Jerald Tanner
Our research leads us to believe that some occultists deliberately set out to infiltrate churches or groups to gain converts to their way of thinking. When we were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin we found evidence that people involved in witchcraft had penetrated some of the Old Catholic churches—splinter groups from the Roman Catholic Church. They were using these groups to obtain converts to witchcraft and were involved in weird sexual practices (see our book, The Lucifer-God Doctrine, pages 23-27).
As we noted earlier, there are some things in LDS Church history and doctrine that make the church vulnerable to infiltration by occultists and others who wish to use the church for their own ends. One of the church’s most important problems has been with regard to polygamists. In the past, significant numbers of Mormons became converted to the practice of polygamy through reading the writings of the early leaders of the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith, the first Mormon prophet, declared that God gave him a revelation that he was to enter into the practice. This revelation is still published in the Doctrine and Covenants, one of the four standard works of the church. We find the following in that revelation: “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph . . . if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery . . . And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery . . . therefore is he justified” (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132, verses 1, 61-62). Joseph Smith was obedient to the commandment and proceeded to marry dozens of plural wives before he was murdered in 1844.
Today, the Mormon Church does not allow its members to practice polygamy, and those who do so are excommunicated. This, of course, creates a real problem in the minds of many members of the church. They reason that if God commanded the church to practice polygamy through its first prophet, they should be allowed the same privilege. Since church leaders never really repudiated the doctrine itself, teach that it will be lived in heaven, and still retain the revelation on polygamy in the Doctrine and Covenants, many Mormons have secretly entered into the practice. These people are known as Mormon Fundamentalists.
Prior to the time the church received a revelation to let blacks hold the priesthood in 1978, there were a large number of people who were “living a dual role”—i.e., pretending to be good Mormons but living in polygamy and secretly meeting with other Fundamentalists when possible. Unlike the satanic group which Glenn Pace envisions, these people believed most of the doctrines of the church and hoped to reinstate the practice of plural marriage in the church. After the blacks were granted the priesthood, many of the Fundamentalists who were still in the Mormon Church felt that the church had gone so far off course that it was hopeless to try and reform it. They, therefore, decided to give up working secretly within the church and terminated their membership. Nevertheless, we believe that there are probably still many within the Mormon Church who are secretly practicing polygamy and playing a dual role so that they will not be excommunicated.
While most Mormon Fundamentalists are peaceful and seem sincere in their beliefs, there are some very radical people among them. For example, a Fundamentalist group known as The Church of The Lamb of God has been responsible for over 20 murders (see the Houston Chronicle, June 28, 1988).
Charges of sexual abuse have sometimes been leveled against members of Fundamentalist sects. On September 16, 1990, the Salt Lake Tribune published an article which contained the following:
CRESTON, British Columbia—A sexual assault trial unfolding in this tiny community is uncovering the 45-year-old history of a polygamy colony. . . . the colony is home to an estimated 300 people who follow the illegal practice of polygamy.
One male member is facing trial this week in B.C.’s provincial court for sexually assaulting two of his three wives, one stepson and one teen-age girl. He can’t be named under Canadian law to protect the identity of the victims.
The accused’s brother was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting his wife’s sister. . . . colony members are part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a break-away group from the Mormons.
Four members of a polygamist group in Ogden, Utah were recently charged with sexually abusing children:
OGDEN—Three women members of a polygamist sect were arraigned Thursday morning on charges of sexually abusing children under the age of 14. . . . The purported male leader of the group, Arvin Shreeve, 61, was arraigned last week on two counts of aggravated sexual assault or, in the alternative, sodomy on a child involving two boys under the age of 14. . . . On Aug. 2, police raided seven homes of group members in a north Ogden neighborhood and removed nine children.
Mr. Shreeve later pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges saying that he did not want to have the children put in a position of having to testify in court.
We recently received information indicating that sex abuse and the creation of pornography may be going on in another polygamist group.
It is alleged that the Mormon Fundamentalist, John W. Bryant created his own set of “sacred ordinances” which permitted promiscuity. Steven L. Shields says that at “a young age, John W. Bryant, the Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Christ (Patriarchal), began receiving visions . . . He was given certain knowledge by the Lord which pertained to the temple ordinances” (Divergent Paths of the Restoration, 1982, page 197).
In his book on Mormon polygamy Richard S. Van Wagoner gave the following information:
Like many other Independent Fundamentalists, Bryant first converted to mainstream Mormonism. Obsessed with early Mormon teachings on polygamy, he . . . took a second wife, Dawn Samuels (not her real name).
