Ancient Mayan shamanism

The ancient Mayan form of shamanism was very sacrificial in there spiritual ceremonies, maybe I could include this element in my images. 

They would use bird claws, herbs plants and various animal parts such as hearts and livers and these shamans were believed to have the power to foretell coming events based on celestial movement as well as the case for diseases and bad spirits. Ancient Mayans used shamans or priests when illnesses occurred. They would provide a variety of treatments including medicinal herbs,plants, rituals, divinations and minerals. worms, batwings, urine, blood and crocodile parts. Death was greatly feared by the mayans but they also believed in an eternal paradise.

 Because the Mayan civilisation is so ancient,there isn't much knowledge on the rituals they preformed, it is only known that they would sacrifice many lives in order to satisfy the gods they believed in.

 This is the famous Mayan calendar that predicted the worlds end in 2012. I love the symbols in this carving and I may use some of them in my mayan shamanic image. These symbols have very nice organic looking shapes that I could somehow incorporate into my designs for the Mayan shaman.

These images have been taken from the Mel Gibson film Apocalypto. As there are not many living relics from the Mayan civilisation I may need to get some reference from other sources that are a good representation of the ancient people. I think the clothing, body/face paint and headdresses in this film are very authentic looking and I may use this for some reference when designing my Mayan shaman.