Excerpt from Chapter 6 -- "UFOs, ETs, and the Mystery Schools" of  Judy Kennedy's book.

The Gnostic Vision of Joseph Smith

On April 7, 1844, Joseph Smith  wrote,

"You don’t know me – you never will.  You never knew my heart.  No man knows my history.  I cannot tell it; I shall never undertake it.  I don’t blame anyone for not believing my history.  If I had not experienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself."[i]

That phrase right there was perhaps the truest prophecy Joseph Smith ever made.  For over a century, his own religion never even recognized him for the true Gnostic that he was. 

Whatever you may think of Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as it is officially called, it is the fastest growing religion  in the world.  Its church is one of the most influential and wealthiest institutions in the United States.  Its flock is comprised of individuals whose mainly conservative values stem from a belief in inherent divinity and the expression of that divinity through principle-centered living.  What most churches preach, Mormons practice.  Like Buddhists living the dharma, Mormon lifestyle is centered on religious belief.  Church is not something that just happens on Sundays.  It permeates every aspect of their lives – particularly the family.  Church happens at home, and home happens at church.  While each individual church or ward as they call it, has its own Bishop, the Bishop does not give sermons.  The members of the church, even the children, share their testimonials each Sunday in place of a sermon.  So everyone is encouraged to participate in church activities from a very early age. 

Mormonism is still relatively young – not even 200 years old yet.  Already, it carries many unresolved contradictions in its law and scripture.  Like all new religions, it’s had to struggle and evolve  to where it is today, and it’s still changing.  Due to the controversial nature of early Mormon teachings, the church has also suffered from internal division, and today there exist many churches which are offshoots from the main body.  One of the most noted is a fundamentalist branch that still practices polygamy in remote areas of Utah and northern Arizona, even though that practice is illegal and no longer condoned by the main LDS Church. 

Though outsiders and ex-Mormons alike have criticized the church for legitimate reasons, it must be offering an attractive package because membership is growing at an astonishing rate.  Most Mormons I’ve met have been exceptionally friendly, hard working and principle-centered.  For community outreach and helping their own, they can’t be beat.   

Some Christian fundamentalists do not recognize Mormonism as an authentic denomination of Christianity.  They claim it is just a large cult founded on occult practices.  On the outside, the LDS Church is anything but a cult with its emphasis on family values, tradition, and patriotism.  Yet allegations about occult influence are correct, though most Mormons might disagree with that assertion.

Joseph Smith was born in 1805.  Early on, it was evident that he was psychically sensitive and prone to emotional intensity.  While an adolescent living in Palmyra, New York, he became disillusioned by the hypocrisy and petty disputes prevalent among the various church denominations in his community.  A born nature mystic, he went to the woods seeking guidance.  This is more significant than perhaps realized because it reinforces Smith’s sacred outlook on nature and the Cosmos that would be pivotal in formulating the foundation of Mormon doctrine.  It is also not the first time a spiritual sage in the making would seek refuge in a forest, a sacred grove or under a special tree for divine revelation.  In his words (and original spelling):

"For I looked upon the sun the glorious luminary of the earth and also the moon rolling in their magesty through the heavens and also the stars shining in their courses and the earth also upon which I stood and the best of the field and the fowls of heaven and the fish of the waters and also man walking forth upon the face of the earth in magesty and in the strength and beauty whose power and intiligence in governing the things which are so exeding great and marvilous even in the likeness of him who created them and when I considered upon these things my heart exclaimed well hath the wise man said it is a fool that saith in his heart there is no God my heart exclaimed all these bear testimony and bespeak an omnipotent and omnipresent power a being that makith Laws and decreeeth and bindeth all things in their bounds who filleth Eternity who was and is and will be from All Eternity to Eternity."[ii]

While he was praying in the midst of these trees, a brilliant pillar of light descended through the forest canopy and enveloped him.  Luminous beings appeared in answer to his prayer.  They instructed him to stay away from all churches because they were not genuine.  Several years later, while praying in his room, Joseph had another mystical experience involving a descending beam of brilliant light.  This time the luminous being was Moroni – an angel whose presence and appearance was like lightening Smith said.  Moroni appeared to him three times during the same night, repeating verbatim the same message as the first. 

Essentially, Moroni directed Smith to some gold plates hidden in a nearby hill that contained the history of the ancient people of North America.  Smith eventually translated these ancient texts into what we now know as the Book of Mormon.  Mormons believe that this book is an addendum to the Old and New Testament of the Bible, that Jesus appeared in the Americas shortly after his resurrection to teach, and that their church is the restoration of the true church intended by Christ.  And that’s how the religion got started. 