With Dawn set apart as “The High Priestess of the Last Dispensation,” Bryant began bestowing his newly revealed ordinances on others . . . Bryant wrote prolifically while operating a Salt Lake City bookstore. Dawn joined him in highly secretive “sacred ordinances” which soon evolved into sexual rites.
Bryant would conduct a special “marriage ceremony before each time we had intercourse with someone we weren’t married to.” Dawn adds that there were various levels to this procedure . . . For instance, if a single person were sealed into mine and John’s family, then all the sexual rights of marriage existed within that unit as long as John approved.’ This applied to heterosexual and homosexual couplings. . . . the group soon attracted notoriety because of Bryant’s expansion of the third level of ordinances— family sealings. He was sealed within many families, and “soon it was opened up so that sex, even incest, could be with almost anyone, anytime.” (Mormon Polygamy, Second Edition, pages 214-216)
There are a number of Fundamentalist sects in Utah, other states, and also in Canada and Mexico. In the 1960’s it was estimated that there were about 100 such groups. Although most of the individual groups are rather small, it is believed that there are tens of thousands of Fundamentalists.
There are a number of things that happened in the early history of the Mormon Church which might tend to attract occultists. For example, in Joseph Smith’s time those who were caught up in magical practices sometimes used “Seer Stones” to find buried treasures. Joseph Smith himself was involved in this practice. In 1826 he was brought before Justice Albert Neely to be examined regarding this practice (see photographic proof in Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? pages 32-35). A few years later he used this same method to translate the Book of Mormon. David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, wrote: “I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing” (An Address To All Believers In Christ, 1887, page 12). Many witnesses confirmed this statement and even the Mormon historian B. H. Roberts referred to the use of a Seer Stone in translating the Book of Mormon (see A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 1, page 129).
This, of course, reminds one of the practice of crystal gazing which is widely practiced in the occult.
In addition, as we have previously noted, Joseph Smith joined the Masonic Fraternity and plagiarized material from its rituals which he used in his temple endowment ceremony. The founders of modern witchcraft also borrowed from Masonic rites. This, of course, has created some important parallels between witchcraft and Mormonism, and some writers have jumped to the conclusion that Mormonism was taken from witchcraft. Actually, Smith borrowed from the Masons in the 1840’s, long before modern witchcraft came into being.
Francis King gives this information:
Without exception all the cult members I have met have believed, or at least pretended to believe, that their magical-sexual-religious rites are of immemorial antiquity . . . It would be nice if this was so, but alas, it isn’t! With one or two dubious exceptions all the covens of the modern witch-cult owe their existence to the activities of Gerald Gardiner, an eccentric Englishman who died in 1964. (Sexuality, Magic and Perversion, page 4)
Noted authority on religion and the occult, J. Gordon Melton, has issued a statement showing that Mormonism was not derived from witchcraft but rather that both had a common ancestor in Masonry. For more information on this matter see The Lucifer-God Doctrine, pages 50, 65, 66. It is true that the Smith family had some magic papers and Joseph Smith himself possessed a Jupiter talisman (see photographs of these items relating to magic and astrology in our book, Mormonism, Magic and Masonry). Nevertheless, we have no data to show that he was part of any witchcraft or satanic group in the early 1840’s when he began working on the temple ceremony. There is, on the other hand, very good evidence to show that Smith borrowed heavily from Masonry in creating his ritual (see our book, Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1842-1990, pages 143-151).
It is possible also that the church’s reputation for promoting polygamy during the 19th century might catch the attention of those in the occult who have radical views on sexual behavior.
About thirty years ago we encountered an occultist by the name of William C. Conway who was vying to combine the teachings of Mormonism with those of the Druids. He believed in Joseph Smith and accepted the Mormon Fundamentalist doctrine that polygamy should still be practiced, but combined these beliefs with the teaching of reincarnation. He claimed, in fact, that he had been visited by “Our Druid Brother—the Mormon’s Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. REINCARNATED.” He claimed to have “the Urim and Thummin—also the genuine ‘Seer-stone’” (see The Lucifer-God Doctrine, pages 57-58).
