this: Abrahamic religious workers

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.

Priests and priestesses have been known since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies. They exist in some branches of Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism, and many other religions, as well, and are generally regarded as having good contact with the deities of the religion to which he or she ascribes, often interpreting the meaning of events, performing the rituals of the religion, and to whom other believers often will turn for advice on spiritual matters.

In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time assignment, ruling out any other career. In other cases it is an auxiliary role. For example in early Icelandic history the chieftains were entitled goði, a word that conveyed "priest", but as in the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, this consisted merely of offering periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses, and it was not a full time occupation, nor did it involve ordination. In some religions, priesthood is a position inherited in familial lines.

The term priestess is often used for women officiating in ancient religious temples and oracles and who, in some cultures, would have exceeded priests in authority.

Women officiating in modern Paganism, Neopagan religions such as Wicca, and various Polytheistic Reconstructionism faiths are referred to as priestesses, however, in contemporary Christian churches that ordain women, such as those of the Anglican Communion or the Christian Community, ordained women are simply called priests.

Those officiating in Judaism, both men and women, are called Rabbi.

Ancient religions

Although the historical records are fragmentary and archaeological artifacts are sometimes difficult to interpret without written records, the earliest historical records, those of Egypt indicate that the fertility cults were officiated by women for a great length of time before priests are evident.

A similar situation seems to prevail in other Mediterranean cultures. Those of Crete show priestesses almost exclusively in what appear to be ceremonial rituals.

The Ancient Greeks recorded the predominance of priestesses in certain cults such as for Athene even after the major cultural change to male deities. Their early myths relate many mystery cults that involved large numbers of women as participants. Once the paternalistic religions of the east dominated the religions of Greece, however, the oldest oracles remained officiated by a priestess.