Maya priesthood
Most of our knowledge concerns Yucatán in the Late Postclassic, with additional data stemming from the contemporaneous Guatemalan Highlands.The Maya class of the priests is sometimes thought to have emerged from a pre-existing network of shamans as social complexity grew.
The classic Siberian shaman is characterised by his intimate relationship with one or several helper spirits, 'ecstatic' voyages into non-human realms, and often operates individually, on behalf of his clients.
In 20th-century Maya communities, diviners, and also curers, may show some features of true shamans, particularly vocation through illness or dreams, trance, and communication with a spirit.
[4] On the other hand, priests are chiefly cultic functionaries operating within a well-defined hierarchy and offering food, sacrifices and prayers to the deities on behalf of social groups situated on different levels.
[5] To the Kʼicheʼ kings and highest dignitaries coming after them, the kingship was a sacred institution and the temple service a duty: during certain intervals, they abstained from intercourse, fasted, prayed, and burnt offerings, "pleading for the light and the life of their vassals and servants.
The highest Mayapan nobility, for example, is stated to have served continually in the temples; for the early Choles, no regular priesthood is mentioned, so that one might assume that the chiefs performed the priestly functions themselves.
The existence of a separate Classic priesthood, at the kingdom's court as well as in its towns and villages, is hardly doubtful; its absence would constitute an anomaly among early civilizations.
[10] The priesthood provided high status positions for those children of the Maya nobility who could not obtain political office.
They "preached and published the festival days," determined the appropriate steps in case of need, made sacrifices, and administered the "sacraments", acts connected to life cycle rituals.
Thirteen priests are also mentioned as part of a classificatory system shared by the Yucatec and the Itzá states, and further comprising 13 katuns, 13 provinces and 13 ambassadors.
[23] Priestly duties included sacrifice and the propitiation of deities, inauguration of kings, writing and interpretation of codices, and of course maintenance of ritual spaces and paraphernalia.
Without being permanent ministers, the kings of the Classic Period (kʼuhul ajaw or "holy lord") regularly officiated ex officio as high priests.
Classic art, particularly scenes on vases, depicts characters writing and reading books, aspersing and inaugurating kings, overseeing or performing human sacrifice, and presiding over burial rites, all activities suggestive of priests.
The literate aspects of the Prehispanic priesthood were partly assumed by local school masters and church singers (maestros cantores), who may also have been among the writers and compilers of the Chilam Balam books.
In the Guatemalan Highlands, the colonial and modern development was different and eventually resulted in thoroughly organized, indigenous priestly hierarchies, such as that of Momostenango.