In the late 1960’s a man by the name of Barney C. Taylor founded the Mental Science Institute. Mr. Taylor had been a Mormon who participated in the temple ceremony in 1949. At some point Taylor became deeply involved with the occult and began using the name “Eli.” His Mental Science Institute combined many of the teachings of Mormonism with witchcraft. For example, Joseph Smith seems to have created a new word by slightly modifying the Hebrew word for star—kokob: “And I saw the stars . . . and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God . . . And the Lord said . . . the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me . . .” (Book of Abraham 3:2-3). Eli, likewise, had a Kolob in his system of Druidic witchcraft: “Then one giant yellow sun; a world of very high vibrations, came into the Universe. This was the world of KOLOB, the first” (The Second Book of Wisdom, page 10).
In a revelation published in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 76, Joseph Smith revealed that there are three kingdoms in heaven, the celestial, terrestrial and telestial. In his book, The First Book of Wisdom, page 22, Eli also used these three words: “All worlds, celestial, terrestial and telestial, are inhabited by beings with physical bodies suited for their worlds.” While the final r is missing in “terrestrial,” it is obvious that Eli was borrowing from Mormonism. It is interesting to note that the word “telestial,” is not a real word but was coined by Joseph Smith.
It has been claimed by William Schnoebelen, a man who “was ordained and appointed a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek” in the Mental Science Institute, that Eli’s group had a “Wiccan wedding” ritual with similarities to the Mormon temple ceremony. In fact, in a copy of some pages of the document he has provided there are strong parallels to the temple rites. This typewritten document is entitled, “Ye Rite of Handfasting.” In this ceremony, as in the Mormon temple ritual, a man and woman are sealed together “for time and all eternity.” Unfortunately, we have been unable to trace it back to Eli himself or to show that the photocopies of the ritual were made prior to 1985; consequently, we cannot be certain of the document’s authenticity. Nevertheless, it does seem possible that Eli might have incorporated elements of the temple ceremony into his own witchcraft ritual. As we have shown, he had been through the Mormon temple and borrowed heavily from Mormonism in creating other documents we have examined. It has also been alleged by W. Schnoebelen that Eli urged occultists to go through the Mormon temple because he believed it had important “occult power… that could be achieved nowhere else” and had “important Masonic” secrets which had been removed from “American Masonry.”
William Schnoebelen has also brought forth two typewritten pages from another occultic ritual which is purported to be from the Grimorum Verum. It is entitled, “Lituria De Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis.” Since it relates to Satanism and Glenn Pace has suggested that Satanists may be operating in the Mormon Church, we felt that we should say something about it. Because it contains parallels to the Mormon temple ceremony some people have been led to believe that this document provides evidence that the Mormon temple ceremony is borrowed from Satanism. In our book, The Lucifer God Doctrine, we have clearly shown that such is not the case. A careful examination of the document reveals that it could not date back to the time of Joseph Smith. In fact, we have found that part of it was plagiarized from Aleister Crowley’s “Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Canon Missae.” It could have been written at any time between 1918 and 1985. At any rate, an examination of the document shows that someone has taken a part of the Mormon temple ceremony and combined it with a satanic document.
William Schnoebelen claims that he obtained it from a “hard core satanic group.” Evidence shows that after working with Eli in the Mental Science Institute, Mr. Schnoebelen wanted to go deeper into the occult: He eventually became a member of Anton LaVey’s organization, “The Church of Satan.” He claims, however, that he did not obtain the document from LaVey’s group but rather another organization that “claimed to be affiliated in California.” On the first page of this document we find the following:
(Let the altar be garbed in solar colors . . . Magister in scarlet with green satin apron. Seven candles lit. A Chosen Priestess of the Order should be upon the altar nude. . . . Other than Magister and Priestess, a Lucifer and Sister are needed.). . .
M [Magister]: Before the mighty and ineffable King of Hell, and in communion with his children everywhere . . . I proclaim that Lucifer rules the earth; and ratify and renew my covenant to recognize and honor him in all things without reservation: to abjure all preteensions [sic] of righteousness and give myself wholly, body and soul, to the iniquities and evil which alone are pleasing to him, and likewise painful to our pallid adversaries. I acknowledge him to be the One, True God; and desire in return his manifold aid in the successful accomplishment of my lusts, and the fulfillment of my true will.
The seventh page of this same document contains a section which has unquestionably been taken from the Mormon temple ceremony:
M: May you have health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the [word blacked out by Mr. Schnoebelen “in the interest of decency”) and in the sinews; and power in the priesthood be upon you and upon your posterity through all generations of time and throughout all eternity.
