Post on 14-May-2018
Revelation Through Hallucination A discourse on the Joseph Smith-entheogen theory
Sunstone Symposium SLC 2017
By: Bryce Blankenagel, Cody Noconi
Thesis
Mormon history is rife with speculation and controversy; we construct the Smith-entheogen historical
model describing Joseph Smith’s frequent use of plant medicine, specifically entheogens, and the impact
it had upon many of the early followers of the Mormon movement.
Abstract
In order to understand Mormon history in 19th-century context, it is necessary to understand the fertile
religious soil in which it took root. 19th-century American religious leaders often championed personal
revelation or theophany. It’s imperative to incorporate abundant first hand accounts and circumstantial
evidence of Joseph Smith’s frequent use of entheogens into existing historical models. These entheogens
provide a naturalistic explanation for angelic and prophetic visions experienced by Smith and many of his
followers where previous naturalistic historical models rely heavily on conjectural group psychology and
mass-hallucinations often equated to Pentecostal revivalism.
Important Definitions
Entheogen: A group of chemicals, mainly derived from plant or fungal origins, that reliably induce an
altered state of consciousness for the sole purpose of initiating a mystical or religious experience. It’s a
relatively new word proposed by a group of scholars including Dr. R. Gordon Wasson, Prof. Carl A.P.
Ruck and Jonothan Ott in 1979. Common examples include: Psilocybe mushrooms, LSD (acid), DMT,
and datura/scopolamine.
Paracelsus: A 16th-century German alchemist, physician, and astronomer who is credited with the
advancement of spagyrics, or alcohol based tinctures (potions), as well as the invention of the opium-
based anesthetic and inebriant, laudanum.
Eleusis: A town and municipality in West Attica, Greece. For nearly two millennia, beginning in
approximately 1500 BCE, Eleusis was the site of an annually held series of religious initiations that
resulted in a reliable and consistently reported vision of the Greek pantheon.
Hermeticism (Hermetism): A religious, philosophical, and esoteric tradition purported to reach back to
Greco-Roman Egypt, which is based primarily upon writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.
Theophany: A specific altered state of consciousness in which an individual experiences a perceived
meeting or communication with deity.
Magician: A practitioner of esoteric secret rites or rituals which have the explicit intent of causing
perceived physical or psychological change in reality.
Set and setting: Referring to the psychological state of an individual's mind and the environment in which
that individual administers chemical substances to reach an altered state of consciousness; the time, place,
and company with which one chooses to imbibe entheogens.
Introduction
Perusing firsthand accounts of Mormon history during the Kirtland, Ohio years (1831-1837)
yields a plethora of incredible visionary accounts, easily explainable with entheogens such as ergot,
datura, and psilocybe mushrooms. From Mormonism’s early days on the Isaac Morley’s farm, to the
Kirtland Temple dedication ceremony in 1836, there exists substantial evidence that Joseph Smith was
frequently using entheogens and possibly even drugging his followers. Ignorant of modern science
surrounding plant medicine, and a champion of personal revelation and theophany, Smith likely perceived
entheogens as a conduit to god. Understanding the plausibility of the Smith-entheogen historical model
requires understanding Smith’s magic worldview and the knowledge surrounding him. In this paper, we
begin by defining ‘altered states of consciousness’ and evidence of pre 19th-century Entheogen use. We
exhibit a brief overview of the Smith worldview including excerpts of the science of entheogen use,
providing likely candidate entheogens abundantly available to Smith. The intersection of occult rituals
and plant medicine was embodied in Smith’s mentor, Luman Walters, who would have taught him how to
use and manipulate entheogens. We include a recently discovered inventory list from Walters’ medicine
shop, located in his probate records, documenting “medasine” and much of the necessary equipment for
making medicinal tinctures. Once Smith’s entheogen use prior to Mormonism is established, we cover the
abundant extant evidence which can only be explained by entheogen use during the Kirtland years (‘31-
’37). We conclude that the Smith-entheogen historical model effectively explains Smith’s ability to incite
visions, revelations, and theophany in the minds of himself and the early Mormons. The direct and
indirect impact of Joseph Smith’s frequent drug use merits incorporation into existing historical theories.
Altered States of Consciousness and Entheogens in History
The most reliable way to reach altered states of mind is through chemical induction. A lifelong
devoted Tibetan Monk may struggle to achieve enlightenment in a meditative state, but nearly every time
someone achieves the threshold dosage of a given entheogen in the proper set and setting, they’re thrust
into an altered state of consciousness. For the purposes of this paper, we’ll be discussing this very small
subset of altered consciousness, drug use, and how it may have intersected with ritualism in Mormon
history.
Current evidence shows that human beings have been using entheogens for thousands of years.
People will go to great lengths to achieve what we call ‘altered states of consciousness,’ meaning any
state of mind that differs from the every-day baseline. Incredible things can happen to the human mind
when a person gets into an altered state of mind.
The pursuit of altered states of consciousness which lead to moments of theophany, may be one
of man’s chief pursuits in life; achieving the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment by any and every
available method. The methods of achieving an altered state of consciousness may include, but are not
limited to: physical exertion to the point of complete exhaustion, hatha yoga or holotropic breathing,
ecstatic dance, chanting or listening to music, religious ritualism, intimacy, or, most reliably, by some
plant based substances which are known as “entheogens”. We’ve been collectively seeking “that happy
place,” in many ways for longer than we’ve had written history. While all methods of achieving altered
states of consciousness are certainly valid, entheogens are significantly more effective and reliable than
other methods when it comes to eliciting experiences of religious ecstasy. They exhibit demonstrable
chemical mechanisms for their effectiveness, especially in group settings. While group hallucinations are
not unheard of, without the use of entheogens, these shared experiences become exponentially more
difficult to replicate with each additional participant.
We use proper set and setting to reach altered states of consciousness in a safe and comfortable
way. The experiences during altered states are scarcely describable as the associated emotions evolved
long before our written language and are often given simplistic and outdated definitions like ‘spiritual,’
‘transcendent,’ or ‘sacred,’ often attributed to God.
This is where dogma and ritualism come into play. One great way to fill the time in a given set
and setting is by engaging in ritualistic behavior, an entertainment of sorts. Prior to the existence of easily
accessible media, and even today, it’s up to a ceremonial guide to program the set and setting to occupy
the minds of those who imbibe the given entheogen, subsequently entering an altered state of
consciousness.
The phrase ‘altered states of consciousness,’ describes admittedly subjective experience as
everybody’s consciousness is inherently subjective. An altered state of mind can be as simple as the
feeling during a favorite song or the ability to ignore the world when engaging in a favorite hobby. It can
mean a runner’s high or a marijuana high. Altered consciousness can even be that bosom-burning God
when reading a favorite scripture passage.
Entheogens are chemical substances, typically of plant or mycological origin, that are
administered to produce an altered state of consciousness for religious, spiritual, or ritualistic purposes,
but can also be taken recreationally. They are most often used as either a vehicle for, or a supplemental
aid to reaching a state of religious ecstasy, a moment of divine gnosis, or theophany.1
As demonstrated by Harvard theology student Walter Pahnke’s 1962 ‘Good Friday’ experiment,
even a single dose, administered under religiously compliant set and setting, proved to be one of the most
meaningful and profoundly religious experiences of the participants lives. Considering that the
participants were themselves Harvard theology students, their immediate and long term analysis of the
psilocybin induced religious ecstasy was provided from an educated and genuine perspective.2
Long term meditators and religious practitioners regularly report the profound, yet ineffable
difference between endogenously(internal) and exogenously(external) elicited religious ecstasy;
specifically the comparison of prayer/meditation versus the effects brought on by clinically administered
psilocybin.3
We have arranged transcendent experiences for over one thousand persons from all walks of life,
including 69 full-time religious professionals, about half of whom profess the Christian or Jewish
faith and about half of whom belong to Eastern religions. Included in this roster are two college
deans, a divinity college president, three university chaplains, an executive of a religious
foundation, a prominent religious editor, and several distinguished religious philosophers. At this
point it is conservative to state that over 75 percent of these subjects report intense mystico-
religious responses, and considerably more than half claim that they have had the deepest
spiritual experience of their life [sic]. -Timothy Leary4
This was the first of many studies exhibiting the fact that people from all demographics and belief
spectra can have incredible experiences in altered states of consciousness when entheogens are induced
exogenously in a controlled set and setting.
Evidence of the entheogenic administration of plants and fungi reaches far back to the very
beginning of documentable history and is almost culturally universal. The examples included in this paper
are a small fraction of the available evidence that supports this hypothesis. Virtually anywhere cattle
veneration or tribal animism is found (Africa, India, Greece, Gaul, Scandinavia, Britain, China, North,
Central and South America, Australia, etc.), multiple examples of religious cults using hallucinogenic
material abound.5
The idea of drug use in religion is a very controversial subject. It is also a subject about which
many people are rather sensitive, preferring to consider such usage as an aberration of the distant
past; yet it remains a topic that ignorance will not make disappear. In a time when wars are being
waged against drug use and all illegal drugs are lumped together as the enemy, it is more
important than ever to speak openly and rationally about drugs, especially those that serve a
useful and relatively benign purpose. -Clark Heinrich6
Our current understanding of the role mind altering plants and mushrooms have played in the
development of human culture is dismally lacking and under appreciated. It has only been in the last 2
decades that these substances have been experiencing a renaissance in serious reevaluation from the
scientific community.
