Secret Combinations: The Hermetic Influence on

Mormon Cosmology and Temple Worship

By

Shawn Higgins

May 18, 2014 Eugene Lang College Senior Thesis

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Table of Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................2

Chapter 1: Spiritual Antecedents of the Latter-day Saints in New England .......................8

Chapter 2: Royal Arch Freemasonry and the Continental Occult Revival........................14

Chapter 3: Golden Plates: Enoch in the Age of Reason....................................................20

Chapter 4: Book of Mormon: “Anti-Mason Bible” ..........................................................24

Chapter 5: “Ye Shall go to the Ohio”................................................................................31

Chapter 6: The Sublime Degree.........................................................................................37

Chapter 7: The Lodge and The Temple.............................................................................41

Chapter 8: “Is There No Help For The Widow’s Son?” ...................................................51

Chapter 9: “I Discover A Disposition In The Sheep To Scatter” .....................................55

Conclusion: Saints and Symbols in the Twentieth Century ..............................................60

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………….66

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Introduction

The influence that hermetic philosophy played in the construction and

development of the Mormon temple ceremony and cosmology will be the focus of this

thesis. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), otherwise known as the

Mormon church, began in the early nineteenth century American frontier as a part of the

wider restoration movement. Infused over time with hermetic philosophy, the Mormon

church evolved into a complex and sophisticated temple cultus. Scholar James E.

Talmage, in his 1912 work, House of the Lord, once described the role and efficacy of the

Mormon Temple Endowment ceremony this way:

The Temple Endowment, as administered in modern temples, comprises instruction relating to the significance and sequence of past dispensations, and the importance of the present as the greatest and grandest era in human history. This course of instruction includes a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from the blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned, the period of the great apostasy, the restoration of the Gospel with all its ancient powers and privileges, the absolute and indispensable condition of personal purity and devotion to the right in present life, and a strict compliance with Gospel requirements.1

I will explore the trajectory of the Church’s history and some of the reasoning

behind its evolving practices. When confronting the meaning behind the Endowment

ceremony, I am reminded of a passage from the prominent phenomonologist of religion

Mircea Eliade’s work, Myth and Reality:

1 James Edward Talmage, The House Of The Lord: A Study of Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern (Salt Lake City:Deseret News, 1912) 99-100.

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In one way or another one "lives" the myth, in the sense that one is seized by the sacred, exalting power of the events recollected or re-enacted.!"Living" a myth, then, implies a genuinely "religious" experience, since it differs from the ordinary experience of everyday life. The "religiousness" of this experience is due to the fact that one re-enacts fabulous, exalting, significant events, one again witnesses the creative deeds of the Supernaturals; one ceases to exist in the everyday world and enters a transfigured, auroral world impregnated with the Supernaturals' presence. What is involved is not a commemoration of mythical events but a reiteration of them. The protagonists of the myth are made present; one becomes their contemporary. This also implies that one is no longer living in chronological time, but in the primordial Time, the Time when the event first took place. This is why we can use the term the "strong time" of myth; it is the prodigious, "sacred" time when something new, strong, and significant was manifested. To re-experience that time, to re-enact it as often as possible, to witness again the spectacle of the divine works, to meet with the Supernaturals and relearn their creative lesson is the desire that runs like a pattern through all the ritual reiterations of myths. In short, myths reveal that the World, man, and life have a supernatural origin and history, and that this history is significant, precious, and exemplary.2

Therefore, it is my aim with this thesis to take a historiographical approach to

examine the tributary of hermeticism that helped shape the early Mormon movement, its

development as a temple cultus, and its arrival into the twenty first century. I will

demonstrate how hermetically injected Freemasonry fused together with antebellum

American Christianity to create Mormonism.

The complex cosmological system of Mormonism that developed in the early,

fragile, Jacksonian Democracy of the United States has several sources. This senior thesis

seeks to reassess the traditional narratives of the history of the Latter-day Saints in favor

of a more expansive historical understanding. The religious and cultural antecedents of

early Mormonism can be found in the perfectionist sentiments of humanist philosophy

during the hermetically rich Italian Rennaiasance. The impact of hermeticism would

reverberate well into seventeenth-century Europe and antebellum America.

2 Mircea Eliade, Myth and Reality (New York: Harper Collins,1963).

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The occult revival of Continental Europe plays an important role in the evolution

of the Mormon praxis of worship. The Mormon Church’s early incarnation had, by the

time of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom in 1844, developed into a fully elaborate temple

apparatus; the infrastructure of which owes its genesis to the governing bodies of

Freemasonry, specifically the Royal Arch variant of the craft.

Central to the Royal Arch tradition is the preservation of mysteries with ties to the

prophet Enoch. Having received a vision, tradition holds, Enoch constructed a

subterranean temple whose architecture was comprised of nine superimposed arches.

These arches protected a triangular golden plate that was inscribed with the “ineffable

characters” he experienced in his vision. To preserve its secrets for future generations,

two pillars engraved with arcane knowledge were erected outside of the temple in

anticipation of the Flood. According to this tradition, millennia pass before King

Solomon’s architects, while building his temple, discovered and restored the secrets of

Enoch’s golden plates. Restoration is a cornerstone of Royal Arch Masonry, not only of

the ancient mysteries but also of the priestly office of the Melchizedek. These ideas,

popularized and further developed on the European Continent, would make their way to

colonial America.

I will discuss how Masonry provided an important institutionalized fraternal order

in the social and political landscape of colonial, revolutionary, and early republican

periods. Historian Samuel Morris Brown has suggested that the fraternity provided

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experimentation in solidarity and respite from sectarian strife and acted as an apparatus of

network building outside of established institutions3.

I will explore how Joseph Smith expanded his missionary efforts further west into

the American frontier in 1830. He found a community in Kirtland, Ohio who embraced

his teachings and offered a new home for his church away from New York. This small

city in the wilderness was to Joseph Smith the Zion he had been looking for. It was here

where his first temple was constructed and dedicated to God. This early temple worship

consisted of simple rituals such as the ceremonial washing and anointing of the body and

sealings and blessings patterned off of biblical rites. Building the temple left the church

in debt, however, and after a fraudulent church sponsored banking scandal and circulating

rumors of Smith’s sexual indiscretions, the Saints began looking for a new home. They

found it in the swampy woodlands of Nauvoo, Illinois.

The Mormon Church had its most theologically controversial developments in its

new home in Nauvoo, Illinois. The developmental doctrines of polygamy, baptism of the

dead, exaltation (apotheosis), and the Temple Endowment Ceremony, coalesced into the

religious transformation from church of restoration to that of a locus of human

transfiguration. The alchemical aspects of the hermetic tradition will be explained in this

portion of the paper. I will discuss the ways Masonic rituals, at this time, helped inform

Smith on sacred ordinances that would factor into the Mormon Temple Endowment

Ceremony. I will examine the parallels in the use of symbolic vocabulary (tokens, signs,

penalties, creation narratives, ritual anointing) evident in both the Mormon Temple

Endowment and the Masonic initiation ceremonies.

3 Samuel Morris Brown, In Heaven as it is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) 172.

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Many felt that the Masonic practices adopted in Nauvoo strayed too far from the

simple truth and allure of the original teachings in New York and Ohio. Smith began to

feel that some of his detractors were plotting against his life, and subsequently he had

them excommunicated. These excommunicated members, in conjunction with those

critical of the Church, published an unapologetic critique of Smith in the Nauvoo

Expositor. With Smith’s blessing, the suppression and destruction of the Expositor’s

printing press was carried out. The backlash proved to be Smith’s ultimate undoing.

Supporters and opponents of the prophet began to riot, prompting the arrest of Joseph

Smith. On June 27th 1844, a mob stormed his cell and murdered Smith. It was circulated

that his final words were a Masonic distress call. “Oh Lord, my God… is there no help

for the widow's son?”4

Securing a successor to Smith during this time of anxiety proved to be

tumultuous. Many claimants to the title were vying for control over the destiny of the

Church. The group splintered into various factions, but the majority followed Brigham

Young as the next leader and prophet of the Mormon people. The work that had begun

with Smith was to be carried out and fulfilled by the successor. Young kept the basic

Masonic template of the temple ceremony and augmented it with revisions and

expansions as the Nauvoo Temple was nearing completion. The Mormons were not long

for Nauvoo, however, and once again the community had to flee further west for security.

The Mormons viewed this difficult period as their exodus and Brigham Young, their

leader, was their Moses. Those who reached Utah only had their belief fortified.

4 Reed C. Durham Jr., “Is There No Help For The Widow’s Son?” (Presidential Address Delivered At The Mormon History Association Convention, April 20, 1974).

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Construction on the Salt Lake temple would tell the story of these people, through

hermetically rich symbolism and ceremony.

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Chapter 1 Spiritual Antecedents of the Latter-day Saints in New England

Two seminal and provocative works stand out when discussing the hermetic history

and formation of the Mormon Church. Michael D. Quinn’s Early Mormonism and the

Magic World View, and John L. Brooke’s The Refiners Fire: The Making of Mormon

Cosmology 1644-1844. These works focused on the role that the supernatural, ritual, and

folk magic of nineteenth century New England played in the development of Joseph

Smith’s revelatory cosmology and The Book of Mormon. The exhaustive research of

these scholars provides detailed and convincing evidence of the hermetic origins behind

Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon and the ritual practices he implemented.

In The Refiner’s Fire, Brooke, a professor at Tufts, finds parallels between ancient

alchemical and hermetic traditions and Mormonism. He argues that these traditions,

which are thought by scholars to have originated in Greco-Roman Egypt, blended with

radical Christian sects during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and later made their

way to the New York frontier via New England’s sectarian emigrants.