The reader will notice that this particular part of this evil ritual is taken from the “Ceremony At The Veil” in the Mormon endowment ceremony:
Lord: . . . “Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and in the sinews, power in the Priesthood be upon me, and upon my posterity through all generations of time, and throughout all eternity.” (Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1842-1990, page 141)
There are two views one may take with regard to the satanic document mentioned above: 1. It is a document created by someone familiar with both the occult and the LDS temple ceremony to be used in an actual satanic ritual. 2. It is a ritual created by someone who is trying to promote the theory that Mormons copied directly from Satanists. (For more information on the Mental Science Institute, Aleister Crowley and the question of the authenticity of the two occultic documents mentioned above see The Lucifer-God Doctrine, pages 41-58.)
THE BEAST AND ABUSE
If one were to accept the satanic or Luciferian document mentioned above as an actual ritual which was used by occultists, then the question arises as to whether it could have anything to do with Bishop Pace’s theory concerning a satanic group which abuses children. As we noted earlier, we have found definite evidence that the document cited above contains material taken from the writings of Aleister Crowley. In the book, Magic, page 130, Crowley wrote: “Before I touched my teens, I was aware that I was The Beast whose number is 666.” The Book of Revelation in the Bible, of course, indicates that the Beast with the number “666” is the Anti-Christ. In any case, Crowley created rituals in which homosexual magic was practiced. William Schnoebelen, as it turns out, was a disciple of Aleister Crowley. In a book Schnoebelen has written he told of his own descent into homosexual magic and how this type of belief could lead one to seek “younger and younger sexual partners.” The following is taken from his book:
I progressed in LaVey’s order and was finally made a Warlock in the Church of Satan . . . I was doing studies in Crowley’s Book of the Law and the Book of Revelations . . . when I read the famous passage in Rev. 13:18 about the number of the Beast. . . . I was overwhelmed with a pillar of astral light . . . I KNEW with an unshakable certainty that Rev. 13:18 was the answer I had sought. Contained within its numerology was the secret that Aleister Crowley was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ!
I was driven to my knees by the sublime beauty of this truth; and felt the power of magick upon me as never before. . . . I was brought in touch with higher ranking satanists from Chicago. I was initiated into their circle by signing a covenant with Satan for my soul. . . .
Though the rites now began to include blood sacrifice (including my own) I was not deterred. . . . I knew Crowley had used blood in his rituals . . . I signed a pact in my own blood with Satan. He received complete control of my body and soul. . . . It would take five years of searching and a perilous time in the dreadful crucible of Mormonism, that clever counterfeit of Christianity, before I would really come to know Jesus Christ as my Lord . . . (Wicca: Satan’s Little White Lie, 1990, pages 44, 45, 48-49)
We have already documented the pervasive influence of Aleister Crowley upon the beginnings of Wicca . . . most Witches, myself included, find it necessary to study his material and “plug themselves into” the magical current of Crowley’s demon spirit guide, a mysterious being named Aiwass. Aiwass is another name for Set, an Egyptian god . . . (Ibid., page 192)
I have already mentioned the descent into blood rites, but additionally sexual perversity of the vilest sort enthralled many of them. I was not immune either. . . . Many of us became involved in sado-masochism and bondage and discipline. . . .
Sodomy is especially “sacred” to Set . . . It opens what are called the ‘Typhonion’ tunnels, channels through which extremely powerful demons, like the horrible Choronzon, can travel from the “alternate reality” and emerge into this universe and enter the sex partner’s body. . . .
This also explains the sudden meteoric rise of interest in the child as a sexual object, and the terrible seductiveness of child pornography. We often ask ourselves, “How could a person be sexually attracted to a small child?” It does not seem sane or normal, and of course it is not. Yet, throughout his life, Crowley attempted to invoke the Crowned and Conquering Child.
A key element within the Aiwass current and the Left-hand path is that of the beguiling or fascinating child. Crowley’s magical current was designed to compel an interest in ever younger and younger sexual partners . . . Add to this the sexually vampiric belief that the younger the person you abuse, the more power or vitality you can extract from them, and you have a potent recipe which explains the obsession with children. Witches who practice this kind of sexual Tantra believe they are both emotionally and literally stealing the youth of the child they are abusing. . . . My first ritual homosexual experience came through Witchcraft . . .