Boston University classicist Carl AP. Ruck, who helped first popularize the word ‘entheogen’,
postulates that the other methods of achieving religious ecstasy mentioned above, are a result of the
entheogenic substances proving seasonally or annually unavailable. Drought, pathogens, insect and
animal predation all play a major factor in the regular availability of these plants and fungi. Ruck, along
with several other prominent scholars in his field, further hypothesize that agriculture was originally
introduced as a way to secure a consistent source of these entheogenic plant materials.7
Far from being consumed for hedonistic purposes, drug plants and alcoholic drinks had a sacred
role among prehistoric societies...It is not surprising that most of the evidence derives from both
elite burials and restricted ceremonial sites, suggesting the possibility that the consumption of
mind-altering products was socially controlled in prehistoric Europe. - E.Guerra-Doce8
In his book Food of the Gods, Terrance McKenna
postulates that the transformation of humans' early ancestors Homo
erectus to the species Homo sapiens was attributed to the addition
of the hallucinogenic mushroom Psilocybe cubensis in its diet. An
event that, according to his theory, took place around 100,000
BCE. Also put forward by McKenna, is that our ancestors
subsequent development and sophistication of language, art, music,
tools, and agriculture were owed to regular, socially accepted
intoxication of hallucinogenic mushrooms.9
Life was certainly not easy for our early ancestors.
Seasonal diet restrictions inevitably led to food experimentation,
which in turn leads to the discovery of new medicinal or poisonous
plants to a community’s herb lore. The fine line between poisoning
and medicine is often quickly realized by the more observant and
experimental members of the community. Those who don’t
understand the onset of poisonous chemicals often don’t stick
around very long to further experiment.
McKenna has been highly criticized for his lack of paleontological citation and possible
misrepresentation of the psilocybin and anthropological research available at the time. There are certainly
some serious holes in his presentation of this hypothesis, especially with the proposed timeline and
overemphasis on the role played by just the psilocybe cubensis mushrooms. That being said, while it may
be currently outdated and in serious need of a makeover, the hypothesis is certainly worth more
investigation and discussion from a more academic and multi-disciplinary perspective.
There is a rising body of evidence emerging, from analyzing the residue left in ancient storage
containers, that a score of hallucinogenic plants and fungi were regularly being used by the ecclesiastical
and high status elite, if not more commonly among the lower social classes as well.10
The philosophical and religious Mecca of the ancient Greek world was undoubtedly the
Eleusinian Mysteries. The Mysteries were an annually held series of initiation ceremonies for the cult of
Demeter and Persephone based at the plains of Eleusis. Starting in approximately 1,500 B.C., the
Eleusinian Mysteries reliably administered an experience of visionary gnosis to the masses for nearly two
millennia. This ceremony was available to all classes of society, and nearly every major mover and shaker
of ancient Greece attended. Initiates could attend the ceremony only once in a lifetime and were sworn to
secrecy thereafter.
Despite this secrecy, there are extant plays and writings which hint at what exactly took place at
Eleusis. Proclus described the events in the following:
They cause the sympathy of the souls with the ritual in a way that is incomprehensible to us, and
divine, so that some of the initiants are stricken with panic, being filled with divine awe; others
assimilate themselves to the holy symbols, leave their own identity, become at home with the
gods, and experience divine possession. (Frag. CLXXXVI)
The fact that participants of the Mysteries would drink from a sacred vessel before such ecstatic
and visionary experiences cannot be ignored. It is now a well established theory that this drink, the
kykeon, contained some kind of hallucinogenic elixir meant to elicit an experience of theophany.11 The
main contenders are an ergotized beer, or less plausibly a mushroom extraction of some kind, most likely
from a psilocybe variety. Albert Hoffman, the man first credited with the synthesis of LSD-25, believed
that the ancient Greeks had discovered a method of drawing off the convulsive alkaloids of the ergot by
skimming boiling hot oil across the surface of the hallucinogenic beer for a short time.
The examples of entheogens used by spiritual and religious leaders to elicit altered states of
consciousness are surprisingly abundant. Administration of entheogens may help to explain the genesis of
sacramental rituals throughout religious history. The set and setting programmed by religious leaders
have historically created safe spaces where parishioners could freely imbibe under direction from the
spiritual leader. A person’s altered consciousness can allow them to explore the darkest folds of their own
existence, or cause them to commune with deity and experience true theophany, interpreting their own
mutterings as divine revelation from on high.
Joseph Smith was a spiritual leader of sorts, leading religious rituals usually involving sacrament,
thus inciting personal revelation or theophany for his followers. As the Mormons’ spiritual leader, Smith
was responsible for programming a proper set and setting, administering entheogens through anointing oil
and sacramental wine, and guiding his parishioners through their entheogenic experience, hopefully
resulting in theophany, a perceived connection to deity. Entheogens played a significant cultural role
throughout human history and it’s necessary to ignore modern prejudices and incorporate that information
into historical models.
Smith Worldview
Historians are engaged in a never-ending struggle to understand the founder of Mormon history,
Joseph Smith jr., and the world in which he flourished. The product of a magic worldview and
exceptionally intelligent, Smith likely consumed any publications which were incestuously passed around
his occult treasure-digging groups. Smith likely would have filled the role of charismatic apprentice to a
number occult practitioners such as Samuel Lawrence, Joseph Knight Sr., Luman Walters, and especially
Smith’s own father.
Lucy Mack and Joseph Sr., Smith’s
parents, had incredible formative power in
shaping the young prophet’s perception of reality
and teaching him necessary life skills. While Lucy
Mack was a faithful Christian, Joseph Sr., was a
passionate practitioner of Enochian magic in the
form of divining and ‘money digging’. It was
Joseph Sr. who initiated Joseph Smith Jr. into
these arcane practices. Joseph Sr. quickly
recognized the inherent charismatic skills of his
son, allowing him to take charge as ‘seer’ for their
treasure digging expeditions at a relatively young
age.12
It is from the same books of ceremonial magic, which numerous researchers have linked to the
creation of Smith Sr.’s collection of magical items,13 that we find explicit recipes and experiential
descriptions of hallucinogenic plant mixtures.14
Ebenezer Sibley described various plant medicines to be effective in ways which are perceptible
and visible to the senses, while other odoriferous herbs act by occult power, which the eye cannot see and
the mind cannot comprehend.
It was the opinion of many eminent physician...that such kind of charms or periapts as consisted
of certain odoriferous herbs, balsamic roots...and most probably possessed, by means of their
strong medicinal properties, the virtue of curing or removing such complaints as external
applications might effect. and which are often used with success, though without the least surprise
or admiration; because the one appears in a great measure to be the consequence of manual
operation, which is perceptible and visible to the senses, whilst the other acts by an innate or
occult power, which the eye cannot see, nor the mind so readily comprehend; [emphasis added] -
Ebenezer Sibly15
Barton Stafford, a neighbor of the Smith family in Palmyra, reported, “Joseph Smith Sen. was a
drunkard, and most of the family followed his example.”16 It should be noted that the mindset of the pre-
prohibition American concerned itself with drunkenness itself more so than the vehicle or method for
achieving said drunkenness. Because the pharmaceutical industry had yet to be established, medicinal or
psychoactive plants were used exclusively by Americans in the early 19th century as folk medicine. In
addition, beers, ciders and wines were very often used as a staple source of safe hydration, and a great
many people of the day drank diluted alcohol out of sheer necessity. 17
A wine or cider infused with offensive tasting plant medicines were often sweetened with honey
or molasses to render the tincture palpable. It’s likely the case that when we often see reference to
‘sweetened’ alcohol in the historical record, the sweetening was done to cover the taste of whatever bitter
herb caused the drink to require sweetening. Additionally, the sweetening agent itself could be used to
store psychoactive chemicals long-term, which could subsequently be put into any drink to render it
psychoactive. The evidence for intemperance in the Smith family far outweighs any naive preconception
of the prophet’s sobriety.18
Extracting and preserving active chemicals in plants was a necessary skill for any farmer like the
Smiths trying to make their way in the competitive field of root sales. Competent in these skills, Joseph
Sr. crystallized several thousand dollars’ worth of ginseng in the early 1800s, and subsequently lost the
family’s fortune.19
Joseph Sr. was one of many people with whom Joseph Jr. frequently associated as a personal
mentor. Any skills Sr. possessed would have been eagerly learned by the bright young Smith, or simply
picked up through osmosis. Joseph Smith had many mentors is the treasure digging group, and while it’s
commonly understood that Joseph Sr., and the treasure-diggers (Walters, Lawrence, Chases, Stowell,
Knights, etc.) were business partners, they were also likely very good friends who shared fascinations and
fields of study, likely spending many non-working hours in each other’s company. Given this group of
occult colleagues steeped in magic, Joseph Sr. wasn’t the only person influencing Joseph Jr.’s education
as a bright young man would have been little more than learning alchemy and plant manipulation/root
doctoring from a number of his friends and mentors in the treasure-digging group; this folk education was
only rarely punctuated by occasional bouts of structured schooling. The most likely candidate for
expanding Smith’s mind on these magical subjects and substances is Luman Walters.
Entheogen use in ritualism and the occult world into which Joseph Smith Jr. matured leads to the
conclusion that he had knowledge of, and frequently used, entheogens, likely extracted and preserved in
alcoholic beverages. To claim Smith was using these plant medicines recreationally misses the point; they
were crucial to his understanding of the magical world surrounding him. The Spirit of God literally lived
inside the plants to Smith. It was through the use of entheogens that Smith could hallucinate buried
treasure when staring at the small brown rock in his hat. It was through entheogens that Smith could
dictate the Book of Mormon almost endlessly from an indescribably source. And, as the early history of
the Mormon church progressed, through the use of entheogens Smith received hundreds of revelations on
the nature and teachings of Mormon gospel.
