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CHAPTER XX.
MORMON MYSTERIES-THEIR ORIGIN.
The Endowment - Actors - Scenery and dress - Pre-requisites - Adam and Eve, the Devil and Michael, Jehovah and Eloheim - A new version - Blasphemous assumptions - Terrible oaths - Barbarous penalties - Origin - Scriptures and Paradise Lost - Eleusinian mysteries - "Morgan's Free-masonry" - The witnesses - Probabilities - Their reasons - Changes.
THE ENDOWMENT.
Dramatic Persons.
ELOHEIM, or Head God Brigham Young, JEHOVAH George A. Smith, JESUS Daniel H. Wells, MICHAEL George Q. Cannon, SATAN W. W. Phelps, APOSTLE PETER Joseph F. Smith APOSTLE JAMES John Taylor, APOSTLE JOHN Erastus Snow, EVE Miss Eliza R. Snow. Clerk, Washers, Attendants, Sectarians, Chorus, and Endowses.
SCENES IN THE ENDOWMENT CEREMONIES.1. Preparation - Washing and Anointing. 2. Eloheim Cursing Adam and
Eve - Satan Driven out. 3. Trial of Faith - The "Searching Hand." 4. Oath
to Avenge the Death of Joseph Smith. 5. The "Blood Atonement."I.
THE FIRST (PRE-EXISTENT) ESTATE.
THE candidates present themselves at the Endowment House, provided with clean clothes and a lunch; they are admitted to the outer office, and their accounts with the Church verified by a clerk. Their names, ages and the dates of their conversion and baptism are entered in the register; their tithing receipts are carefully inspected, and if found correct an entry thereof is made. This last is an indispensable before initiation. Evidence is also presented of faithful attendance on public service and at the "School of the Prophets." If any husband and wife appear who have not been sealed for eternity, a note is made of the fact, the ceremony to be performed in the initiation. They then remove their shoes and, preceded by the attendants, who wear slippers, with measured and noiseless step enter the central ante-room, a narrow hall separated by white screens from two other rooms to the right and left; the right one is for men, and the left for women.
Deep silence prevails, the attendants communicating by mysterious signs or very low whispers; a dim light pervades the room, mellowed by heavy shades; the faint splash of pouring water behind the screens alone is heard, and the whole scene is calculated to cast a solemn awe over the ignorant candidates, waiting with subdued but nervous expectancy for some mysterious event. After a few moments of solemn waiting, the men are led to their washing-room on the right, and the women to the left. The female candidate is stripped, placed in the bath and washed from head to foot by a woman set apart for the purpose. Every member is mentioned, with a special blessing.
"WASHER - Sister, I wash you clean from the blood of this generation, and prepare your members for lively service in the way of all true Saints. I wash your head that it may be prepared for that crown of glory awaiting you as a faithful Saint, and the fruitful wife of a priest of the Lord; that your brain may be quick in discernment, and your eyes able to perceive the truth and avoid the snares of the enemy; your mouth to show forth the praise of the immortal gods, and your tongue to pronounce the true name which will admit you hereafter behind the veil, and by which you will be known in the celestial kingdom. I wash your arms to labor in the cause of righteousness, and your hands to be strong in building up the kingdom of God by all manner of profitable works. I wash your breasts that you may prove a fruitful vine, to nourish a strong race of swift witnesses, earnest in defence of Zion; your body, to present it an acceptable tabernacle when you come to pass behind the veil; your loins that you may bring forth a numerous race, to crown you with eternal glory and strengthen the heavenly kingdom of your husband, your master and crown in the Lord. I wash your knees, on which to prostrate yourself and humbly receive the truth from God's holy priesthood; your feet to run swiftly in the ways of righteousness and stand firm upon the appointed places; and now, I pronounce you clean from the blood of this generation, and your body an acceptable temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit."
A similar washing is performed upon the male candidate in his own room, and a blessing pronounced upon his body in like manner.
He is then passed through a slit in the curtain to the next compartment forward; as he passes, an apostle whispers in his ear "a new name, by which he will be known in the celestial kingdom of God."
