The Tzolkin counts and the path of creation

Anyone interested in the Tzolkin calendar will encounter two different counts in books, lectures, and online calculators: the Dreamspell and the Quiché, or Traditional, count. Enter a random date into a calculator and you will get a different result for each count. Confusion reigns! Which count is best? Which day energy should you follow? I realized that the Tzolkin is no different from any other subject when I stopped searching for answers. Everything has two sides, even the Tzolkin calendar.

The only way to transcend this duality is to ask a new question. What do they have to do with each other? This question provided me with an answer and two additional "counts": the cosmic count and the DNA count. In this article, I will introduce you to the creation triangle, where all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and each count has its own role and place.

The question of truth

Before you continue reading, I’d like to offer a brief word of caution. After reading this article, you may find yourself questioning the accuracy of the information presented. I will outline how I believe these four different counts are connected and how they can be calculated. This part will require some thoughtful consideration. After that, however, it’s best to set your analytical mind aside. Wouldn’t you like to experience it for yourself and discover your own truth?

Explore my story below—tune into the energy, and observe how it influences your body, emotions, and daily life. Approach it with an open mind, and allow yourself to be surprised.

Harmony

The Dreamspell calendar was introduced in 1987 by Mayan researcher José Argüelles. He synchronized the Tzolkin with the Gregorian calendar and the 13 Moon calendar, reconnecting us with the wisdom of the Maya. Alongside this, there is the Quiché or Classical count, which has continued uninterrupted since ancient times. This traditional count is still used by the Maya today and follows a different rhythm, as it does not account for leap days. In the Dreamspell count, every leap day carries the same day energy as the day before. In the Quiché count, each day has its own unique energy, which means these two calendars have always followed their own rhythm.

On March 1, 2008, something remarkable happened. This was the date when, for the first time, the Dreamspell count and the Traditional Quiché count ran in perfect harmony. Step by step, every four years, the leap day had reduced the gap between the Dreamspell and Quiché count, and this was the moment when the counts aligned in harmony with a difference of forty-eight days. In both counts, the day seal had the same color, with a difference of eight seals and four tones. And the guide energy in both counts was the same—except during the transition to a new life path. Exactly halfway between these two counts runs a connecting path, also in the same color and with the same guide energy. This path is the “Cosmic Count”*.

The Meaning of the Counts

In my book Maya wijsheid voor je levenspad, het Tzolkin profielenboek (Maya Wisdom for Your Life Path: The Tzolkin Profile Book), I introduced, for the first time, a triangle containing the three counts. This triangle is a combination of your birth energy (seal and tone) according to the Dreamspell count, the Traditional Quiché count of the ancient Maya, and the Cosmic Count, which was introduced by Marc Smulders in 2008.

The triangle contains the core qualities and creative power (seals and tones) of your birth day through three counts, each representing a different aspect of yourself:

• your personality – Dreamspell count
• your effortless Self – Cosmic Count
• your driving force – Classical count
  

Dreamspell Count: Who Are You Now?

The Dreamspell count is connected to the here and now - the life you are currently living. This count reveals the beliefs you have adopted about yourself and life, and helps you distinguish between your own beliefs and those of others (your environment, family, ancestors) that no longer serve you. Through this count, you become aware of the cycles in your life path, your strengths, and your shadow sides. It offers a beautiful toolbox for personal development.

Based on the day energy of your birth (represented by a sunsign and a tone in the calendar), you gain access to the thirteen tones and twenty sunsigns of your life path, along with the guides on your path who help you connect with and stay in your own power. This provides a wealth of information about your qualities, talents, the strength behind your weaknesses, and how you can use these for your own creations.

In Maya wijsheid voor je levenspad, het Tzolkin profielenboek (Maya Wisdom for Your Life Path: The Tzolkin Profile Book), I make a clear distinction between the light and shadow sides of the sunsign qualities. Ultimately, the goal is to embrace and accept both the light and shadow aspects of each sunsign within yourself. Only then can you rise above the duality within, allowing both sides to coexist. This marks the end of the inner struggle between your personality and your soul.

Quiché (Traditional) count: The Common Thread of Your Soul

Your soul has been through a lot. Lifetime after lifetime, you’ve been learning lessons connected to your own theme (represented by your seal and tone in the Traditional count). From this driving force, you’ve experienced and expressed many aspects of your potential. You’ve enjoyed it, used it to help others, become a victim of it, and at times misused it from a place of power. All of these experiences are stored within your system.

