Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)
According to Latter Day Saint theology, seer stones were used by Joseph Smith, as well as ancient prophets, to receive revelations from God.
[1] The culture that early Latter Day Saints developed in was steeped in Western esotericism, which included American folk magic practices.
The term "Urim and Thummim" is usually used by Latter Day Saints members to refer to the "interpreters" mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
[3] Smith owned at least two seer stones before his early twenties, when he had employed them for treasure seeking at the bequest of Josiah Stowell, before he founded the church.
Stowell traveled to Manchester to hire Smith "on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys, by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye.
In 1830, Hiram Page, one of the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, stated he had a series of revelations through a black seer stone.
[citation needed] After Smith announced that these revelations were of the devil, Page agreed to discard the stone which, according to a contemporary, was "Broke to powder and the writings Burnt.
The Whitmer family, devoted to their importance, "later said their disenchantment with Mormonism began when Joseph Smith stopped using his seer stone as an instrument of revelation.
"[30] In November 1837, the Kirtland high council disfellowshipped 11-year-old James C. Brewster, his parents, and several associates for claiming that he had "the gift of seeing and looking through or into a stone.
[35] Some church members believe that there were three different Urim and Thummim: the one of the Old Testament and two mentioned in the Book of Mormon, one used by the Jaredites and the other by King Mosiah.
"[38][39] D. Michael Quinn argues Smith eventually began using "biblical terminology to mainstream an instrument and practice of folk magic...
[44] During his work on his Bible translation, Smith told Orson Pratt he had stopped using the stone because he had become acquainted with "the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation" and no longer needed it.