Luman Walters
While still a young teen in the early 1820s,
Joseph Smith met a legitimate hermetic and magical
influence in fellow treasure-digger and seer, Luman
Walters. Joseph is reported by several sources to have
picked up his ceremonial magical repertoire after
meeting and working with Walters, who showed an
interest in the clearly intelligent, albeit uneducated,
pupil. Michael Quinn theorizes that the young Joseph
Smith looked to Walters as an occult mentor.20
He was also a distant cousin of Joseph's
future wife, Emma Hale. As Quinn notes,
"Brigham Young described the unnamed
New York magician as having traveled
extensively through Europe to obtain
`profound learning,'" and others identified
Walters as "a physician who studied
Mesmerism in Europe before meeting Joseph
Smith." Walters family records and legend
called him "clairvoyant." If these statements
are generally accurate, Walters possessed
considerable knowledge of Hermetic
traditions. During this period in Europe (and
to a lesser degree in America) a physician with interests in Mesmer, magic, clairvoyance, and
"profound learning" moved in a milieu nurtured by the legacies of Hermeticism. By definition,
such a physician stood in a tradition dominated by the medical and esoteric writings of
Paracelsus, steeped in alchemy, and associated closely with Rosicrucian philosophy. - Lance
Owens21
To add context, Paracelsus was a 16th-century physician who made incredible advances in
medical science, early chemistry, alchemy, and astronomy. He was renowned for his writings on
spagyrics/tinctures, and is often (falsely) credited as being the inventor of pills as we know them today.
Paracelsus did invent laudanum, an opium tincture which would become the preferred anesthetic and
pain reliever for the next several centuries. Luman Walters, aside from practicing as a ceremonial
magician, also became known later in life, for his use of tinctures and herbal remedies. Given that the
source books used to create the Smith family lumen, or parchments of ceremonial magic, contain explicit
sections devoted to the works of Paracelsus,22 it stands to reason that Walters was also in a position to
furnish the Smiths with the ethnobotanical information necessary to incorporate psychoactive plant
medicines into their magical practice.
In addition to his connection with the Smith’s money-digging group, Pomeroy Tucker cites
Walters as one of the early members of the Mormon church when it was still the Church of Christ.23 In
1834, shortly after his wife passed away while delivering their last child, Walters purchased property in
Gorham, New York where he remained a resident on census records until his death in 1860. It is currently
unclear if Luman actually made the exodus to Kirtland, and although Luman himself appears to have
severed ties with the early church after 1834, it seems at least some of his immediate family did stay with
the Saints. Ancestry.com lists his twin brother Eber as a member in Kirtland, Ohio24, and Luman’s second
cousin, Dorothy Walters is mentioned on the first Relief Society rosters in Nauvoo.25 Practicing magic
and esoteric arts must have run in the family, as Dorothy’s husband Benjamin Hoyt, was asked by his
bishop in 1843 to, “cease to call certain characters witches or wizards, cease to work with the divining
rod, and cease burning...boards to heal those whom he said were bewitched.”26
Although Luman Walters’ time with the Saints was relatively brief, Walters certainly made a
lasting impression on at least one prominent church member. Brigham Young made the following
statement in an 1857 address, which seems to describe the relationship between Walters and a young
Joseph Smith.
Joseph was what we call an ignorant boy, but this fortune teller whose name I do not remember
was a man of profound learning. He had put himself in possession of all the learning in the
States,—had been to France, Germany, Italy, and through the world,—had been educated for a
priest and turned out to be a devil. I do not know but that he would have been a devil if he had
followed the profession of a priest among what are termed the christian denominations. He could
preach as well as the best of them, and I never heard a man swear as he did. He could tell that
those plates were there, and that they were a treasure whose value to the people could not be told;
for that I myself heard him say. -Brigham Young27
We have recently discovered documentary information surrounding Luman Walters and his
professional life after his brief time with the Saints. The Ontario County records department has on
microfilm a massive probate file on Walters. His estate was handled by Joseph Hershey and Daniel
Walters, the latter being Luman’s son, where they kept scrupulous notes including inventory lists of his
possessions after his death. From his obituary and probate records we know Walters was an eccentric
“root and yarb” doctor, owning his own emporium/medical tincture shop in Gorham, New York.
We have often heard it remarked that “the fools are not all dead yet.” We are convinced of the
fact by a letter which has been placed in our hands, of which the following is a verbatim copy. Dr.
Walters, to whom it is addressed, has some reputation as a physician skilled in the curative
properties of “roots and yarbs” and brandy; but that he brings to his aid a “conjurashion stone,” as
believed in by this Vermont Doctor, surpasses the credulity of Dr. Walters’ neighbors;28
Dr. L. Walters, for many years known as a successful but eccentric practitioner of the medical
profession, died at his residence at Bethel, Ontario county, on Saturday last. He styled himself a
seer or clarvoyant doctor, and has effected many very wonderful cures.29
From these select passages, among many others, we understand that Walters was well respected
as a root and herb doctor, albeit eccentric by the standards of some of the locals, and was also quite adept
in clairvoyance and the use of seer stones. Thanks to the scrupulous inventory recounted by the men who
handled Walters’ estate after his death, we see many things Walters used to make his famous medicinal
tinctures.
Among many other possessions, Walters’ inventory list includes line items of: “1 cider barrel, 1
pounding barrel, 50th of colombo Root, a lot of liquid medasine - 10 bot, a lot of dry medasine,
15 yards of carpet (possibly used for spore cultivation), sack of hops, about 40 loads of manure
(valued at $25.50), 5-7 total medical books, etc.30
It’s not enough to claim that the knowledge and manipulation of entheogens was prevalent during
Joseph Smith’s time, and is therefore necessary to exhibit likely candidates who taught the necessary
knowledge and expertise during formative years in Smith’s personal history. While Joseph Sr. was the
most reliable candidate, being Joseph’s father, it bolsters this historical model to exhibit people like
Luman Walters who undoubtedly had relevant expertise and was described as a mentor to Smith, who
subsequently inherited Walters’ mantle of treasure digging.
The Book of Pukei, the first ever
satire of Joseph Smith and the Book of
Mormon, published in June 1830, offers
some insight to how Walters’ role was
perceived in the treasure digging group
referred to as “the Idle and Slothful”.
2- Now Walters, the Magician,
was a man unseemly to look
upon, and to profound ignorance
added the most consummate
impudence,—he obeyed the
summons of the idle and slothful,
and produced an old book in an
unknown tongue, (Cicero's
Orations in latin,) from whence
he read in the presence of the
Idle and Slothful strange stories
of hidden treasures and of the
spirit who had the custody
thereof…
10 - Now the rest of the acts of the magician, how his mantle fell upon the prophet Jo. Smith Jun.
and how Jo. made a league with the spirit, who afterwards turned out to be an angel, and how he
obtained the “Gold Bible,” Spectacles, and breast plate–will they not be faithfully recorded in the
book of Pukei? -Abner Cole (pseudonym Obadiah Dogberry) 31
According to the author, Abner Cole, Walters may very well have established a treasure-digging
“seer” reputation which fell to young Smith when Walters was forced to flee the area due to legal trouble
in connection with treasure digging. Walters had significant influence on Smith during his treasure-
digging days. Walters was steeped in the world of magic and alchemy, knowledge which helped him
establish a successful medicinal emporium and reputation as an eccentric “root and yarb” doctor. As
Walters’ alleged protege, it’s likely Smith eagerly absorbed the expertise necessary to successfully
manipulate and preserve entheogens, as well as tips on proper administration and conducive set and
setting techniques.
Entheogen Candidate #1: Henbane, Mandrake, Belladonna, and Datura (Hexing Herbs)
Perhaps the most well documented and widely used entheogens are a group plants associated with
the Nightshade family; namely henbane (Hyoscyamus), belladonna (Atropa), mandrake (Mandragora),
and Datura. These plants are mentioned in the earliest medical botanicals known to history, and include
detailed descriptions of their intoxicating and sedative properties.
In ancient Greece, it [henbane] served as a poison,
to mimic insanity, and to enable man to prophesy.
It has been suggested that the Oracle of Delphi
made her prophetic utterances while intoxicated
with the smoke from henbane seeds. In the
thirteenth century, Bishop Albertus the Great
reported that henbane was employed by
necromancers to conjure up demons.32
Often referred to in early English botanicals as
‘Thorn Apple’ or ‘Jimson (Jamestown) Weed,’ datura has
a long history of use among Native American communities
as well as among the slaves brought to the Americas from
West Africa. Used primarily as a catalyst for the
inducement of visions, divination or medical prognosis, it
has also been effectively used as an entheogen among both
groups mentioned above.33
The contents of one of Joseph Sr.’s visions recounted by Lucy Mack Smith leads us to believe the
Smiths were experimenting with Datura.