From the very beginning, the religion and its practices were controversial.  Smith’s bold and unorthodox behavior only added fuel to the fire.  Subsequently, he and his brother were assassinated on June 27, 1844 by an angry mob. 

Regardless of what you may believe about the religion and the accuracy of the events that led up to it, it is undisputed that Smith had an authentic mystical experience that had a profoundly transformative effect on himself and those around him.  Joseph Smith was a modern Gnostic  prophet.  What is a Gnostic?  Gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis meaning knowing based on experience.  Therefore, Gnostics don’t believe anything that they haven’t experienced for themselves.  As Jung or some other Gnostic used to say, “I don’t believe.  I know.”  Hence, consider Joseph Smith’s statement. 

A sect of early Christians felt this very same way, and produced the Gnostic Gospels discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt  in 1945.  The texts are closer to the true teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples than anything found thus far.  These early Christians recognized the divine feminine, and there is much evidence to support that their culture did not devalue women nor bar them from taking on leadership roles in the spiritual community.  In fact, Mary Magdalene was the author of one of these texts.

Joseph Smith’s involvement with occultism is historically documented.  He often practiced divination by gazing into a “seer stone.”  He soon fell into a group that practiced ceremonial magic and went treasure digging.  He began associating with Masons and other influential people with an occult background.   In fact, his wife’s cousin, a physician named Dr. Luman Walter, toured Europe as a popular mesmerist well versed in alchemy, Hermetic lore, and naturopathy .  After Smith died, his family, as was tradition, preserved all his sacred relics.  Among these was a ceremonial dagger bearing the occult sigil for Mars, and a silver medallion that probably served as a special talisman inscribed with the magic square and symbol for Jupiter, an astrological  force associated with the time of his birth.     

Significantly, Moroni appeared to Smith during the evening of the fall equinox between the hours of midnight and dawn -- traditionally the best hours for magical invocation.  Smith’s participation in a Masonic lodge lends further evidence to the importance of ritual and symbolism in his spiritual practice.  Many Mormon rites reflect this occult influence.  Freemasonry had already left a bad taste in the mouths of most Americans.  But Smith recognized it for the corrupted remnant of the ancient mysteries that it was, and explained to his followers that his efforts were towards restoring the sacred mysteries to their fullness.[iii]  Smith also associated with a Qabalist that probably exposed him to the classic text, The Zohar, from which Smith quotes in his April 7, 1844 public declaration of the plurality of the Gods.  It was from the Qabalah that Smith got his teaching about the spiritual evolution of humanity -- that we are destined to become as gods ourselves by virtue of the divine spark within us all.  It is also where he gathered the concepts of pre-existent spirits, the unity of matter and spirit, and the covenant of celestial  marriage as the ultimate vehicle for manifesting these truths.  For instance, the divine paradox  – a kind of Zen koan -- is revealed by these words out of the Book of Mormon:  “His paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.” (Alma 37:12).  The Mormon version of the Hermetic Axiom is out of Moses 6:63:

"And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things are in the earth; both things which are under the earth, both above and beneath:all things bear record of me." 

The tendency for humans to grow lopsidedly, however, becomes apparent when Smith took license to misinterpret some of the esoteric teachings.  For instance, the secret alchemical practices concerning sexual polarity and sacred union became debased in the practice of polygamy.   Smith was rightly picking up on the fact that yes, we can all have more than one mate, spiritually speaking, as sex doesn’t only happen between bodies.  Intimate relations can occur, and more often than not do, on the planes of emotion, mind, and pure spirit.  Yet indiscriminate sexual intercourse on the physical plane does not automatically ensure that the mating is secured on the higher planes.  And this is when the trouble ensued.

After Smith’s death, his disciple Brigham Young emerged as the next natural leader of the church.  Young, like Smith, was a full-fledged master Mason.  In order to escape continued persecution, he led his people on their own spiritual Exodus to the valley of the great Salt Lake in Utah, which is a Mormon stronghold to this day.  Though Young was a staunch defender of the practice of polygamy, pressure from the United States government forced the church to publicly abandon the practice in 1890.  The church has never been the same since.