He posits that the cosmology of Joseph Smith’s Mormon religion can only be

understood when placed on a stage larger than Antebellum America. Brooke writes:

…[at a] conjunction that reaches back not simply to a disorderly antebellum democracy or even New England but to the extreme perfectionism forged in the Radical Reformation from the fusion of Christianity with the ancient occult hermetic philosophy. The milieu of antebellum American hinterlands can explain the context of the Mormon emergence but not the content of its cosmology. For this content we need to look beyond milieu to memory, to diffuse the divergent trails of cultural continuity that prepared certain peoples-and a particular young man-for the building of a religious tradition that drew deeply from the most radical doctrines of early modern Europe’s religious crucible.5

5 John L. Brooke, The Refiners Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) xvi.

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In the fourteenth century humanism developed in Italy in part as a response to

questions surrounding the philosophy of government. A renewed interest and study in the

culture of Classical Greece and Rome galvanized intellectual life. Literary works that

were lying neglected in cathedrals and monastic libraries were approached with a

renewed enthusiasm. This was a time when Ottoman conquests saw the transferal of

Greek manuscripts to western cities. Scholars fleeing the destruction of the Christian

commonwealths in the east provided an opportunity for western scholasticism to

rediscover ancient texts. Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch places the advent of hermetic

scholarship during this time period:6

Among the flood of new and strange material from the ancient world, which might or might not be valuable if put to use, was a set of writings about religion and philosophy purporting to have been written by a divine figure from Egypt, Hermes Trismegistus. In fact they had been compiled in the first to third centuries CE, at much the same time as early Christianity was emerging. Some were then codified in Greek in a work now known as the Corpus Hermeticum, and others later translated into Latin and Arabic. Some dealt with forms of magic, medicine or astrology to sort out the problems of everyday life; some appealed to the same fascination with secret wisdom about the cosmos and the nature of knowledge which had created Gnostic Christianity and later Manichaeism. So this ‘hermetic’ literature chimed in with many traditional Christian preoccupations, and it became newly accessible after the 1480’s when the Medici in Florence commissioned Marsilio Ficino to translate into Latin the available sections of the Corpus Hermeticum. Humanists savoured the cheery prospect that with more investigation, hard work and possibly supernatural aid, more ancient wisdom might be more fully recovered. Equally exciting were the possibilities opened up by the increasing attention that Christian scholars paid to Cabbala, the body of Jewish literature which had started out as a commentary on the Tanakh, but which by the medieval period had created its own intricate network of theological speculation, drawing on sub-Platonic mysticism like the gnostics or the hermeticists…These themes were to play a great part in intellectual life and discussion throughout sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.7

6 Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (New York: Penguin Books, 2011) 574-78. 7 Ibid.

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I place hermetic philosophy not in opposition to Christianity but view it rather as a

constellation of concepts and ideas that took root and flourished in a Christian matrix.

The cross-cultural transmission of ideas in Renaissance Europe’s religiously diverse

periods manifested in heterodox exegeses within the context of Christianity, as seen in

the experiments of the Radical Reformation. In the Americas, whether conscious or not,

these beliefs found vehicles in the folk magic of lived religion.

The world that Joseph Smith grew up in was not adverse to magical practices. The

use of seer-stones, scrying for buried treasure, and beliefs in spirits were commonplace.

The young Joseph Smith was incontestably a treasure seeker, and the evidence of his

involvement in these practices is well documented. Quinn writes: “Joseph Smith

(founding prophet and president of the new church) had unquestionably participated in

treasure-seeking and stone divination. Evidence indicates that he also used divining rods,

a talisman, and implements of ritual magic.”he adds: "two-thirds of Mormonism's first

apostles had some affinity for folk magic”8

Smith came to know and practice this divining craft by the oral and written

traditions that were passed down through his family and his community. The years

predating the future Mormon prophet’s birth saw the compilation of an ever-growing

expanse of occult manuals and grimoires. The most notable of these works that were

likely found near the Smith residence in Palmyra/Manchester were Ebeneezer Sibly’s

New and Complete Illustration of the Occult (1784), Cornelius Agrippa’s pseudo-

epigraphic Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, Reginald Scot’s compilation of magic rites

8D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998) 240.

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The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), and Francis Barrett’s The Magus (1801).9 Smith

would also have had readily available to him cheap paperbound books with guidelines

and illustrations explaining various magical rites.

The Smith family had in their possession religious artifacts and tools that were to be

used in ritual magic acts: a Jupiter talisman, and a dagger ornamented in planetary sigils

to be used in conjunction with The Magus, and small folded parchments used for magical

rituals called lamens.10

In Clay L. Chandler’s essay, Scrying for the Lord: Magic, Mysticism, and the

Origins of the Book of Mormon, he remarks on the connections of these texts and their

relationship to the Smith household in particular. The divination and treasure seeking that

Smith was participating in is a belief system in which subterranean spirits guard precious

metals buried under the earth. Knowledgeable magicians can ascertain and retrieve the

spoils. Chandler cites the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy “There are spirits of the

earth, which inhabit the groves, woods and wildernesses....and keep treasures, which

oftentimes they do transport from one place to another,” and The Discoverie of

Witchcraft’s reference to a “christall stone” (seer-stone) used to discover the whereabouts

of these treasures.11

Joseph Smith used “seer-stones” to aid in his treasure seeking and he likely

inherited this practice from his mother, Lucy Mack Smith.12If the Smith family did not

own these grimoires, they were at least aware of the information they contained.

Chandler makes an interesting observation regarding how and why Joseph Smith 9 Ibid., 100. 10 Ibid., 83-85, 98-116. 11 Clay L. Chandler “Scrying for the Lord: Magic, Mysticism, and the Origins of the Book of Mormon,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Vol.36 No.4 (2003): 48-49. 12 Quinn, 42.

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emerged as a Prophet in that time and place. Using Robert R. Wilson’s Prophecy and

Society in Ancient Israel he cites:13

Intermediaries are often found in societies undergoing stress and rapid social change. Sudden economic reversals, wars, natural disasters and cross cultural contact can all lead to social instability. Under such conditions a society may seek to restore its equilibrium by renewing its contacts with the supernatural world. Intermediaries may have a role in this process.14

Chandler follows with Jan Shipps’s insight on the political atmosphere:15

“The Situation throughout the union was unsettled and things were extremely fluid in this period when all America seemed to be streaming westward after the Revolution. A new physical universe was there to contend with. A new somewhat uncertain political system existed and Americans had to operate within it. The bases of social order were in disarray, and as a result of the nation’s having cut its ties with England and her history, a clear lack of grounding in the past was evident 16

The hermetic tributaries that flowed into and through New England and the

American frontier exposed Joseph Smith to the larger matrix of Christian discourse. His

fluency and charismatic command of folk magic and Christian scripture made him an

ideal candidate for prophethood in the turbulent post-revolutionary years and the cautious

optimism of Jacksonian democracy. Joseph Smith was the man that would synthesize the

hermeticism that manifested in the various outlets of American religious belief and

practice and build a home for them in his new religion. He augmented the promise,

wonder and bounty of America by siphoning what he believed to be the magic of an

ancient past.

13 Chandler, 75. 14 Robert R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1980) 31.

15 Chandler, 76. 16 Jan Shipps, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987) 33-34.

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17 Seer stone used by Joseph Smith. Smith's widow Emma passed it on to relatives of her second husband, Lewis Bidamon. (Wilford Woodruff Museum)

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Chapter 2 Royal Arch Freemasonry and the Continental Occult Revival

The Mormon constellation of hermetic philosophy and renewed dispensationalism

that would take root and evolve, would not have happened without the accumulated

traditions and predispositions of the prepared people in the culture to which Joseph was

preaching. If folk magic in Smith’s time was one vehicle for operating and

communicating with the unseen world outside of the parameters of main line Christianity,

then the organizational body known as Freemasonry was an equally important tributary

of hermetic philosophy to the community of New York’s “Burned-over district.” In

laying the groundwork for the Mormon/Mason connection, this chapter will briefly

explore the history of Freemasonry and its transmission to the Americas.

The origins of Freemasonry are shrouded in obscurity. It can best be described as

a fraternal order whose ethical infrastructure is modeled on a set of rituals and symbols

that are connected to the imagined architecture of King Solomon’s Temple and its chief

architect, Hiram Abiff. This brotherhood, which also goes by the moniker’s “Speculative

Masonry” and “The Craft,” owe its origins to the guild systems of practical “operative”

Masonry. Evidence of a cleavage between operative and speculative Masonry can be

found in the British Isles in the seventeenth-century, but there is uncertainty on how and

when this split actually occurred.18

If we distance ourselves from Freemasonry’s claim of an ancient lineage we can,

however, trace its origins back to the medieval guilds of the Stonemasons, whose

governing infrastructure of tiered hiearchy and reputation for preserving ancient secrets 18 Christopher McIntosh, The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason: Eighteenth-Century Rosicrucianism in Central Europe and its Relationship to the Enlightenmen (Albany: SUNY Press, 2011) 39.

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began to arouse the interests of gentleman intellectuals throughout the seventeenth-

century. The lodges of speculative Freemasons, by the eighteenth-century, had

supplanted their operative counterpart as a fraternal enlightenment institution. Brooke’s

has argued that the transformation process from operative Stonemasonry to speculative

Freemasonry owes its origins in the broader environment of late Renaissance

hermeticism, the rumors of a secret network of mystics and the Rosicrucian brotherhood.

Freemasonry fostered an image of an elite brotherhood tasked with the preservation of

occult secrets. For those seeking the arcane ancient and mystical knowledge of antiquity,

Freemasonry was seen to be the answer.19

By 1717, the first Grand Lodge was established in London, and with the arrival of

this governing body, organized Masonry was formally introduced to the world. At its

inception, only two degrees of initiation were offered: “Entered Apprentice” and “Fellow

Craft.” The degree of “Master Mason” was incorporated not long after, rounding out

what would be known as the “craft degrees.”This tri-gradal system offered the initiates,

in each successive degree, instructions in morals and Masonic symbolism; incorporating

an extensive choreography of passwords, handshakes, secret signs and penalties for

revealing its secrets to non-Masons.20

Around 1730, the movement was adopted by the French educated classes, which

contributed to Masonry’s continental foothold and expansion. In that same decade

Masons in Paris erected their own Grand Lodge that in 1773 was christened the Grand

Orient de France. In France, Masonry would continue to develop in ways that deviated

19 Brooke, 94. 20 Matthew Bowman, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (New York: Random House, 2012) 46.

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from its sister lodge across the channel. The inclusion of mystical and chivalric elements

to the rituals significantly altered the egalitarian tone and style of craft masonry.21

The roots of these conflicting interpretations are inherent in the craft. The

organization is egalitarian in the sense that its members are equal and united in their

reverence for the “Great Architect of the Universe”, abandoning sectarian and dogmatic

strife in favor of creating a fraternity where all men are brothers. The other side of

Masonry, however, is an organization with a highly elaborate system of secret rites and

ritual symbolism of ancient gnosis that are revealed in a gradation of degrees to be

protected from the profane. As Christopher McIntosh states in The Rose Cross and the

Age of Reason “ This dichotomy in Masonry was both a strength and a weakness: a

strength because it meant that Masonry could appeal to a wide spectrum of opinion; a

weakness because the two approaches were bound to come into conflict.”22

The Scottish émigré Andrew Michael Ramsay, a member of the household of the

Stuart pretender, published a speech in 1737 that tied Masonry’s origins to the Crusades.

This etiology contributed to the chivalric developments in Masonry, conjuring up a

knightly mythic past where Freemasonry had been created and transmitted by the Knights

Templar.23 According to Ramsay the sacred information the Templar Order was thought

to have discovered in the Holy Land was preserved and passed down to Scottish Lodges.

