Cutting movement. Ch'orti': imi'x; Quiche: imox; Yucatec: imix; Aztec: cipactli. Using Julian-tzolk'in correlation of 584188. The meaning of Imi'x was one of the hardest to determine. The second syllable wasn't the problem, it means "movement" in Ch'orti'. But there is no im in Ch'orti' and I doubt in Yucatec. As is sometimes true, the Aztec day sign provided the missing meaning that helps figure out the original Ch'orti' meaning: cipactli means "alligator". I looked for syllables close to im with a meaning similar to alligator and found aihn, which means alligator, large lizard; giant lizard spirit. Usually there is not back and forth drift between 'm' and 'n', but in this case it seems likely that is what happened. A related word is ain which means sharpness or sharp edge. So Imi'x is moving sharp edge or cutting movement, very much like an alligator.
Why would the Maya name a day sign "cutting movement"? It is the one day sign honoring the invention of gunpowder, which was invented in order to find a way to blast out the rocks and debris from the Lago Guija egress river after a volcanic eruption and mudslide left the egress blocked and the lake flooded. Imi'x or "cutting movement" describes the way that the blast worked cutting through the rock.
I believe that this day sign was named in about 7480 BCE at the time of the final defeat of the Xibalba (Manik) hunters by the Maya. At this time the Mars retrograde calendar was positioned at what would be come 1 Imi'x. The Maya tricked the Manik hunters to jump through the hole in the roof of the Corinto cave. The descent of the hole goes back and forth with sharp rocks. As the Manik fell through the hole the rocks seemed to make cutting movements, slicing the Manik into pieces. While it is possible that the Maya used gunpowder against the Manik, I can not find any reference to that in the Popol Vuh. The defeat of the Manik ended the karmic phase of Mayan development, which is why 1 Imi'x is considered the start of the tzolk'in.
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