Magic
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“Joseph Smith revealed to Alpheus Cutler, by revelation, that a sign of ‘two crescent moons with their backs together,’ would be seen by him when the proper time to reorganize the church had arrived.”
- Rupert J. Fletcher and Daisy Whiting Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, 1974, p. 47
Magic Parchments (Lamens):
“Orem, Utah, attorney Robert Fillerup reported having investigated the artifacts in question since 1973, when they were believed to be Masonic materials. He noted that there is no contemporary evidence, but only family tradition, to link the Jupiter talisman, the magic dagger, and the magic parchments to the Smiths. He did, however, state his belief that the involvement of the Smith family in ritual magic is clear, but that there is insufficient evidence to permit any certainty as to the degree of that involvement.”
- “Mormon Origins Discussed at Sunstone Meet,” Mormon History Association Newsletter, v. 59, p. 5, October 1985
Magic:
“Now, most historians, Mormon or not, who work with the sources, accept as fact Joseph Smith’s career as village magician. Too many of his closest friends and family admitted as much, and some of Joseph’s own revelations support the contention.”
- Richard L. Bushman, Mormon historian, “Treasure-seeking Then and Now,” Sunstone, v. 11, September 1987, p. 5
“Early Mormons persisted in practicing magic because they nurtured a magical world view where the material and the spiritual were interwoven in the same universe.”
- Alan Taylor, historian, “Rediscovering the Context of Joseph Smith Jr.’s Treasure-Seeking,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, v. 19, p. 25, Winter 1986
Astrology:
“The only thing the Prophet believed in was astrology. This is a fact generally known to old ‘Nauvoo Mormons.’”
- W. Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 1886, p. 19
Crystal Balls:
“In 1987 I also spoke to several Mormon women in Utah who give predictive and healing blessings, some employing mechanisms such as crystals...”
- Ian Barber, anthropologist, “Mormon Women as ‘Natural’ Seers,” p. 179
Handkerchiefs:
“The Prophet said he could not go; but, after pausing some time, he said he would send some one to heal them; and he turned to me and said: ‘You go with the man and heal his children.’ He took a red silk handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me, and told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief when I administered to them, and they should be healed.... I went with the man, and did as the Prophet commanded me, and the children were healed. I have possession of the handkerchief unto this day.”
- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Leaves From My Journal, Third Book of the Faith-Promoting Series, 1881, p. 65
“Wilford Woodruff’s handkerchief – Prophet Joseph Smith’s handkerchief, given to him in 1839, in connection with the miracle healings.”
- - “Wilford Woodruff Handkerchief. Received from Emily Smith Steart via Dr. T. Edgar Lyon, February 11, 1964, see Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn, p. 313
“... thy shadow shall restore the Sick; the diseased shall send to thee their aprons and handkerchiefs and by thy touch their owners may be made whole.”
- Prophet Lorenzo Snow’s patriarchal blessing, see Thomas C. Romney, The Life of Lorenzo Snow, Fifth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1955, p. 1
“I have known Joseph, hundreds of times, [to] send his handkerchief to the sick, and they have been healed.”
- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 294
“I took the handkerchief and a bottle of perfumery, and on retiring to my closet, I prayed, and then I consecrated the perfumery and sprinkled it on the handkerchief. I then again bowed before the Lord, and in earnest supplication besought Him to remember the promises He made through His servant, the Patriarch [Joseph Smith, Sr.], whom He had now taken to Himself, and let the healing and life-inspiring virtues of His Holy Spirit be imparted to this handkerchief, and from thence to Brother Smith when it shall be placed upon him, speedily restoring him to life, health, and vigor.”
- Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1884, pp. 264-265
“I believe my father ministered to the sick by the sending of blessed tokens, usually handkerchiefs, more than all other similar accounts in recent history.”
- LeRoi C. Snow, son of Lorenzo Snow “Spiritual Gifts Through Signs and Tokens,” Deseret News, Church Section, August 8, 1942, p. 5
Canes:
“How much would you give for even a cane that Father Abraham had used? or a coat or ring that the Saviour had worn? The rough oak boxes in which the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought from Carthage, were made into canes and other articles. I have a cane made from the plank of one of those boxes, so has brother Brigham and a great many others, and we prize them highly, and esteem them a great blessing.... And the day will come when there will be multitudes who will be healed and blessed through the instrumentality of those canes, and the devil cannot overcome those who have them, in consequence of their faith and confidence in the virtues connected with them.... In England, when not in a situation to go, I have blessed my handkerchief, and asked God to sanctify it and fill it with life and power, and [I have] sent it to the sick, and hundreds have been healed by it; in like manner I have sent my cane. Dr. [Willard] Richards used to lay his old black cane on a person’s head, and that person has been healed through its instrumentality, by the power of God.... There are persons in this congregation who have been healed by throwing my old cloak on their beds.”
- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 294
“Each cane had a lock of Joseph Smith’s hair set under a small piece of glass and then mounted in silver on top... Father always told mother to keep the cane by her bed and if she was sick to put it under her pillow and it would be a protection to her.”
- Sylvia Scovil Roylance Blair, “Pioneer Personal History,” p. 3, see Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn, p. 316
“Since I was eight years old I have had in my possession the cane.... It has all the virtues and power which have been referred to and it yet will be the means of blessing and healing thousands...”