How it evolved into the conservative, dogmatic institution that it is today is another story, and a complex one at that.  The life of Joseph Smith very much followed the pattern of earlier saints  and mystics, to the point where the events in his life came to symbolize and represent the integration of spiritual archetype into principles of practice, much like the life of Jesus Christ or the Rosicrucian equivalent, Christian Rosenkreutz.  Whether Smith was fully aware that the events in his personal life were staged for creating a new mythology of lasting religious significance is arguable.  Nonetheless, that’s exactly what occurred.  Being the fully trained occultist that he was, he was undeniably familiar with the use of metaphor and symbolism in revealing spiritual principle.  Therefore, it is equally certain that he intended his followers to focus more on the inner meaning of the symbols and the allegory than a strict literal  interpretation.  But this is not what happened.  His indolent flock began to relinquish the personal knowing of gnosis and divine self-revelation to blind faith, belief and obedience to religious authority.  Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney, authors of Hidden Wisdom:  A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions, explain that gnosis, being based on experiential reality, is a vital and dynamic process.  When that energy is subject to systematization, metaphors are mistaken for facts and spiritual reality becomes static.[iv]

Therefore, the imaginative vitality of the prophet’s original revelations was effectively drained by Mormons looking to the church before the teaching and by valuing the preservation of the collective over the sanctity of the individual.  However, the religion is still evolving, and there are signs that a revitalization of some of these sacred principles may be underway.  For instance, when potential new members are investigating the church, they are encouraged by the elders to invoke the “Holy Ghost” directly for guidance on whether the teachings as presented by the church are true.  I find this fascinating because it appears to be a throwback to their Gnostic  roots.  Yet once baptized into the church, you are beholden to the church – never mind what the “Holy Ghost” tells you.  Excommunication is church policy for those who go astray.  The administration of other church protocol is similarly rife with inconsistencies.  But this does not seem to bother most members, who for the most part, remain blissfully unaware of the religion’s deep roots in the occult tradition of the Western mysteries . 

Still, the Book of Mormon continues to lend itself to both a literal and symbolic view of reality, which makes it a useful instrument indeed.  As stated in 1 Nephi 22:2-3, “For by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.  Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual.” 

Kevin Christensen has written a wonderful essay on the numinous and mystical qualities of Mormon spiritual experience.  He explains it like this:

"The Book of Mormon sets the pattern for Mormonism by combining the physical and the spiritual, the literal and the symbolic, the unique historic event and the mythic recurrence.  Nephi tells us that he is writing a history, but that history is organized around the vision of the tree of life.  We can neither separate the history from the symbols of the vision, nor the symbolic vision from the narrative history.  The vision is a historic event, and the symbols of the vision come from the physical landscape.  Yet the vision enacts current tensions and future events in the history of Lehi’s family, just as it depicts eternal realities.  Even when Nephi refers to history, he does so, not to merely recite facts, but to “liken” the history to his people, that is, to relive the patterns of creation and Exodus, and make them actual in the lives of his people and his readers… The literal and the symbolic illuminate and give meaning to each other; attempts to separate them make no sense at all."[v]

Yet unfortunately, both members and non-members of the church appear to do just that more often than not.  Nevertheless, Mormons derive great strength from the fact that they have a rich, special history that alone belongs to them.  Sharing the spiritual significance of that recent historical journey sustains and reinforces their immovable faith more than scripture alone.  Many modern Mormon families take great pride and joy in re-enacting the Exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois to their Salt Lake mecca on a yearly basis.  It is truly a rewarding religious pilgrimage . 

The circumstances surrounding the creation of this religion has sparked the interest of UFOlogists.  It brings to mind the occult tradition of invoking extraterrestrial intelligence by means of ceremonial magic, such as was described with John Dee and Aleister Crowley.  I believe this is precisely what transpired with Joseph Smith, especially given his background in Hermetic science.  Moroni was more than likely an extraterrestrial intelligence that was trying to convey an important message through Smith. 

There is a negative faction who believe that Moroni was a Satanic “false angel” who deliberately set out to deceive Smith, regardless of whether he was invoked or not.  One of the luminous beings and important figures in the Mormon texts is Nephi, whose name has been said to be shorthand for Nefilim, sometimes spelled Nephilim, otherwise known as our dear Anunnaki.  The manner in which the vision occurred persuades some researchers to believe that it was a holographic projection played to Smith by the manipulative aliens.[vi]  They surely had this technology, though it would be a hundred years or more before we developed it for use in the entertainment industry and psychotronic weaponry.  As author William Bramley states,

