Mormons and their Crystal Balls
By Kelly
Some years before, he said, his son had happened upon a man who looked into a
dark stone and told people where to dig for money and other things. "Joseph requested
the privilege of looking into the stone, which he did by putting his face into the hat
where the stone was. It proved to be not the right stone for him, but he could see some
things, and among them, he saw the [p.234] stone, and where it was, in which he wished to
see."
(Interview with the Father of Joseph Smith, the Mormon
Prophet, Forty Years Ago; Historical Magazine 7, May 1870, 305-306)
Brigham Young tells how Joseph Smith found his seer stone.
Willford Woodruff, a prophet of the Mormon church, wrote that on 11 September 1859, at a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "Preside[n]t Young also said that the seer stone which Joseph Smith first obtained He got in an Iron kettle 25 feet under ground. He saw it while looking in another seers stone which a person had. He went right to the spot & dug & found it" (Willford Woodruff's journal, 5:382-83).
Joseph Smith claimed that when he was a teenager, in 1823, that an American Indian by the name of Moroni, who had died over 1000 years ago, visited him in his bedroom at night. The Indian told Joseph that there was a cache of valuable items buried together in a hill near Joseph's house.The items included a book made of gold, a breastplate, and two seer stones. From Joseph's own description:
"Also, that there were two stones in silver bows - and these stones,
fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim - deposited
with the plates; and the possission and use of these stones were what constituted
"seers" in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the
purpose of translating the book.
(History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, 2:35)
Orson Pratt, an early church leader, made clear Joseph's use of a seer stone:
"sometimes Joseph used a seer
stone when enquiring of the Lord, and receiving revelation"
("Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,
Concluded", Deseret Evening News, 23 Nov, 1878)
"One of Joseph's aids in searching out the truths of the [Book of
Mormon] was a peculiar pebble or rock which he called a seer stone, and which was
sometimes used by him in lieu of the Urim and Thummim"
(Life of Joseph, 1888, 56).
Mormon Historian B.H. Roberts wrote:
“The SEER STONE referred to here was a chocolate-colored, somewhat
egg-shaped stone which the Prophet found while digging a well in company with his brother
Hyrum, for a Mr. Clark Chase, near Palmyra, N.Y. It possessed the qualities of Urim and
Thummim, since by means of it—as described above—as well as by means of the
Interpreters found with the Nephite record, Joseph was able to translate the characters
engraven on the plates.”
(Comprehensive History of the Church, Vol. 1, p. 129)
In an 1873 account, published in Frasers Magazine, Joseph was arrested, tried, and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826. Here is an excerpt from that published court record:
“STATE OF NEW YORK v. JOSEPH SMITH.
“Warrant issued upon written complaint upon oath of Peter G. Bridgeman, who informed
that one Joseph Smith of Bainbridge was a disorderly person and an impostor.
“Prisoner brought before Court March 20, 1826. Prisoner examined: says that he came
from the town of Palmyra, and had been at the house of Josiah Stowel in Bainbridge most of
time since; had small part of time been employed by said Stowel on his farm, and going to
school. That he had a certain stone which he had occasionally looked at to determine where
hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth were; that he professed to tell in this manner
where gold mines were a distance under ground, and had looked for Mr. Stowel several
times, and had informed him where he could find these treasures, and Mr. Stowel had been
engaged in digging for them. That at Palmyra he pretended to tell by looking at this stone
where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra had frequently
ascertained in that way where lost property was of various kinds; that he had occasionally
been in the habit of looking through this stone to find lost property for three years, but
of late had pretty much given it up on account of its injuring his health, especially his
eyes, making them sore; that he did not solicit business of this kind, and had always
rather declined having anything to do with this business.
The veracity of this article was unsubstantiated until 1971, when Wesley P. Walters found among county records a bill showing the cost of several trials held in Bainbridge in 1826. Included on this bill is the following entry:
same vs
Joseph Smith Misdemeanor
the Glass looker
March 20 1826 To my fees in examination
of the above cause
2.68
To see a copy of the actual bill, click here
In the
July, 1838, issue of the Elders' Journal, Joseph Smith attempted to answer the
questions that were most frequently asked him. Question No. 10 read as follows:
“Question 10. Was not Jo Smith a money digger.
“Answer. YES, but it was never a very proffitable job to him, as he only got fourteen
dollars a month for it.”
(Elders' Journal, July, 1838, p.43; reprinted in the
History of the Church, Vol. 3, page 29)
Joseph's wife Emma remembered the stone as:
"a small stone, [which was] not exactly, black, but was rather a dark
color."
(Emma Smith Bidamon to Mrs. Charles Pilgrim, Nauvoo,
Illinois, March 27, 1871. Original letter in the library of the Reorganized LDS
Church)
In 1879, Emma, widow of Joseph Smith, described the process of translating the golden plates thus:
"In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often
sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the
stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us"
(Emma Bidamon Smith interview, 1879, available in Vogel,
Early Mormon Documents, Volume 1, p. 541)
The Book of Mormon refers to God giving his servant a stone:
"And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me" (Alma 37:23)
"Every man who lived on the earth," Joseph said to them, "was
entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence
of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make evil use of it."
