where to find a seer stone?

[seeker of knowledge]

Just wondering does any one know how to get a seer stone, or how to make you?

[Obrien]

It's claimed that Joseph's seer stone is in an inner safe in the church's vault. Maybe you could write T Monson and see if he'll send it to you. I have no idea how much insurance to buy for such a package.

[Joel]

How To Make A Seer Stone

A few years ago, while discussing seer stones with Steve Sorensen, he mentioned that there was an obscure reference in someone’s papers that gave a formula for how to make a seer stone and that wasn’t in Quinn’s Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Later that day he forwarded me his notes from the John Steele collection (MS 1847) at the Church Archives (now Church History Library) and it was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

I was reminded of these notes by Matt, Steve, and Mark’s recent discussion of Brooke’s Refiner’s Fire and thought now would be as good a time as any to share them here with the reminder that the reader should consult the original record before undertaking any serious examination of the material as I have not verified their accuracy, but I present them here having a healthy measure of trust in Steve as a faithful transmitter of the information. That I could tell from a quick perusal, this is indeed not in Quinn. Quinn does, however, talk at length about other aspects of John Steele’s career as an adherent to astrology and charm-making. For a brief biography see here.

Interestingly, Quinn’s information on Steele seems to come from collections held at the Harold B. Lee Library Special Collections at BYU while this material comes from a collection at the CHL. Likely this material was not available at the time Quinn was researching.

Here are the notes (which I reproduce here just as Steve sent them to me):

“For the preparation of the glass (of vasion) Dip the glass in watter 3 times after washing your self in watter all over then: you place it in your wright hand in the first hower of the moon in the hower Gabriel with your face to the East & thus pray In the name of the Ever blessed Holy trinnity Father Son & Holy gost by the power of all that is good Both in heven & on Earth as far as it can assist me to prepare & purify this christal that when Ever it shall be lawfully used that it may be purified and be a consecrated placed fit to receive thy minastring angle of Light O God that the may have power to show a clear true & perfect vision of any innocent nature that may be Called of them to show in the name of Jeusu Christ and the Glory shall be thine o God & Consecrate me thy Servant that I may live a pure & holy life before thee that I may have power with thee that my pettetions may be answered by thee through the ministering angles of light thata any lost property that I pettetion thee about that I may be prepared to receive an answer there from in the nme of Jesus Christ Amen”

“Concretation of a Charge for a glass”

“In the name of the Ever blessed holy trinity Father Son & Holy gost & in the name of Jesus Christ I ask thee to assist me with thy Heavenly hosts and let one of thy ministering Angles of light come to this glass & show in it a clear true & a perfect vission of what me or my Friend . . . desire to know And Let know Evil power may have powere to obstruct the light & the glory shal be unto thee O Father & to the Son & to the Holy gost Amen”

“A Dis charge for a glass”

“I thank the o Father in Heaven for the privalige though thou has bestowed upon me in calling upon one of thy ministering angles of light & that thou has answered my pettetion through him I now dismiss this Angle that it may go to its place & to its office & to the holy orders & callings untill I have a privilige or occation of to call uponthee again I dismiss thee in pease in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the holy gost and in the name of Jesus Christ Amen”

For good measure, here is one of Steele’s explanations for how to recover lost property, again from the notes. Quinn mentions in passing Steele’s “charm ‘ To find the thief and make them bring back the things stolen” but does not elaborate (292).

“To find Stolen property, and make the thief bring back the Stolen property you must Set down the day hour and minute, as near as possible, when the goods ware Stolen, name the plannets ruling the day and hour, this being done Set down the following charactures”

“Then turn round three times, and if you haear no news of the Thief in 44 hours, as ten to one you will then prick the paper full of holes and hang it up in a Chimney whare it will keep warm and the heat of the fire scorch it a little and the Thief will be Tormented in mind and body and bring back the goods”

Now, if you were thinking of making a “Now I know what our next FHE activity will be” joke, consider yourself beaten to the punch.