Anyone on the path to discovering their own greatness often encounters deep inner resistance, rooted in past experiences. We repeat those experiences over and over until the lessons are learned and the karma is resolved. In this way, we grow—driven by our experiences—through struggle.

If you feel stuck, even though you’ve already done a great deal of personal work, this may hold the key to a breakthrough—one that allows you to fully access and express your true potential.

Cosmic Count: Your Effortless Self

The Cosmic Count supports the restoration of harmony within yourself and with the Earth. It’s time for us to return to our common sense—and for personality and soul to begin working together. The Dreamspell and Traditional counts help you gain insight into these two aspects of yourself and guide you in doing the inner work that’s needed. The more old baggage you release, the more you can simply be yourself—and that’s where the Cosmic Count comes in.

The day energy of your birth in the Cosmic Count reveals the most natural, authentic version of who you are. I call this your Effortless Self. It’s the part of you that naturally does what suits you best. That’s not always the same as what you think you’re best at or what you’ve trained yourself to do. Often, you don’t even recognize your Effortless Self, because it shows up in qualities and talents that feel so natural to you, you don’t even realize you have them.

For many people, the qualities of their Effortless Self show up in hobbies rather than in their work. This is one reason why so many people lose their way in their careers: they’re doing what they’re good at, but not what truly suits them.

When your personality and soul start working together, and your Effortless Self begins to do what fits you best, you naturally contribute to the world—and to the future we all hope for. A world grounded in compassion, empathy, respect, and love for both people and nature. In short: a time in which we live from the heart.

The New Earth Count: Creating From Joy

If you want to calculate the blueprint across the three counts for dates between March 1, 2008, and February 29, 2012, you can do so using a very simple formula. During this period, the counts were in harmony with one another. Starting from the Dreamspell count, count back four sunsigns from the day's sunsign (you’ll land on the same color), and add two tones to the day’s tone.

• Dreamspell Yellow Star tone 11 becomes Cosmic Yellow Seed tone 13.

To calculate the Traditional signature, apply the same formula: four sunsigns back, two tones added.

• Cosmic Yellow Seed tone 13 becomes Traditional Yellow Sun tone 2 (2 Ahau/Ajpu).

In all three counts, the sunsign color is Yellow. There is complete harmony.

For dates before March 1, 2008, you cannot calculate the Traditional Count in this way due to the disharmony caused by leap days. If you do so anyway, you end up with a fourth sunsign and tone. I call this signature your DNA signature, where DNA stands for both DNA and De Nieuwe Aarde (The New Earth). In addition to your Traditional birth sunsign and tone, which are connected to your driving force, this provides an additional signature: your DNA sunsign and tone.

The DNA Signature opens the path from growing through pain and suffering to creating from joy. When you make this step, you release the burden of your birth Kin (sunsign and tone) in the Traditional Count, along with all karmic baggage. Your DNA sunsign and tone show how you create from joy. From this energy, you can let your light shine and connect with yourself through all the suffering. The suffering dissolves, and your creative power is released in complete harmony.

What happens when you take this step varies from person to person and depends on the suffering you carry and how attached you are to it. I warmly invite you to connect with your DNA signature and take the next step in the creation spiral: the step toward lightness and harmony within yourself.

In the book The Enzyme Factor, one of the world’s most famous doctors, Dr. Hiromi Shinya, describes the body’s ability to renew itself and the influence of joy and love on that ability:

"We have discovered DNA, but we actually know very little about it. There is a great potential dormant in our DNA that we don’t yet fully understand. My research suggests that a sudden increase in positive emotional energy—arising from feelings of love, laughter, and joy—can stimulate our DNA to produce an abundance of bronze enzymes, the miracle enzymes that act as biocatalysts in repairing our cells. Through joy and love, a potential can awaken that exceeds anything we can currently imagine."

*The Cosmic Count was introduced by Marc Smulders and is described in his book De Revolutie in 2012 vanuit Pleiadisch perspectief.

TIP: An overview of the day energy in all counts can be found at the bottom of the day energy page. In the Maya Wisdom app, you can choose which count you want to follow or calculate via the settings.