A number of contemporary western authors offer their own interpretations of the Tzolkin. Two of the first to publish a guide to working with the Mayan day signs and their numbers were Ariel Spilsbury and Micheal Bryner, who created a divinatory card system called The Mayan Oracle. The book that accompanies the cards contains extensive lists of correspondences for each of the energies, attributing crystals, herbs, and astrological signs to each of the glyphs. Each sign also has a poem and affirmation. Most of Spilsbury and Bryner's work was done intuitively from directly working with the day signs; others were channeled. The Mayan Oracle is a general guide that is not aligned to any particular count.

Aluna Joy Yaxk'in, author of Mayan-Pleadian Astrology, also explores the Tzolkin. She offers an in-depth analysis of the personality traits associated with each of the twenty signs. Her system takes the dating system of Dreamspell but uses the spring equinox as the new-year date, rather than the July 26 date the thirteen-moon calendar uses. Her interpretation is based on the idea that the knowledge of the Mayan calendar originally comes from Pleadian star beings. She also acknowledges the traditional count in her writing.

Kenneth Johnson is an astrologer whose book, Jaguar Wisdom, offers interpretations of the traditional Mayan count of the Tzolkin. As well as offering readings of each day sign, Johnson offers information about how to conduct Mayan divination rituals using the Tzolkin. Johnson cites a lot of the Tedlock's work, but is not an initiated day keeper himself, although his book contains a lot of well researched Mayan folklore. Even this very respectful treatment is not approved of by some of the sterner Mayan traditionalists. Johnson does point out Mayan concerns with the uninitiated use of the calendar, but offers the information while cautioning against its abuse.