Masonry in France and the rest of Europe continued to branch out and develop into

competing institutions with divergent views. After Ramsay’s death, in 1743, the lodges

that believed the legend of Scotland’s role in providing refuge for the medieval Templar

21 McIntosh, 40. 22 Ibid., 40.

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were broadly denominated as the “Scottish Rite” of Masonry.24 Scottish Rite came to

represent the mystically-charged rituals that extended past the three tiered craft degrees.

The lodges that offered degrees past master mason were referred to as “red” Masonry; the

craft degrees were known as “blue” Masonry.25 Throughout the rest of the eighteenth-

century, red masonry continued to incorporate hermetic and millenarian philosophies.

The critical role of Ramsay as the chief architect who infused the earlier modes of

hermetic philosophy to Masonry cannot be underestimated and, as I’ll explain in later

chapters, by extension to the later developments of LDS temple worship. Ramsay had

traversed and experimented with different schools of Protestant thought, including a brief

membership in the Philadelphian Society, before eventually converting to Catholicism in

1715. It was in Holland in 1710 that he was introduced to Catholic quietism, and

recognized in this movement the universal and mystical practices that prior generations

saw in Familism and Rosicrucianism. Through the vehicle of Freemasonry he found a

home for his new hermetic religion, one that fused elements of the Rosicrucian corpus

and quietist mysticism.26 It was the work of Ramsay that not only changed the

possibilities of Masonry, but also helped pave the way for the greater European occult

revival.

Colonial American Freemasonry was originally established under the patronage

of the London Grand Lodge and took their cue from their parent body overseas.

Therefore the rites and culture in these branches reflected the enlightenment disposition

of their English founders. Prior to the American Revolution these outposts were limited

24 Brooke, 95. 25 McIntosh, 40. 26 Brooke, 95.

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to the few coastal towns of New England and the Tidewater. During the Revolution,

Masonry spread among the officers of the Continental army, but it was not until around

1790 that the movement became truly widespread.

The trans-Atlantic and trans-national movement of people during and after the

American Revolutionary war likely contributed to the exposure of the European occult

revival to the American colonies. The Hessian mercenaries that aided the British and the

French allies of the Americans would have brought with them the Red Masonry of the

Continent and shared it with their colonial counterparts. Whether directly inspired by

Masonry or not, what is evident is the rapid influx of hermetic literature being published

in the early republic in the last two decades of the eighteenth-century. 27It is in

Freemasonry that we see a clear hermetic lineage that would provide pervasive

resonance in the Americas.

27 Ibid., 98.

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28

28 The veils in the Royal Arch degree Michael W. Homer, “Similarity of Priesthood in Masonry: The Relationship Between Freemasonry and Mormonism,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Vol.27 No.3 (1994): 39.

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Chapter 3 Golden Plates: Enoch in the Age of Reason

Joseph Smith’s discovery of the “Golden Plates” buried beneath the Hill

Cumorah is crucial to the canon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Believers claim that Smith was divinely guided to recover an ancient and holy record that

was lost to time. The story is a unique addition to Christian discourse but not to Masonic

tradition. The Enochian myth in the “Royal Arch” tradition predates Smith’s discovery,

and the thematic structure of the two accounts bear a striking resemblance to one another.

At least since the 1820’s and possibly even earlier, The Smith household had

realized in Masonic mythology a means to unlocking “the ancient order of things,” a

history of a lost sacred message that had been corrupted over the passage of time.29 Born

into a family with a long history of experiments that embraced antinomian sentiments30,

Joseph was, from an early age, exposed to a constellation of theologies that would inform

his career as a prophet.

Among the Masonic works that were circulating in the new Republic was

Thomas Smith Webb’s Freemasons Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry. This work had a

significant impact on the shaping of the Masonic Ritual in North America, specifically

the high degree Masonry of the York Rite.

His work in promoting these lodges earned him the moniker “Founding Father

of the York Rite.”31 It is his description of the degree of the “Knight’s of the Ninth Arch”

that shows what The Enoch myth would have looked like in the time of the Smiths. 29 Brooke, 253. 30 Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Random House, 1971) 3. 31 Norris G. Abbot Jr., “Founding Father of the York Rite,” Northern Light Vol.2 No.1. (1971).

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It is my intention at this time to give you a clearer account than you have yet been acquainted with, masonry; of which at present you barely know the elements. In doing this it will be necessary to explain to you some circumstances of very remote antiquity. Enoch, the son of Jared, was the sixth son in descent from Adam, and lived in the fear and love of his Maker.Enoch, being inspired by the Most High, and in commemoration of a wonderful vision, built a temple under ground, and dedicated the same to God. Methuselah, the son of Enoch, constructed the building, without being acquainted with his father’s motives.This happened in the part of the world, which was afterwards called the land of Canaan, and since known by the name of the Holy Land.Enoch caused a triangular plate of gold to be made, each side of which was a cubit long; he enriched it with the most precious stones, and encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate, of the same form. He then engraved upon it the ineffable characters, and placed it on a triangular pedestal of white marble which he deposited in the deepest arch.When Enoch’s temple was completed, he made a door of stone, and put a ring of iron therein, by which it might be occasionally raised; and placed it over the opening of the arch, that the matters enclosed therein might be preserved from the universal destruction impending. And none but Enoch knew of the treasure which the arches contained.And, behold, the wickedness of mankind increased more, and became grievous in the sight of the Lord, and God threatened to destroy the whole world. Enoch, perceiving that the knowledge of the arts was likely to be lost in the general destruction, and being desirous of preserving the principles of sciences, for the posterity of those whom God should be pleased to spare, built two great pillars on the top of the highest mountain, the one of brass to withstand water, the other of marble, to withstand fire; and he engraved on the pillar of brass the principles of the liberal arts, particularly of masonry.32

According to this tradition, after the burial of the plates, many centuries pass until

they are re-discovered by Solomon’s Masons while work is being excavated for his

Temple to God.

The same divine history particularly informs us of the different movements of the Israelites, until they became possessed of the land of promise, and of the succeeding events until the Divine Providence was pleased to give the scepter to David; who, though fully determined to build a temple to the Most High, could never begin it; that honor being reserved for his son.Solomon, being the wisest of princes, had fully in remembrance of his promises of God to Moses, that some of his successors, in fullness of time, should discover his holy name; and his wisdom inspired him to believe, that this could not be accomplished until he erected and consecrated a temple to the living God, in which he might deposit the precious treasures.Accordingly, Solomon began to build, in the fourth year of his reign,

32 Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason’s Monitor (Salem: Cushing & Appleton, 1808) 283-289.

22

agreeably a plan given to him by David his father, upon the ark of alliance. He chose a spot for this purpose, the most beautiful and healthy in all of Jerusalem. The number of the grand and sublime elected , were at first three, and now consisted of five; and continued so until the temple was completed and dedicated; when king Solomon, as a reward for their faithful services, admitted to this degree the twelve grandmasters, who had faithfully presided over the twelve tribes; also one other grand master architect. Nine ancient grand masters, eminent for their virtue, were chosen knights of the royal arch, and shortly afterwards were admitted to to the sublime degree of perfection.You have been informed in what manner the number of the grand elect was augmented to twenty-seven, which is the cube of three: they consisted of two kings, three knights of the royal arch, twelve commanders of the twelve tribes, nine elected grandmasters, and one grand master architect.This lodge is closed by the mysterious number. 33

The network of Royal Arch lodges that existed in America can explain the

Masonic symbolism that is prevalent with Smith’s discovery of the Golden Plates. The

accounts of their discovery in a hollowed out stone chamber; submerged beneath a hilltop

has striking similarities to the Enochian myth of the penultimate degree of the York

Rite.34

The dialogue between the Masonic tradition and what would eventually become

the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony laid down its roots in the mid 1820’s, given

that Joseph’s brother, Hyrum, had successfully petitioned for initiation into the York Rite

between 1825 and 1827.

The York Rite of Masonry that Hyrum was exposed to would have had three

distinct levels: “Entered Apprentice,” “Fellow Craft,” and “Master Mason,” and would

have included the requisite instructions in morals and symbolism, secret signs,

passwords, handgrips, and penalties for revealing secrets. Though the exact level of

Hyrum’s involvement is unknown, it appears that it was a favorable experience that was

33Ibid. 34 Brooke, 157.

23

more than likely related to Joseph.35 Joseph Smith would cultivate and recycle the

symbolic imagery in the works he would later produce.

35 David J. Buerger “The Development of Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Vol. 20.4 (1984): 85 (hereafter cited a Development of Mormon Temple).

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Chapter 4 Book of Mormon: “Anti-Mason Bible”!

Freemasonry in the generation of the American Revolution was largely a para-

civic social club for white male property owners. The fraternity provided an important

meeting space outside of church for solidarity and networking amongst upwardly mobile

men, providing respite from the sectarian political and religious landscape.36

By the 1820’s American Masonry was in the process of a complex transition; one

that saw an evolution into an exceedingly more populist and spiritual brotherhood. This

stems, in large part, from the fissure that had already occurred between the red and blue

factions of Masonry.

Masonry, did, at times, meet with suspicion and hostility. Nativists, evangelicals,

and a growing segment of the population were becoming weary of the potential threat of

extra-democratic power and “secret combinations” they saw in this group.37The anxieties

and tensions orbiting American Freemasonry were about to intensify as a result of a chain

of events.

By 1827 America no longer had the looming threat of European monarchists

encroaching on her borders, but a fear of the Republic’s demise was, nevertheless, on the

rise. The uneasiness began in the frontier of Western New York, in September 1826, at

36 Samuel Morris Brown, In Heaven as it is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) 172. 37 Ibid., 172. Quinn offers this insight into the meaning of secret combination: “For two years from 1827 until Joseph Smith began dictating the currently published translation ‘secret combination’ was widely used in New York state a synonym for conspiracy.” Quinn, 203.

25

the same time and place where the seed that would become The Book of Mormon was just

beginning to germinate.38

In the town of Batavia, New York, a printing press had been razed and its owner

had been found severely beaten by a gang of masked men. In the publisher’s office were

fresh proofs of what had most recently been printed: William Morgan’s expose on the

secret rites and oathes of Freemasonry.

Nine days later Morgan was abducted and secretly transported to the town of

Canandaigua. In Fort Niagara, Morgan was rumored to have been placed on a mock trial

by members of the Batavian Masonic Lodge on trumped-up charges of theft. After the

trial, Morgan mysteriously vanished and it was believed he was murdered by a nefarious

network of Freemasons.39

In January of 1827, five prominent Masons in Canandaigua were put on trial for

Morgan’s murder. The whole region was captivated by the Masonic intrigue at the center

mysterious disapearance. The public fascination turned to anger, however, when three of

the accused Masons were acquitted and the remaining two served out a sentence of less

than twelve months.40

Further trials were held the next month and with each acquital, anti-Masonic

sentiments grew ever stronger. Morgan and the Masons became the topic of the time.