I was travelling in an open, desolate field, which
appeared to be very barren… I beheld a beautiful stream
of water, which ran from the east to the west… I could
see a rope, running along the bank of it, about as high as a
man could reach, and beyond me, was a low, but very
pleasant, valley, in which stood a tree, such as I, had
never seen before. It was exceedingly handsome,
insomuch that I looked upon it with wonder and
admiration. Its beautiful branches spread themselves
somewhat like an umbrella, and it bore a kind of fruit, in
shape much like a chestnut bur, and as white as snow, or,
if possible, whiter. I gazed upon the same with
considerable interest, and as I was doing so, the burs or
shells commenced opening and shedding their particles,
or the fruit which they contained, which was of dazzling
whiteness. I drew near, and began to eat of it, and I found
it delicious beyond description… I presently turned to my
guide, and inquired of him the meaning of the fruit that
was so delicious. He told me it was the pure love of God, shed abroad in the hearts of all those
who love him and keep his commandments. [emphasis added] -Lucy Mack Smith34
This appears to be a clear description by Joseph Sr. of the identification, harvest, and ingestion of
the hallucinogenic datura plant. Lucy Mack states this was a ‘vision’ received shortly after moving to the
New Hampshire area in 1811. As discussed in detail by Robert Beckstead in his 2007 presentation, The
Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom, “Datura has been shown to be over 80 percent effective in
creating a visionary experience whereas hypnosis is much less reliable, probably less than 10 percent.”35
The hexing herbs all share a similar psychoactive profile, containing in varying concentrations the
main psychoactive alkaloids hyoscyamine, atropine, and scopolamine. These ‘visionary tropanes’ are
found within the entire plant, with the highest concentrations typically found in the aerial extremities,
seeds, and roots. The compound scopolamine has proven to be the strongest hallucinatory agent, throwing
individuals into a deeply altered state of consciousness. However, the other alkaloids contain similar
reports of euphoric, sedative, deliriant and hypnotic properties.36
The effects of all species are similar, since their constituents are so much alike. Physiological
activity begins with a feeling of lassitude and progresses into a period of hallucinations followed
by deep sleep and loss of consciousness...So potent is the psychoactivity of all species of Datura
that it is patently clear why people in indigenous cultures around the world have classified them
as plants of the gods.37
Certainly the most infamous and well documented use of the hexing herbs comes from the
descriptions of the so called ‘witches’ salves’ or ‘flying ointments’. The ointment, although coming in a
wide variety of similar recipes and application methods, was a psychoactive sedative that was regularly
applied transdermally (through the skin) in order to elicit vivid hallucinations, and a subsequent deep
sleep full of vivid and lucid dreams. Witches of the late medieval era were scandalously rumored to apply
the salve on the heads of a broom handle, which, after insertion into the vagina or rectum, allowed them
to physically fly away to their hedonistic gatherings. Thus the motif of a broom-riding witch, flying
through the night air was born. These dreams and hallucinations were apparently so convincingly lucid,
and the sedated sleep so profound, that individuals upon waking, were reported to be totally unaware that
they had physically remained in the room.38
As with the witches ‘flying ointment,’ transdermal application of entheogens is an incredibly
effective and safe method of delivery; the skin acting as a filter which helps breakdown compounds
before entering the bloodstream, rendering otherwise toxic plants to be much safer. It is this group of
‘hexing herbs’, which make the most likely candidate for the ‘consecrated anointing oil’ used by Smith
and the church leadership frequently in Kirtland, leading up to the temple dedication ceremony. The well
documented effects of these plants, as well a variety of recipes for such ointments, can be found in the
same books of magic that historians have linked to the Smith family collection of magical items.
Given the possible description of the datura plant in Joseph Sr.’s ‘vision’, it remains the greatest
possible candidate entheogen Joseph Sr. passed to the impressionable young Smith. Datura remains
incredibly prolific in the New England area even today, perceived as a weed to the untrained eye, and
elicits powerful psychoactive properties with proper refinement. Datura or other hexing herbs provide the
best possible candidate for the ‘consecrated anointing oil’ used by Smith in Kirtland. Due to Joseph Sr.’s
dream, we hypothesize datura to be the most likely candidate of the many hexing herbs. However, these
herbs are not the only possible entheogen readily available to Joseph Smith, nor were topical ointments
the only vehicle by which to deliver said entheogens.
Entheogen Candidate #2: Fly Agaric, Ergot and Psilocybes Fungi
The woods around the Palmyra/Manchester area are full of birch, pine and alder trees. Shortly
after moving to the New York area, Smith Sr., along with his sons, felled some 30 acres of timber,
creating an ideal habitat for a number of fungi.39
The best time of year to harvest psychoactive mushrooms is during the first rains of autumn,
typically in late September and early October. Amanita muscaria and psilocybe varieties would be
prevalent in the area and easy to spot by those who knew where to look. The angel, or treasure guardian,
told Smith to return to the exact spot at the same time every year to receive his heavenly instruction, and
to keep it utterly secret. As discussed by both Robert Beckstead and Carl P. Ruck, there are several
varieties of psilocybe mushrooms that turn a rich gold color and flatten out into round plates as Fly agaric
are known to do as well. Scholars and historians have wondered for over a century what happened to the
gold plates, maybe Smith ate them.40
Joseph Sr., wasn’t the only member of the Smith family to experience visions which seem to
describe entheogens. Often overlooked, Lucy Mack Smith was an intelligent and relatively well read
woman for the time period, who was more than capable of recognizing and utilizing entheogenic
materials, possibly even out of occasional necessity to medically administer plant medicines to her 9
children. Her personal vision is described as such by her own account.
I discovered two trees standing
upon its margin, both of which were on the
same side of the stream. These trees were
very beautiful, they were well proportioned,
and towered with majestic beauty to a great
height. Their branches, which added to their
symmetry and glory, commenced near the
top, and spread themselves in luxurious
grandeur around. I gazed upon them with
wonder and admiration; and after beholding
them a short time, I saw one of them was
surrounded with a bright belt, that shone
like burnished gold, but far more brilliantly.
Presently, a gentle breeze passed by, and the
tree encircled with this golden zone, bent
gracefully before the wind, and waved its
beautiful branches in the light air. -Lucy Mack
Smith41
Lucy Mack Smith gave an accurate description
of common mushroom behavior. Known as ‘fairy rings’,
mycelium have a tendency to occasionally sprout
fruiting bodies in what appear to be perfectly formed
circles that can often ring or crown the host tree. Often
believed by the magically inclined to be the haunt of
fairies or elves, ‘fairy rings’ are commonly used to
communicate with spirits or to perform magical
ceremonies. Several books on Scottish and Irish folklore
were available at the libraries and printing press offices
near Palmyra and Manchester.42
Amanita muscaria and psilocybes are certainly not the only suspected mycological entheogen in
the early American psychedelic toolbox. Ergot remains an undiscussed candidate for the events witnessed
in the early Mormon church. A secret allegedly held by the Adepts, St. Anthony’s Fire could have been
transmitted to Smith via a number of sources to be discussed later. If properly prepared, this method has a
long and well established history of eliciting the reactions we see from the early church members in Ohio:
swoonings, violent siezure-like physical movements, delirium, pupil dilation, etc. A tincture or beer made
from ergotized grain heads can be produced, requiring only slightly more skill and attention than with the
psilocybe or amanita muscaria mushrooms.43
Traditionally, ergot poisonings are associated with fields of mixed grain or rye as it is harder to
spot infected grains during harvest. Barley or wheat fields, are much lighter in color and only continue to
lighten as the stalks ripen. It is interesting to note that drinks made with barley are clearly sanctioned in
the Word of Wisdom. In a barley field that is white and ready to harvest, ergot infected patches are easily
spotted and isolated, making easy prey for an enlightened farmer.
...from which LSD and its psychoactive relatives are derived.
Ergot is the sclerotium (the form the plant assumes to pass the
winter) of the mushroom Claviceps purpurea, which is parasitic
on rye, wheat, barley and other cultivated grains, and which also
infests wild grasses. After infection of the host grass with spores
(technically ascospores), the mushroom forms purplish sclerotia,
which project from the husk of the ripening grain. The sclerotia
then fall to the ground, where they pass the winter. With the first
spring rains, the sclerotia fruit, that is, they develop large
numbers of tiny purple mushrooms that release ascospores, which
are borne by the wind and which may contact immature ears of
grain and again initiate infection; Some of the sclerotia, however,
may be harvested with the grain and ground into flour, which
they then contaminate with toxic alkaloids.44
The Whitmer family hosted Joseph and Emma Smith
during a large portion of the Book of Mormon authorship. Having
emigrated from Germany a generation prior, the German-
speaking Whitmers likely would have been aware of or
associated with the Ephrata Cloister, being located a mere 4 miles
from their residence. The Ephrata famously partook of a
sacramental powder which caused spiritual manifestations and a
classic shamanic death and rebirth.45 The Whitmers were likely familiar with the idea of plants as
entheogens which perpetuated upon the newlywed Smiths’ arrival to live with them prior to the
foundation of the Church of Christ. Smith and Oliver Cowdery would spend hours on end in the upper
floor of the Whitmer home, a peculiar habit to which some took notice. Their faces would often be pale, a
common side-effect of some entheogens, especially when taken while fasting or sleep deprived. This
phenomenon was noted by Sally Heller Conrad Bunnell who was living with the Whitmers during the
translation process.
I conversed with one old lady eighty-eight years old who lived with David Whitmer when Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon in the upper room of the house,
and she, only a girl, saw them come down from the translating room several [times], when they
looked so exceedingly white and strange that she inquired of Mrs. Whitmer the cause of their
unusual appearance, but Mrs. Whitmer was unwilling to tell the hired girl, the true cause as it was
a sacred holy event connected with a holy sacred work which [was] opposed and persecuted by
nearly every one who heard of it. The girl . . . finally told Mrs. Whi[t]mer that she would not stay
with her unless she knew the cause of the strange looks of these men. Sister Whitmer then told
her what the men were doing in the room above. . . . This satisfied the girl and opened the way to
embracing the gospel. She is the mother of Stephen Bunnel of Provo, and the Bunnel family of
Provo. - Oliver B Huntington46
Entheogens likely served as the catalyst which put Smith in the altered state of consciousness
where he could dictate the contents of the Book of Mormon to a scribe for hours at a time. It should be
noted that Mary Whitmer swore Sally Bunnell to secrecy about the translation process on account of
persecution. They probably didn’t want it publicized that Smith was writing the Book of Mormon while
heavily intoxicated as such information may have caused some healthy skepticism of the book’s veracity.
From Smith’s early days on the farm to writing the Book of Mormon we see a steady line of
frequent entheogen use which only became more frequent with the foundation of the church in New York
and the subsequent move to Kirtland, Ohio. As Smith’s reputation shifted from that of treasure-digger and
magician to religious leader, his prior affiliation with magicians and others who were known to be
frequently intoxicated may substantially explain the persecution he experienced in New York which led to
the Church’s first mass-exodus from the state.