In the course of that pursuit of “Wisdom,” I got deeper into magical homosexuality and the strange alchemy of perversion. Tragically, I must confess that I began to enter groups where Nazi magick and serious vampirism were practiced and child pornography was also being used and produced. (Ibid., pages 197-200)
While we do not endorse many of the conclusions found in this book published by Chick Publications, our research has demonstrated that this former Satanist was undoubtedly deeply involved in the evil practices he has mentioned. One thing is certain: Mr. Schnoebelen did deceive Mormon officials, and they allowed him to become a member of the church on August 10, 1980. Furthermore, his “testimony” as to the truthfulness of the LDS Church was published by Bookcraft, a company which prints books by the General Authorities of the church and other Mormon writers. As unbelievable as it may seem, it is still being sold at the church’s Deseret Bookstore (see From Clergy to Convert, by Stephen W. Gibson, pages 67-73). The Mormons apparently thought they had made a prize catch when they brought the Schnoebelens into the church. In the book he is referred to as a former “parish priest” and his wife as a former “nun.” One year after he joined the church (August 31, 1981), William Schnoebelen went through the Mormon temple and was sealed to his wife “for time and for eternity.” It should be noted that his wife was also deeply involved in the occult—she was, in fact, a witch.
Mormon Church officials, who are supposed to have special powers of discernment, were totally oblivious to the fact that a Satanist had passed through the temple. Schnoebelen claimed that as he was going through the ritual he was “thinking, boy, these guys are teaching satanism, I mean, I was really on seventh heaven at this point.” He remained in the LDS Church, posing as a faithful Mormon, until 1984. According to his own statement, during this time he was secretly working to promote the occult. In Wicca: Satan’s Little White Lie, page 10, he wrote: “Up to our departure from the city of Milwaukee in 1984, we were presiding over one of the oldest and largest networks of covens in the Midwest.”
Although we may never know what success he had in proselyting Mormons into Wicca and Satanism, Schnoebelen and his wife did penetrate into the church without being detected. Moreover, weird sexual practices—both heterosexual and homosexual—seem to have been practiced in the satanic and witchcraft groups he was connected with. While he did not actually say that he himself was involved in “ritualistic child abuse,” he did indicate that he was indoctrinated into the idea that “the younger the person you abuse, the more power or vitality you can extract from them.”
CONCLUSION
While the material presented in this newsletter does not prove Glenn Pace’s theory concerning a well organized and highly secret satanic group practicing ritualistic child abuse in the LDS Church, it does throw some light on the ability of occultists to infiltrate the church and even the temple itself.
Even though Bishop Pace has laid out a very persuasive argument for the existence of a satanic group in the Mormon Church, it still seems very difficult to believe that a group of the size he envisions could go undetected for so long. Although we are not prepared at this time to declare that such a conspiratorial band really exists, our minds are open to examine any evidence regarding this matter that comes to our attention. If any of our readers have any information that will throw light on this subject, they can mail it to Utah Lighthouse Ministry, PO Box 1884, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. We would be especially interested in Pace’s 40-page report. In addition, we would request that our Christian friends pray for us at this time that we may have discernment from the Lord and not jump to any erroneous conclusions.
The fact that portions of the temple ceremony caused “many” people to have devastating flashbacks should be of grave concern to the Mormon people. Even those who do not claim to have been ritualistically abused have been terrified by the oaths. On June 30, 1990, a woman wrote us a letter in which she stated:
Your article brought back old memories for me about my first temple experience in June of 1972 as a convert to Mormonism from Christianity. I, too, felt that what I was doing was wrong. Actually, a feeling of dread came over me as I began to take the blood oaths, and I knew I was doing something that was absolutely against everything Christianity had taught me. The feeling increased . . . and I just kept praying in my mind, “Dear God, just get me out of here alive,” over and over.
While some Mormons seem to be rejoicing that church leaders have finally had the insight to remove some of the offensive wording in the endowment ceremony, they have not faced the serious implications of the whole matter. That important portions had to be trimmed out plainly shows that Mormon Church president Ezra Taft Benson was wrong when he said: “The endowment was revealed by revelation . . .” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 1988, page 250). It is clearly a man-made ceremony which heavily borrowed from Masonry.
Mormonism teaches that only Mormons who receive their endowments and are married for eternity can obtain the highest exaltation in the hereafter. Church leaders declare that “eternal life” only comes through temple marriage. For example, President Spencer W. Kimball, the twelvth prophet of the church, emphasized: “Only through celestial marriage can one find the strait way, the narrow path. Eternal life cannot be had in any other way” (Deseret News Church Section, November 12, 1977). This teaching is clearly unbiblical. The Bible, in fact, proclaims that “whosoever believeth in him [Jesus] should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). It is our prayer that Mormons everywhere will cease trusting in a temple ceremony that is filled with Masonry and man-made ideas and put their complete faith in Jesus Christ—the one who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).