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Alma Mexica: Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, within the Mexica solar frame with the four eras.

Saturday, December 26, 2026

4-Itzcuintli

According to the Meza count, the one the dance community follows. All five are below.

Trecena
1-Mázatl
Veintena
Panquetzaliztli
Lord of the Night
Itztli
Lord of the Day
Tonatiuh

The day in the five counts

The Sun Stone in red and yellow: the face of Tonatiuh, the four eras, the twenty day-signs, the solar disc and the two Xiuhcoatl.

4-Itzcuintli

Coloured in red and yellow, the only pigments on record. How they are distributed among the rings is a decision of this reproduction, not a supported reconstruction.

The six rings of the Sun Stone, each with the number of elements its entry declares: 52 sections in the Xiuhcóatl, 58 circles of night sky, 12 pictograms of the offering, 8 segments of jade and rays, the 20 day-signs and the 4 eras of the frame. Below, the day. The six, one by one.
CipactliEhécatlCalliCuetzpalinCóatlMiquiztliMázatlTochtliAtlItzcuintliOzomatliMalinalliÁcatlOcélotlCuauhtliCozcacuauhtliOllinTécpatlQuiáhuitlXóchitl12345678910111213
The two hundred and sixty days of the count: twenty signs by thirteen numerals. In red, 4-Itzcuintli, in the Meza count. The trecena runs diagonally and wraps round, because thirteen and twenty do not divide: that is why it takes 260 days to repeat.
AtlcahualoTlacaxipehualiztliTozoztontliHuey TozoztliToxcatlEtzalcualiztliTecuilhuitontliHuey TecuilhuitlTlaxochimacoXócotl HuetziOchpaniztliTeotlecoTepeílhuitlQuecholliPanquetzaliztliAtemoztliTítitlIzcalliNemontemi
The year: eighteen veintenas of twenty days and the five nemontemi, drawn to scale. The five are not a short month: they are what is left of 365 after 360, and that is why they sit outside, hatched.
CountDay sign TrecenaVeintena Lord of the NightLord of the Day
Meza4-Itzcuintli1-MázatlPanquetzaliztliItztliTonatiuh
Caso (academic) · Maya GMT13-Técpatl1-MiquiztliAtemoztliChalchiuhtlicueCihuacóatl-Ilamatecuhtli
González Cortés1-Quiáhuitl1-QuiáhuitlAtemoztliTlazoltéotlXiuhtecuhtli
Casa Moctezuma4-Malinalli1-AtlPanquetzaliztliMictlantecuhtliTonatiuh

Caso and the Maya GMT go together because their offset is zero: they give the same day sign every day, without exception. The others are set apart by a fixed offset, so their difference is the same today as on any other day.

None of them is «the correct one». This work does not referee between a living tradition and an academic reconstruction: it publishes all five, each with its anchor cited and its control dates.

See another date · the five counts, with their anchors · how they are checked

How to cite this page

Alma Mexica, «4-Itzcuintli», Alma Mexica. Revised 2026-10-03. https://almamexica.org/en/alma-mexica/date/2026-12-26/

Questions that reach this page

What is the Aztec day sign for December 26, 2026?

It is 4-Itzcuintli in the Meza count, the 260-day divinatory cycle. The sign is Itzcuintli and the numeral 4. It falls in the trecena of 1-Mázatl. The veintena is Panquetzaliztli. The year is 1-Tochtli.

Do all the counts agree on 4-Itzcuintli for December 26, 2026?

No. Meza gives 4-Itzcuintli; other correlations in circulation give 1-Quiáhuitl, 13-Técpatl, 4-Malinalli. There is no consensus on which one matches the Mexica calendar, so this site publishes all five with their sources rather than picking one and hiding the rest.

Which Lord of the Night rules December 26, 2026?

Itztli. The Lords of the Night are nine and follow each other in cycle, so Itztli returns every nine days.

What does it mean that 4-Itzcuintli falls in the trecena of 1-Mázatl?

A trecena is a run of thirteen days beginning with 1-Mázatl, and it lends its character to all thirteen. 4-Itzcuintli is one of them.

Which veintena does December 26, 2026 belong to?

Panquetzaliztli. The veintenas are the eighteen twenty-day stretches of the Mexica solar year, each with its own feasts, and this is the one containing this date.