These secret combinations are presented as inherently antithetical to the prophets. We may make some preliminary speculations about them based upon our understanding of political structures among Mesoamerican peoples and the contrast to Nephite understanding.
To understand the possible correlation of the secret combinations to at least one aspect of the ancient world, we must remember that there is a tremendous distinction between Nephite egalitarianism and the hierarchical societies that surrounded them. In hierarchies, there are frequently power struggles among different groups to attain the pinnacle point of the hierarchy.
We have already seen signs of internal political machinations in the Book of Mormon when examining the story of Ammon and the flocks of the Lamanite king (Alma 17-19). Only recently have we had sufficient monumental evidence translated to begin to understand the dynasties of the Maya city states, but those king lists indicate period disruptions in dynasties that may point to such internal power struggles. For instance, we have a 30 year period of dynastic instability in Tikal where the eventual heir was kept from the throne, and two other males are associated with the rule of the dynasty through a woman of the dynasty (Martin and Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. P. 37). This suggests the possibility of an attempt to assert power by these males using the female from the “legitimate” line as their link to the traditional power base. We cannot tell what conditions specifically altered the line of rule in the very next generation, but we find another male with unclear relations to the dynastic line using a female as his justification for rule (Martin and Grube, p. 40).
The building blocks of such political intrigue may be seen in the aftermath of the collapse of Dos Pilas in 761 CE. The single authority fragmented into “local magnates, each of whom erected monuments and used the once restricted title ‘divine lord of Mutal.” (Martin and Grube. P. 64). In Naranjo we find evidence of an attempt to create a new royal line, or “bolster the pedigree of a lesser local lineage…” (Martin and Grube, p. 74). The examples are multiple.
What we see in the emerging picture of Mesoamerican dynasties is an undercurrent of competing lineages. In such an atmosphere, it is not hard to understand the development of secret combinations that might be used to tilt the balance of power – a process that we will see clearly later in the Book of Mormon.