Isaac Morley and Fertile Kirtland
Smith’s use of entheogens marks its crescendo in Kirtland
during his most charismatic years. From 1831-6, there exists rampant
firsthand evidence which is reasonably interpreted as frequent
entheogen use. Smith’s successful experimentation on the Morley
Farm, Johnson home, School of the Prophets, and upper floor of the
Kirtland Temple culminated in the Kirtland temple dedication
ceremony in 1836. According to Lamar Petersen in Hearts Made
Glad, these public outbreaks of irrationality and odd physical
movements caused local media to take notice, citing the Independent
Messenger out of Worcester, Massachusetts to make his case. Is it
reasonable to assume the Mormons’ odd behavior and trances are due
to an immeasurable divine force acting on their mental faculties? Or,
is it more reasonable to conclude they were experimenting with
entheogens with mixed results; sometimes causing erratic behavior,
other times causing theophany and subsequent life-long devotion to
the faith?
“Some [Church members] lie in trances a day or two and visit the unknown regions in the
meantime; some are taken with a fit of terrible shaking which they say is the power of the Holy
Ghost.”47
While a talented religious leader can elicit ecstatic or altered states of consciousness in
parishioners through meditation, chanting, etc., there exists virtually no evidence to support the claim that
this state can be reliably produced in statistically significant populations, or prolonged for longer than a
few hours, without the aid of a chemical stimulant. These stimulants are easily delivered through
ointments, tinctures or wine taken as part of a sacrament ritual. This is not to claim that every sacrament
ritual involves entheogens, but to posit that some sacrament rituals historically have included and relied
upon chemical stimulants derived from entheogens. It should be noted that the majority of those using
entheogens viewed them as conduit to god, not anathema to god.
Before the School of the Prophets was formed, Smith spent a number of years living with some of
his closest followers, namely: Isaac Morley, Newel K. Whitney, and John Johnson. There are various
circumstances where revelations were obtained and angels ministered to Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and a
number of other closely trusted associates. One of the earliest places Joseph and Emma Smith took up
residence was on the Isaac Morley farm near Kirtland, OH where 13 revelations now included in the
Doctrine & Covenants were revealed. The second revelation Joseph gave while there is BoC 16 or D&C
46, interpreting who should and should not be allowed to take the holy sacrament.
These meetings divert from modern perceptions of a typical church meeting. Most of these
meetings involved a small number of families or possibly just some trusted church members crowded
together in a small room, worshipping, singing hymns, partaking of the sacrament, and listening to
lectures from Sidney Rigdon or Joseph Smith, or even just meditating for hours on end. Some of these
closed-door activities raised suspicion from the locals.
From the very earliest days of the church, prospective members suspected the Mormon preachers
of drugging parishioners with laced wine or ‘strong drink’. One man, Jasper Jesse Moss was a
Campbellite living and working in Kirtland as a school teacher at the time that the first Mormon
missionaries arrived there. Moss received an education and had studied medicine and surgery, but due to a
physical deformity, was not able to practice medicine. By all accounts, he was an honest and scholarly
man.48 As such, his opinion on the matter must be weighed appropriately. Moss gave the following
account concerning the meetings occurring at the Morley farm.
I commenced teaching school in Kirkland...in the fall of 1830. The week that I commenced my
school three Mormon preachers came from York state. ...two of these preachers I
recollect...Parley Pratt and Oliver Cowdery...In the course of the winter I attended their
meeting...I believe I was the first person with a young man whose name I have forgotten, who
was present when they took what was called the sacrament up at the Morley house. They were in
the habit of turning everybody out of the door when they partook of the bread and wine, putting
up blankets at the windows, shutting off the sight from without.** They started a regular pow-
pow, and when they got well going, then they opened the door and let us all come in again. A
young man and myself made it up that we would stay in unless they took us out by force. The
young man got asleep, and I had the dumb evil and could not talk; but they did not carry us out
but went on with the sacrament. The poor-house in Portage County, Ohio, where there were half
a dozen insane and idiotic persons, was the best comparison of anything to the scene that night.
And if I had my cloak on I would have stolen the wine and carried it home to see whether it was
drugged or not.”
**A Church historian mentions that in 1831 at a log dwelling owned by Isaac Morley “even the
door was muffled with cloths to prevent a noise” while Joseph and the Elders prayed for a sick
woman who was immediately healed.(Andrew Jenson, The Historical Record, VI January 1887,
p136) Morley, chastised by the Lord (D&C 54:15-16) was later forgiven his sins and ordained
Patriarch at Far West Missouri. - J.J. Moss49
The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt offers some insight to how “the spirit” was moving through
Kirtland upon Joseph’s arrival from New York.
As I went forth among the different branches, some very strange spiritual operations were
manifested, which were disgusting, rather than edifying. Some persons would seem to swoon
away, and make unseemly gestures, and be drawn or disfigured in their countenances. Others
would fall into ecstacies, and be drawn into contortions, cramp, fits, etc. Others would seem to
have visions and revelations, which were not edifying, and which were not congenial to the
doctrine and spirit of the gospel. In short, a false and lying spirit seemed to be creeping into the
Church...
Feeling our weakness and inexperience, and lest we should err in judgment concerning these
spiritual phenomena, myself, John Murdock, and several other Elders, went to Joseph Smith, and
asked him to inquire of the Lord concerning these spirits or manifestations.
After we had joined in prayer in his translating room, he dictated in our presence the following
revelation:--[D&C 50] - Parley Pratt50
The mentioned revelation (D&C 50) does mention the ‘false spirits’ phenomenon which seemed
to be slowly gripping the churches around Kirtland upon Smith’s arrival. The sacrament bears further
scrutiny and analysis as the ritual makes repeated appearances being the most logistically plausible
entheogen delivery vehicle. Moss was not the only one to record such observations of delirious and
perceived satanic behavior. Almost a year later, soon following a Kirtland conference session in June,
1831, a small group of the teachers, priests and elders:
...met in a log schoolhouse near Isaac Morley’s farm, hoping for a spiritual endowment. Levi
Hancock, who had earlier been startled by visionaries, was baffled by what happened that
day...Joseph promised Lyman Wight he would see Christ that day. Wight soon turned stiff and
white, exclaiming that he had indeed viewed the Savior. According to Hancock, Joseph himself
said, ‘I now see God, and Jesus Christ is at his right hand.’
Then the meeting unraveled. Joseph ordained Harvey Whitlock to the high priesthood, the most
important business of the meeting, and Whitlock reacted badly. ‘He turned as black as Lyman
was white,’ Hancock reported. ‘His fingers were set like claws. He went around the room and
showed his hands and tried to speak; his eyes were the shape of O’s.’ Astonished at the turn of
events, Hyrum exclaimed, ‘Joseph, that is not of God.’ Joseph, unwilling to cut the phenomenon
short, told Hyrum to wait, but Hyrum insisted: ‘I will not believe...unless you inquire of God and
he owns it.’ Hancock said, ‘Joseph bowed his head, and in a short time got up and commanded
satan to leave Harvey, laying his hands upon his head at the same time.’ Then, Hancock said,
Leman Copley, who weighed over two hundred pounds, somersaulted in the air and fell on his
back over a bench. Wight cast Satan out of Copley, and Copley was calmed…
This was not the spiritual endowment the elders had expected, and the outburst may have
contributed to the ‘trouble and unbelief’ among the disciples.”51
After an incredibly bold promise to multiple people that he would deliver theophany, Smith
created a ritualistic set and setting, likely using available entheogens, and chaos ensued. The rather
raucous and animated scene, which required yet more exorcisms to suppress, appears to be an example of
entheogenic influence, more than Smith could handle. The dilated pupils, rigid body, inability to speak,
hands frozen claw-like, etc., are all indicative of entheogen overdose approaching dangerous and possibly
fatal levels.
The ‘School of Prophets,’ which formed in early 1833, prominently featured late-night sessions
among the church elders after the administration of the Lord’s supper (sacrament) and oil anointings. The
use of plant based intoxicants is quite plausible at this time, as the activities conducted in the School of
Prophets would eventually lead to formation of Word of Wisdom.
It was during this time that Smith began his heavy studies into Kabbalah, a Hebrew school of
mysticism which arose from oral tradition in the 13th-century, heavily influencing Hermeticism wrapped
into the larger world of Occultism. Early iterations of Kabbalah represent a never-ending pursuit of
meditation on the nature of God in darkened caves or secluded areas protected from the outside world.
The meditative sessions of Kabbalah document novice initiates being driven mad and even dying during
mystical hypnotic trances, while other sessions of the adept include visions of angels and other scenes
which strikes incredible resemblance to the meditative sessions of Smith and the early Mormons, and
continues to cause confusion for historians today.
At the heart of the tradition, there nonetheless was a prophetic aspiration, and several Kabbalists
left intimate records—material preserved in manuscript and often held in restricted circulation—
of visions, angelic visitations, ecstatic transport, and divine anointings. These individuals saw
themselves, and were sometimes seen by others, in the same mold as Israel's ancient prophets. A
rationalistic approach to history might judge such phenomena as aberrant, even pathological. But
within the scholarly study of Kabbalah, these phenomena are so well witnessed and so central to
the tradition, that they require acceptance at very least as empirical psychological realities.52
These private mystical meditation sessions show up repeatedly in early Mormonism, with limited
public manifestations culminating in March of 1836 with the Kirtland Temple dedication ceremony.
Whatever the method of administration, it is clear that Joseph Smith had the ability to repeatedly and
reliably invoke radical and sometimes challenging visions or revelations of angelically guided theophany,
including occasional appearances from God and Jesus.
