why did the aztecs start "the new fire festival" every 52 years?
437128
the aztecs believed that every 52 years the world will end so they started these festivals as a gift to the gods to not end the world
201795
The Aztecs, or more properly, the Mexicas, for whom the later Republic of Mexico was named, were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan, built on raised islets in Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. The Aztec empire produced the biggest demographic explosion in Mesoamerica: the population grew from an estimated 10 million to 15 million.
305328
yes i have heard the story and i'm british. but all these tales are myths that appear in all ages of man. currently this tales is repeated in mexico, south texas and arizona the aztecs had versions of it and hernandes cortes had heard of it. in spain there are versions of it and malaysia has similar tales.
570583
This is the festival of Beltane, originally celebrated in the religions of the indigious peoples of nothern Europe.\nIt is a festival in which one lights a fire to celebrate the coming of the summer and fertility of the earth.\nHistorically this was a good time for the Christian Inquisitors to find and execute those who followed the old gods - this is probably where the association with death comes from.  Beltane was not a festival associated with major human sacrifces - these festivals would have occured in mid-winter (about the last week of December).\nBeltane is also the maypole festival.  The maypole repesenting an ejaculating penis fertilising the earth.  Some christian churches perform maypole dances which is strange as this is a pagan ritual.\n\n\n"You have an angel on your shoulder but you wear the old god's horns/ And you dance around the maypole while the vicar makes a toast/ to the pagan celebration, and extends an invitation to us all/ so he can save us when we fall."\n- Ian Anderson
157704
13th jan. every year!!!
936639
The end of the 13th b'ak'tun is conjectured to have been of great significance to the Maya, but does not necessarily mark the end of the world according to their beliefs, but a new beginning or time of re-birth. According to the Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the Quiché Maya of the colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. The Maya believed that the fourth world would end in catastrophe and the fifth and final world would be created that would signal the end of mankind.\n\nThe last creation ended on a long count of 13.0.0.0.0. Another 13.0.0.0.0 will occur on December 21, 2012, and it has been discussed in many New Age articles and books that this will be the end of this creation or something else entirely. However, the Maya abbreviated their long counts to just the last five vigesimal places. There were an infinite number of larger units that were usually not shown. When the larger units were shown (notably on a monument from Coba), the end of the last creation is expressed as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, where the units are obviously supposed to be 13s in all larger places. In this age we are only approaching 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.13.0.0.0.0, and the larger places are nowhere near the 13s that would match the end of the last creation. (Schele and Friedel 1990: 430)\n\nThis is confirmed by a date from Palenque, which projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0, which will occur on October 13, 4772 (a Friday). The Classic Period Maya likely did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012. According to the Maya, there will be a baktun ending in 2012, a significant event being the end of a 13th 400 year period, but not the end of the world.\n\nclick here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar
581673
Yes, and it's not true.\n\nThe Long Count Calendar of the Maya does NOT end on 12-21-2012.  \n\nWhat happens is that it rolls over from 12 Baktuns to 13 Baktuns (a Baktun is about 400 years).  Like our calendar going from 1999 to 2000.\n\nThere IS something happening that day, though. It's a grand astronomical alignment between the sun and the milky way.  When the sun comes up against the dark area of the Milky way, according to the Maya it's being reborn and so a new age starts.\n\nAs far as our age ending, it already happened and none of you even noticed.  We're in the birth pangs of the new world coming in now.
682036
See what ignorance religion inspires!  Maybe intelligent design will be taught in school that day.  The days of the calendar are meaningless.  6000 years ago, the Egyptians used a 360 day calendar.  The Romans used a calender with months having 29 or 31 days because they were superstitious!!! LOL  Cesar came along and changed the calendar again.  (Julian Calendar).  Then in the 1500's they realized that Cesar screwed up the year so much that it needed fixing.  So now we use the Gregorian calendar.  Either way, you can't equate 6/6/06 to any historical occurrence of equal opposite happening to Jesus's birth.  the fact that we celebrate 12/25/xx is ludicrous.  Plus, there is no calendar year zero.  It jumps from 1 BC to 1 AD.
282588
The evidence is that people were doing all kinds of ceremonies very far back in time, like there are burials dated well back into the Stone Age.  If they did burials, and they did, they did pretty much the whole gamut of ceremony: crownings and inductions and religious things, and weddings.  So it would be hard to find out when the "first" one was - 30, 50, 75, 100 thousand years is a loooong time.
933912
The Aztecs had a mega pantheon of gods and practiced human sacrifice to appease more than a few of them. \n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology
133309
Before a standard calendar, generally dates were refered to by who-ever was in charge and by the month of the season.  So today would be:\n\nThe 10th day of the 2nd month of the 6th year of the Presidency of George W. Bush.\n\nIt gets a little confusing, but is fairly accruate.\n\nBCE came into being when people realized that not everyone accepted AD (anno domini - Year of God in Latin).  In fact there are several calendars out there.  so BCE and CE have been accepted as the "norm" for all dates in anthropology and archaeology.\n\nI think Rome came up with the first one for months, but still refered to the years as "in the reign of [insert name here]"
421650
No because that's when we changed to the Gregorian calender. As previous measurements of time didn't allow for the fact that there are 365 and 1/4 days in a year plus 11 minutes, dates were becoming out of synchronization. Thus in 1582 the system adopted by Pope Gregory XIII was made law in Britain and it's colonies and is now in worldwide use. This meant 'jumping' from 5th October to 14th October to make up for the discrepancy and caused the 'Missing 9 Days' riots as people thought that they would die nine days sooner than they would have done if the calender had not been amended. This is why no-one was born between those dates as they did not exist.
408533
they have had 5 since the begining . but not this year its mexicos year thiss one.
287028
The World Fackbook says ....\n\nThe site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.
577194
Contrary to popular belief, it is not the Mexican Independence holiday(that is in September).  It is celebrated because that day marked the defeat of French forces against the Mexican Army.
148051
Sadly, there is no equivilant that is older.  Anyway, traditions have to start somewhere.  And Christmas was started to distract people from Winter Solstice Celebrations.\n\nPatty "Fabricated in the 60's, too" Surrey
367319
There are sometimes festivals on/for Cinco de Mayo.  The literal translation is 5th of May.  It is one of Mexico's independence days (I believe they celebrate two).