Seer stone
From Free net encyclopedia
A seer stone is a magic stone or crystal used for crystallomancy, a form of divination. Alternatively in divination, 'seer stones' are a set of precious and semi-precious stones used in one method of casting lots. Some argue that the Hebrew Urim and Thummim were seer stones.
Seer Stone in Mormonism
In historic Mormonism, a seer stone is a stone or crystal used by a prophet for receiving revelation from God.
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Christ/Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints reported that in 1827, in response to prayer, he was visited by an angel who revealed the location of a set of ancient records engraved on gold plates, buried on a hillside. He followed the directions to the location, and located a stone box containing the plates and various other items.
Included in the box was an instrument called the Urim and Thummim, meant for the purpose of translating the plates. It consisted in part of two triangular transparent crystals set in frames like spectacles. These are considered seer stones. Translation of the plates, with the aid of a scribe, took about nine months, and resulted in the Book of Mormon, a record of an ancient people who inhabited the Americas, and who were visited by Jesus Christ shortly after His resurrection.
At the completion of the translation, the angel (identified as the resurrected Moroni, the son of Mormon, who did most of the work preparing the gold plates for burial) returned and reclaimed the original gold plates, along with the Urim and Thummim.
Prior to this time, Joseph Smith had located other stones identified also as seer stones. These stones are thought to be not as significant as the Urim and Thummim, though Joseph was said to have used both the Urim and Thummim and these other stones as aids to receiving divine revelation.
Many of Joseph's revelations, including ones received through the use of seer stones, have been collected and published in the Doctrine and Covenants, which is considered by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as scripture, along with the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price. These revelations direct Joseph and his associates to organize a church, intended to be a restoration of the original gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ, which was lost from the world due to a general apostacy around the time of the death of the original apostles. As of 2006, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints numbers more than twelve million persons worldwide.
At least one seer stone is also mentioned in the Book of Mormon. In this book a seer is defined as a prophet who possesses a seer stone. Note that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is officially titled "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator". This indicates that he may be in possession of a seer stone. This is reinforced by a statement by Joseph Fielding Smith (a former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in volume three of his "Doctrines of Salvation", page 225: “The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the SEER STONE which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is NOW in the possession of the Church.”