"Joseph’s angel, Moroni, was different than the angels described by Ezekiel and John in the Bible.  Smith’s angel did not wear items that could be interpreted as a helmet and boots.  Moroni was a figure in a true robe.  However, Joseph appears to have been looking at a recorded image projected through the window into his room.  The clue to this lies in Joseph’s words that Moroni had repeated the second message “without the least variation.”  This suggests a recorded message.  The manner in which Moroni disappeared indicates a projected light image from a source in the sky outside the house.  When Moroni returned for a third time that same night, Smith “heard him rehearse or repeat over again… the same things – as before…”  …If Smith’s account is accurate and UFO-related, there would be tremendous humor in it.  Today we can go to Disneyland and marvel at remarkable, life-like, projected images of talking heads in the Haunted House ride.  A similar projection viewed by a young country bumpkin in the 19^th century would no doubt be considered nothing less than a true vision from God…  Joseph’s testimony that he felt seized and unable to move is identical to several modern UFO encounters in which eyewitnesses report being immobilized, especially before an abduction."[vii]

In addition, Mormon doctrines speak openly of inhabited planets in the universe, which was quite visionary for the 19^th century.  Certain scripture specifically describes a stellar body called “Kolob” – having special significance in the cosmic order:

"And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; And the Lord said unto me:  These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God:  I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest."[viii]

Mormon academia employ archeologists and astronomers to search for clues that might lead to the verification of their scriptural claims.  Speculation that Kolob is really Sirius has been made.  I would like one of our sacred language or secret cipher experts to decode the name and see what comes up!  At any rate, most Mormons I’ve questioned believe that extraterrestrials inhabit other worlds, that they look just like us, and that they are every bit as much God’s children as we are.

Suppose Joseph Smith was really visited by an extraterrestrial.  The Book of Mormon is a record of prolonged fratricidal oppositions, apocalyptic vision, and a witness to salvation through Christ.  If Moroni was an Anunnaki, perhaps the stories about fratricidal opposition stem from the “wars of the gods” instigated by the conflicts between Enlil and Enki factions.  There are countless other similarities, too numerous to explore here, between the story as told to Smith by Moroni and what’s being uncovered by Sitchin and other researchers in Mesoamerica where Mormons hope to find hard evidence of their ancient Americans.  For instance, 3 Nephi 8:5-23 in the Book of Mormon contains a description of an event that can be no less than a nuclear holocaust and a subsequent nuclear winter.   A widespread deluge with sinking cities is also related resembling the story of Atlantis.  But was this visitation a malicious manipulation by sinister aliens with an evil agenda?  I doubt it.

The Internet is full of such conspiracies and speculations.  There is also mixed information and disinformation published about obscure Mormon sects openly practicing a Gnostic, occult Essene tradition.  These sects are said to be cult-like and abusive toward their members.  Of course sensational stories of unusual ritualized sexual practices are a major theme.  Again, if these stories are true, rest assured that these followers are continuing to misinterpret the esoteric teachings concerning alchemy and sacred sexuality.  No esoteric spiritual tradition with a genuine connection to the Inner School would engage in harmful practices.  Also, not all child  abusers and sexual predators are Mormon.  Each religion has its share of bad apples.  “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” 

I suspect a Machiavellian disinformation campaign on the part of the muddlers to distract people from the truth.  Both the professed cult and the anti-culters are really the same people pretending to play opposite sides to throw people off.  Why?  Because the more the truth gets out about the Gnostic origins of the church and the esoteric teachings lying beneath and behind the outer temple, the more likely it is that members will begin to seek out the truth for themselves.  Potentially, this could inspire a beautiful mass awakening of sorts resulting in a decisive shift from slavery and dogma to genuine gnosis resulting in self-empowerment and enlightenment.  The powers that be who want to preserve the status quo for self-serving reasons – whether sanctioned by a corrupted  Mormon Church or not – are threatened by such movements and will do whatever they can to squash them.  And by planting the seeds of dissension, disinformation, and deliberate misrepresentation, they can succeed. 

Go with your heart and apply common sense when investigating any religion.  Don’t be misled by disinformation or scandalous misrepresentation.  Hopefully, someday the whole truth about all this will be known so that all the disputes and controversy will finally be put to rest.  In the meantime, I choose to take what is good, useful, and beneficial and leave behind the rest.  Bramley recommends the same:

"No individual or organization is purely good or purely bad.  In our crazy universe, “absolute” good and “absolute” evil just do not appear to exist.  In the worst of people one will always find a tiny ember of good (e.g., the psychopath Adolf Hitler was kind to children), and in the best of individuals there is always at least one thing that should change.  The majority of people who join a group or follow a leader do so for the right reasons:  they have heard an element of truth  or they seek the solution to a genuine problem.  The real trick in judging a person or group is to determine whether more good is being done than bad, and how the bad may be corrected without destroying whatever good there might be.  The task is not usually an easy one."[ix]

As has been said countless times before, there is no such thing as a perfect person or a perfect religion.  Just a perfect perfection – which ultimately all true spiritual tradition seeks to awaken within us.

© Judy Kennedy