11 Manix in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

11 Manix, 11th day in the 13-day Nok (Thread) Week
11 Man ix (Chorti): Work the earth; artisan
11 Kej (Quiche) - Deer / 11 Manik' (Yucatec): Glyph of grasping hand
11 Mazatl (Aztec): Deer
Direction: West

Note: This sign is named after one of the four original Mesoamerican leaders, Masa Manix, who was the Quiche Maya leader. He received the name Masa or "Deer" for copying the deer in trying various leaves, fruits, nuts, and berries to see if they were edible. He received the name Manix or "work the earth" for having the vision of cultivating edible plants toward the end of establishing a way of life based on agriculture. Both doing art - being an artisan - and working the earth are described by the same verb, man, in Ch'orti' Maya. The glyph of the grasping hand describes an action that could either be artisanal or agricultural.

At some point, mostly likely when their leaders were suffering from mental illness caused by pellegra, the Quiche Maya might have mistakenly changed this name from manix to maix, although they retained the 'deer' meaning which they took with them when they were banished to northwest Mexico. Maix means 'not yet' in Chorti and the Quiche-written Popol Vuh says that Not Yet was one of the first four people and the founder of the Quiche. But it is possible that the name maix came from an agricultural rhyme associated with it. One can imagine the saying 'maix manix' or 'not ready yet, work the corn some more'. The tzolkin was used a guide to know when to plant and harvest.

This day sign was the first sign of the week and the year for the Quiches, unlike other Mayans. That makes sense, the previous two days are Serpent and Tapir and the blood of the serpent and tapir are mixed with corn dough to make the first person. It is likely that when the Quiche were banished by the other leaders that the calendar start date was adjusted from Manix to Imix. If not, the Quiches confused this as well.

Nok Week: Nok describes the fine cotton (tinam) thread used in weaving and this week celebrates the ability of humans to utilize plants for clothing and other articles of higher civilization. This week might have been called ihben earlier, meaning earth spirit. It would have been easy to associate the rocking motion of the weaving loom with the rocking motion of the earth during an earthquake. This 13 day week will never have an eclipse, but follows an eclipse period every other tzolkin year. Mars will usually be retrograde every third tzolkin in Nok week. (Mars has a 780 day cycle or three tzolkin cycle.) Mars is retrograde now throughout this week. On the next Nok week (260 days), Mars will be an evening 'star' almost to disappear from the sky. On the Nok week following that, Mars will be a morning 'star'.

Manix in Nok weeK: Women were also farmers and artisans in Mayan civilization, including working the Mayan looms and producing amazing cloth. Being seen as equal in the work is one of the first steps in achieving equality in all aspects of life between the genders.

Acajutla High Tides: 7:53 AM and 8:25 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.37 meters average and decreasing.