Seriously, though, I think this is a fascinating description of the making and even the unmaking of a seer stone (or, glass of vision–admittedly, “seer stone” is not mentioned in the record and is my imposition on the description) and fairly unique. Steele, from what I can gather from Quinn, seems to have been an especially public example of this type of activity, and Quinn seems to want to argue that his increasing status in the Mormon community (bishop, community leader, patriarch) implies, if not approval, at least ambivalence to his practices by Church leaders. Whatever the case there, what are your thoughts on these excerpts? Also, thinking in terms of Mormon folk beliefs (and practices), have you heard anything in recent memory concerning the contemporary use, existence, or even making of seer stones or other visionary or divinatory objects?

Note: If you decide to check this source out further (there is no indication in the notes where in the collection these excerpts are) and use it, if you first saw it here, please do give credit to Steve Sorensen for assistance in locating the source.

Listen to the first 4 minutes of this video to hear Grant Palmer give a description of 3 seer stones he got to see that the LDS Church has:

[seer stone]

I'm here for ya!

[A Random Phrase]

I'm here for ya!

Love it!

[KurtTheMormon]

Just wondering does any one know how to get a seer stone, or how to make you?

You will get one when The Lord wants you to have one.

Not before.

However, if you would like some advice, pray asking questions to The Lord and request that a Book of Mormon opened to a random spot might contain the answer you seek. Many times, prayers have been answered for me in this way. It will not work if you aren't trying to be righteous, it won't work if you are asking The Lord for the wrong thing, and it won't work if you have already received an answer but keep asking for a different one.

[Joel]

[gardener4life]

I couldn't help but notice that violent games (particularly fantasy games) a few years ago starting to implement seer stones and seers into their systems. They try to label seers as 'cultists' or wizards to youth before they have fully formed their awareness of truth and error. And it seemed like it was trying to brainwash young people about witchcraft etc, and to reject Joseph Smith's testimony. I even saw people commenting about the similarities.

This is no accident. We know the truth. The Holy Ghost teaches us what's right.

OK, so about seer stones...

When we're ready for it, then it'll work itself out.

But I did have our previous bishop one time tell me in privacy that the iphone technology available now does have a lot of similarities to a Urim and Thummim because of the free access to information to better our lives. You can access conference talks, scriptures, and learn about the Gospel. That's really what we'd be using a Urim and Thumim or seer stone for. We can also use them to see what happened in the past. (And we 'see' the future by studying and reading about the 'Signs before the Second Coming'. We actually have more information than many if not most previous dispensations' prophets!) (Whether or not its the real thing kind of depends on if you try to use it for what it was intended.)

A liahona was basically the same way as above.

Lehi and his family used the Liahona to know which way to go. But also messages would be written upon it and 'change from time to time'. (Same as iphone technology).

But there were warnings about Urim and Thumim type of technology also that if someone were to look at something forbidden to them it could destroy them. (Sounds exactly as the warnings about watching or finding porn on iphones doesn't it?) So in actuality, we really aren't that different from these people.

We have a lot in common with them!

Proper usage of technology is really critical right now. People are also trying to teach you don't need faith or repentance, or to live the Gospel when you accept it now! This is a lie by Satan! Also they teach that leaders should educate themselves about Babylon to create excempt status of those that don't want to change or repent.

Paul rejected his old identity as Saul the sinner in order to fully accept being a faithful, repentant follower and disciple of Jesus. So did Alma the Younger. The Brother of Jared was chastised by the Lord for falling away and then repented. We can use these stories to identify what's going on and not be tricked.

Satan also tried to get Adam and Eve to follow the Gospel through philosophy with tricking them to 'hide sins' instead of use faith and repent. (They didn't fall for it but the pattern can be identified.)

When you really think about it from a Gospel Perspective then you can see that the world is trying to make us think backwards. Is it just a coincidence that the Ensign articles are called the 'Liahona'? I don't think it is. People in the Spirit World are probably hearing the teachers of the gospel there tell them that the righteous worthy disciples currently on Earth have a liahona delivered to their tents every month right now in mortality (through the mail). And to think of it that way is really true! But the fog and darkness of the world is preventing us from seeing that Heavenly Father is trying to give us the same rich experiences we read in the scriptures, but we are 'asleep' and don't see it for what it is.

