The MONTHS TOURNAMENT: "secular" play-in round

[theMoMA]

The "secular" bracket of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT is filled with calendars that have been used by major societies around the world; it includes the traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Indian calendars, as well as the Julian and Maya calendars.

Between these calendars, there are 67 months. Because the traditional Maya calendar has a whopping nineteen (19) months, the organizers of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT have determined that three (3) Maya months will be cut to create the final 64-month "secular" bracket.

Please note that, in this poll, you must vote for the three (3) months you wish to be ELIMINATED. So vote for the months you dislike, not the ones you like!

The Maya calendar (or Haab) consists of eighteen (18) 20-day months and one (1) 5-day intercalary period.

In brief:

Sotz': the fourth month, whose name means "bat"
Wo': the second month, whose name means "black conjunction"
Yaxk'in': the seventh month, whose name means "new sun"
Yax: the tenth month, whose name means "green storm"
Pop: the first month, whose name means "mat"
Sek: the fifth month, whose name means "death"
Sip: the third month, whose name means "red conjunction"
Xul: the sixth month, whose name means "dog"
Mol: the eighth month, whose name means "water"
Ch'en: the ninth month, whose name means "black storm"
Sak': the eleventh month, whose name means "white storm"
K'ank'in: the fourteenth month, whose name means "yellow sun"
Mak: the thirteenth month, whose name means "enclosed"
Muwan': the fifteenth month, whose name means "owl"
Pax: the sixteenth month, whose name means "planting time"
K'ayab: the seventeenth month, whose name means "turtle"
Kumk'u: the eighteenth month, whose name means "granary"
Wayeb': the intercalary period, known as the "five (5) unlucky days," during which portals between the mortal realm and the underworld dissolved and no boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters
Keh: the twelfth month, whose name means "red storm"

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

Voted to eliminate wayeb because it's unlucky

[Auks Ran Ova]

Voted to eliminate wayeb because it's unlucky

I voted for it because intercalary days aren't months! Including it would shatter the sanctity of the month-based competition, much the same way that ill-intended spirits could upend Mayan society.

[theMoMA]

Voted to eliminate wayeb because it's unlucky

I voted for it because intercalary days aren't months! Including it would shatter the sanctity of the month-based competition, much the same way that ill-intended spirits could upend Mayan society.

I wouldn't normally swoop in and comment so early in the voting process, but I do think this is an exceptional situation that warrants a speedy post. I expect Wayeb' to be one of the most controversial months during this (and possibly any) round of voting.

As a preliminary matter, I would like to clarify that the organizers of the MONTHS TOURNAMENT have determined that intercalary periods of longer than two days are considered "months" under our classification. Although we recognize that, given the relatively short duration of most intercalary periods, this may be a controversial ruling, we feel it is correct because it accords with the leading scholarship on how these periods were perceived during the times in which the calendars in question were in force. Intercalary periods of one day (which, in many systems, became two-day periods on leap years) we do not consider to be "months" as, generally speaking, cultures with calendars that had such days considered them to be one- or two-day festivals rather than periods of significant duration.

In the context of Wayeb', specifically, I can see arguments on both sides. As the first post mentions, during Wayeb', portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved and boundaries that prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters disappeared. Consequently, Maya would avoid leaving their houses and would ritually wash and comb their hair to ward off evil spirits during these days. Some voters may feel that this is interesting and novel, and may even draw parallels between Maya self-isolation during Wayeb' and our own "social distancing" at this extraordinary moment in world history. Others may, understandably, feel that a period of free-roaming evil spirits should be voted out as quickly as possible. I will not comment further on these matters, except to say that I look forward to seeing how this sure-to-be-epic vote will shake out.

[The Stately Rhododendron]

voted for Xul because i'm scared of dogs

[ryanrosenberg]

I voted for Pop to spite the Midwest

[Stained Diviner]

What is wrong with you people? Intercalary periods are awesome! We need more of them in our lives. The fact that they aren't months is just a technicality. If I could vote for one thing to go through to the next round, it would be Wayeb'. WAYEB' FOREVER!

I don't like conjunctions and death, so I voted against them. I've never experienced death, but it looks bad. The only good conjunction is xor, and Words With Friends doesn't let me use it, so they're bad.

[Bosa of York]

i cant in good conscience vote against wayeb' here because i need the sansculottides to win this

[Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Dreams]

dont eliminate me thanks

[The Sawing-Off of Manhattan Island]

i think we should all "mak less"

[Tippy Martinez]

People shouldn’t vote for the second choice, because I want to hit that mfing Wo’

[Good Goblin Housekeeping]

i voted wo because connor asked us not to

[Auroni]

Vote for Muwan’ because its name reminds me of people “uwu” posting about Mulan or Milan.

[Tippy Martinez]

I voted for Wayeb' because that sounds like weeb and we can't have more of those

[Whiter Hydra]

I voted for Pop to spite the Midwest

I never miss an opportunity to spite the Midwest.

[naturalistic phallacy]

Mak is what I am right now, and it's terrible. It deserves to go.

[Panayot Hitov]

Sotz' - bats! who needs 'em? not me

Mak- we should be less enclosed, let's not think of that anymore!

Kumk'u- they were out of flour at Consumers United for Buying, our modern-day granary. so much for that!

[Charm Bison]

I voted for Ch'en because it is racist

[jonpin]

Kobe.

[theMoMA]

Fans or detractors of Wayeb': you have just about another hour to get out the vote!

[theMoMA]

The "secular" play-in asked voters to do something a little different: choose the Maya months they did NOT want to advance. This election structure posed a challenge for voters looking to protect months from the chopping block, because in order to do so, voters would need to gang up on another month and push it into the cut zone.

This kind of strategic voting never really materialized--or if it did, the machinations were carried out in secret. Accordingly, Sip can breathe a sigh of relief, because at 14 votes, it missed the cut zone by 3. Sip is associated with the deer hunt, and although the month will have to worry about having a target on its back in future rounds, it's safe now. Sip's good fortune was Xul's despair. At 17 votes, the latter month was the first on the chopping block but the closest to safety. Voters may not have appreciated its association with rodents and the summer solstice, or they may have found its name too similar to a popular e-cigarette brand. Or, like Isaac Kirk-Davidoff, they may have simply been scared of dogs. In any event, Xul is heading home.

The question on everyone's mind was what would happen to Wayeb'. There were both procedural and substantive arguments that cut both ways against this contender. On the procedural side, Wayeb's status as an intercalary period rubbed some people the wrong way, although others found that part of its unique charm. On the substantive side, Wayeb's association with bad luck and ill-intended spirits both piqued discussion and prompted votes. In the end, it appears that this was a round where the months simply didn't want to draw attention to themselves, one way or another, and Wayeb's lightning-rod status put it on the chopping block, with 18 votes.

The month earning the ignominious honor of having the most votes in favor of its elimination, with 23, was Pop. The only real discussion that this month generated was from voters who wanted to "spite the Midwest" by voting out this month, even though Pop in this context has more to do with beginnings and thresholds than with regional colloquialisms for "soda." In any event, this was a round where no month wanted to stand out, and Pop's silly name made it do just that.

The sixteen (16) Maya months that make the cut will be slotted into the bottom half of the "secular" field by the MONTHS TOURNAMENT organizers. Thanks for voting!