Wild speculations and conspiracies were focused around the brotherhood, ancient

murders and mysteries were attributed to the supposed design of a ruthless, sinister and

international secret fraternity.

38 Brodie, 63. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid.

26

Anti-Jackson politicians saw in this fervor the making of a new political party,

The Anti-Mason party. Opponents of Masonry claimed that the fraternity was a threat to

free government. They portrayed Freemasonry as a dangerous cabal intent on infiltrating

the inner machinzations of the Republic with aims exerting a secret agenda. The fact that

a high ranking Mason, Andrew Jackson, was president, added validity to their concerns.

It was in the thick of this event, centered in the Western New York wilderness,

that Joseph Smith was composing The Book of Mormon. This backwoods frontier was

thrust into the center of American geo-political intrigue. Some claim that Joseph Smith

included veiled anti-Masonic rhetoric in The Book of Mormon as a response to the events

that were unfolding around his community. The Book of Mormon references a group

known as the Gadianton Robbers, a secret society bound by a sacred oath and rites to the

protection of their fraternity, with the avowed goal of overthrowing the democratic

Nephite Government.41 Those who claim that Smith intended the The Book of Mormon to

reflect an anti-Masonic sentiment most often cite this passage from The Book of

Mormon’s Helaman 2.42

And when the servant of Helaman had known all the heart of Kishkumen, and how that it was his object to murder, and also that it was the object of all those who belonged to his band to murder, and to rob, and to gain power, (and this was their secret plan, and their combination) the servant of Helaman said unto Kishkumen: Let us go forth unto the judgment-seat. Now this did please Kishkumen exceedingly, for he did suppose that he should accomplish his design; but behold, the servant of Helaman, as they were going forth unto the judgment-seat, did stab Kishkumen even to the heart, that he fell dead without a groan. And he ran and told Helaman all the things which he had seen, and heard, and done. And it came to pass that Helaman did send forth to take this band of robbers and secret murderers, that they might be executed according to the law. But behold, when Gadianton had

41 Ibid., 64-65. 42 The Book of Helaman is one of the books that make up The Book of Mormon. It is the history of the Nephites and the Lamanites covering the time period between 52 BCE and 1 BCE.

27

found that Kishkumen did not return he feared lest that he should be destroyed; therefore he caused that his band should follow him. And they took their flight out of the land, by a secret way, into the wilderness; and thus when Helaman sent forth to take them they could nowhere be found.43

In The Book of Mormon, the Gadianton Robber’s become so powerful that they

ultimately orchestrate the events that culminate in the genocide of Moroni and the

Nephite people. According to The Book of Mormon, Moroni issued this grave warning to

the people of the 1830s before burying the “Golden Plates” on the Hill Cumorah:

And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations to get power and gain, until they shall be spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed, for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them, and yet he avengeth them not; wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shewn unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you.44

Although the doctrinal emphasis in The Book of Mormon is on Jesus Christ, one

of its chief social commentaries centers around the notion of “secret combinations.”

Twentieth century writers, such as Fawn Brodie, in an exegesis of The Book of Mormon,

have interpreted these passages as referring specifically to the Anti-Masonic fever pitch

that blanketed America during the 1820’s. Michael D. Quinn, however, has noted that

Palmyra newspapers in 1828 printed anti-Masonic publications that described

Freemasonry as a “secret combination.” Quinn has argued that this term soon gained

traction in the popular lexicon of the region to refer to situations that had nothing to do

with Masonry. Whether one believes, as Martin Harris’45 claimed, “The Golden Bible is

43 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989) 2 Helaman 2:8-11. 44 Ibid., Ether 8:22-23. 45 Martin Harris (May 18, 1783 – July 10, 1875) was an early convert to the LDS movement who helped finance the first printing of The Book of Mormon and also served as one of Three Witnesses who testified

28

the Anti-masonick Bible” or not , his views may not have wholly reflected Smith’s own.

The Book of Mormon as anti-Masonic appears to reflect the currents of these passages in

only a superficial capacity.46

In any case, Masonry proved difficult to fully dismantle. After staying out of the

limelight in the decade following the Morgan incident, Masons began to slowly

reassemble in the 1830’s, with a renewed focus on the higher degrees. By the 1840’s

Freemasonry had reclaimed a degree of popularity, along with a cache of pseudo-

Masonic Fraternities, which would last until the last decades of the nineteenth-century47.

Joseph Smith’s actual membership will be explored in later chapters, but the

controversies surrounding the fraternity during the composition of The Book of Mormon

must be recognized. While not a member himself at the time, his exposure to the

fraternity must be acknowledged. Masonry was present in the Smith home when his older

brother joined the Mount Moriah Lodge No. 112 of Palmyra, New York48 during the

zenith of the Morgan/Mason drama. Whatever his views on the craft may have been in

the 1820s, what is certain is that by the 1840s in Nauvoo Illinois, Mormonism would be

referred to by some as Celestial Masonry.49

David Holland, in his book Sacred Borders, offers what is perhaps the best

that they had seen Joseph Smith’s golden plates The Book of Mormon had been translated. Larry E. Morris “The Life of Martin Harris: Patterns of Humility and Repentance,” Ensign, 1999, 37. 46 Quinn, 202. 47 Brown, 72. 48 Durham.

49 Ibid.

29

summary:

While sleuthing historians have made a cottage industry out of finding half-buried clues of antebellum class anger, racism, nationalism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Calvinism, anti-Masonry, or anti-Universalism woven into the subplots of the book, the text itself is preoccupied with two overarching themes: the divinity of an atoning Christ and God’s revelatory abundance.50

That revelatory abundance is precisely what will inform the next phase of Mormon

development, as Smith and his followers venture further into the American frontier and

encounter an ever expansive range of concepts and ideas.

50 David Holland, Sacred Borders: Continuing Revelation and Canonical Restraint in Early America (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2011) 46.

30

51

51 An illustration from the anti-Masonic Almanac published in 1831.

31

Chapter 5 “Ye Shall go to the Ohio” !

The whole process of publishing The Book of Mormon broadened Smith’s

religious imagination, causing him to re-evaluate his own role and purpose. He began to

develop an expanding sense of what this revelation could be; not merely a revealed book,

but a new church. As more people began to accept Joseph’s “Golden Bible” and

revelations as the divine word of God, a small following of neighbors, mostly farmers

and teachers, began to coalesce. On April 6th, 1830 The Church of Christ was

established.52

Soon his followers began to delve into the mysteries of this new tome from God.

Questions began to arise pertaining to a particular passage in which Christ, upon his

arrival in the Americas, gave his Nephite apostles the authority to baptize.53 They

questioned whether or not the authority to baptize others still held true. In response,

Smith received a message from John the Baptist; he was to re-instate the ancient

“priesthood of Aaron.” Poor farmers were elevated into priests, elders and teachers, and

their mission was to seek out others to join them.54

By September of 1830, Smith had sent a handful of missionaries further west to

preach to the Native Americans. Smith believed that the natives were the descendants of

52 Bowman, 28-31. 53 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989) 3 Nephi 11:18-22. 54 Bowman, 28-31.

32

the Nephites and Lamanites, themselves descendents of the house of Israel.55 His plan

was to rebuild the city of Zion, a city that was crucial in heralding Christ’s return. The

return of the Native Americans back into the fold would offer critical aid in the

construction of the New Jerusalem.56

Soon came word from Ohio. The missionaries had encountered a minister named

Sidney Rigdon, an imposing orator and well-educated theologian. Impressed by The Book

of Mormon, he and several others in his congregation were baptized in this new faith.

These new converts formed the core of a new Mormon community in Kirtland, Ohio. The

following January, Smith and his followers in New York made the decision to relocate to

Ohio. Smith had found his Zion.57

The dream of a New Jerusalem was, at the heart, the promise of Joseph Smith’s

new scripture. The Book of Mormon, though his most pivotal text, was not the only work

he produced. In 1831, 1835, and 1844 several editions of revelations, dutifully recorded

by faithful, eager scribes, were published under the title Doctrine and Covenants. During

these years he tasked himself with producing new translations of the Bible; clarifying and

rewording texts from the King James Bible as well as revealing lost tomes of ancient

prophets. Thematically, what was emerging in these varied revelations and reworked

texts was the emphasis on Zion, a perfect and harmonious society living in bliss and in

accordance with the commandments of God.58

Smith’s scriptures were divided into two fields: “revelation” and

55 Lamanites, Nephites, Jaredites, and Mulekites make up the four groups believed to have settled in the ancient Americas according to LDS. M. Dallas Burnett “Lamanites and the Church” Ensign, 1971. 56 Bowman, 28-31. 57 Ibid. 58 Ibid., 32-33.

33

“commandment”; both decreed from heaven, and most often in the voice of God.

Typically these instructions confronted immediate circumstances that the fledgling

Mormon community had encountered. At times they were addressed directly to particular

individuals, and at other times they were an extended theological discourse of a

cosmological nature, the authority of priesthood, eschatology, and the afterlife.

The continued revelations from God offered an evolving religious tradition. On

February 16th of 1832, a dramatic revelation was received by Smith and Rigdon when the

two men together contemplated the verse from John 5:29.59: “And shall come forth; they

that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the

resurrection of damnation.”

While pondering the verse’s meaning, they received what Mormon

publications later termed “The Vision.” The two men were allowed to peer into heaven

and witness the throne of God, the throngs of the faithful, and the casting out of Satan

from heaven.

“The Vision” offered insight on the St. Paul’s degrees of glory for the

resurrected bodies, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars, and affixed to them the three

levels of heaven: the Celestial, the Terrestrial and the Telestial. Each of these heavens

would serve as host to the degrees of saved individuals.

The highest heaven (Celestial) was reserved for those Christians who had fully

received the ordinances of the gospel; the second tier (Terrestrial) was for those

”honorable men of the earth” who were not Christian; and the last tier (Telestial) was

filled by the wicked, “the liars and sorcerers and adulterers.”

59 The Bible: Authorized King James version. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).

34

All but the “sons of perdition” who denied Christ to his face would receive

nothing at all. This meant that all would receive a degree of salvation that was worthy of

one’s merit. Heaven was now realm of salvation for communities of similar thinking

individuals. Mormonism had adopted one of its most salient theological developments;

salvation in communal terms and the optimism of humanity’s potential to gain it.60

Smith’s further exegesis into the Christian scriptures revealed new meanings

wrestled from its terse, and, at times esoteric, narratives. Delving into subtlety and

ambiguity of the Bible, he amended, clarified, and augmented the Holy Book until he

declared: “Many important points touching the salvation of man, had been taken from the

Bible, or lost before it was compiled.”61

These projects in translations, which complimented The Book of Mormon, were

called the Book of Moses. This work included the Book of Abraham and the Vision of

Enoch. The emphasis, again, in all these works is the communal utopia of Zion. The

prophet Enoch oversees the construction of Zion in The Book of Moses and says: “The

Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in

righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”62

In Kirtland, Smith was going to repair the commandments that had been victim of

apostasy; he was going to recreate the ancient society of Zion by rebuilding its walls, its

temples, and its priesthood. As the Mormon prophet matured into his role, his attention

60 Bowman, 32-33. 61 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989) Section 76 (hereafter cited as D&C). 62 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Pearl of Great Price (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989) Moses 7:18-19.

