Ix, the Day Sign Behind It

The corresponding Maya day is Ix, and it is the jaguar. The jaguar is one of the central animals of Mesoamerican religion: the night sun that passes through the underworld, the companion spirit or way of rulers and of ritual specialists, the pelt worn as a mark of authority, and one of the most frequently represented creatures in Maya art from the Preclassic onward. Substituting Wizard for Jaguar removes an animal of enormous documented significance and replaces it with a European fantasy figure. Anyone using the Dreamspell should know that this seal, whatever it means within that system, tells them nothing about the Maya day it is derived from, and that the day in question is one of the most important in the count.

Ix is the fourteenth of the twenty authentic Tzolk'in day signs, its imagery the jaguar, associated with the earth, the night sun and rulership; the living K'iche' daykeeping tradition knows the corresponding day by the same name, Ix. In the directional scheme, Ix belongs to the north and the colour white. Arguelles's Solar Seal 14, White Wizard, is another of the names that departs sharply from its Tzolk'in source: "Wizard" bears no relation to the jaguar, earth or rulership associations of Ix, and appears to be an invented English gloss chosen for its resonance with Western esoteric vocabulary rather than for any connection to the Maya day sign's own meaning.