Volume 27, No. 3

Fall 1994

The Fall 1994 Issue delves into the intricate connections between Freemasonry, Kabbalah, and early Mormonism, as well as the life and legacy of Joseph Smith. Michael W. Homer explores the similarities between priesthood in Masonry and Mormonism, highlighting the influences of Freemasonry on the development of Mormon practices. Dan Vogel investigates the locations of Smith's early treasure quests, shedding light on the formative experiences that influenced his later religious pursuits. Edgar C. Snow, Jr. searches for the mythological aspects of Joseph Smith's persona, while Robert D. Anderson introduces a psychobiographical approach to understanding Smith's complex character. Edward H. Ashment concludes with a discussion on the historical origins and religious significance of the temple, providing a broader context for understanding these themes.

Articles/Essays

“Similarity of Priesthood in Masonry”: The Relationship between Freemasonry and Mormonism

Michael W. Homer

Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection

Lance S. Owens

The Locations of Joseph Smith’s Early Treasure Quests

Dan Vogel

Dialogue 27.3 (Fall 1994): 197–231

Vogel uses firsthand accounts of people’s reactions to Joseph Smith’s treasure digging.

One Face of the Hero: In Search of the Mythological Joseph Smith

Edgar C. Snow Jr.

Dialogue 27.3 (Fall 1994): 233–247
Snow puts Joseph Smith squarely within Joseph Campbell’s famous work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which is also known as the heroes journey.

Toward an Introduction to a Psychobiography of Joseph Smith

Robert D. Anderson

From Temple to Anti-Mormon: The Ambivalent Odyssey of Increase Van Dusen

Craig L. Foster

The Temple: Historical Origins and Religious Value

Edward H. Ashment

Dialogue 27.3 (1994): 289–298
Over time Joseph Smith changed his stance on freemasonary, which led to him being included as part of the group. Some of the common aspects of freemasonry introduced into the endowment ceremony.

Prophet by the Sea

Phyllis Barber

One late afternoon just before sunset, the Prophet with white hair like the mane of a lion was walking by the sea with his friend, Fernando. They walked and talked about many things as the…

Pilgrimage

Joanna Brooks

After ten hours of driving, out of the old station wagon.
My mother, roadworn, care poor,
steps over the fallen gate.

In a Far Land

M. Shayne Bell

So many women on their knees
that if I knew how to tell them
they could find hope here,
or that there the men

Listening to Mozart’s Requiem While Crossing the San Rafael

M. Shayne Bell

The Requiem matched
the smell of death
on the leather of my coat,
and the fear in the music

Clean

Donna Bernhisel

Creekbottom
pushes up between our toes
like mushrooms.
Summer water

Early Winter

Anita Tanner

Home from the dance in a howling blizzard.
The kitchen door blown open.
A heap of snow swirled onto linoleum.
I’m entranced at the violence,

Storytime

Philip White

Even now in the stony
courtyard under withered
vines the characters

My mama’s hands

Donna Bernhisel

can hold eight eggs
when she walks from the
refrigerator to the stove,
bacon fat popping out

On X-ing

Marden J. Clark

crossed out—an inexact word in typescript
but not erased
left unused—an unread book
but not unneeded

A Courtship

Joseph Fisher

I remember the great bear
circling the blue night,
the black juniper and no motion.

To the single men of the church

Derk Koldewyn

who sit singly, as I do, on unkempt
beds in dingy small rooms among their own
litter and cast-off clothes; who slump
against walls watching late-nite TV instead

sonnet: on his blindness to autumn

Marden J. Clark

i too consider how my days are spent
and fret but little when like autumn’s bright
orange maples they fade and fall, my sight
is good enough to burn those maples, scent

Loose Ends That Defy Explanation | Robert Kent Fielding, The Unsolicited Chronicler: An Account of the Gunnison Massacre. Its Causes and Consequences

Fred R. Gowans and Vivian Linford Talbot

After fourteen years of “pains taking historical detective work on the Gunnison Massacre” (see dust jacket), Robert Kent Fielding has concluded that the history of the Mormons between 1847 and 1859 has not been dealt…

Memory and Familiarity | Thomas Edward Cheney, Voices from the Bottom of the Bowl: A Folk History of Teton Valley, Idaho, from 1823-1952

Elaine Thatcher

This collection of reminiscences about life in a tiny southern Idaho com munity has such an authentic flavor of small-town Mormon country, a flavor which I did not experience first-hand but at a second-generation level…

The Burden of Proof | Ron Schow, Wayne Schow, and Marybeth Raynes, eds., Peculiar People: Mormons and Same-sex Orientation, and AMCAP Journal, Volume 19

Gary M. Watts

Having sold out its two cloth printings, Peculiar People: Mormons and Same-sex Orientation is now available in paperback. First published in 1991 by Signature Books and edited by Ron Schow, Wayne Schow, and Marybeth Raynes, it…