Keywords
Book of Mormon, Mesoamerican, Nephite daykeepers, ritual specialists
Abstract
Mark Alan Wright describes a common type of ritual specialist among the Maya called a “daykeeper.” He discusses similarities and differences with descriptions of ritual specialists in the Book of Mormon, including those who used the Urim and Thummim, performed rituals of healing, experienced near-death episodes at the inauguration of their calling, kept track of calendars, mastered astronomy, and invoked God to bring rain. He finds several intriguing similarities, but also differences — the most important one being that the Nephites understood that the people to do all these things came from the God of Israel rather than the local pantheon.
Recommended Citation
Wright, Mark Alan
(2020)
"Nephite Daykeepers: Ritual Specialists in Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 38, Article 13.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol38/iss1/13
