Early Mormonism and the Magic Worldview Early Mormonism, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, emerged in the early 19th century in the United States. One significant aspect of early Mormonism was its association with a magic worldview. The magic worldview was prevalent in the early 19th century, characterized by beliefs in supernatural powers, divination, and folk magic practices. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was deeply influenced by this worldview, and it played a central role in shaping the early years of the religion. Smith himself had a background in folk magic and claimed to have practiced divination and treasure hunting using seer stones. These practices involved using special stones to receive divine revelations or locate buried treasures.
These practices involved using special stones to receive divine revelations or locate buried treasures. The use of seer stones was considered part of the magical tradition of the time. In addition to his personal involvement in magic practices, Smith's early religious experiences were also intertwined with supernatural elements.
Early Mormonism and the Magic World View - Hardcover
In this ground-breaking book, D. Michael Quinn masterfully reconstructs an earlier age, finding ample evidence for folk magic in nineteenth-century New England, as he does in Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s upbringing. Quinn discovers that Smith’s world was inhabited by supernatural creatures whose existence could be both symbolic and real. He explains that the Smith family’s treasure digging was not unusual for the times and is vital to understanding how early Mormons interpreted developments in their history in ways that differ from modern perceptions. Quinn’s impressive research provides a much-needed background for the environment that produced Mormonism.
This thoroughly researched examination into occult traditions surrounding Smith, his family, and other founding Mormons cannot be understated. Among the practices no longer a part of Mormonism are the use of divining rods for revelation, astrology to determine the best times to conceive children and plant crops, the study of skull contours to understand personality traits, magic formula utilized to discover lost property, and the wearing of protective talismans. Ninety-four photographs and illustrations accompany the text.
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From the Publisher:D. Michael Quinn was born in 1944 in Pasadena, California. He studied English and philosophy at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah—interrupted by a two-year LDS proselytizing mission to England (1963-65)—and graduated in 1968. Then followed three years of military service in Germany as a counter-intelligence agent.
When he returned from Europe in 1971, Quinn began a master's program in history at the University of Utah and half-time employment at the LDS Church Historian's Office. He received his M.A. in 1973, then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to continue his studies in history at Yale University. While a graduate student Quinn published in Brigham Young University Studies, the Journal of Mormon History, New York History, the Pacific Historical Review, and Utah Historical Quarterly. When he received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1976, his dissertation on the Mormon hierarchy as an elite power structure won the Frederick W. Beinecke and George W. Egleston awards.
That same year Quinn began twelve years of employment as a member of BYU's history faculty. He received post-doctoral training in quantitative history at the Newbery Library in Chicago in 1982, and the next year served as associate director of BYU's Vienna study-abroad program. In 1984 he received full professorship; two years later he became director of the graduate program in history. In 1986 Quinn received his most cherished award: Outstanding Teacher by vote of BYU's graduating history majors.
While at BYU Quinn served on the board of editors for three scholarly journals and on the program committee for the Western History Association. He gave formal papers at annual meetings of the American Historical Association (AHA), the Mormon History Association (MHA), the Organization of American Historians, Sunstone Theological Symposium, Western History Association, the World Conference on Records, and by invitation to a conference jointly sponsored by the Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme and the Laboratoire de Recherche sur L'Imaginaire Americain (University of Paris). He received best article awards from the Dialogue Foundation, the John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA), and MHA. His last article as a BYU faculty member appeared in New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington (University of Utah Press, 1987).
His first book, J. Reuben Clark: The Church Years (Brigham Young University Press, 1983), received the best book award from MHA. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Signature Books, 1987) received best book awards from MHA and JWHA, as well as the Grace Arrington Award for Historical Excellence. However, due to disputes with BYU administrators over academic freedom, Quinn resigned his tenured position at BYU in 1988. Since then he has worked as an independent scholar.
After resigning from BYU he received long-term fellowships from the Huntington Library in southern California (twice), the National Endowment for the Humanities (twice), and Indiana University-Purdue University, as well as a major honorarium from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has edited The New Mormon History: Revisionist Essays on the Past (Signature Books, 1992) and published essays in Under an Open Sky: Rethinking America's Western Past (Norton, 1992), Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History (Signature Books, 1992), Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism (Signature Books, 1992), Fundamentalisms and Society: Reclaiming the Sciences, the Family, and Education (University of Chicago Press, 1993), the New Encyclopedia of the American West (Yale University Press, 1998), and American National Biography (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
In May 1994 he received the T. Edgar Lyon Award for Excellence from MHA. He has subsequently completed four books: The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Signature Books, 1994); Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example (University of Illinois Press, 1996), which received the 1997 AHA award for best book by an independent scholar; The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (Signature Books, 1997); and the revised Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Signature Books, 1998), which is twice the size of the original edition. He has begun preliminary work on a social history of late-twentieth-century sexuality.