- Kimball, Heber C. Kimball, p. 257n14
“Joseph Smith revealed to Alpheus Cutler, by revelation, that a sign of ‘two crescent moons with their backs together,’ would be seen by him when the proper time to reorganize the church had arrived.”
- Rupert J. Fletcher and Daisy Whiting Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, 1974, p. 47
Magic Parchments (Lamens):
“Orem, Utah, attorney Robert Fillerup reported having investigated the artifacts in question since 1973, when they were believed to be Masonic materials. He noted that there is no contemporary evidence, but only family tradition, to link the Jupiter talisman, the magic dagger, and the magic parchments to the Smiths. He did, however, state his belief that the involvement of the Smith family in ritual magic is clear, but that there is insufficient evidence to permit any certainty as to the degree of that involvement.”
- “Mormon Origins Discussed at Sunstone Meet,” Mormon History Association Newsletter, v. 59, p. 5, October 1985
Magic:
“Now, most historians, Mormon or not, who work with the sources, accept as fact Joseph Smith’s career as village magician. Too many of his closest friends and family admitted as much, and some of Joseph’s own revelations support the contention.”
- Richard L. Bushman, Mormon historian, “Treasure-seeking Then and Now,” Sunstone, v. 11, September 1987, p. 5
“Early Mormons persisted in practicing magic because they nurtured a magical world view where the material and the spiritual were interwoven in the same universe.”
- Alan Taylor, historian, “Rediscovering the Context of Joseph Smith Jr.’s Treasure-Seeking,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, v. 19, p. 25, Winter 1986
Astrology:
“The only thing the Prophet believed in was astrology. This is a fact generally known to old ‘Nauvoo Mormons.’”
- W. Wyl, Mormon Portraits, 1886, p. 19
Crystal Balls:
“In 1987 I also spoke to several Mormon women in Utah who give predictive and healing blessings, some employing mechanisms such as crystals...”
- Ian Barber, anthropologist, “Mormon Women as ‘Natural’ Seers,” p. 179
Handkerchiefs:
“The Prophet said he could not go; but, after pausing some time, he said he would send some one to heal them; and he turned to me and said: ‘You go with the man and heal his children.’ He took a red silk handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me, and told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief when I administered to them, and they should be healed.... I went with the man, and did as the Prophet commanded me, and the children were healed. I have possession of the handkerchief unto this day.”
- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Leaves From My Journal, Third Book of the Faith-Promoting Series, 1881, p. 65
“Wilford Woodruff’s handkerchief – Prophet Joseph Smith’s handkerchief, given to him in 1839, in connection with the miracle healings.”
- - “Wilford Woodruff Handkerchief. Received from Emily Smith Steart via Dr. T. Edgar Lyon, February 11, 1964, see Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn, p. 313
“... thy shadow shall restore the Sick; the diseased shall send to thee their aprons and handkerchiefs and by thy touch their owners may be made whole.”
- Prophet Lorenzo Snow’s patriarchal blessing, see Thomas C. Romney, The Life of Lorenzo Snow, Fifth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1955, p. 1
“I have known Joseph, hundreds of times, [to] send his handkerchief to the sick, and they have been healed.”
- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 294
“I took the handkerchief and a bottle of perfumery, and on retiring to my closet, I prayed, and then I consecrated the perfumery and sprinkled it on the handkerchief. I then again bowed before the Lord, and in earnest supplication besought Him to remember the promises He made through His servant, the Patriarch [Joseph Smith, Sr.], whom He had now taken to Himself, and let the healing and life-inspiring virtues of His Holy Spirit be imparted to this handkerchief, and from thence to Brother Smith when it shall be placed upon him, speedily restoring him to life, health, and vigor.”
- Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1884, pp. 264-265
“I believe my father ministered to the sick by the sending of blessed tokens, usually handkerchiefs, more than all other similar accounts in recent history.”
- LeRoi C. Snow, son of Lorenzo Snow “Spiritual Gifts Through Signs and Tokens,” Deseret News, Church Section, August 8, 1942, p. 5
Canes:
“How much would you give for even a cane that Father Abraham had used? or a coat or ring that the Saviour had worn? The rough oak boxes in which the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought from Carthage, were made into canes and other articles. I have a cane made from the plank of one of those boxes, so has brother Brigham and a great many others, and we prize them highly, and esteem them a great blessing.... And the day will come when there will be multitudes who will be healed and blessed through the instrumentality of those canes, and the devil cannot overcome those who have them, in consequence of their faith and confidence in the virtues connected with them.... In England, when not in a situation to go, I have blessed my handkerchief, and asked God to sanctify it and fill it with life and power, and [I have] sent it to the sick, and hundreds have been healed by it; in like manner I have sent my cane. Dr. [Willard] Richards used to lay his old black cane on a person’s head, and that person has been healed through its instrumentality, by the power of God.... There are persons in this congregation who have been healed by throwing my old cloak on their beds.”
- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 294
“Each cane had a lock of Joseph Smith’s hair set under a small piece of glass and then mounted in silver on top... Father always told mother to keep the cane by her bed and if she was sick to put it under her pillow and it would be a protection to her.”
- Sylvia Scovil Roylance Blair, “Pioneer Personal History,” p. 3, see Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, by D. Michael Quinn, p. 316
“Since I was eight years old I have had in my possession the cane.... It has all the virtues and power which have been referred to and it yet will be the means of blessing and healing thousands...”
- Kimball, Heber C. Kimball, p. 257n14