35

was focused on revolutionizing the social order. Therefore it was unsurprising that

challenges to his authority were beginning to arise.63

In an atmosphere that fostered personal revelations it was natural that many

people began to receive their own divine messages, some that ran counter to Smith’s

message. To consolidate his authority as prophet he had to impose a system of order.

Smith created a hierarchy that expanded and categorized different priestly offices.64 There

was the lower priesthood that had previously been revealed,“Aaronic,”and the higher

priesthood of “Melchizedek.” 65 He also experienced a vision of the prophet Elijah, who

granted him the secret “keys of dispensation” which he promised to reveal to his flock

when they were more fully prepared for its meaning.66

Offices such as “Deacon,” “Elder,” “Seventy” were grouped into one of these

priesthoods. These men were ordained and organized into “Quorums” that were led by a

president. Smith was president of the whole church, and he took two counselors to form

the “First Presidency” of the church under which these quorums convened. This turned

Mormonism into a sacramental religion; salvation was acquired through rites that the

priesthood was required and empowered to administer. Believers held that the priesthood

office enabled one to access the powers of God to cast out demons, heal, bless, and

consecrate. Smith, by institutionalizing access to God, had alleviated the problem of

excessive charismatic tendencies that might potentially rival his authority, while at the

same time, inadvertently created an infrastructure that would provide stability and

survival after his assassination.

63 Bowman, 45-47. 64 Ibid. 65 Brooke, 194. 66Ibid., 256.

36

After establishing his priestly hierarchy, he was now able to begin the process of

building his temple for the rites to be performed. In January 1833, Smith received a

revelation67 that commanded him to build a temple to the Most High in Kirtland, Ohio.68

Before the Kirtland Temple was dedicated on March 27th 1836, Smith introduced to his

priests the ordinances that can be considered the proto-endowment ritual. These

ceremonies were in preparation for the coming spiritual gifts that would be received in

the House of the Lord. It was a simple, staged ceremony comprised of the washing and

anointing of the body, and of sealings and blessings. This ritual was patterned after

similar descriptions found in the Bible (Lev.8; Mark 6:13; Luke 4:18,7:38,44; John 13:16

Tim. 5:10; James 5:14). After washing and perfuming each other in an adjacent building,

Smith and his associates entered the unfinished temple. Here the office of the First

Presidency consecrated oil and laid hands on each other’s heads, and they proceeded to

bless and anoint one another to their respective offices.69

The prolific developments in doctrinal revelation from Smith, as well as the

evolving sacramental praxis of worship that occurred in Kirtland, was instrumental in the

transformation of Mormonism. This was now a church that was distinctly unique amidst

the rival restoration sects that peppered the geography of the early republic. As the

fortunes turned against Smith and his followers in Ohio, he was forced to abandon his

Zion for a new promised land. The Church’s journey further into the west would yield

even more provocative doctrine.

67 D&C 88:119. 68 Homer, 25. 69 David J. Buerger, The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) 10-12 (hereafter cited as Mysteries of Godliness).

37

Chapter 6

The Sublime Degree

Joseph Smith’s early exposure to Freemasonry has already been discussed,

therefore I will now turn my attention to the events that led to his consideration, and,

eventual endorsement, of the fraternity in Nauvoo. We cannot be entirely sure of his

motivations for joining Freemasonry, but we can observe some factors that would have

made the prospect an appealing one.

Ever since fleeing the heated political atmosphere in Kirtland, and narrow run-ins

with adversaries both inside and outside the church, his ever-present fear of enemies may

have convinced him that aligning himself with an oath-bound fraternity dedicated to

morality would offer an extra buffer of protection for him and his Church members. The

secrecy demanded from all Masonic initiates may have, in his mind, reinforced the

secrecy of the endowment oaths of the Church, especially to those familiar with both.

It is also possible that Smith’s growing pre-occupation and fascination with

translations and re-interpretations of ancient texts, specifically his Book of Abraham, in

the spring of 1842, inspired him to explore the possibilities of tapping into the mysteries

to which Freemasonry claimed to have access. 70His spiritual vernaculor already possesed

hints of shared hierophonies with Freemasonry, joining the group officially would

provide Joseph a reference model for his own sacred re-enactments.

The influence from close personal acquaintances, no doubt, offered some measure

of inspiration for seeking out the fraternity as well. It was in Joseph Smith’s brief stay in

Far West, Missouri, in the interim period between his resettlement from Kirtland to 70 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 87.

38

Nauvoo, that he met George and Lucinda Harris. Lucinda, who had first been married to

William Morgan, became very close to Smith, eventually becoming one of his first plural

wives. His relationship with the wife of the man whose mysterious disappearance was

linked to the publishing of Masonry’s secrets would certainly have provided yet another

layer of insight in the craft.71

Other notable Mormons, all of whom had prior membership in Masonry before

accepting the Church, included Deputy Grand Master of Illinois James Adams, Heber C.

Kimball, Brigham Young, and John C. Bennett. Of these men, it was Bennett who most

likely accelerated Smith’s adoption of Freemasonry as a means to end persecution against

the Church. These former Masons petitioned the Illinois Grand Lodge in the Summer of

1841 for the right to establish a lodge in Nauvoo. Authority was granted by a Grand

Master who had the hopes of Mormon support in an upcoming election.72

Joseph Smith’s first official experience with Freemasonry occurred five months

before the first Nauvoo incarnation of the Temple Endowment Ceremony, when on the

30th of December 1841 he petitioned for membership in the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge. The

lodge’s investigation proved favorable and he was formally initiated as an Entered

Apprentice Mason on the 15th of March 1842. The next day he and Sidney Rigdon, by a

special dispensation from the Grand Master, were advanced at sight through “the three

several degrees of the Ancient York Masonry.”73 Smith had achieved the rank of Fellow

Craft and Master Mason. His elevation to the sublime degree, without his having any

prior participation in the fraternity and without the customary thirty-day waiting period

71 Ibid. 72 Brooke, 246. 73 Ibid.

39

between degrees, is highly unusual.74 Smith’s rapid ascension to Master Mason was likely

a political manuever orchestrated by the the Grand Master who sought Mormon support.

Within a few months the Nauvoo lodge had nearly three hundred members, exceeding in

rank more than all of the other lodges in Illinois combined. The Mormon enthusiasm for

Masonry, however, began to raise the suspicion of the Illinois Grand Lodge who feared

that Nauvoo’s brand of the craft diluted Masonry’s “ancient landmarks”75 by admitting so

many applicants too quickly.

Smith had his own designs for Masonry, and it mattered little that it alienated the

Grand Lodge. The day after he was elevated to Master Mason, he met with his wife,

Emma, and nineteen other women, to establish an order called the Female Relief Society.

Founded as a charitable association with express purpose of providing aid to the poor,

Masonic terminology was often employed when Smith referred to the society. He

expressed his wish that these women be “sufficiently skill’d in Masonry to keep a

secret.”76

Over the next several weeks , Joseph participated in other lodge meetings,

witnessing, studying, and dissecting the Entered Apprentice initiation five times, the

Fellow Craft initiation three times, and the Master Mason initiation five times. By the

Spring of 1842 Smith’s language began to incorporate a distinctly Masonic vernacular.

On May 1st he described the keys of the Kingdom:

Certain signs and words by which false spirits and personages may be detected from true, which cannot be revealed to the Elders till the Temple is completed…The devil knows many signs but does not know the sign of the Son of

74 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 90. 75 Brooke, 247. 76 Ibid.

40

Man, or Jesus. No one can truly say he knows God until he has handled something, and this can only be the Holiest of Holies.77

The keys of the Kingdom would be revealed in a language reminiscent of Masonic

meaning. The key, a symbol of Masonic secrecy, was populated with a vocabulary of

signs, tokens, and handgrips designed to protect its secrets. The same would be true of

Mormon temple ritual:

The keys are certain signs and words,which cannot be revealed…till the Temple is completed.The rich can only get them in the Temple…There are signs in heaven, earth and hell, the Elders must know them all to be endowed with power.78

The full power of the priesthood could now be revealed. Its articulation was aided

by augmenting the Masonic vocabulary that Smith had been scrupulously dissecting. The

Nauvoo period is the clearest example of how the symbolism of Masonry penetrated

Mormonism resulting in a hermetic church.

77 Ibid. 78 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 89.

41

Chapter 7 The Lodge and The Temple

On May 4th and 5th 1842, not even two months after his Masonic initiation, Joseph

Smith revealed the Nauvoo Temple Endowment Ceremony to his trusted confidantes in

the upper story of an adjacent house as the temple was being prepared for construction.

What follows is a brief synthesis of the Mormon endowment ceremony and the Masonic

parallels that helped define its infrastructure.

In the beginning of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony the initiates

prepare their bodies by ritual washing. This is followed by self-anointing with holy oil. S

symbolic act meant to ritually remove the sins of the world and begin the transition into

the Celestial Kingdom.79 Joseph Smith first introduced this initiatory rite in October 1835

back in Kirtland, Ohio. After being forced to leave Kirtland, Joseph Smith received a

revelation on January 19th, 1841, regarding this rite in the temple ceremony:

And again, verily I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name? For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.80

The washing and annointing reflected the earlier Kirtland incarnation. Joseph

Smith described the rite this way: "[we] proceeded to cleanse our faces and our feet, and

79 Ibid. 80 D&C 124:37-39 and 88:74.

42

then proceeded to wash one another's feet." According to Mormon Scholar, Boyd K.

Packer, this rite is “mostly symbolic in nature, but promising definite, immediate

blessings as well as future blessings.”81

The initiate is next clothed in ritual garments to participate in the miracle play of

the Temple Endowment Ceremony. According to Packer, the garment represents sacred

covenents. “It fosters modesty and becomes a shield and protection to the wearer.”82 He

adds: “In the temple you will be officially clothed in the garment and promised

marvelous blessings in connection with it.”83

Next, the initiate receives the new name they will use in the Celestial Kingdom.

