–80). [6] Because 7,200 leaves a remainder of 11 when divided by 13, each k'atun's ending number is two lower than the one before. That is why the sequence runs 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10… (Morley 1915: 80–81). [6]

You can apply this to the present. The Long Count reached 13.0.0.0.0 on 21 December 2012, a day 4 Ajaw. [5] With the GMT 584283 count used on this site, the next k'atun ending falls on 7 September 2032, and that day is 2 Ajaw. In the colonial naming system, the k'atun we are living in is therefore a K'atun 2 Ajaw. (This is our calculation from the published rule. With the 584285 correlation the Gregorian date moves two days later, but the day name stays the same.) [8]

In living practice

We have not found a published source that gives the number 2 on its own a fixed meaning in highland daykeeping. Ideas of "duality" or "challenge" attached to it online come from the Dreamspell "Lunar" tone or from modern interpretation, and we label them that way.

Dreamspell: the "Lunar" 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 2 is called "Lunar". The Foundation for the Law of Time lists its essence as challenge, its power as polarize and its action as stabilize. [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 2 day is usually not a traditional number 2 day. For example, 11 Oct 2026 is 2 Ik' in the traditional count but Kin 46, "White Resonant World-Bridger" in Dreamspell. Our reports show the Dreamspell name as a labelled alias next to the traditional number. Is "Lunar" a Maya term? How the two counts differ →

Number 2 with each of the 20 day signs

Each link opens the 2 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
2 Imix	19 Nov 2026	2 Chuwen	29 Mar 2027
2 Ik'	11 Oct 2026	2 Eb	18 Feb 2027
2 Ak'bal	20 May 2027	2 Ben	10 Jan 2027
2 K'an	11 Apr 2027	2 Ix	2 Dec 2026
2 Chikchan	3 Mar 2027	2 Men	24 Oct 2026
2 Kimi	23 Jan 2027	2 Kib	2 Jun 2027
2 Manik'	15 Dec 2026	2 Kaban	24 Apr 2027
2 Lamat	6 Nov 2026	2 Etz'nab	16 Mar 2027
2 Muluk	15 Jun 2027	2 Kawak	5 Feb 2027
2 Ok	7 May 2027	2 Ajaw	28 Dec 2026

← Number 1 · All 13 numbers · Number 3 →

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Questions about number 2

Is "galactic tone" a Maya term?
No. "Galactic tone", and "Lunar" as the name for 2, 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 2 a good or bad number?
We have not found a traditional source that ranks the thirteen numbers, and we do not rank them.

Does number 2 mean duality in Maya tradition?
We have not found a traditional source that says so. The Dreamspell "Lunar" tone has the keywords challenge, polarize and stabilize, and those are modern. [4]

What is a K'atun 2 Ajaw?
It is a roughly 20-year period named after its ending day. The one now running ends on 2 Ajaw, which falls on 7 September 2032 in the GMT 584283 count (our calculation). [6]

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