March 11, 2020

Tonight in Mexico, many communities will celebrate the eve of the Aztec New Year, an annual holiday that marks the beginning of the 365-day Aztec solar calendar. The Aztec were a native American people who ruled a mighty empire in Mexico during the 1400′s and early 1500′s. Aztec New Year celebrations include traditional songs and dances, fireworks, and the burning of aromatic ocote (pine resin) candles. The Aztec year, which begins at sunrise on March 12, consists of 18 months of 20 days each plus 5 extra days.

Quetzalcoatl was a creator god and a wind god worshiped by early peoples of Mexico and Central America before the Spanish conquest. Among other things, he was associated with fertility, learning, and the Aztec calendar. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration by George Suyeoka

Aztec New Year celebrations take place in such cities as Huauchinango, Mexico City, Xicotepec, and Zongolica. The holiday is also celebrated by some Mexican-American communities in the United States. The Aztec New Year is called Yancuic Xihuitl in Nahuatl, the Amerindian language spoken by the Aztec as well as the modern Nahua people of central Mexico. Nahuatl belongs to a large group of Indian languages known as the Aztec-Tanoan or Uto-Aztecan family. Many Mexican place names, including Acapulco and Mexico itself, come from Nahuatl, as do the English words avocado, chocolate, and tomato.

The Aztec had one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas. They built cities as large and complex as any in Europe at the time. They also practiced a remarkable religion that affected every part of their lives. To worship their gods, the Aztec developed a sophisticated ritual system, built towering temples, and created huge sculptures. They held impressive religious ceremonies featuring dancing, musical performances, and the bloody sacrifices of animals and human beings. In addition to the 365-day solar calendar, the Aztec had a 260-day religious calendar. Priests used the calendar to determine lucky days for such activities as sowing crops, building houses, and going to war.

The name Aztec is commonly applied to the people who founded the city of Tenochtitlan, the site of present-day Mexico City, in 1325. In the 1400′s, the city and its allies conquered many groups in central and southern Mexico, forming the Aztec Empire. Tenochtitlan became the capital. The empire was destroyed by the Spanish, who conquered Tenochtitlan in 1521. The Spanish forbade Aztec ceremonies, and the annual New Year holiday went unobserved until its revival in the late 1920′s.