I exhorted the brethren to faithfulness, and diligence in keeping the commandments of God, and
gave much instruction for the benefit of the saints, with a promise that the pure in heart would see
a heavenly vision; and after remaining a short time in secret prayer, the promise was verified; for
many present had the eyes of their understanding opened by the spirit of God so as to behold
many things. I then blessed the bread and wine, and distributed a portion to each, after which
many of the brethren saw a heavenly vision of the Savior, and concourses of angels, and many
other things, of which each one has a record of what they saw, &c.” -Joseph Smith Jr.53
By repeatedly describing the ingestion or application of ‘consecrated’ sacramental wine or
anointing oil, and subsequent theophany and angelic visions, Joseph Smith was likely describing multiple
closed-door worship sessions augmented with entheogens. A few patterns emerge which are necessary to
recognize. From the Morley farm to the Johnson home, to the School of the Prophets, Smith was meeting
with his closest companion church leaders in secretive closed rooms to administer sacrament/anointing oil
and spend hours enjoying visions once “the eyes of their understanding” were “opened”. During these
sessions, Smith honed both his manipulation of entheogens as well as the perfect set and setting. This
experimentation and subsequent knowledge likely increased the impact of Smith’s charisma, causing
parishioners to attain personal revelation and theophany in small group settings, or even in a large public
setting like the elusive, and often confusing, Kirtland Temple dedication ceremony in 1836.
Kirtland Temple Dedication
Kirtland presents a grand theatre of
Smith’s entheogenic trials. From the earliest
days on the Morley farm, to the School of
the Prophets, to the late-night meetings with
anointing oil in the 3rd floor of the temple
prior to dedication, during the majority of
the Kirtland years of Mormon history the
use of entheogens lurks somewhere beneath
the surface.
Parsing Mormon history using the
Smith-entheogen model, the surviving
accounts from the temple dedication
ceremony are stunning to say the least.
During this incredibly spiritual time in
Mormon history, many people reported
seeing visions of angels and God while in
attendance of the ceremony. Space and
redundancy limit the number of accounts we include concerning the dedication ceremony. It cannot be
argued that Joseph Smith and Heber C. Kimball were untrustworthy sources upon which we base claims
that the dedication ceremony was heavily influenced by entheogens infused in the sacramental wine.
Joseph Smith, Jr.
"Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of
a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose,
being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others
saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the
congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound
within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished
at what was taking place."54
It should be noted that auditory hallucinations sounding like whooshing wind or rushing water are
very well documented as one of the myriad effects of entheogens. Many of the extant accounts from the
dedication ceremony detail this very phenomenon with stunning ubiquity.
Heber C. Kimball
"During the ceremonies of the dedication, an angel appeared and sat near President Joseph Smith,
Sen., and Frederick G. Williams, so that they had a fair view of his person. He was a very tall
personage, black eyes, white hair, and stoop shouldered; his garment was whole, extending to
near his ankles; on his feet he had sandals. He was sent as a messenger to accept of the
dedication...While these things were being attended to the beloved disciple John was seen in our
midst by the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery and others."55
These are but two trusted accounts extracted from an
ocean of similar visionary tales. Are we to believe that angels
and even God appeared to some in the temple and not to
others as some kind of blessing for the dedication of the
temple? Or, is it more realistic to assume the fasting and wine
catalyzed scores of people to enter altered states of
consciousness where Smith’s programmed set and setting
caused vivid hallucinations? If the angelic manifestations
were indeed legitimate, would we not expect more
consistency in the accounts?
Some of those partaking of the sacramental wine were
likely privy to the situation as they must have known that
alcohol alone could not elicit such hallucinations. Alcohol
induced hallucinations are primarily auditory only and occur
very rarely, usually in consequence of alcohol poisoning prior
to death. A few glasses of wine wouldn’t contain the
necessary amount of alcohol to explain anything these people
experienced. Likely there were a few who may have known
full well that the wine was infused with an entheogen,
knowing the consecrated wine was required for visions.
It was on this occasion that one of the brethren, lying flat on his back so full of the spirit (of
drunkenness) that he could not sit up, hiccoughed out: "Now is the time to see visions." Yea,
verily it was. He spake as spirits gave him utterance, but not as the Spirit of God...56
From an account by Milo Andrus, a Saint living in Kirtland, we see how Smith used altered
states of consciousness catalyzed by entheogens and set and setting to convince people of his divine
power.
Milo Andrus, a faithful Seventy who had been a member of the ill-starred Zion’s Camp,
despaired of seeing the celestial visitors until Joseph told him to continue to fast and pray. ‘When
we had fasted for 24 hours,’ marvelled Milo, ‘and partaken of the Lord’s supper, namely a piece
of bread as big as your double fist and a half a pint of wine in the temple, I was there and saw the
Holy Ghost descend upon the heads of those present like cloven tongues of fire. I said it is
enough, Father, and I will bear a faithful testimony of it while I live.’”57
Smith had honed the expertise necessary to cause true theophany in his parishioners much like
Andrus experienced, causing them to forever believe in Smith’s ability as prophet. However, not
everybody was so well convinced and saw through the theatrics. William E. McLellin later attributed the
entire scenario to the intoxicating wine, considering the entire thing to be nothing more than a drunken
mess.
As to the endowment in Kirtland, I state positively, it was no endowment from God. Not only
myself was not endowed, but no other man of the five hundred who was present--except it was
with wine.” -William McLellin58
The Kirtland Temple dedication ceremony
marks the crowning event on 6 years’ culmination of
spiritualism and entheogen use. The vast majority of
the extant evidence concerning the Mormon’s use of
entheogens involves limited exposure with a small
group of a dozen or so individuals experimenting in
dark rooms segregated from the general population for
hours on end.
Smith had profound effects when he promised
his followers administering of angels or vision of God
and followed up with psychoactive sacrament. It was a
scalable formula that worked on a number of people in
small groups as well as a statistically significant
number in the large group setting in the Temple.
Unfortunately, the dedication ceremony marks the
crescendo of Smith’s overt entheogen use with a sharp
decrease in public consumption from then on.
One of the most significant occurrence where
angels appeared in Kirtland after the dedication
ceremony was one week after when Oliver Cowdery
and Joseph Smith saw the Lord one final time in the
Temple and subsequently received revelation
comprising current-day D&C 110.
I assisted the other Presidents in distributing the elements of the Lord’s Supper to the church,
receiving it from the Twelve… I retired to the Pulpit, the veils being dropped, and bowed myself,
with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn, and silent prayer. After rising from prayer, the following vision
was opened to both of us-- [D&C 110]
The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened; we saw the
Lord standing upon the breastwork of the Pulpit, before us,... His eyes were as a flame of fire; the
hair of his head was white like the pure snow,... and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of
great waters...” -Joseph Smith Jr.59
The charisma and resources necessary for these experiences was not sustainable and soon public
consumption appears to have been eliminated. This is not to say that the use of entheogens as sacrament
for Smith and his closest followers was eliminated, but rather, that such activities were conducted
privately for a number of reasons, least of which was logistics.
From Far West to Nauvoo:
After a series of managerial and financial disasters following the founding of the Kirtland Safety
Society, Joseph Smith and other church leaders were forced to flee Kirtland to settle in Missouri and later
Nauvoo. After the Mormons’ exodus from Kirtland, overt evidence of Smith using entheogens becomes
relatively sparse. This decreased evidence correlates with many other changes in the Church during the
Missouri and Nauvoo years (1838-1845). There exists a dramatic decrease in the number of inspired
revelations making their way into Church canon; 122 revelations were given from 1829-1838 compared
to 14 revelations from 1839-1844. During the Nauvoo years, Smith was consistently busy with the
construction and administration of the city. This, among many other time-consuming daily activities must
have impacted Smith’s free-time and, by extension, the time he could devote to spiritual pursuits
enhanced by entheogens. Evidence may exist that these activities were forced underground for purposes
of sustainability and broadening public perceptions.
Smith also existed in a realm constantly influenced by teetotalers and those forwarding the
temperance agenda. John C. Bennett undoubtedly had an impact on the laws of Nauvoo and their
intermittent banishment or alternating tacit approval of alcohol sale and consumption within city limits.
At one point in February of 1841, John C. Bennett passed a city ordinance banning the consumption and
sale of unsanctioned spirituous liquors after which Smith provides his alternative to the people’s need for
alcohol delivered medicine.
In the discussion of the foregoing bill, I spoke at great length on the use of liquors, and showed
that it was unnecessary, and operates as a poison in the stomach, and that roots and herbs can be
found to effect all necessary purposes. - Joseph Smith Jr.60
The fact that Smith argued roots and herbs would make proper medicinal and recreational
substitutes for alcohol leads us to conclude he was familiar with plants as intoxicants; exactly to what
degree he was educated in the field remains conjectural and ripe for further research.
It’s worth noting, however, that it takes very little in the way of education to take advantage of
the plant medicines readily available to Smith. An average person at the time, armed with some basic
canning or soap making equipment, could accomplish some very startling kitchen chemistry with just a
few commonly found herbs. Scholars are aware that Smith Sr. crystallized and attempted to sell roughly
$3000 worth of ginseng overseas in the early 1810s.61 The Smith family also produced and sold molasses
regularly as a side business. Whatever their formal education may have included, the Smith family
undoubtedly held some basic folk herbalism and chemistry skills.
There exists a sharp line of distinction between the elementary policies during the early days of
Kirtland and the seemingly more refined period of Nauvoo. If entheogen use among the early Saints did
persist, it must have done so by going underground, possibly only being used by small, insular groups or
hierarchy on rare occasion. The secrecy involved in Freemasonry and the Council of Fifty may be the
only set and setting where these practices persisted. These assertions are admittedly speculative and
require further research to substantiate.
In stark contrast to the visionary experiences in Kirtland leading up to early April 1836, Oliver B.
Huntington tells of a perfectly normal worship service in Far West in 1838. The service involved
sacramental wine and bread, but noticeably lacked in angelic visitation or subjective visions.
The people came together in the morning without their breakfast, to the bowery on the Public
Square where there was prepared a plenty of good bread and a barrel of wine. The bread and wine
was blessed, every person ate bread and drank wine as they wanted all day, when they wanted.
They sat and talked, and walked and conversed upon heavenly and spiritual things as they felt
like, walked out on the Prairie and returned to eat and drink.
