Additions to Ether

[From the white river stone, probably on August 30 or September 1, 2007.]

Ether 6:12  And they did land upon the shore of the promised land.  And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.

6:12B  And the brother of Jared went and built an altar and offered sacrifice.  And he named the place Shadabekar, and he dwelt there for twenty days.

6:12C  And on the seventh day after the [landing] of the vessels on [the shore] of the [promised land, they were] approached by the man Shem.

6:12D  And Shem said unto them, I have seen in vision that [vessels] would come and that they would land upon the shore, and I have travelled to see, and behold! my vision is true, and for because of this I will join myself to you.  And from that day forth Shem, and his wives and children, and their sons and daughters also, did become numbered among the friends of Jared and his brother.

6:12E  And Shem did give an accounting of his people, and how they had come to be upon the land, and an account of their travels, which were many.  And this account he did write.  And behold, the writing of it was in a language that we knew not.  And although we knew not the manner of writing, it being curious, we understood perfectly the speech with which Shem and his people did speak unto us.

6:12F  And because he did write his account, I will not recount it here, for it is written already, and I do not doubt that we will learn to understand the manner of writing of Shem and that the record will become understandable to us after we have learned thus.  And until then we do have a recollection of all that he has related unto us, and we know that it is exceedingly great, and that his faith was exceedingly great, and that God did lead his people as he also had led us, and that we were not alone, and when we had this knowledge, it was like fruit, most sweet unto our faith.

6:13  And it came to pass that they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth.

Is the Church your rock?

In the past, I have made what was perhaps a natural assumption that the Church was my rock: my sure foundation which could never slip away, but things like the meeting I posted about previously are a valuable reminder to me of the scripture:

2 Samuel 22:2-3:

¶ And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

I love God. I am happy that nothing in the world can ever take away my ability to communicate with Him who sitteth as the Judge Supreme.

First Attempt at Scrying

On the evening of the fourth day of the month of July, in the year of our Lord twenty hundred and six, I set out to the field with a spade to attempt to uncover the record of which I am in pursuit. (For I am not, as yet, experienced enough in the particulars of treasure hunting to be certain as to its location.)

About ten yards between an old fence and a pond, I broke the earth and began to dig. After becoming exhausted from my labors, I was about determined to abandon the undertaking when I decided to make one last effort. It was about this time when my spade struck on an object made of stone, white in appearance, which was lodged in the ground. I threw the dirt aside and removed the small stone, of which I have here included a depiction. At this point, I handed the spade to my wife, who all the while had been sitting by watching as I toiled over our difficult undertaking. She had located a snake-skin, about twelve inches from the place where we had commenced the dig, and sat it back on the ground, after which, she took up the spade. After digging for a considerable amount of time, and finding nothing, we resolved to retire back to the farm, and taking a few steps noticed a hole in the surface of the ground, about 2 inches wide and 4 in length. Sensing trouble, I told her to stand back as I once again struck the earth with the spade. After following the hole for about six inches, I gave up the search and we returned home, to resume on another day.

Ate potatoes for dinner. Grandma said her leg was hurting, so we tended to it.

Treasure Hunting

Yesterday I read a lot on the subject of treasure hunting, especially using "magic" methods such as dousing and using seer stones. Being a member of a Church whose history is steeped deeply in such practices, they are not something that can be dismissed with a shrug. I've been feeling an urge, or call of some type to return to the very roots of Mormonism, to start with the primitives from which the Restoration developed, and see what happens. I don't know exactly what that means. I've been considering doing a little treasure hunting myself, but I don't know if this is a metaphor or if I should break out the shovel. I have endeavored to spend some time attempting to use the seer stone technique, however, how to select the correct stone, I do not know. I have found a white marble stone that seems to have at least inspiration qualities to it, and using the hat technique, although I cannot see bright words, or any words, I have determined that the Holy Ghost whisper things to me, (and from my intricate theories about the third member of the Godhead, this seems to be a good use of the gift.)

Another way I have been seeking treasure is through Freemasonry, and I am about to take another big step in it by going through the Mark Master degree of York Rite, which will be on the 29th of this month - That's only a week away.

Although I haven't attained the level yet, the body above the Royal Arch Chapter is the Council of Cryptic Masons, and any brief definition of the system will say enough to make one realize that it involves exactly this type of story: Seeking a lost treasure, hid up in the earth. I wonder as I am advanced to that degree, if I will find it to be a prophecy that has already been fulfilled in Mormonism, in a way similar to that of Craft Degrees? I will have to read Joseph's account of acquiring the Book of Mormon plates and review all of his treasure hunting adventures as far as is possible in preparation of this rite so that I am fully able to draw comparisons. It also won't hurt to brush up on this part of history for the purpose of trying to go to the roots, the source of Mormonism and see what I can find. For, what better way to find out about something than go to the source of it?

So far, my theory is thus: Seer stones are useful for finding objects and translating. They solve static problems and puzzles, if you will, and function as a "magical" type item, in contrast to prayer which, when done in truth and in order, seeks the attainment of revelation directly from God and is more useful for finding inquiring to receive new information, special care, guidance, blessings.

Peep-Stones

Seer Stones including the Urim and Thummim, as well as other Stones that Joseph had acquired by various means (some during his childhood, I believe) were used in receiving Revelation and in translating The Book of Mormon. The translation process is best documented as follows:

“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. ”
(David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887, p. 12.)

Joseph had a reputation of seeing and treasure hunting even before he received his prophetic calling. I wonder if we have any natural seers in our midst today? Would the use of a seer stone be a productive way in which to receive personal revelation? Why don't we practice this today?
(Or do some of us?)

Symbolically it makes sense, because a stone would tend to be associated with the energy of the element Earth, which is related to Michael, or the Father.

So, lets head down to our local river bed, find a few candidate stones, grab an old top hat, and give it a whirl. (Note: Translation isn't the only task these stones can help perform.)

I'm also not suggesting this as a replacement for the T.O.O.P. taught in the Temple, but it must be a related practice, as it seems to bring forth similar results?