(Brigham Young's journal, as quoted in Latter-day
Millennial Star, 26:118,119)
Joseph Smith taught that God lives on a giant crystal ball:
"The place where God resides is a great Urim and
Thummin."
(Doctrine and Covenants 130:8)
"This earth, in it's sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:9)
"a silecious granite dark color almost black with light colored stripes some what resembling petrified poplar or cotton wood bark…about the size but not the shape of a hen's egg." (Stout Diary, February 25, 1856)
Or[r]in P. Rockwell is an eye-witness to some powers of removing the
treasures of the earth. He was with certain parties that lived near by where the plates
were found that contain the records of the Book of Mormon. There were a great many
treasures hid up by the Nephites. Porter was with them one night where there were
treasures, and they could find them easy enough, but they could not obtain them.… He
said that on this night, when they were engaged hunting for this old treasure, they dug
around the end of a chest for some twenty inches. The chest was about three feet square.
One man who was determined to have the contents of that chest, took his pick and struck
into the lid of it, and split through into the chest. The blow took off a piece of the
lid, which a certain lady kept in her possession until she died. That chest of money went
into the bank. Porter describes it so [making a rumbling sound]; he says this is just as
true as the heavens are. I have heard others tell the same story. I relate this because it
is marvelous to you. But to those who understand these things, it is not marvelous.
(Journal of Discourses 19: 37-38)
"Brigham Young in saying that He did not profess to be a prophet seer & Revelator as Joseph Smith was, was speaking of men being born Natural Prophets & seers. Many have the gift of seeing through seer stones without the Priesthood at all. He had not this gift [of using seer stones] naturally yet He was an Apostle & the President of the Church and Kingdom of God on Earth". (Wilford Woodruff Journal, 5:550).
In an 1890 interview, William Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, described the "Urim and thummin".
Explaining the expression as to the stones in the Urim and thummim being set
in two rims of a bow he said: A silver bow ran over one stone, under the other, arround
over that one and under the first in the shape of a horizontal figure 8 much like a pair
of spectacles. That they were much too large for Joseph and he could only see through one
at a time using sometimes one and sometimes the other. By putting his head in a hat or
some dark object it was not necessary to close one eye while looking through the stone
with the other. In that way sometimes when his eyes grew tires [tired] he releaved them of
the strain. He also said the Urim and Thummim was attached to the breastplate by a rod
which was fastened at the outer shoulde[r] edge of the breastplate and to the end of the
silver bow. This rod was just the right length so that when the Urim and thummim was
removed from before the eyes it woul<d> reac<h> to a pocked [pocket?] on the
left side of the [p.509] breastplate where the instrument was kept when not in use by the
Seer. I was not informed whether it was de=tacha<bl>e from the breastplate or not.
From the fact that Joseph often had it with him and sometimes when at work<,>
<I> am of the opinion that it could be detached. He also informed us that the rod
served to hold it before the eyes of the Seer.
(William Smith interview with J.W. Peterson and W.S.
Pender, 1890, from "Statement of J. W. Peterson Concerning William Smith," 1 May
1921, Miscellaneous Letters and Papers, RLDS Church Library-Archives, Independence,
Missouri. Available in "Early Mormon Documents, Vol 1, Vogel)
"Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim
and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher
order of kingdoms will be made known. And a white stone is given to each of
those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man
knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word"
(Doctrine and Covenants 130:10-11)
To our great grief however, we soon found that Satan had been lying in wait
to deceive, and seeking whom he might devour. Brother Hirum Page had in his
possession a certain stone, by which he had obtained certain "revelations"
concerning the upbuilding of Zion, the order of the Church, etc., all of which were
entirely at variance with the order of God's house, as laid down in the New Testament, as
well as in our late revelations. As a conference meeting had been appointed for the
26th day of September, I thought it wisdom not to do much more than converse with the
brethren on the subject, until the conference should meet. Finding however, that
many, especially the Whitmer family and Oliver Cowdery were believing much in the things
set forth by this stone, we thought best to inquire of the Lord concerning so important a
matter...
(History of the Church, Vol 1, p. 109-110)
Joseph Smith then had another "revelation from God" that put Hirum Page in his place:
"And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him; for behold, these things have not been appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto him, neither shall anything be appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants". (Doctrine and Covenants 30:11-12)
We have lately seen a pamphlet, written, and published by James C. Brewster;
purporting to be one of the lost books of Esdras; and to be written by the gift and power
of God. We consider it a perfect humbug, and should not have noticed it, had it not been
assiduously circulated, in several branches of the church. This said Brewster is a
minor; but has professed for several years to have the gift of seeing and looking through
or into a stone; and has thought that he has discovered money hid in the ground in
Kirtland, Ohio. His father and some of our weak brethren, who perhaps have had some
confidence in the ridiculous stories that are propagated concerning Joseph Smith, about
money digging, have assisted him in his foolish plans, for which they were dealt with by
the church.