Quinn has served in the 1990s as a historical consultant for four Public Broadcasting Service documentaries: Joe Hill, A Matter of Principle, The Mormon Rebellion, and Utah: The Struggle for Statehood, and for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's L'Etat Mormon (The Mormon State). He has been a guest lecturer at the Graduate School of Claremont Colleges and at four Utah universities. In addition, he has been the keynote speaker at meetings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, the Chicago Humanities Symposium, the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Washington State Historical Society. In 1998 he served on an NEH panel for selecting recipients of year-long fellowships.
Quinn has been featured in Christianity Today, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Lingua Franca, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Newsweek, Publishers Weekly, Time, and the Washington Post. In 1997 a biographical sketch and discussion of his writing techniques appeared in Contemporary Authors.
From the Author:Eleven years ago my Introduction expressed confidence that LDS believers did not need to fear including occult beliefs and magic practices in the history of Mormonism's founders. In 1992 LDS church headquarters affirmed that view in its official Encyclopedia of Mormonism, which mentioned the influence of treasure-digging folk magic (see ch. 2) in five separate entries concerning Joseph Smith. These articles did not list my book in their source-notes, but one did cite an anti-Mormon minister's article about this topic in a Protestant evangelical magazine. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see this ripple-effect from the splash of Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. As Richard L. Bushman recently wrote in a review for FARMS, "the magical culture of nineteenth-century Yankees no longer seems foreign to the Latter-day Saint image of the Smith family.
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That same year Quinn began twelve years of employment as a member of BYU's history faculty. He received post-doctoral training in quantitative history at the Newbery Library in Chicago in 1982, and the next year served as associate director of BYU's Vienna study-abroad program. In 1984 he received full professorship; two years later he became director of the graduate program in history. In 1986 Quinn received his most cherished award: Outstanding Teacher by vote of BYU's graduating history majors.
He claimed to have had visions and visits from heavenly beings, which became foundational to the early teachings of Mormonism. The Book of Mormon, the sacred text of the Latter-day Saints, also reflects the influence of the magic worldview. The book narrates the story of ancient inhabitants of the Americas and their interactions with God. It contains accounts of visions, miracles, and supernatural events, which are characteristic of the magical narratives of the time. The early Mormon community was also involved in folk magic and healing practices. Some members of the church practiced blessings, divination, and the laying on of hands for healing purposes. These practices were seen as a way to tap into supernatural powers and were an integral part of the religious experience for many early Mormons. However, as Mormonism grew and sought wider acceptance, the association with the magic worldview became problematic. In an effort to distance themselves from these practices, the church gradually moved away from folk magic and focused more on its doctrinal and institutional development. Today, Mormonism is generally not associated with the magic worldview anymore. The church has evolved into a more mainstream Christian denomination, emphasizing its belief in Jesus Christ and teachings from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. In conclusion, the early years of Mormonism were deeply intertwined with the magic worldview prevalent in the early 19th century. Joseph Smith's background in folk magic, the supernatural experiences of the early leaders, and the inclusion of magical elements in the Book of Mormon all contributed to this association. While the church has since distanced itself from these practices, the magic worldview remains a significant aspect of its early history..
Reviews for "Pondering the Paranormal in Early Mormonism"
1. John Smith - 2/5 stars
I was really disappointed with "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View". As someone who was hoping for an unbiased and objective analysis of the early Mormon beliefs and practices, I found this book to be heavily skewed towards a negative perspective. While it is important to discuss the influence of magic and folk religion during that time period, the author seemed to solely focus on this aspect and neglect other factors that shaped early Mormonism. I was hoping for a more nuanced exploration of the topic, but unfortunately, this book fell short for me.
2. Sarah Johnson - 1/5 stars
I found "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View" to be extremely biased and one-sided. The author's obvious disdain for Mormonism overshadowed any valuable insight or analysis they could have provided. It felt more like a personal attack on the religion rather than an academic study. I was hoping for a more balanced approach that would allow readers to draw their own conclusions, but this book simply reinforced existing negative stereotypes and misconceptions.
3. David Thompson - 2/5 stars
I was disappointed with "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View" as I felt it had a narrow focus and failed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the early Mormon beliefs. The author seemed more interested in sensationalizing the role of magic and occult practices rather than exploring the deeper theological aspects of the religion. While it's important to acknowledge the historical context and influences, this book missed the mark by presenting a skewed and incomplete portrayal of early Mormonism. I would recommend seeking out more balanced and well-rounded sources for a more thorough understanding.