The word tonalamatl means “Book of the Good and Bad Days,” and it is primarily a “Book of Fate,” from which the destiny of children born on such and such a day, or the result of any course to be taken or any venture made on any given day, was forecasted by divinatory methods, similar to those which have been employed by astrologers in many parts of the world in all epochs. The tonalamatl was, therefore, in no sense a time-count or calendar proper, to which purpose it was not well suited; but it was capable of being adapted to the solar calendar. It is equally incorrect to speak of the tonalamatl as a “ritual calendar.” It has nothing to do directly with ritual or religious ceremonial, and although certain representations on some tonalamatls depict ritual acts, no details or directions for their operation are supplied.
The original tonalamatl was probably a day-count based on a lunar reckoning. The symbols appear to have been those of the [[360]]gods or other mythological figures. Thus cipactli was merely the earth-monster, quauhtli the eagle, a surrogate for the Sun-god, and so on. Later the tonalamatl lost its significance as a time-count when it was superseded as such by the solar calendar. It then took on the complexion of a book of augury, so that the temporal connection it had with the gods was altered to a purely augural one. The various days thus became significant for good or evil according to the nature of the gods who presided over them, or over the precise hour in which a subject was born or any act done. As in astrology, a kind of balance was held between good and evil, so that if the god presiding over the day was inauspicious, his influence might, in some measure, be counteracted by that of the deity who presided over the hour in which a child first saw the light or an event occurred.
DAY-SIGNS
The tonalamatl was composed of 20 day-signs or hieroglyphs repeated 13 times, or 260 day-signs in all. The origin of these has already been treated of by Seler in Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 38 ff. These 260 days were usually divided into 20 groups of 13 days each, sometimes called “weeks.” To effect this division the numbers 1 to 13 were added to the 20 day-signs in continuous series as follow:
| No. | Name. | Sign. | No. | Name. | Sign. | |
| 1 | cipactli | crocodile | 11 | ozomatli | monkey | |
| 2 | eecatl | wind | 12 | malinalli | grass | |
| 3 | calli | house | 13 | acatl | reed | |
| 4 | cuetzpallin | lizard | 1 | ocelotl | ocelot | |
| 5 | coatl | serpent | 2 | quauhtli | eagle | |
| 6 | miquiztli | death’s-head | 3 | cozcaquauhtli | vulture | |
| 7 | mazatl | deer | 4 | ollin | motion | |
| 8 | tochtli | rabbit | 5 | tecpatl | flint knife | |
| 9 | atl | water | 6 | quiauitl | rain | |
| 10 | itzcuintli | dog | 7 | xochitl | flower |
and so on. It will be seen from this list that the fourteenth day-sign takes the number 1 again. Each of the day-signs under this arrangement has a number that does not recur in connection with that sign for a space of 260 days, as is proved by the circumstance that the numbers[2] of the day-signs and [[361]]figures (20 to 13), if multiplied together, give as a product 260, the exact number of days in the tonalamatl.
The combination of signs and figures thus provided each day in the tonalamatl with an entirely distinct description. For example: the first day, cipactli, was in its first occurrence 1 cipactli; in its second 8 cipactli; in its third 2 cipactli; in its fourth 9 cipactli, and so on.
No day in the tonalamatl was simply described as cipactli, coatl, or calli, and before its name was complete it was necessary to prefix to it one of the numbers from 1 to 13 as its incidence chanced to fall. Thus it was designated as ce cipactli (one crocodile) or ome coatl (two snake) as the case might be. Each of the 20 groups of 13 days (which are sometimes called “weeks”) was known as a division by the name of the first day of the group, as ce cipactli (one crocodile), ce ocelotl (one ocelot), ce mazatl (one deer), and so on. A model tonalamatl would thus have appeared as follows:
| Ce Cipactli | Ce Miquiztli | Ce Ozomatli | Ce Cozcaquauhtli | |||||||
| (1) | cipactli | (1) | miquiztli | (1) | ozomatli | (1) | cozcaquauhtli | |||
| (2) | eecatl | (2) | mazatl | (2) | malinalli | (2) | ollin | |||
| (3) | calli | (3) | tochtli | (3) | acatl | (3) | tecpatl | |||
| (4) | cuetzpallin | (4) | atl | (4) | ocelotl | (4) | quiauitl | |||
| (5) | coatl | (5) | itzcuintli | (5) | quauhtli | (5) | xochitl | |||