Babylon and mortality try to make us think it's 'JUST' a magazine. Spirituality and the Spirit are trying to help us see, 'its not really an Ensign/Liahona', it's the real Liahona being delivered much like how King Benjamin talked to people on the tower while they were still in their tents.

[gkearney]

I own a seer stone.

Let me explain. Prior to my father's generation all the Kearney men worked as stonemasons in quarries. They cut stone to build building out of. This was once a common trade. My grandfather did this kind of work. In granite quarries you must cut the stone along the grain of the rock-face so that the blocks will fall in blocks form and not crumbles into odd shapes.

In New England and Atlantic Canada where most of this kind of work was, and still is, done it is common still to find people who believe in seer stones as well as other similar kinds of practices such as water witching. My grandfather, and indeed even my father to some degree, followed these practices. So my grandfather had a seer stone which he claimed to be able to indicate to him where the lines of grain in a stone quarry were as well as being able to find lost objects and where to dig wells and such. He never claimed any religious or spiritual use for the stone as far as we know.

Upon his death the stone passed to my father, and then to myself. My grandfather never told my father how the stone worked or what the process was to use it and so I am left with just the stone itself and the stories of what it was used for.

Below is a picture of the stone.

[iWriteStuff]

Cosmic irony! I was just reading about seer stones this morning. From One Eternal Round, by Hugh Nibley:

Brigham Young reports that the Prophet Joseph declared, “every man who lived upon the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who find one make an evil use of it.”

Curious how many people A) aspire to it and B) actually receive one.

[Baurak Ale]

Nephites seer stones are for sale online if you know what to look for. For reference read this:

https://powerinthepriesthood.wordpress. ... er-stones/

[Finrock]

I couldn't help but notice that violent games (particularly fantasy games) a few years ago starting to implement seer stones and seers into their systems. They try to label seers as 'cultists' or wizards to youth before they have fully formed their awareness of truth and error. And it seemed like it was trying to brainwash young people about witchcraft etc, and to reject Joseph Smith's testimony. I even saw people commenting about the similarities.

This is no accident. We know the truth. The Holy Ghost teaches us what's right.

OK, so about seer stones...

When we're ready for it, then it'll work itself out.

But I did have our previous bishop one time tell me in privacy that the iphone technology available now does have a lot of similarities to a Urim and Thummim because of the free access to information to better our lives. You can access conference talks, scriptures, and learn about the Gospel. That's really what we'd be using a Urim and Thumim or seer stone for. We can also use them to see what happened in the past. (And we 'see' the future by studying and reading about the 'Signs before the Second Coming'. We actually have more information than many if not most previous dispensations' prophets!) (Whether or not its the real thing kind of depends on if you try to use it for what it was intended.)

A liahona was basically the same way as above.

Lehi and his family used the Liahona to know which way to go. But also messages would be written upon it and 'change from time to time'. (Same as iphone technology).

But there were warnings about Urim and Thumim type of technology also that if someone were to look at something forbidden to them it could destroy them. (Sounds exactly as the warnings about watching or finding porn on iphones doesn't it?) So in actuality, we really aren't that different from these people.

We have a lot in common with them!

Proper usage of technology is really critical right now. People are also trying to teach you don't need faith or repentance, or to live the Gospel when you accept it now! This is a lie by Satan! Also they teach that leaders should educate themselves about Babylon to create excempt status of those that don't want to change or repent.

Paul rejected his old identity as Saul the sinner in order to fully accept being a faithful, repentant follower and disciple of Jesus. So did Alma the Younger. The Brother of Jared was chastised by the Lord for falling away and then repented. We can use these stories to identify what's going on and not be tricked.

