6 Sutz', 6th day in the 13-day Sih Muahn (Black Hawk) Week
6 Sutz' (Ch'orti'): Bat. Glyph of a stylized bat or chief
6 Junajpu (Quiche') / 6 Ahaw (Yucatec): Lord or chief
6 Xochitl (Aztec): Flower
Direction: South
Originally this sign was likely 'lord bat'. The Mayans and other Mesoamerican peoples came out of two rooms of the Xibalba cave about 11,000 years ago. Three families came from the jaguar room and one family from the bat room. The lead family, who would become the Quiche's, came out of the bat room. The Cakchiquels, who share the Quiche' lineage, are still considered to be bat people. When the Quiches were banished from Tammakchan, the family that would become the Ch'orti-Yucatec lineage took over as lead nation and changed this day sign to the generic title of 'lord' and made it the important position as last day in the calendar. Yet the Quiché took the bat sign with them to Mexico where it was later morphed into Xochitl by the Aztecs (sutz' =~ xoch). The name Suchitoto comes from Sutz'.
The sign carries with it all of the drama of human politics, from the early days as a subject or slave in a cave with bats flying around, to leading the escape of the people, to being forced to leave one's homeland, and the return thousands of years later.
Sih Muahn Week: The black hawk or eagle was the creature that brought the serpent out of the sea or lake and mixed its blood with that of a tapir and corn dough (masa) to make the first Mayans, in the Popol Vuh creation story. The tapir (cimin) symbolizes those that ruled the cave that the pre-Mayan-Mesoamericans escaped from. The serpent (chan) was brought out of the lake by the sih muahn and placed around a crater lake (Coatepeque) to make a rainbow (makchan) that protected the pre-Mayan people. The Quiche and Yucatec names for this day sign both could have been derived from the sound of sih muahn and evolved over time.
Astronomy of Sih Muahn week: Mars appears in the late evening sky as it does every third Sih Muahn week. During our era of several hundred years, Sih Muahn week will never have an eclipse, nor will the sun ever be square to the lunar nodes.
Acajutla
High Tides: 8:18 AM and 8:28 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.15 meters
and decreasing (distance between high tide and low tide).
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