| (6) | miquiztli | (6) | ocomatli | (6) | cozcaquauhtli | (6) | cipactli | |||
| (7) | mazatl | (7) | malinalli | (7) | ollin | (7) | eecatl | |||
| (8) | tochtli | (8) | acatl | (8) | tecpatl | (8) | calli | |||
| (9) | atl | (9) | ocelotl | (9) | quiauitl | (9) | cuetzpallin | |||
| (10) | itzcuintli | (10) | quauhtli | (10) | xochitl | (10) | coatl | |||
| (11) | ocomatli | (11) | cozcaquauhtli | (11) | cipactli | (11) | miquiztli | |||
| (12) | malinalli | (12) | ollin | (12) | eecatl | (12) | mazatl | |||
| (13) | acatl. | (13) | tecpatl | (13) | calli | (13) | tochtli | |||
| Ce Ocelotl | Ce Quiauitl | Ce Cuetzpallin | Ce Atl | |||||||
| (1) | ocelotl | (1) | quiauitl | (1) | cuetzpallin | (1) | atl | |||
| (2) | quauhtli | (2) | xochitl | (2) | coatl | (2) | itzcuintli | |||
| (3) | cozcaquauhtli | (3) | cipactli | (3) | miquiztli | (3) | ocomatli | |||
| (4) | ollin | (4) | eecatl | (4) | mazatl | (4) | malinalli | |||
| (5) | tecpatl | (5) | calli | (6) | tochtli | (5) | acatl | |||
| (6) | quiauitl | (6) | cuetzpallin | (6) | atl | (6) | ocelotl | |||
| (7) | xochitl | (7) | coatl | (7) | itzcuintli | (7) | quauhtli | |||
| (8) | cipactli | (8) | miquiztli | (8) | ocomatli | (8) | cozcaquauhtli | |||
| (9) | eecatl | (9) | mazatl | (9) | malinalli | (9) | ollin | |||
| (10) | calli | (10) | tochtli | (10) | acatl | (10) | tecpatl | |||
| (11) | cuetzpallin | (11) | atl | (11) | ocelotl | (11) | quiauitl | |||
| (12) | coatl | (12) | itzcuintli | (12) | quauhtli | (12) | xochitl | |||
| (13) | miquiztli | (13) | ocomatli | (13) | cozcaquauhtli | (13) | cipactli | |||
| Ce Mazatl | Ce Malinalli | Ce Ollin | Ce Eecatl | |||||||
| (1) | mazatl | (1) | malinalli | (1) | ollin | (1) | eecatl | |||
| (2) | tochtli | (2) | acatl | (2) | tecpatl | (2) | calli | |||
| (3) | atl | (3) | ocelotl | (3) | quiauitl | (3) | cuetzpallin | |||
| (4) | itzcuintli | (4) | quauhtli | (4) | xochitl | (4) | coatl | |||
| (5) | ocomatli | (5) | cozcaquauhtli | (5) | cipactli | (5) | miquiztli | |||
| (6) | malinalli | (6) | ollin | (6) | eecatl | (6) | mazatl | |||
| (7) | acatl | (7) | tecpatl | (7) | calli | (7) | tochtli | |||
| (8) | ocelotl | (8) | quiauitl | (8) | cuetzpallin | (8) | atl | |||
| (9) | quauhtli | (9) | xochitl | (9) | coatl | (9) | itzcuintli | |||
| (10) | cozcaquauhtli | (10) | cipactli | (10) | miquiztli | (10) | ocomatli | |||
| (11) | ollin | (11) | eecatl | (11) | mazatl | (11) | malinalli | |||
| (12) | tecpatl | (12) | calli | (12) | tochtli | (12) | acatl | |||
| (13) | quiauitl | (13) | cuetzpallin | (13) | atl | (13) | ocelotl | |||
| Ce Xochitl | Ce Coatl | Ce Itzcuintli | Ce Quauhtli | |||||||
| (1) | xochitl | (1) | coatl | (1) | itzcuintli | (1) | quauhtli | |||
| (2) | cipactli | (2) | miquiztli | (2) | ocomatli | (2) | cozcaquauhtli | |||
| (3) | eecatl | (3) | mazatl | (3) | malinalli | (3) | ollin | |||
| (4) | calli | (4) | tochtli | (4) | acatl | (4) | tecpatl | |||
| (5) | cuetzpallin | (5) | atl | (5) | ocelotl | (5) | quiauitl | |||
| (6) | coatl | (6) | itzcuintli | (6) | quauhtli | (6) | xochitl | |||
| (7) | miquiztli | (7) | ocomatli | (7) | cozcaquauhtli | (7) | cipactli | |||
| (8) | mazatl | (8) | malinalli | (8) | ollin | (8) | eecatl | |||
| (9) | tochtli | (9) | acatl | (9) | tecpatl | (9) | calli | |||
| (10) | atl | (10) | ocelotl | (10) | quiauitl | (10) | cuetzpallin | |||
| (11) | itzcuintli | (11) | quauhtli[[362]] | (11) | xochitl | (11) | coatl | |||
| (12) | ocomatli | (12) | cozcaquauhtli | (12) | cipactli | (12) | miquiztli | |||
| (13) | malinalli | (13) | ollin | (13) | eecatl | (13) | mazatl | |||
| Ce Acatl | Ce Tecpatl | Ce Calli | Ce Tochtli | |||||||
| (1) | acatl | (1) | tecpatl | (1) | calli | (1) | tochtli | |||
| (2) | ocelotl | (2) | quiauitl | (2) | cuetzpallin | (2) | atl | |||
| (3) | quauhtli | (3) | xochitl | (3) | coatl | (3) | itzcuintli | |||
| (4) | cozcaquauhtli | (4) | cipactli | (4) | miquiztli | (4) | ocomatl | |||
| (5) | ollin | (5) | eecatl | (5) | mazatl | (5) | malinalli | |||
| (6) | tecpatl | (6) | calli | (6) | tochtli | (6) | acatl | |||
| (7) | quiauitl | (7) | cuetzpallin | (7) | atl | (7) | ocelotl | |||
| (8) | xochitl | (8) | coatl | (8) | itzcuintli | (8) | quauhtli | |||
| (9) | cipactli | (9) | miquiztli | (9) | ocomatli | (9) | cozcaquauhtli | |||
| (10) | eecatl | (10) | mazatl | (10) | malinalli | (10) | ollin | |||
| (11) | calli | (11) | tochtli | (11) | acatl | (11) | tecpatl | |||
| (12) | cuetzpallin | (12) | atl | (12) | ocelotl | (12) | quiauitl | |||
| (13) | coatl | (13) | itzcuintli | (13) | quauhtli | (13) | xochitl | |||