Page 49 - SYTYGIB_Aztec

Why did they do this? Because they wanted to offer drops of their own BlOoD to the
gods they worshipped to keep them happy. They believed that to get something they had to give something. So, if they wanted the gods to provide good health for their family or make sure their crops thrived, they knew they had to pay a tribute with their blood.
Think of it like a present to the gods. Just not the kind of present you should consider giving to a friend for their birthday. Unless your friend is an Aztec god, in which case go for it!
As with most civilizations, gods (plural) were incredibly important to the Aztecs.
Dear god, in exchange for this blood please grant me a MOUNTAIN of chocolate!
Do you ever wish . . . calendars were a bit more challenging?
They’re just so predictable! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. YAWN! May, June, July. BOOORING!
The Aztecs had the right idea to keep the whole calendar thing a bit more creative. For a start, they had TWO calendars, just to really confuse you. And they also named dates after things like eagles and rain. Cool!
The first calendar was 365 days long showing important events such as harvesting. The other covered 260 days and was used for religious rituals. Here’s how the holy calendar worked. It’s a bit complicated, so pay attention!
Each day was known by a name and a number that both changed daily. The numbers went from one to 13 while the names repeated every 20 days. So you might start with one-monkey then go to two-rain, three-lizard, four- fire and so on.
The day names were: alligator, wind, house, lizard, serpent, death’s head, water, rabbit, grass, dog, monkey, rain, reed, jaguar, vulture, eagle, movement, flint knife, deer and flower. Each of them had a picture associated with it.
Why not try making up your own calendar along the same lines, so when someone asks what date it is you can say: “It’s seven-bogeys of course! The day after six-trampoline.”
serpent
monkey
rabbit
eagle
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gOdS AnD sAcRiFiCeS