What it means
Aj is the cane or reed, the stalk of young maize, and in Maya villages reed went into the walls of the home. So Ben is the sign of the household: the house itself, the hearth, the children growing up inside it. Daykeepers link it to growth and abundance, and to the authority of whoever heads the home. Ben people are said to be honest and quick, strong willed, and direct in the way they go after their goals. The Dreamspell name, Red Skywalker, builds on the image of the reed as a pillar reaching up from the ground.
Strengths
Integrity, protectiveness toward children and family, quick growth, and steady devotion to home.
Challenges
Rigidity, impatience with people who wander, and a pride that won't bend.
Dates
Ben comes around every 20 days, because the Tzolkin runs through its 20 day signs in a fixed order, with Eb before it and Ix after it. Each time it returns it carries a new number from 1 to 13, so one exact pairing of number and sign comes back only every 260 days. The next four Ben days on or after October 23, 2026 are November 11, 2026, December 1, 2026, December 21, 2026 and January 10, 2027. The Long Count completed its 13th b'ak'tun on December 21, 2012, which was 4 Ahau, and the first Ben day after it fell on January 3, 2013. Someone born on January 13, 1996, for example, has Ben as their day sign.
How Cosmic Array reads it
Cosmic Array counts your day sign in the traditional Tzolkin, using the standard GMT correlation (584283) between the Maya Long Count and our calendar, the count that lines up with the one highland daykeepers still keep. The Architect blueprint shows your day sign by its Yucatec name, Ben, and reads it alongside your other ancient calendar signs and the rest of your chart. It shows the sign only, not the number from 1 to 13 that completes a full Tzolkin date. The colour name Red Skywalker comes from the Dreamspell, a modern system created by Jose Arguelles. Dreamspell runs on a different day count, so a Dreamspell calculator may show a different sign for the same birthday.