GUATEMALA CITY - THOUSANDS of Maya are preparing for the year 5125, which according to the ancient culture's solar calendar begins on Sunday.

'Today (Saturday) the spiritual guides will help us look at our behavior, our errors and make resolutions for the new year,' Maya priest Tzunun Balam told journalists.

According to Mr Balam the traditional celebration is important because it was an ritual observed by the ancestors of modern-day Maya.

Those ancestors where members of a civilization that once spread across central and south Mexico into the Yucatan and swathes of Central America.

Saturday concludes a week of transition between last year and this year, the year of 'Iq' or air, the breath of life. -- AFP