The five counts
Five readings of the Aztec calendar for the same day. This work does not arbitrate between them: all five are published, with their algorithm, their cited anchor and their checksum.
Five readings, four arithmetics
Three of the five share the same anchor and differ only by a fixed offset, in the reading followed here. That means the distance between them is the same every day: there are no days on which they agree and others on which they do not.
Caso and the Maya GMT have their offset at zero, so they give the same tonal every day, without exception. Saying «they agree today» would be misleading, because it suggests they might part company tomorrow. That an academic correlation and the living Maya count — which was never interrupted — arrive at the same day is an argument in their favour, not a redundancy to hide.
The Meza count shares nothing. It is not solved with an anchor: its tonalpohualli does not roll on without stopping, because the numeral of the day depends on the numeral of the year. That is why the book carries thirteen tables and not one.
| Count | Offset | Day starts | Year opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caso (academic) | none | at midnight | 26 February |
| Maya GMT (584283) | none | at midnight | 26 February |
| González Cortés | +1 day | at dawn | 26 February |
| Casa Moctezuma | +134 days | at solar noon | 18 March |
| Meza | no anchor | with the year bearer | 12 March |
Every count publishes its data sheet and its control dates. The full algorithm is kept outside the code and sealed, so that if the app were rewritten tomorrow in another language, that is still what would have to be implemented.
The plurality is not indecision: it is the position taken. This work does not arbitrate between living traditions and academic reconstructions, and that is why all five are free on both sides, always.
Last revised 2026-09-17.
How to cite this page
Alma Mexica, «The five counts», En español. Revised 2026-09-17. https://almamexica.org/en/counts/
Questions that reach this page
Which Aztec calendar correlation is the correct one?
Nobody knows, and anyone giving a single answer without saying which one they use is choosing for you. Each correlation fixes a different anchor — one Gregorian date matched to one Aztec day — and from there the arithmetic is identical, so the gap between any two is a fixed number of days. The GMT was published in 1905; the Meza count is the one the Mexica dance community follows.