Satan also tried to get Adam and Eve to follow the Gospel through philosophy with tricking them to 'hide sins' instead of use faith and repent. (They didn't fall for it but the pattern can be identified.)

When you really think about it from a Gospel Perspective then you can see that the world is trying to make us think backwards. Is it just a coincidence that the Ensign articles are called the 'Liahona'? I don't think it is. People in the Spirit World are probably hearing the teachers of the gospel there tell them that the righteous worthy disciples currently on Earth have a liahona delivered to their tents every month right now in mortality (through the mail). And to think of it that way is really true! But the fog and darkness of the world is preventing us from seeing that Heavenly Father is trying to give us the same rich experiences we read in the scriptures, but we are 'asleep' and don't see it for what it is.

Babylon and mortality try to make us think it's 'JUST' a magazine. Spirituality and the Spirit are trying to help us see, 'its not really an Ensign/Liahona', it's the real Liahona being delivered much like how King Benjamin talked to people on the tower while they were still in their tents.

A monthly magazine that a Church committee decided to name "Liahona" is not the same as receiving a mysterious object from nowhere, from God, all of a sudden, outside of your tent, which worked by faith, and which was unlike anything that had been seen before.

It's like trying to convince a kid that a carrot, which is quite sweet, is actually just like candy (it IS candy) and its just as tasty and as good as the kids favorite treat. The kid is like, um, no thanks. You keep the carrot, I'll stick with candy.

Babylon and mortality aren't trying to make us believe they are just magazines. They are just magazines. I, as a person who exercises great faith in Jesus Christ and who is truly His disciple and a loyal member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I recognize that these are just magazines. The Liahona magazine is not actually a "liahona" from the scriptures or anything like it. In my opinion trying to make the case that it is is a function of wishful thinking, stretching truth, extreme parallelomania, and frankly pretty childish.

-Finrock

[illyume]

I couldn't help but notice that violent games (particularly fantasy games) a few years ago starting to implement seer stones and seers into their systems. They try to label seers as 'cultists' or wizards to youth before they have fully formed their awareness of truth and error. And it seemed like it was trying to brainwash young people about witchcraft etc, and to reject Joseph Smith's testimony. I even saw people commenting about the similarities.

This is no accident. We know the truth. The Holy Ghost teaches us what's right.

Oh! You mean like the palantír of Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954?

[Alaris]

Most revelations Joseph Smith received were as a result of asking a question. This process makes a great deal of sense because everything that leads up to that question - learning, studying, humility - is preparing to ask a question where the answer will then be treasured by the asker. Much like easy come easy go - the reward that is earned is the reward that is appreciated.

Likewise there is a process to receiving a seer stone that is very similar. There is a period of preparation, of study, - and most importantly, asking to receive such. There is another element here - a promised reward, a working to receive that reward, and then receiving that reward.

I do not know that every soul on earth has a seer stone as BY seems to imply, though he may have intended "every man who lived on the earth" in the context of his audience. Maybe.

However, I suspect anyone who has overcome the third promise of Revelation in their eternal journey has the right to receive a stone in mortality, and I just happen to believe that is the bulk of LDS who are comprised o Ephraim and Manasseh. I believe Levi has this right as well. The other 9 tribes - maybe not imho.

Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Edit:

I met with the Twelve at Brother Joseph’s. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seerstone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make an evil use of it; he showed us his seerstone. (Brigham Young (1801-1877)Autobiography (1801-1844) in Manuscript History of Brigham Young Source: Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).

Consider Brigham Young is remembering a conversation with Joseph Smith years after his death. Perhaps Joseph Smith gave a tighter scope than "every man who lived on the earth" - unless that is intended as a prior eternal round, for the promise of Revelation 2:17 is executed upon first return to the Celestial Kingdom imho.

Edit edit: anyone interested in my personal experience here, send me a pm. Obviously this is a pearl to be considered by the Spirit.

[sevenbak]

Cosmic irony! I was just reading about seer stones this morning. From One Eternal Round, by Hugh Nibley:

Brigham Young reports that the Prophet Joseph declared, “every man who lived upon the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who find one make an evil use of it.”

