Joseph Smith/Occultism and magic

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Articles about Joseph Smith

Life and Character	Status in Latter-day Saint belief Joseph Smith's family as trustworthy and hard-working Education Trustworthiness The Hurlbut affidavits Alleged narcissism Money digging Folk magic or the occult The Word of Wisdom
Revelations and the Church	Witness of Jesus Christ First Vision Book of Mormon Joseph Smith's inspired revision of the Bible The restoration of the priesthood Personages who appeared to Joseph Smith Use of seer stones as a youth Book of Abraham Kinderhook Plates
Prophetic Statements	The U.S. Civil War Rocky Mountain prophecy The White Horse prophecy Alleged false prophecies of Joseph Smith
Society	Legal issues 1826 trial Creation of the Kirtland Safety Society Failure of the Kirtland Safety Society Campaign for President of the United States
Plural marriage (polygamy)	Plural marriage or polygamy Polygamy navigator
Death	The Nauvoo Expositor Events surrounding the death of Joseph Smith Firing a gun at Carthage Jail Qualification as a martyr 1844 Succession to Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith and the "occult" or "magick"

Summary: Citing Joseph Smith's experiences with folk magic, treasure seeking and seer stones, it is claimed that Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences were originally products of magic and the occult. Some charge that only much later did Joseph retrofit his experiences in Christian, religious terms: speaking of God, angels, and prophethood rather than in terms of magic, treasure guardians and scrying. It is also claimed that a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters became popular in the Palmyra area, and that when Walters left the area, "his mantle fell upon" Joseph Smith.

Jump to Subtopic:

• The origin of Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences
• Joseph Smith's family and "folk magic"

Joseph Smith/Occultism and magic/Spiritual experiences

Joseph Smith and folk magic or the occult

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What is the distinction between belief in "folk magic" and a religious belief in the supernatural?
• Question: Were Joseph Smith's spiritual experiences originally products of magic and the occult?
• Question: What were the attitudes of Joseph Smith and his contemporaries toward "magic"?
• Question: How did Joseph Smith use his seer stones as a youth?
• Question: Was a "vagabond fortune-teller" named Walters Joseph Smith's "mentor"?
• Question: Does Lucy Mack Smith's mention of the "faculty of Abrac" and "magic circles" evidence that "magick" played a strong role in the Smith family's early life?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith, Sr. practice "divination"?
• Question: Did early members of the "Mormon" Church believe in witchcraft?
• Question: Was the fact that the recovery of the Book of Mormon plates occurred on the autumnal equinox somehow significant?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith derive his religious ideas in part from a mysticism called Kabbalah?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith have a Jupiter talisman on his person at the time of his death?
• Question: What is the source of the story about Joseph Smith possessing a Jupiter talisman?
• Stephen Robinson: "In the case of the Jupiter coin, this same extrapolation error is compounded with a very uncritical acceptance of the artifact in the first place"
• Question: Could the list of items on Joseph's person at the time of his death have been incomplete?
• Question: What is the probability that Joseph Smith possessed items related to "magic"?
• Question: Was a "magic dagger" once owned by Hyrum Smith?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon’s reference to “slippery treasures” stem from Joseph Smith’s involvement in money digging and the occult?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith's family own "magic parchments" which suggest their involvement in the "occult"?