Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

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_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

RockSlider wrote:Obviously got them straight from Satan. Remember the live endowment and Satan's apron. Sure looks like the pictures upthread. "signs of my power and priesthoods"

eta,

the dagger handed down from Abraham, the one to be used against his son.


I wonder about the earliest version of the endowment and how BY might have changed things.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Maksutov
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Maksutov »

Fascinating thread!
"God" is the original deus ex machina. --Maksutov
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

Maksutov wrote:Fascinating thread!


Taking partial credit for it, I say, "You're welcome!"
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

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Generous fellow that he is, Brent Metcalfe gave me permission to cross post this piece he put up on Facebook:

Brent Metcalfe wrote:Prior to his passing in 2013 at age 106, Eldred G. Smith (last LDS Presiding Patriarch, 1947–1979; direct descendant of Joseph Smith’s brother Hyrum) held local gatherings where church members were treated to a display of several Smith family artifacts, including the clothing Hyrum Smith wore when he was murdered with his brother Joseph Smith and Alvin Smith’s (Hyrum and Joseph Smith’s oldest sibling) lap desk (both now on display at the LDS History Museum).

Occasionally, Eldred would add a few other relics to his presentation, including Hyrum Smith’s temple garments, “Masonic” parchments, and a dagger—the latter two having strong links to folk-magic traditions in Joseph Smith’s milieu (see the attached scans). Smith family lore has it that the parchments and dagger belonged to Hyrum Smith.

If memory serves (it’s been years since I’ve reviewed my research notes on these items and I haven’t unpacked them yet), the farthest-right symbol on the dagger’s blade is the sigil of Mars’s intelligence, the symbol to the left of that is the astrological symbol for Scorpio, and next to it is the astrological symbol for mars with Hebrew letters below (אדני, “Adonai,” lit. “my lords”).

The parchments are almost certainly not Masonic; rather, they served as *lamens* (Google/bing that), which when folded were placed in their accompanying pouch to hang around the neck and rest on the chest. Lamens (covered in thaumaturgic words and symbols) were believed to grant the wearer talismanic or spell-casting powers.

I acquired the photos of the artifacts in 1984 while working with BYU historians Ron Walker and Dean Jessee on the historical setting of the so-called Salamander Letter (a document that turned out to be a forgery; I’ll talk more about this in forthcoming posts). The photos don’t do the original artifacts justice. For instance, the parchment with “Holiness to the Lord” on three of its borders includes gilding that has the appearance of gold leaf. I know this because researcher Bob Fillerup showed me hi-res color photos of the relics (my lo-res grayscale photos are evidently photos of photocopies of the color photos... got that?).
Last edited by Guest on Sat Aug 05, 2017 12:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

Friend of the board and historian, Mike Reed, had this to say in response to my observation of a possible connection between the Patriarch's office and these artifacts:

Mike Reed wrote:I was told by (if I remember correctly) Reed Durham (who owns the colored slides and displayed them at Sunstone decades ago) a few years ago, that Eldred G. Smith forbid (I may not have my words right here) him to share colored photos, and that it was anticipated that Reed could share them once he passed away. Eldred passed in 2013. Colored images of these parchments are still not available.


Eldred G. Smith was still alive in 2013. He died at the age of 106. Wow!

As it turns out, Mike Reed's memory seems to be mistaken in at least a couple of respects. So, keep that in mind as you consider what he said.

Brent Metcalfe wrote:Not Reed Durham, Michael. Reed would have shown them to me if he had them and to my knowledge he has never presented at a Sunstone symposium.
Last edited by Guest on Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

Interestingly, Deseret Book once sold a DVD that showed the Smith family artifacts in Eldred's possession. I doubt it showed these artifacts, however.

http://hyrumsmith.org/2004/01/01/witness-the-restorationthe-smith-family-artifacts-and-their-story/
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

Another interesting item in connection with Eldred G. Smith's life: His spouse, Hortense, who died the year before (2012) Eldred did (2013) "Was key figure in saving and restoring Gilgal Sculpture Garden."

See her obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?pid=157692265

Image
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

It appears that there is evidence to back up my theory that the magical relics were passed down by patriarchs, beginning with Joseph Smith, Sr.:

The Smith family parchments were handed down through the provenance of Hyrum Smith's relatives. A 1963 authorized biography of Hyrum Smith identified the magical parchments as his "Emblematic parchments" (Pearson Corbett, Hyrum Smith, Patriarch, SLC, Deseret Book, 1963, p. 453). Eldred G. Smith, whose great-great-grandfather was Hyrum Smith, admitted that the chain of ownership for the parchments began with Joe Smith, Sr (Quinn, p. 103). In 1969, Hyrum F. Smith's daughter recalled the provenance of the parchments as passing from Joe Smith's brother to patriarchs in the family (Evaline Smith Haws to Robert Haws, 11 November 1969, Archives, Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, SLC).


I am drawing this bit of text, admittedly, from a Christian anti-Mormon website, that appears to be in poor upkeep. The sources, however, are not anti-Mormon.

To see the website, visit http://www.conchisle.com/magic.htm
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Kishkumen
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Re: Magical Relics of the Patriarchal Order?

Post by _Kishkumen »

Although this does not deal directly with the parchments and ritual dagger, you may be interested in Patriarch Eldred G. Smith and his wife Hortense's discussion of other artifacts of the Restoration in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et4Ljn1uilY
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
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