On April 2, 1843, Joseph Smith provided instructions84 concerning a “white stone”

mentioned in Revelation 2:17: “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

that he receiveth it. The new name is the key-word.”85

Throughout the ceremony, the initiate (who is referred to as Adam for the

remainder of the ceremony) is taken through a dramatization of the history of the world.86

The Masonic elements echoed in this phase can be seen in the conferral of the new name

and the donning of the white apron. The original apron used in the Mormon Temple

Endowment ceremony utilized a white apron with a green fig leaf sewn to it87, as well as

81 Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980) 154. 82 Ibid., 75. 83 Ibid.,155. 84 Homer, 44. 85 D&C 130:11.

86 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 93-94. 87 Ibid., 91.

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Masonic square and compass.88

The miracle plays are continued in the next phase of the ceremony. The sacred

dramaturgy re-enacts the Creation and the Fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of

Eden. The scenes included three Creation gods: Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael. The

initiate, as the surrogate Adam, experiences the fallen condition and the redemptive

powers of the Mormon priesthood.89

In the third phase of the ceremony, initiates have revealed to them the First and

Second Tokens of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods. Handgrips, signs, and

coded passwords are taught to the initiate before they finally reach the goal of the veil

that separates the temporal world from celestial kingdom.

On their path to the veil, the initiate witnesses further ritual re-enactments. Here

they experience an encounter between Adam, Satan, and an assortment of sectarian

preachers representing the apostasy of the Christian church. The initiate is then robed in

priestly garments whereupon they form a prayer circle and chant in the pure Adamic

language.90 In the Masonic counterpart of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony,

the initiates encircle an altar, places their left hand around their neighbor, joins hands and

repeats the words of the presiding masters.91

Likewise, the “lecture at the veil”92 was not unlike the explanatory lecture that

88 Brooke, 249. 89 Ibid.

90 Ibid.

91 Ibid.

92 L.John Nuttall Journal, 7 Feb.1877, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

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followed the conferral of degrees in the Royal Arch tradition.93The language used in the

tokens94 and penalties95 of the Mormon priesthood had exact parallels in Freemasonry96,

progressing in the first three degrees to the higher degrees of the Royal Arch. The penalty

for disclosing secrets, the priestly handgrip and bodily signs, all had Masonic

antecedents.97 Parallels with Royal Arch extended to the use of the temple veil as a locus

for ritual catechisms as well as the employment of ritual actors representing God.

The similarities between the ritual drama of creation in the Mormon Temple

Endowment Ceremony and its Masonic counterpart were more fully realized in the higher

Masonic degrees. The seventh degree of the Royal Arch addressed the initiate on the

Creation and Fall in Eden. In this narrative, a scroll taken from a golden box, is given to

Adam and passed down several generations until it is received by King Solomon who

eventually buries this encrypted knowledge in a vaulted arch. In the twenty-eighth degree

of the Scottish Rite, an actor representing Adam guides the candidate through the ritual

and engages in a discourse on the “quintessence of the Elements,” “the fire of

Philosophers” and the “Philosopher’s Stone.” Here, seven cherubim, including Michael,

are present with Adam at the Creation, reminiscent of the plurality of the three Mormon

creation gods.98

Since the beginning of the formation of his church, Smith had been promising to

fully reveal the keys of dispensation and immortal perfectibility. The advent of the

93 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 91. 94 Homer, 45-46. 95 Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints’ Bookseller’s Depot, 1854-86) 3:332. 96 Durham.

97 Brooke, 249. 98 Ibid., 249-250.

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Temple Endowment Ceremony in Nauvoo began to realize that promise. The surrogate

Adam of the Mormon ritual dramaturgy could experience the cosmic history and gain the

promised keys of admission into the celestial kingdom.99

Those faithful who participated in the Temple Endowment Ceremony were

rewarded with the highest level of heaven. For believers, this was an apotheosis in a

cosmos that rejected creation ex nihilo, where matter and spirit have existed for eternity

and are integrally connected.100

The Temple Endowment Ceremony continued to develop as more secret and

controversial doctrines were adopted. In the spring of 1843, Smith revealed that only

through a special “sealing” ritual could a marriage on earth be guaranteed to last through

eternity in the heavens.

The three degrees of heavenly glory in the celestial kingdom were linked to three

degrees of marriage. Only those who had been sealed in the “new and everlasting

covenant” of celestial marriage would have the opportunity for exaltation in the celestial

kingdom.

Celestial marriage would help realize the promise of apotheosis, having a plurality

of wives and their multitude of children would increase the familial kingdom and

transfigure the dutiful Mormon patriarch into higher degrees of glory.

With the expanse of the endowment ceremony through continuing revelation,

there came with it an expansion of the hierarchy of priesthood authority. As I have

previously discussed, the Melchizedek priesthood was granted the authority to “seal up

the Saints to eternal life.” The keys of dispensation that were promised in Kirtland were 99 Ibid.

100 Ibid., 253.

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finally divulged in the autumn of 1843 with the inauguration of the ritual of the second

anointing.101 The second anointing102 would be the the fullness or the highest conferred

blessing of priesthood offices (The Aaronic Priesthood ,The Melchizedek Priesthood).

On August 27th 1843, Smith gave a lecture on the orders of the priesthood. The

Aaronic Priesthood maintained the power of ministering ordinances and the “patriarchal

power” of Abraham. The Melchizedek Priesthood, installed in 1831, granted the Saints

the “kingly powers” to “administer …endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam.”

The ultimate priesthood of the second anointing was the realization of the fullness of the

priesthood.

The ultimate priesthood power “the spirit power and calling of Elijah,” enabled

the Melchizedek access to the “Keys to the Kingdom of God.” Giving these priests the

authority to “perform all the ordinances belonging to the Kingdom of God.” First

announced in Kirtland in 1836, and elaborated upon in 1842 with the revelation of the

provocative doctrine of baptism for the dead, the most powerful of these ordinances103

was the ability to perform a “sealing [of] the hearts of the fathers unto the children and

the hearts of the children unto the fathers [,] even those who are in heaven.”104

The powerful reward that came with the blessing of the priesthood of the second

anointing was the nearly uncompromised ability of achieving godhood in the highest

degree of the celestial heaven by being “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In a

sermon regarding his penultimate revelation, Smith all but assured those who were sealed

in the temple by the ordinance of celestial marriage and received the second anointing 101 Ibid., 250-256. 102 D&C 132. 103 Brooke, 256. 104 B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6 volumes (Provo: BYU Press, 1976) 6:251–53.

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would be guaranteed divinity in the celestial kingdom:

Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have call power, and the angels are subject unto them.Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.105

Joseph Smith had triumphantly claimed the powers to unite the living with dead

in one singular sacred universe of apotheotic soteriology. Smith had unlocked and

fulfilled the cryptic passages of the Books of Malachi and Revelation in a theology of

ordinances fused to his temple cultus. The Mormon temple allowed the individual to

experience a ritual transfiguration that restated the tenets of a hermetic tradition.106

The concept of alchemical marriage popularized in the medieval Rosicrucian text,

The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz, had encouraged varied interpretations

of sexual and marital unions. Rosicrucianism, which greatly influenced the institutions of

speculative Freemasonry,107 provides another connection of hermetic tradition to the

Mormon Temple Endowment. At least one Masonic text, the lecture on the philosophical

lodge in the rite of the Knight of the Sun, espoused an alchemical theory of elemental

marriage that would have been available in Nauvoo in 1840.108

Joseph Smith had, towards the end of his life, gravitated towards an ancient

understanding of a dual-gendered divinity that lay at the heart of hermetic theology, and

105 D&C 132.

106 Brooke, 257. 107 Quinn, 206. 108 Brooke, 258.

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he had purportedly spoken of a vision of “The Father seated upon a throne” and “the

mother also.”109

Celestial marriage, it can be argued, mirrored alchemical marriage. Mormon

cosmology, by this point, had developed clear parallels to hermetic cosmology. The

radical developments of the Nauvoo Temple Endowment Ceremony, and the alchemical

work of transmutation, both focused on the issue of Creation and Redemption.

In the sacred dramaturgy enacted within the Mormon temple complex, the

surrogate Adam experiences the Creation, the Fall, redemption and admittance into the

Celestial Kingdom by the authority of its priesthood. As we have seen, the expansion of

ordinances later included the sealing of celestial marriage. The Alchemical tradition

centered on experiments intended to distill the prima materia from corrupted elements,

replicated Creation and dissolved the said corruption that resulted from the Fall in hopes

of a material redemption. The marriage of the elements of mercury and sulphur (the

hermetic Sun King and Moon Queen) would fuse in sexual union, and the seed that was

produced would experience its own sequence of tiered exaltation. The seed of the

alchemical marriage would die, decay, and be washed before achieving its final state of

quintessence, the corporeal manifestation of immortal perfection otherwise known as the

philosophers stone, or in hermetic parlance, the primal Adam. We see in both the

Mormon endowment ceremony and alchemical theology the corrupting outcome of the

109Linda P. Wilcox, “The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven," in Lavina Fielding Anderson and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987) 64–77.

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Fall being overcome and divine perfection being realized.110

The Alchemical ability of achieving salvation without the means of grace was

ascribed to Freemasonry, as seen in the Locke-Leland letter that was affixed to many

Masonic manuals. This informed the public on the many secrets that the Masons

purportedly kept. Among other things, Masonry preserved “the universal language;” the

“way of winning the faculty of magic,” and the ability to “conceal the art of

transmutation of metals….[and] the skill of becoming good and perfect without the

helpings of fear and hope.” 111

Within these new revelations of Mormon theology, divine grace was only what

opened the universal door to salvation, but it was individual merit and obedience to the

laws that determined the exact positioning of divine exaltation that one would receive in

the afterlife. The Mormon priesthood held the sole authority to minister the ordinances to

grant entry into eternal life and exaltation. The sacred powers of this ecclesiastical class

transcended the earth and heavens; by sealing souls to the celestial kingdom, they

commanded God to save and exalt the Mormon faithful.

The priestly powers of the ordinance, like the alchemist, channeled and

manipulated the magical currents that ran through the visible and invisible worlds.

Though divine in origin, this power could be siphoned and controlled by the proper

authority. To Joseph Smith and the Mormons, this authority was granted to the office of

the priesthood of the second anointing. Salvation and apotheosis was not subject to the

110 Brooke, 257-59. 111 Ibid.

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doctrine of grace alone; rather it came through humble servitude to a sacred ordinance

resulting in a new sin-free dispensation. Mormons, if they followed the authority of their

prophet, were inherently

perfectible.112

113

Chapter 8

“Is There No Help For The Widow’s Son?”!

Joseph Smith unabashedly utilized Masonry in the Endowment Ceremony. Just as

he had translated and re-interpreted scripture to restore what he understood to be the lost

Christian truth, so, too, would he restore Freemasonry to its “uncorrupted truth.”