No one said, ‘Let’s go and get a drink,’ but with solemnity they commemorated the death and
sufferings of Jesus. A part of the day Joseph was preaching in the large room on the North side of
the square, while George A. Smith preached on the South side, from a wagon, no one was
intoxicated during the day.” -Oliver B Huntington62
It could be argued that this service in Far West was fundamentally different in nature to the
Kirtland Temple dedication. Such an argument only serves to buttress the necessity for proper set and
setting, shedding light on the complexity of subjective spiritual or visionary experiences. A simple
explanation for the stark differences between this worship service and the Kirtland Temple dedication
service may lie in the wine.
During the Nauvoo years of church history, 1839-1844, activity alluding to entheogen use seems
to have remained successfully underground and is largely omitted from extant historical models. The
company Smith kept may have just as much to do with the suppression of this activity as the lack of
practicality. Smith’s study and practice of Kabbalah and occultism embodied a new iteration in Masonry,
where entheogen use may have continued behind closed doors of those ascended to the sublime degree as
Smith was.
After Smith’s death in 1844, the Brighamite church doesn’t seem to include much available
evidence in relation to entheogens. Understandably, if the evidence exists it may be largely ignored or
misinterpreted and requires further investigation. Beyond the Nauvoo years, there may be evidence to
suggest continued entheogen use in other sects existing after the 1844 schism. The Strangites along with a
few other smaller factions prior to the reorganization may have been using entheogens in their sacrament
rituals, however, extant evidence is sparse at best and likewise requires further investigation.
There may also be evidence to suggest that some underground societies which embrace the power
of entheogens in sacrament cropped up in Utah and possibly exist underground today hiding in plain
sight. William Clayton, an important scribe and alchemist during the Nauvoo years, began the British
Metallic Mutual Association, an alchemical occult group with dozens of prominent members founded in
Utah roughly 20 years after Smith’s death. Various iterations of this group may have survived in Utah
until possibly as late as the 1980’s, although evidence is admittedly sparse and intentionally obscure.63
Limitations and Alternate Theories:
Lack of tangible and unambiguous documentary evidence: Evidence for this historical theory
relies heavily on a culmination of multiple firsthand accounts and broad circumstantial evidence. A
reasonable search for substantial documentary or scientific evidence should be pursued to further
construct and evaluate the Smith-entheogen historical model.
Evidential unfamiliarity: Those unfamiliar with entheogenic materials and the body of science
behind them may be tempted to explain away visionary reports by alcohol consumption alone. To actually
incite hallucination however, incredibly copious amounts of alcohol must be regularly ingested over many
years. Even under such conditions, documented hallucinations are rare and usually only auditory in
nature. Alcohol on an empty stomach isn’t reasonable to explain the visions seen by the early Mormons.
Confirmation bias: Once plausibility is granted to this model, it becomes challenging to not see
evidence supporting the claims, even when such evidence may be better interpreted differently. This
historical model offers a new tool by which to view existing evidence and may provide direction in the
never-ending search for new evidence or new interpretations of existing evidence; the Smith-entheogen
historical model should be wielded reasonably and cautiously.
Pentecostal revivalism: The visions and experiences reported by the early Saints have been
previously explained with typical Pentecostal revivals which frequently occurred in early 19-century
America and still perpetuate today. Individuals seeing angels don’t require entheogens to reach altered
states of consciousness, such states can be achieved through a vast number of methods (ecstatic dancing
or other physical exertion, singing, chanting, prayer, etc.). In group settings, the partaking of plant
medicines to catalyze altered states of consciousness is the most reliable method to attain theophany and
visionary experiences with repeatable and demonstrable accuracy.
Conclusion:
The unfortunate reality remains, we can never get into Smith’s mind. We could never understand
what was going through the minds of Smith and his followers at any given time. We can only expose
ourselves to the same material and mindset available to them and construct educated historical models
which explain all the available evidence.
It should be noted that Smith’s use of his seer stone to see the spiritual light in the process of
translating the Book of Mormon is a concept with which historians have wrestled for quite some time.
Once Smith had attained an altered state of consciousness and placed the anointed seer-stone in his
darkened hat, he may have literally hallucinated the characters and the interpretation, adding some level
of sincerity to his translation process, making the Smith-entheogen theory a plausible naturalistic
explanation for the genesis of the Book of Mormon.
The historical model of Joseph Smith’s entheogen use is by no means a new theory. As early as
1831, J.J. Moss (a trained medical doctor) suspected and accused the early church of drugging prospective
members with sacramental wine on the Morley farm. Others, like William McLellin, may not have
directly accused as Moss did, but understood that the sacramental wine played a role in the Kirtland
Temple dedication ceremony. More recently, Dr. Robert Beckstead presented his paper “Restoration and
the Sacred Mushroom,” at Sunstone 2007, becoming a seminal work for the Smith-entheogen historical
model.
Beckstead’s Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom does a great service to this field of study and
lays out the blueprints for further investigation. However, we can’t help but notice some profound
weaknesses, chief of which hinges on Smith’s involvement with entheogens prior to Mormonism.
Beckstead presents a version of Smith who founded the Church of Christ and was subsequently
influenced by people like Black Pete (Peter Kerr) who introduced entheogens to the church. Evidence
seems to point to Smith using entheogens long before and after Kerr’s involvement with Mormonism.
The preponderance of existing circumstantial and testimonial evidence supporting the Smith-
entheogen historical model cannot be ignored. Without straining credulity with appeals to highly
conjectural and subjective group hallucinations, there are no widely accepted naturalistic historical
models which comprehensively explain the extant body of visionary experiences in early Mormonism.
The Smith-entheogen model understandably causes some discomfort; some may scoff at the very idea that
Joseph Smith was knowingly drugging the unwitting early Mormons, an offense which would currently
merit significant prison time.
If we are to truly understand Mormon history, it is incumbent upon historians to reasonably
consider all reasonable historical models. Even if some models seem counterintuitive or uncomfortable, if
they plausibly explain a number of previously unexplainable events, they should be considered; such
models may enrich an already exciting, albeit polarizing, body of research. To dismiss this historical
model is to dismiss solid, tangible, and naturalistic explanations which directly validate Joseph Smith’s
abilities to commune with, and manipulate, the divine.
It may be asserted that once we can explain the mechanics of a miraculous event, it somehow
invalidates the miraculousness. This assertion couldn’t be further from the truth. Modern doctors
routinely kill their patients in order to perform open heart surgery, only to then resurrect them later with
another dead person's heart freshly installed. A century ago, this too would have been considered an
undeniable miracle and is often still considered miraculous to the family members of those with new
hearts. Even if the miracle is scientifically understood, it can still be miraculous to those involved;
perception changes everything.
Analogously, the emerging science of entheogenic substances should be treated with due respect.
Just as most Mormon historians have come to terms with the idea of seer stones and Joseph Smith’s early
career as a ceremonial magician, it may be time to come to terms with the evidence of entheogenic
substances being used by Joseph Smith and the early Mormon church. Entheogens are chemicals with a
given pharmacology which affect human neurochemistry and the “normal” perceptions of consciousness.
These chemicals are neither good nor evil. Just as with any other tool, it is what people do with them that
allows them to be judged as good or bad.
Given the current medical research by Johns Hopkins Medical, the Multidisciplinary Association
of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the Heffter Institute, the International Center for Ethnobotanical
Education Research and Service (ICEERS), and the Beckley Foundation, these chemicals are once again
being appreciated for their biomechanical reliable ability to elicit indescribable mystical experiences
associated with altered states of consciousness. What began with legitimate scientific investigation, free-
love and tie dye-clad experimentation quickly rose to dominate public perception of entheogenic
substances. Today, renowned scientists from reputable research facilities are reclaiming outdated
perceptions by using research grants to safely and effectively study the myriad effects induced by
entheogens in clinical settings. These are remarkable medicines and require much further investigation
and study, as well as a paradigm shift in public perception.
Despite its longevity and explanatory power, the Smith-entheogen historical model comparatively
lacks hard evidence and therefore requires a multidisciplinary perspective of history to unravel; it’s no
surprise the entheogen model of Mormon history has largely gone uninvestigated and unexplored for the
last century. New documentary evidence must be gathered before this historical model reaches the level
of academic theory or falsifiability. An even greater obstacle; much more research is necessary before
Joseph Smith’s drug use will be accepted by the mainstream LDS church.
“I can take my Bible, and go into the woods, and learn more in
two hours, than you can learn at [church] meeting in two years, if
you should go all the time.” -Joseph Smith64
Notes:
1. Richard E. Schultes, Albert Hoffman, and Christian Ratsch, “Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred,
Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers.” Healing Arts Press, Rochester Vermont. 1992. p10-14
2. Doblin, Rick. “Pahnke’s ‘Good Friday Experiment’ A Long Term Follow Up and Methodological
Critique.” In The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991.
3. R. R. Griffiths & W. A. Richards & U. McCann & R. Jesse. “Psilocybin can occasion mystical-
type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance.”
Springer-Verlag 2006. Received: 20 January 2006 /Accepted: 27 May 2006.
4. Leary, Timothy. “The Religious Experience: It’s Production and Interpretation.” 1964 See
maps.org Last accessed June 2017.
5. Richard E. Schultes, Albert Hoffman, and Christian Ratsch, “Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred,
Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers.” Healing Arts Press, Rochester Vermont. 1992.
6. Heinrich, Clark, “Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy.” Park Street Press, Richmond
Vermont, 2002. p.5
7. Bryce Blankenagel, Carl P Ruck. Naked Mormonism Podcast SpEp43.
http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com/episodes.html Last Accessed June 2017.
8. Guerra-Doce, E. The Origins of Inebriation: Archaeological Evidence of the Consumption of
Fermented Beverages and Drugs in Prehistoric Eurasia. Journal of Archaeological Method and
Theory. 2014.