(Times and Seasons, Vol.4, No.2, p.32)
In Britain in 1841, devout Mormon William Mountford claimed to conjure images in his crystals. Local church leader Alfred Cordon made a detailed record of the circumstances, including quotes from Mountford himself:
"This bro Mountford had in his possession several
Glasses or Chrystals, as he called them: they are about the size of a Goose's egg made
flat at each end. He also had a long list of prayers wrote down which he used.
The prayers was [sic] unto certain Spirits which he said was in the Air."
Then, quoting Mountford: "When I pray to them in the name of
the Father, Son, Holy Ghost, any thing that I want will come into the Glass." Cordon
then described how Mountford divined the future for a young woman: "He
brought out his Chrystals and prayed unto a certain Spirit [---] then she must peep into
the Chrystal and in it she would see the young man that woul[d] become her husband."
(Alfred Cordon diary, 151-152 (27 Mar 1841) LDS Archives)
"She told me she saw a seer's stone for me, it was a small blue stone
with a hole in the corner, that it was 6 or 8 feet in the ground".
(The Journal of Bishop Edward Partridge, 1818, 1835-1836,
transcribed by Lyman DePlatt, a great-great-great grandson, 34 (27 Dec, 1835), LDS
Archives)
LDS settler Priddy Meeks described in his journal the proliferation of seer stones in the southern Utah town of Parowan. He said he "...kept the seer stones under my immediate control". He described a foster child living in his home by the name of William Titt: "...was born a natural seer. He was the best hand to look in a seer stone that I was ever aquainted with." His journal expounds that Titt:
"Did a great deal of good by finding lost property and by telling people
how their kinfolks were getting along, even in England." "He would satisfy
them that he could see correctly by describing things correctly."
(Journal of Priddy Meeks, 200)
Christian Anderson, a former Millard Stake high councilman, councilor in the Fillmore Ward bishopric, Fillmore city councilman, justice of the peace, and city recorder, wrote in 1890 that he:
...saw a Sister Russell of Salt Lake City who has a
seersstone, and she told me that the future was bright for me; that the Lord loved me and
that I should gain much power and influence among my brethren."
(The Personal Journal of Christian Anderson, Book IV,
56. Book V, 20, copy in LDS Church Library)
Three years later, this same Sister Russell (Sophia Romriell Russell) was sanctioned by the church authorities. Glass looking was a priesthood responsibility, so only men were allowed to do it. James E. Talmage and Salt Lake Stake president Angus M. Cannon visited her in February of 1893. Talmage wrote that she:
"...claims a standing in the church, and also asserts her ability and right to discern great things through seer stones in her possession." Cannon "...reminded her that she was acting in defiance of the Priesthood, for the High Council before whom she had been tried, had forbidden her using the stone for such hidden purposes, except as she was directed by the Priesthood." (James E. Talmage 1892-93 diary, 182)
"On Sunday last I saw and handled the seer stone that the Prophet Joseph Smith had. It was a dark color, not round on one side. It was shaped like the top of a baby's shoe, one end like the toe of the shoe, and the other round" (Samuel Bateman diary, 17 Aug, 1887, Lee library)
"Before leaving I Consecrated upon the Altar the seers Stone that Joseph Smith found by Revelation some 30 feet under the Earth [and] Carried By him through life" (Wilford Woodruff's journal, 18 May, 1888)
Joseph Fielding Smith confirmed that the seer stone is in the possession of the Mormon church:
“The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar
in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of,
however, was the SEER STONE which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in
early days. This seer stone is NOW in the possession of the Church.”
(Doctrines of Salvation,Vol. 3, p. 225)
...showed me the Seerers [sic] Stone that the Prophet Joseph Smith had by
which he done some of the Translating of the Book of Mormon with. I handeled [sic] it with
my own hands. I felt as though I see & was handling a very Sacred thing. I trust &
feel that it will work in his hands as it did in the Prophet Joseph Smiths hands."
(Fredrick Kesler diary, 1 Feb, 1899, Marriott Library)
Modern Church authority Bruce R. McConkie confirmed the use of the stone by Joseph:
"The Prophet also had a seer stone which was separate and distinct from the Urim and Thummim, and which (speaking loosely) has been called by some a Urim and Thummim" (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, 818)
"The stone was not chocolate brown but rather the color of brown sugar.
It was 3-4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and had a hump in the middle which made it perhaps
2 inches thick at the thickest point. It was fiat on the bottom and had three black,
concentric circles on the top 1/2 inch. Below the circles were many small black circles.
The stone was not transparent."
(Mary Brown Firmage interview with Richard S. VanWagoner,
11 Aug 1986. Van Wagoner papers, Marriott Library)