112 Ibid., 261. 113 An illustration of Order Lodge which appeared in John C. Bennett’s History of the Saints in 1842

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Masonry, as the Mormons performed it, was becoming increasingly more unorthodox in

contrast to the Illinois Lodge’s traditional practice. Smith, it would seem, initially

embraced Masonry before subsequently altering it in a process that modified, expanded,

and amplified it by the authority of his continuing revelation.114

Early Mormon leaders understood Freemasonry to have originated in Solomon’s

temple and had, alongside the Church, been corrupted by the Great Apostasy. Joseph

Smith’s expansion and revisions of Masonic rituals was thus understood to be another

example of the Prophets miracle of restoration.115

An excerpt from a letter written by Heber C. Kimball to Parley Pratt, two

prominent Mormon apostles, provides insight into the connection:

We have organized a lodge here of Masons since we obtained a Charter. That was in March, since that there has near two thousand been made masons. Brother Joseph and Sidney was the first that was received into the Lodge. All of the twelve have become members except Orson P…he hangs back. He will wake up soon, there is a similarity of priesthood in masonry. Brother Joseph says Masonry was taken from priesthood but has become degenerated. But many things are perfect. We have procession on the 24th of June, which is called by Masons St. John’s day in this country. I think it will result in good. The Lord is with us and we are prospered.116

I have suggested that the culture of Masonic hermeticism helped shape the story

of the discovery of the “Golden Plates,” The Book of Mormon’s structural narrative. and

Smith’s early experiments in translation and prophecy. The Nauvoo endowment and its

elaborate temple complex was Smith’s victory over the corruptions of contemporary

Freemasonry.

Mormonism and Freemasonry shared a common lineage in the priestly

114 Durham. 115 Homer, 64. 116 Heber C..Kimball to Parley Pratt, 17 June 1842, LDS archives.

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genealogies that preserved the hermetic keys to mysteries that they claimed had been

handed down since Creation. According to Mormons, the pure Masonry of Adam, Enoch

and their descendants had been corrupted by Cainite usurpers. Joseph Smith, as prophet,

had uncovered and restored the Adamic keys in their original authoritative form. Smith

declared that the true heir of Adam’s paradisial powers was the Mormon priesthood, not

the Freemasons. To the Mormons, the true extent of Masonic corruption was made fully

manifest in Smith’s martyrdom in his Carthage jail.117

As had happened in Kirtland, where the Mormon settlement had collapsed under

the stress of economic tensions and dissenting opinions, Nauvoo was approaching a

similar fate. Rising gentile (non-Mormon) hostility, economic depression, and the

emergence of influential dissenters rallying against the authoritarian hierarchy of the

church. Charges of polygamy, which had been leveled against the church hierarchy since

Kirtland, became the focus of a newspaper campaign against Smith. The Nauvoo

Expositor, a paper created by these dissenters , published an attack on Smith on June 7th,

1844. Three days later, its office was destroyed by the orders of the city council.118

This act of aggression on Smith’s part was instrumental in galvanizing his

detractors to take action against him. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford threatened to raise a

large militia if Smith refused to turn himself in. Initially fleeing across the Mississippi in

hopes of reaching the safety of the Rocky Mountains, Joseph had a change of heart and

returned to Illinois, prepared to meet his fate. He reportedly said the following to a band

of loyal militia men before turning himself in:

I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. If they take my

117 Brooke, 253. 118 Ibid.

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life I shall die an innocent man, and my blood shall cry from the ground for vengeance, and it shall be said of me “He was murdered in cold blood!”119

On June 27th, 1844, while he awaited his trial in a Carthage jailhouse an armed

mob stormed his cell and opened fire. Joseph attempted an escape through a window

before the fatal shot found the Mormon prophet. His last words were reportedly an

attempted Masonic distress call: “O Lord My God, Is there no help for the widow’s

son”120 Among the possessions found on the martyred prophets body was an alchemical

Jupiter Talisman engraved with hermetic sigils.121

119 Roberts, 6:555. 120 Brooke, 253. 121Durham.

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122

122 Joseph Smith’s Jupiter Talisman.

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Chapter 9 “I Discover A Disposition In The Sheep To Scatter”

In the turmoil that followed Smith’s assasination, very little ordinance work was

done for over a year.123 Rival claimants clamored to fill the role of spiritual heir to the

prophet and lead the church. From the moment Brigham Young asumed leadership in

1844 he kept the construction of the temple before the Saints and used the promise of its

completion as a catalyst for galvanizing the church and keeping them together:

I discover disposition in the sheep to scatter, now the shepherd is taken away. I do not say that it will never be right for this people to go from here…but I do say wait until…you are counseled to do so….stay here in Nauvoo, and build the temple and get your endowments; do not scatter; “united we stand divided we fall.” It has been whispered about all who go into the wilderness with [Lyman] Wight and [George] Miller will get their endowments, but they cannot give an endowment in the wilderness. If we do not carry out the plan Joseph has laid down and the pattern he has given for us to work by, we cannot get any further endowment…North and South America is Zion and as soon as the Temple is done and you get your endowments you can go and build up stakes, but do not be in haste, wait until the Lord says go.124

Before his death Joseph Smith instructed Brigham Young to develop the

ceremony after its initial introduction in Nauvoo:

Brother Joseph turned to me [Brigham Young] and said: “Brother Brigham this is not arranged right, but we have done the best we could under the circumstances in which we are placed, and I wish you to take this matter in hand and organize and systematize all these ceremonies with the signs, tokens, penalties and key words.” I did so and each time I got something more; so that when we went through the Temple at Nauvoo, I understood and knew how to place them there. We had our ceremonies pretty correct.125

123 For Mormons an ordinance is a sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. 124 Roberts, 7:253-55. 125 Nuttall Journal 1877.

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Young and the other apostles could sense an impending defection from the temple

and its ordinances and issued a warning as to what was at stake:

[Emmett] has led you forth from our midst and seperated you from the body and like a branch severed from a tree. You must and will perish together with your posterity and your progenitors unless you are engrafted again thereon before you wither and die…126

In response to the warnings, the Saints donated time, money, art, furnishings, and

other materials to make the temple attic ready for use. In 1845, the leaders in the church

hiearchy began to administer the endowment to the general membership and the first of

these ceremonies was performed in the Nauvoo temple on December 10th.127

We have documentation of these early ceremonies from the diaries of Heber

Kimball and William Clayton who chronicled the ordinances. Clayton’s records describe

the annointing and prepatory ritual for the endowment, the temple arrangements, Young’s

presiding over the ordinances, group initiation, impressions of the dramaturgy of the

endowment journey, weddings, the spontaneous innovation of dancing, and the second

anointing.

Heber Kimball’s diary entry about the endowment ceremony focuses primarily on

the way the participants embody Adam that anticipates a sacerdotal chain of being:

The ideas advanced by brother Lyman are good and true. We have been taken as it were from the earth, and have traveled until we have entered the the Celestial Kingdom and what is it for, it is to personify Adam. And you discover that our God is like one of us, for he created us in his own image. Every man that ever came upon this earth, or any other earth will take the course we have taken. Another thing, it is to bring us into an organization, and just as quick as we can get into that order and government, we have the Celestial Kingdom here. You have got to honor and reverence your brethren, for if you do not you never can honor God. The man was created, and God gave him dominion over the whole earth, but he saw that he never could multiply and replenish the whole earth, without a woman. And he made one and gave her to him. He did not make man for the woman; but the woman for the man, and it is unlawful for you to rise up and rebel against your husband, as it would be for man to rebel against God. When the man came to the veil, God gave the key word to the man, and the man gave it to the woman. But if a man don’t use a woman well and take good care of her, God will take her away

126 Roberts, 7:378. 127 Buerger, Mysteries of Godliness, 71.

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from him, and give her to another. Perfect order and consistency makes heaven but we are now deranged, and the tail has become the head. We have now come to this place, and all your former covenants are of no account, and here is the place where we have to enter into a new covenant, and be sealed, and have it recorded. One reason we bring our wives with us is, that they make a covenant with us to keep these things sacred. You have been anointed to be kings and priests, but you have not been ordained to it yet, and you have got to get it by being faithful. You can’t sin so cheap now as you could before you came to this order. It is not for you to reproach the Lord’s anointed nor to speak evil of him. You have covenanted not to do it.128

The weeks following the first endowment ceremonies, the men who made up the

top tiers of the Church hiearchy and their wives received their second annointing. The

leading brethren began performing adoption sealings that tied men of lower priesthood

rank to the men of higher ranking priesthoods, as well as children to parents. By the

time the temple was closed on February 7th 1846, over 2,000 couples had been sealed

for time and eternity. A few women were sealed to their current husband for time, but

chose for their celestial husband a deceased man, typically Joseph Smith himself. This

time also saw the sealings of several polygamous marriages.129

The brief tenure with the Nauvoo temple demonstrates the Saints emphasis on the

second annointing during this time period. Though the endowment was sporadically

performed after the Saints migrated further westward, anticipating a time when another

edifice would be dedicated, no record exists of the second annointing for the following

two decades as the Mormon exodus to Utah was underway.130

On July 7th 1852, the endowment ordinances were performed in the Old Council

House, the first permanent public building erected in Salt Lake City. On May 5th 1855, a

new building called the Endowment House was constructed for the sole purpose of

administering the ordinances until church leaders decided to have it razed on October 16th

128 George D. Smith, An intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1991) 226-67. 129 Buerger, Mysteries of Godliness, 90-91. 130 Ibid.

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1884. No endowments or second annointings for the dead were performed in the

Endowment House.

Endowment for the dead was first introduced in Nauvoo by Joseph Smith, and

Brigham Young increased its public discussion in Utah. The first recorded endowments

for the dead occurred January 11th 1877, eleven days after the Salt Lake temple’s

dedication. Young restricted the conferral of these ceremonies to Utah temples believing

that it would otherwise “destroy the object of the gathering.”131 The only LDS temples at

this time were situated in Utah. The Kirtland temple had been “disowned by the Father

and the Son.”132 and the Nauvoo Temple had burned to the ground.

The St. George Temple endowment included an expanded “lecture at the veil”

with an explanatory summary of theological concepts taught in the endowment and

references to the Adam-God doctrine. Young taught in this lecture that Adam:

…had begotten all the spirits that was to come to this earth, and Eve our common Mother who is the mother of all living bore those spirits in the celestial world…[They] consequently came to this earth and commenced the great work of forming tabernacles for those spirits to dwell in.133

The origin of the Adam-God doctrine can reliably be traced to Brigham Young in

Utah, and it seems unlikely that that similar ideas were present in Nauvoo.134 Though

some innovations like this did occur, the endowment ceremony underwent only minimal

structural change from its introduction in Nauvoo through the end of the nineteenth-

century.135

By the time the Saints reached Utah and began to prepare the Salt Lake City

temple, Masonry’s allure to Young and the Church hiearchy were beginning to wane.