9. McKenna, Terrance. “Food Of The Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge.”
Ebury Publishing, 2010, pg54.
10. Guerra-Doce, E. The Origins of Inebriation: Archaeological Evidence of the Consumption of
Fermented Beverages and Drugs in Prehistoric Eurasia. Journal of Archaeological Method and
Theory. 2014.
11. R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Carl A. P. Ruck, Huston Smith. “The Road to Eleusis:
Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries.” North Atlantic Books, 2008.
12. Quinn, D. Michael, “Early Mormonism and the Magical World View.” Salt Lake City, Utah.
Signature Books, 1998. p 31-65
13. Ibid. p98-114
14. Sibly, Ebenezer. “A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences.” London, 1795.
15. http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/sibly4.htm Last accessed June 2017.
16. Howe, Eber D. “History of Mormonism, or A Faithful Account of That Singular Delusion, With
Sketches of the Character of Its Propagators.” Painsville Ohio, second edition, 1840. p249-250.
17. Peterson, Lamar. “Hearts Made Glad, The Charges of Intemperance Against Joseph Smith the
Mormon Prophet.” Salt Lake City, Utah, 1975. pg38-40
18. Ibid.. pg38-40
19. Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, University of Illinois
Press, 1984 p.29.
20. Quinn, D. Michael, “Early Mormonism and the Magical World View.” Salt Lake City, Utah.
Signature Books, 1998. p 131.
21. Owens, Lance S. “Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection.” Gnosis.org. Pub 1994.
http://gnosis.org/jskabb2.htm Last accessed December 2016.
22. Barret, Francis. “The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer.” London, 1801.
23. Tucker, Pomeroy. “Origin, rise, and progress of Mormonism.” 1867. pg38.
24. Repository information found at http://www.ancestry.com. Last accessed May 2017.
25. Ward, M. C. (Fall 2002), "'This Institution is a Good One': The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo,
17 March 1842 to 16 March 1844", Mormon Historical Studies, 3 (2): 140.
26. History of the Church Vol5. P312.
27. Journal of Discourses, Vol 5, pg 55.
28. The Geneva Gazette, Aug 26, 1859, 15:34 pg2
29. Auburn Weekly Union, Jun 13, 1860, 6:20 pg 5
30. Luman Walters microfilm, Ontario County records and archives department, Canandaigua, NY,
accessed and copied 7 Apr 2017.
31. “The Book of Pukei.—Chap. I.” The Reflector (Palmyra, New York) 3d series, no. 5 (12 June
1830): 36–37.
32. Richard Schultes, Christian Ratsch, Albert Hoffman. “Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing,
and Hallucinogenic Powers.” Healing Arts Press; 2nd edition, 2001. p86-91.
33. Ibid. p86-91.
34. Lucy Mack Smith, “Biographical Sketches.” 1853 p58-59.
35. Beckstead, Robert T. “Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom.” Presented at Sunstone
Symposium August, 2007.
36. Ott, Jonathon, “Pharmocatheon.” Occidental, CA, Jonathan Ott Books, p363-369.
37. Richard Schultes, Christian Ratsch, Albert Hoffman. “Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing,
and Hallucinogenic Powers.” Healing Arts Press; 2nd edition, 2001. p111.
38. Hatsis, Thomas. “The Witches Ointment: The Secret History of Psychedelic Magic.” Park Street
Press, Vermont. 2015
39. For chronology and manual labor, see Donald L. Enders, “The Joseph Smith Sr. Family: Farmers
of the Genesee,” in Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Joseph Smith: The Prophet,
the Man (1993), 213–25. Found on https://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/12/the-early-preparation-of-
the-prophet-joseph-smith?lang=eng#footnote20-25912_000_005, Last accessed April 2017.
40. Beckstead, Robert T. “Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom.” Presented at Sunstone
Symposium August, 2007. --- Ruck, Carl. “The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive
Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art.” Carolina Academic Press, 2012
41. Smith, Lucy Mack “Biographical Sketches.” 1853 p54.
42. Quinn, D. Michael, “Early Mormonism and the Magical World View.” Salt Lake City, Utah.
Signature Books, 1998. p 17-21.
43. Richard Schultes, Christian Ratsch, Albert Hoffman. “Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing,
and Hallucinogenic Powers.” Healing Arts Press; 2nd edition, 2001.
44. Ott, Jonathon, “Pharmocatheon.” Occidental, CA, Jonathan Ott Books, pg121.
45. Hancock, Graham. “Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind.” 2005. ---
Stavish, Mark. “The History of Alchemy in America.” Hermetic.com. Copyright 1996. Last
accessed December 2016. http://hermetic.com/stavish/alchemy/history.html
46. Oliver B. Huntington, Journal 2, typescript, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU,
412, last accessed June 2017
http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1773&context=msr
47. Independent Messenger, Worcester, Massachusetts, May 27, 1831. From Peterson, Hearts Made
Glad. 1975 p81.
48. The Disciple of Christ, Volume 2. 1885. Biographical Sketch of J.J. Moss p463
49. Branden-Kelley Debate, 369. From Peterson, Hearts Made Glad. 1975 p82-83
50. Pratt, Parley P., “Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt,” pg 6, Chicago, IL, 1888,
https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofp00prat, accessed 28 Apr 2017.
51. Bushman, Richard. “Joseph Smith: Rough Rolling Stone” Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,
2007. p156-157
52. Owens, Lance S. “Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection.” Gnosis.org. Pub 1994.
Last accessed June 2017. http://gnosis.org/jskabb2.htm
53. Vogel Dan “History of Joseph Smith & The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” vol
1:245-6, Smith-Petit Foundation, Salt Lake City, 2015.
54. Smith, Joseph, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction
and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1932-1951), 2:428.
55. Journal of Discourses, 26 vols, London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886, 9:376.
56. Braden-Kelley Debate, pg 370, 1887, Christian Publishing Co., St. Louis, MO, date accessed 29
Apr 2017, http://icotb.org/resources/Braden-Kelley--Mormon.pdf
57. Lamar Peterson, Hearts Made Glad, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1975, pg 139-140 quoting Charles
Walker Journal, Utah State Historical Society, pg 35
58. William McLellin, True Latter-Day Saints’ Herald, XIX, 437, quoted from Lamar Petersen
“Hearts Made Glad,” pg 137
59. History of Joseph Smith & The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vol 2:419-420, Vogel
Dan, Smith-Petit Foundation, Salt Lake City, 2015
60. History of the Church vol 4:299; read History of Joseph Smith & The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints vol 4:293, Vogel Dan, Smith-Petit Foundation, 2015
61. Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, University of Illinois
Press, 1984 p.29
62. History of the Life of Oliver B. Huntington Written by Himself 1878-1900 pg 31, Library of
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, accessed 7 Mar 2017,
https://archive.org/details/historyoflifeofo00hunt
63. Quinn, D. Michael, “Early Mormonism and the Magic World View,” pg 307, 1998, Signature
Books, Salt Lake City
64. Smith, Lucy Mack “Biographical Sketches.” 1853 p90.
Picture Plates:
1. Joseph Smith teachinghttps://www.josephsmithjr.org/index.php/history/joseph-smith-jr.
2. Ceres (Demeter) holding cereal barley, opium pods with snakes. Terracotta (3rd-2nd century
BCE) Museo Nazionale Della Terme.
3. Joseph Smith home photographed by Bryce Blankenagel April 2017
4. “The Oracle of Dr. John Dee.” 1825. A similar illustration can be found versions of Sibly,
Ebenezer. “A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences.” London, 1795.
5. John Quidor (American, 1801-1881). The Money Diggers, 1832.
6. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
7. http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thorna12.html
8. Amanita Fairy Ring - https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/originals/79/88/f2/7988f2ab0fb6f082e0f9f6965c5c5015.jpg
9. “Fairy Ring.” Walter Jenks Morgan (British, 1847-1924)
10. Ergot. See http://www.erowid.org
11. Morley Log Schoolhouse plaque photographed by Bryce Blankenagel March 2017
12. Kirtland Temple photographed by Bryce Blankenagel March 2017
13. Angels in Kitland - Found at: https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-
history-study-guide-for-home-study-seminary-students-2014/section-05/unit-24-day-1-doctrine-and-
covenants-109?lang=eng
14. Christ Appearing in the Kirtland Temple - Found at: https://www.josephsmith.net/exhibit/the-
house-of-the-lord?lang=eng#mv1
About the Authors
Bryce Blankenagel was born and raised in Utah of
goodly parents. He is a full-time researcher and
contributor to TheRealBookOfMormon.org
scholarly project, co-host of My Book of Mormon
Podcast, and host/editor/producer of the Naked
Mormonism Podcast (the serial Mormon history
podcast). Bryce is a fan of history and can’t get
enough of 19th-century American history. He
spends his free time reading non-fiction, canoeing
in the Puget Sound, and hardcore video-gaming
with friends from time to time. You can find his
online presence by Googling his oddly unique
quadra-syllabic last name or by searching anywhere
for Naked Mormonism.
Bryce's online presence can be found at the
following sites:
http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com/index.html
http://realbookofmormon.org/
Cody Noconi is a permaculture designer,
history fanatic, amateur mycologist, and LDS
survivor. He is the co-host/editor/producer of the
Psilly Rabbits Podcast, along with his far more
credentialed life-partner, Amanda. Cody is
interested in researching ancient, esoteric, and lost
traditions in hopes that such knowledge can help
lead humankind towards a more sustainable and
healthy future for generations to come. Whenever
he manages to pull his nose out of a book or
computer screen, Cody is usually catering to the
constant demands of two beautiful children and
an ever ongoing, 20-acre permaculture project.
Cody's online presence can be found at the
following sites:
http://psillyrabbits.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PsillyRabbitsPodcast/
Notes and Questions
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