Curious how many people A) aspire to it and B) actually receive one.

Revelations 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

[oneClimbs]

Just wondering does any one know how to get a seer stone, or how to make you?

Be prepared to be held eternally accountable for whatever you see.

[tribrac]

Listen to the first 4 minutes of this video to hear Grant Palmer give a description of 3 seer stones he got to see that the LDS Church has:

Interesting, his description doesnt quite match the photo.

[Joel]

[JK4Woods]

I was up in Yosemite NP several years ago, and wandering around the village in the valley floor.
We stepped into the art shop and looking around they had a polished rock display with pictures of different minerals, and a bin around the base with polished rocks that could be purchase at so many for $10, etc.

I reached my hand in and swept it back and forth in the bin of small polished rocks, for some reason thinking about seer stones.
I wondered if I might find one in the bin.
No sooner had I thought of this, than a stone fell into my hand and caused my attention to focus on it.
It was a nice looking stone with almost a tiger stripe of graining on each edge. Smooth and roundish.

I though to myself.... is this a seer stone for me..??
Just then... my wife and two kids clambered by announcing they are done, and leaving right-now to go to the next store, and told me to come along...
I literally was distracted and hauled away, the stone falling out of my hand back into the bin with all the rest of the polished rocks.

As I stepped from the store, I felt like I missed something, and from time to time over the last few years reflected on what happened and whether I was saved from getting a seer stone .... or prevented from getting a seer stone...
Not quite sure, but the urge to go back and try and find that same stone has not abated each time I remember the occasion...

[Joel]

[The Airbender]

Just wondering does any one know how to get a seer stone, or how to make you?

They are given by God. If you ask for one you may receive one. Mine showed up in front of a good friend’s house while we were staying there. I asked if anyone had seen it or whose it was. No one claimed it. Their son is a rock hound and he looked at this incredible rock as if it was a cow pie. Later O asked my wife what she thought of it. She held it I. Her hands and prayed and then exclaimed that it was incredible and I was supposed to keep it. Another man I showed it to told me he felt it was mine from before this life. Pretty cool.

[Michael Sherwin]

When I first joined the Church before I ever heard of the seer stone I was walking by a mountain lake. The water level was low because it was late summer. There were all kinds of really cool rocks. Different colors. Different aggregates. I started to pick up some of the more spectacular ones. Then I decided that I had enough stuff and I'd just leave the rocks there for others to enjoy. After I put down the rocks as I was getting ready to leave the Lord said to me, "look down, you want to take that one home". I reached for a pretty one and the Lord said, "no not that one, the brown one". So I picked it up and said, "why this one Lord, it isn't pretty at all". The Lord replied, "you will know in a few days". A few days later I read on the internet about the seer stone for the first time and the description of it being brown, round and about the size of an egg. The description was identical to the stone that the Lord had me pick up and take home. But the disappointing part is that it seems to be a dud as I have not been able to see anything with it.

[Joel]

say the magic words over these

[BeNotDeceived]

Just wondering does any one know how to get a seer stone, or how to make you?

Chances are,
that all here now,
or some time recently, held or hold,
a UIUX device that has many properties of said stones.

Those not holding a mobile device are yet looking through glass, that is primarily composed of quartz. Seas are surrounded by sandy beaches. And think Spectacles and the V in TV. Can not many devices now light the way like unto magical stones of the past? Sapphire crystals now send and receive important messages via sight, and sound, too. Speakers and microphones operate on the basis of magnetism, which too is another unique property of stones.

As exemplified by Yogi Berra, the continuing incidence of vehicles violating grade crossings and causing accidents has been easily explained over the years by DOT, FHA, FRA and trucking/bus firms as “we made too many mistakes.” - https://www.railwayage.com/safety/what- ... nd-listen/

remember to Stop, Look, and Listen,
recognizing things for what they are.

Quack , but not walk. gbng

[Alaris]

say the magic words over these

I think someone already did!