IS MORMONISM PAGANISM?
                           by Thomas S. Rue
                      From Harvest vol#9 issue#6

      Call the Psychic Awareness Network 508/795-7628 300-2400 24 hours

    At a recent pagan gathering in New York State, someone said in a
    workshop that he was highly intrigued by certain aspects of Meomonism,
    as described in literature he lately received in the mail from a
    Baptist group.  The man"s comments got me thinking.

    I am a former Mormon elder, and served a two-year mission in Colorado.
    After being "disfellowshipped" in 1981, I was excommunicated for
    apostasy (heresy) in 1988.  When I converted to Mormonism at the age
    of 14.  I abandoned my prior interests in mythology and witchcraft, to
    which I have since returned.  (In words attributated to Adam in
    Paradise Lost, prior to his partaking of the divine knowledge:  "So
    forcibly within my heart I feel/ the bond of Nature draw me to my own:
    / My own in thee; for whatr thou art is mine.")

    At first glance, mormonism might appear to some witches as having
    traits resembling some aspects of paganism.  To an outside observer,
    Mormon temple rituals could appear as mysterious as those of the
    Masons (upon which they are based); or its doctrines esoteric or
    deeply metaphysical.

    However, in reality, the church is a megalithic business enterprise
    which is as pervasive in conservative American politics as Unitarians
    seem to be on the left.  Several U.S. wars have been endorsed by
    Mormon prophets as "holy causes", while theoretically immutable
    principles have been abandoned by the Mormon church to suit political
    expedience.

    For example, when I attended Brigham Young University's extension
    program in Jerusalem in 1977, we were instructed by Mormon aplostle
    Boyd Christan".  This seemed a transparent propagande ploy in dealing
    with the descendants of those who have routinely been massacred and
    persecuted over the conturies at the hands of purported followers of
    that Gallilean rabbi.

    Heavenly Mother
    The mormon concept of a "Heavenly Mother" is outlined in a hymn by
    church leader Eliza R. Snow, and remains an oficially sanctioned
    doctrine.  One verse of the hymn entitled "Oh, My Father!"reads;
     "In the heavens are parents single?/ No, the thought makes reason
    stare./ Truth is reason: truth eternal/ tells me I've a mother there."
    This is among the very few places where the existence of a Mother
    Goddess is acknowledged by the Mormon church.  She is rarely discussed
    publicly, which church leaders explain by claiming Her name is so
    sacred to the supreme Father that He nobly protects His beloved from
    being defamed (taken in vain)  by humans.  Her identity and nature are
    not known to Mormons, so She is never revered in their worship
    services.  Such "mysteries" are dismissed by the patriarchy as
    unknowable and not essential to our salvation"' and dubbed dangerous
    to inquire after spiritually.

    Mormons are polytheistic.  stress heavily the importance of "free
    agency" (similar to the wiccan concept of Will). and offer
    explanations of ancient Mysteries in standard ritual drams acted out
    in closed temple ceremonies around the world.

    Like most wiccan traditions, Mormons place great reverence on thier
    rituals, which are often accompanied by ecstatic perceptions and
    "revelations".

    Temples did not take on their present garishness until Brigham Young's
    reign as prophet in the late 1840's.  Joseph Smith's "first vision" --
    where two seperate male deities (Elohim and Jehovah) appeared to him
    and -- took place in a wooded spot called by Mormons today "the sacred
    grove", in upstate New York near Lake Ontario.

    Records of their early practices suggest that Joseph Smith may have
    come from a family of witches and produced some of his major sciptural
    and other works through genuine divine inspiration, but forsook his
    basic Craft roots in favor of a militaristic patriarchy, with himself,
    his brother Hyrum, and their dad at the head.

    Smith reported he translated the gold plates of the Book of Mormon by
    scrying into a pair of ancient crystals given him by a divine
    messenger named Moroni, who also gave him the plates themselves (and
    subsequently took them back).  Smith compared his "magic spectacles"
    to the Urim and Thummim described in the Bible as having adorned the
    breastplate of the high priest in the Mosaic tabernacle.

    Having studied Latter-Day Saint (LDS) theology fairly extensively, it
    sems possible to this writer that contemporaries of Joesph Smith in
    the early 19th century may have intentionally incorporated ancient
    pagan beliefs and rituals in order to win over the Indians (called
    "Lamanites" in the Book of Mormom) or other converts

    Mordern LDS missionaries continue to convert thousands of native
    Amercains each year, with talesfrom the Book of Mormon.  The ancient
    name of Quetzalcoatl ("feathered snake") is invoked by Mormons to
    substantiate accounts of a visit of the resurrected Jesusto America
    following his crucifixion in Palestine.  They claim this ancient god
    was actually Jesus, whose myths became corrupted over the ages.

    However, unlike shamanistic of other pagan traditions -- aside from a
    token acknowledgement of the existence of a Great Goddess -- modern
    mormonism is absolutelyu as locked into the patriarchal military-
    industrial way of thinking as Sonia Johnson described it in her book
    Hoesewife to the Heretic. published by Doubleday in 1981.

    Johnson was excommunicated for "apostasy" shortly before, when she
    publicly spoke in favor of the Equal Rights Ammendment.

    Similarly, Mormons regard African peoples as descendants of Cain,
    whose descendants -- like those of the "Lamanites" - were cursed with
    "dark and loathsome" skins as a result of their wickedness.  Brigham
    Young preached that slavery was ordained of God.

    Only as recently as 1978 have Blacks been allowed into Mormon temples
    or to hold the priesthood (although women are still excluded from the
    latter).

    Just as the Federal goverment ppressured the church to abandon
    patriachal polygamy in 1890, before Utah would be given statehood, it
    does not seem unlikely that the admission of Blacks 10 years ago was a
    yielding by the church to threats of suspension of its tax-exempt
    status for racial descriminaton.

    This may also be the reason why LDS authorities so viciously fought
    passage of the ERA during its last consideration by Congress;  because
    it might have given women the same protection as the Civil Rights Act
    of 1964 gave to other groups.

    However, some would reply that Mormonism is in reality no more
    dangerous or intolerant than any other Christian religious
    organization.  Like evangelical protestantism, its tenets are
    patriarchal, creating a highly constrited and adversarial world view.

    Mormons talk much of the "last days" before the start of the
    Millenium,  and lump all occult practice or parapsychology into a
    category called "Satanism"; accepting church teachings as "eternal
    truth", or prophetic utterances invested with divine authority --
    rarely honestly evaluating for themselves.

    Latter Day Saints believe, after a great war, they as an organization
    (the church of the Firstborn) will apocalypticaly triumph over evil.
    and that the flag of the United States will fly oer a world theocracy
    led by the Mormon prophet for the next thousand years. The pprojected
    Empire is planned to be based in "Zion", known to Mormons as
    Independence, Missouri (near Kansas City).

     Whether Mormons are pagan is a question they themselves would
    undoubtedly answer no (although they themselves also sometimes deny
    being Christian too).  Most witches would probably concur, and it may
    be in the best interests of all who love freedom -- pagan or otherwise
    -- to watch carefully the monied powers emanating fromt he
    self-declared "Kingdom of God" headquarted at 50 East North Temple St,
    Salt Lake City

     Typed in By Koren
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