131 Roberts, 6:307-8. 132 Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints’ Bookseller’s Depot, 1854-86) 2:32. 133 L. John Nuttall, “Memoranda, For Presidents W. Woodward, Geo. Q. Cannon, and Jos. F. Smith,” 3 June 1892, Nuttall Papers, Special Collectioms, Lee Library. 134 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 99. 135 Ibid.

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Symbolism continued in Utah through the efforts of Brigham Young who caused its usage to expand-both as to variety and frequency. While Young had been a Mason and personally owned Masonic handbooks, after Nauvoo troubles with gentile Masons (including their probable participation in the Martyrdom and subsequent persecution and expulsion of the Saints), he had no love for the group. Yet the ornamental trappings planned for the Salt Lake Temple (originally extensive but much diluted after his death in 1877) demonstrated a continuing implementation of Joseph’s selected Masonic symbols.136

The dismantling of Masonic influence began with Joseph Smith’s death. It would

be a trend that continued with each succesive generation . Joseph Smith died believing he

restored the apostacy of Masonry.

136 Allen D. Roberts, “Where Are the All-Seeing Eyes?: The origin, Use and Decline of Early Mormon Symbolism,” Sunstone Magazine 49 (1985): 39.

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Conclusion

After the death of their beloved Prophet in 1844, many Latter-day Saints harbored

hostile feelings towards their persecutors and hoped to avenge their fallen leader. While

still in Nauvoo, Brigham Young amended the endowment ceremony to include an oath of

vengeance:

You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation.137

This blood oath became a major point of contention to both Mormons and The

United States government in the early parts of the twentienth century. The controversy

centers around the election of apostle Reed Smoot to the 58th Congress of the United

States on January 20th, 1903 as a Republican Senator representing the state of Utah. A

United States subcommittee conducted a series of hearings from 1904-1906 to decide

whether or not Smoot should be allowed to serve. The committee was concerned with

whether the Mormon covenant of obediance would conflict with Smoot’s oath of loyalty

to the United States Constitution.

The negative press surrounding these hearings led to the de-emphasis of this oath

in the endowment ceremony, and by 1912, David H. Cannon described a new

interpretation of the “law of retribution”:

To Pray to the Father to avenge the blood of the prophets and righteous men that has been shed, etc. In the endowment house this was given but as persons went there only once, it was not so strongly impressed upon their minds, but in setting in

137 “Proceedings Before the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in the Matter of the Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, A Senator from the State of Utah, to Hold His Seat,” Smoot Hearing 4 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office. 1906).

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order [of] the endowment for the dead it was given as it is written in 9 Chapter of Revelations and in the language we importune our Father, not that we may, but He, our Father, will avenge the blood of martyrs shed for the testimony of Jesus.138

In 1919, at the beginning of his administration, LDS president Heber J. Grant

created an apostolic committee charged with the task of changing the emphasis on the “

law of retribution,” as well as revising many other procedures linked with endowment

ritual and temple clothing. The committee codified and simplified the temple endowment

ceremony that was originally drafted in 1877. One major reason for this reform was to

ensure that the ceremony was identical in all temples. By 1927 this LDS “perestroika”

elimated the oath of vengeance, drastically reduced the length of the ceremony, modified

the torturous Masonic penalties of disclosure, altered temple garments and strict

adherence to the Word of Wisdom139 became a pre-requisite for temple admission.140

When the LDS Church adopted Protestant American societal norms the cost was

identity. Two passages from Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of

Capitalism describe the Protestant normative:

That great historic process in the development of religions, the elimination of magic from the world which had begun with the old Hebrew prophets and, in conjunction with Hellenistic scientific thought, had repudiated all magical means to salvation as superstition and sin, came here to its logical conclusion. The genuine Puritan even rejected all signs of religious ceremony at the grave and buried his nearest and dearest without song or ritual in order that no superstition, no trust in the effects of magical and sacramental forces on salvation, should creep in.141

In favor of sober utility as against any artistic tendencies. This was especially true in the case of decoration of the person, for instance clothing. That powerful

138 “St. George Temple Minutes K9369R,” Confidential Research Files (1912) 110. 139 The "Word of Wisdom" is the name of a section in The Doctrine and Covenants. It also shares the name of health code based on this scripture. 140 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple, 103. 141 Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott Parsons (NewYork: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958), 105.

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tendency toward uniformity of life, which today so immensely aids the capitalistic interest in the standardization of production, had its ideal foundations in the repudiation of all idolatry of the flesh.142

The emphasis of societal integration resulted in the creation of The Correlation

Committee in 1961. This group was established by the LDS Church to encompasses and

legislate their philosophy of governance. The LDS doctrines such as prophetic, and

sacerdotal authority were amalgamated with strategies borrowed from the corporate

world of business. The idea of Correlation is the belief in a strong central authority, and

uniformity in procedure and discourse. This group, therefore, acts as a policing body to

promote orthodoxy.143

Throughout the rest of the twentieth century modern technology was implemented

to streamline and augment the endowment. The ritual dramaturgy evolved into a filmed

affair and the temple architecture itself began to adapt to facilitate the wide-screen

concept of 1960’s American movie theatres. The architect of the Oakland Temple, Harold

Burton, designed the two endowment rooms to facilitate large projections. Projectors

were used to display photo murals that indicated the room changes of the live endowment

ceremony. 144 Technological advances in computer science enabled Saints to effeciently

categorize research for the Genealogical Society for their work in ancestral sealing.145

Declining rates in attendance since the 1970s may suggest that many Latter-day

Saints do not participate extensively in endowment rituals for the living or the dead. 142 Ibid., 169. 143 Frances Lee Menlove “A Forty-Year View: Dialogue and the Sober Lessons of History,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Vol.39 No.3 (2006): 88. 144 “The wide-screen concept introduced in early-1960’s American movies influenced Church architect Harold Burton in designing the Oakland Temple’s two endowment rooms. He planned huge projection areas that required the use of 35mm film, although curtains reduced the total screen size. After the temple was dedicated in 1964, 4”x5” slide projectors were used to produce photo murals depicting room changes found in live endowment presentation.” (Buerger 1984, 108). 145 Buerger, Development of Mormon Temple,114.

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Confronting the possibility of economic issues associated with long distance travel being

the cause for lowered attendance, the LDS church has responded with the strategic

construction of numerous scaled-down temples in areas of high member density. 146

Another possibility for declining attendance may lie in the appeal of the ceremony

itself to twenty-first century Saints. The symbolism that was critical in the evolution of

endowment ceremony may have a different meaning to modern members of the Church.

The decline in architectural symbolism in modern temples suggests that modern Saints

feel a discomfort with their use. Perhaps a lack of fluency in the symbolic vocabulary that

their nineteenth century counterparts used can be attributed to the efforts of the Church

itself. Some modern Church leaders look back upon the symbolism utilized by earlier

generations with embarrasment and even suspicion as the push for greater integration into

normative American society took precedence. As Allen D. Roberts states in his essay,

Where Are the All-Seeing Eyes?, from Sunstone Magazine:

The Salt Lake Temple, depicted either in elevation or perspective, is the most prominent image identified with Mormonism. Along with the trumpteting Angel Moroni, mini-models of the temple have found their way into stationary, Church pamphlets, Christmas cards, retail packaging, and tie tacks. The bas-relief worlds on mammoth Church Office Building may also be considered symbols of the burgeoning international Church. All of these symbols, however, seem intentionally naïve, safe, and lack depth and vitality when compared to the theologically provocative all-seeing eye, clasped hands, and sun, moon, and stars, all of which, scripturally founded, beckon us to search for truth and to improve the quality of our lives. Our symbols of today are not intended to remind fellow Saints of our common worship and heritage as much as display a particular image to those outside the faith. Our particular art, music, architecture, graphics, books, periodicals, advertisements, and television spots are programmatically designed to put forth a corporate image of Mormonism as clean, happy, unique, suuperlative, “all-American” yet “worldwide.” The attempt is to underscore Mormon orthodoxy and inspire conformity. Saints of 1979 have needs quite different from those of a struggling colony of kingdom builders. 147

146 Ibid., 118-119. 147 Roberts 1985, 41-42.

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On April 5th 2014, The LDS Church addressed 20,000 Latter-day Saints in its

184th General Conference. Jeffrey R. Holland, of the church’s Quorum of Twelve

Apostles, said, in the opening session, addressing both internal and external protestations

of Church policy:

[LDS leaders] “know full well that the road leading to the Promised Land, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ of necessity runs by way of Mount Sinai, flowing with ‘thou shalts’ and ‘thou shalt nots,’ …Unfortunately, messengers of divinely mandated commandments are often no more popular today than they were anciently…"148

Because some members view their policies as harsh or anachronistic, LDS leaders

are accused of being ‘provincial, patriarchal, bigoted, unkind, narrow, outmoded and

elderly.’ Holland continued:

If people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds…talk about man creating God in his own image…149

The LDS church has evolved, changed and most importantly survived to be the

global faith that it is today; and since its early incarnation in Kirtland, the Temple has

been a crucial element of salvation to its followers.Though no new temples were

announced at the session, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson stated that when all

the previously announced temples are completed, there would be 170 temples worldwide.

The versatility of Mormon Church allows it to navigate through seemingly

dichotomous narrows. I see a fascinating inverse parallel with the development of

correlation and the time in Nauvoo. The Church was able to adopt the uniformity of the 148 Peggy Fletcher Stack ‘Message to Mormons: Prophets Not Always Popular,” The Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 2014, accessed May 18, 2014, http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57778654-78/church-lds-conference-gods.html.csp. 149 Ibid.

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corporate business world with the same ease as it did when adopting the symbolic

vocabulary of the Masonic world. This is not because the Church has fundamentally

changed; it is because the Church, since its inception, was able to succesfully marry

American ideals to ancient hermetic tradition. That is the very essence of this faith, the

ability to inhabit two identities at once. It is both corporate and magical, hermetic and

mainline, uniform and deeply personal. The Mormon church is not simply a hermetic

church, it is the hermetic church. At Smiths helm, hermeticism found a home in a host

church and allowed it to grow to fantastic heights. Through viewing the hermetic

experinents of the Radical Reformations we can see the many failed attempts of this unity

in other churches. As I have shown, the loss of symbolic meaning may be lost on newer

generations. That does not mean, however, that it is not there. Whether the hermetic

dramaturgy is filmed or performed is of little consequence. What is relevant is that

hermetic beliefs are engaged with daily by the Mormon faithful. There seems no doubt as

to the fate of these sacred edifices, as Monson himself declared:"We are a temple-

building and a temple-attending people."150

150 Ibid.

66

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