Reaching the second room, the candidate is anointed with oil, which has been previously blessed and consecrated by two priests, poured upon his head from a horn, or from a mahogany vessel shaped to resemble one. The oil is rubbed into his hair and beard, and upon each of his limbs, which are again blessed in order. At the same time the women are anointed in their own washing room. The candidate is then dressed in a sort of tunic, or close-fitting garment, reaching from the neck to the heels. This, or a similar one, blessed for the purpose, is always to be worn next to the body, to protect the wearer from harm and from the assaults of the devil. Many Mormons are so strenuous on this point, they remove the garment but a portion at a time when changing, partly slipping on the new before the old is entirely off. It is generally believed that Joe Smith took off his tunic the morning he went to Carthage, to avoid the charge of being in a secret society; and that he would not have been killed, if he had retained it. Over the tunic comes the ordinary underclothing, and above a robe used only for this purpose; it is made of fine linen, plaited on the shoulders, gathered around the waist with a band, and falling to the floor behind and before. On the head is placed a cap of fine linen, and on the feet light cotton slippers.
At this point begins, in the adjoining room, the preparatory debate in the grand council of the gods; as to whether they shall make man. Eloheim, Jehovah Jesus and Michael intone a drama in blank verse, representing the successive steps in the creation of the world. Eloheim enumerates the works of each day, and commends them all; at the close of each, all the others unite in a responsive chorus of surprise and praise at the glory and beauty of the work, concluding:-
"Eloheim. Now all is done, and earth with animate life is glad. The stately elephant to browse the forest, the ramping lion in the mountain caves, gazelles, horned cattle and the fleecy flocks spread o'er the grassy vales; behemoth rolls his bulk in shady fens by river banks, among the ooze, and the great whale beneath the waters, and fowl to fly above in the open firmament of heaven. Upon the earth behold bears, ounces, tigers, pards, and every creeping thing that moves upon the ground. Each after his kind shall bring forth and multiply upon the earth; and yet there lacks the master work, the being in the form and likeness of the gods, erect to stand, his Maker praise, and over all the rest dominion hold."
"Jehovah, Jesus, Michael and Eloheim. Let us make man, in image, form and likeness as our own; and as becomes our sole complete representative on earth, to him upright, dominion give and power over all that flies, swims, creeps, or walks upon the earth."
The attendants have meanwhile placed the candidates on the floor and closed their eyes, when the gods enter and manipulate them limb by limb, specifying the office of each member, and pretending to create and mould. They then slap upon them to vivify and represent the creative power, breathe into their nostrils "the breath of life," and raise them to their feet. They are then supposed to be "as Adam, newly made, completely ductile, mobile in the maker's hand."
II.
SECOND ESTATE.
Men file into the next room, with paintings and scenery to represent the Garden of Eden. There are gorgeous curtains and carpets, trees and shrubs in boxes, paintings of mountains, flowers, and fountains, all shown in soft light and delicate tints, together presenting a beautiful and impressive scene. While they move around the garden to measured music, another discussion ensues between the gods; Michael proposes various animals, in turn, to be the intimates of man, which are successively rejected by Jehovah, Jesus and Eloheim. The men are then laid recumbent, with closed eyes, in pantomime a rib is extracted from each, out of which, in the adjoining room, their wives are supposed to be formed; the men are then commanded to awake, and see their wives for the first time since parting in the entry, dressed nearly like themselves. They walk around the garden by couples, led by the officiating Adam and Eve, when Satan enters. He is dressed in a very tight-fitting suit of black velvet, consisting of short jacket and knee-breeches, with black stockings and slippers, the last with long double points; he, also, wears a hideous mask, and pointed helmet. He approaches Eve, who is separated from Adam, and begins to praise her beauty; after which he proffers the "temptation." (here there is a difference in the testimony. John Hyde says, the "fruit offered consisted of some raisins hanging on a shrub;" one lady states that the temptation consists of gestures and hints "not to be described;" while another young lady, after implying that Adam and Eve were nearly naked, merely adds: "I cannot mention the nature of the fruit, but have left more unsaid than the imagination held with the loosest possible rein would be likely to picture... the reality is too monstrous for human belief, and the moral and object of the whole is socially to unsex the sexes." A third lady states that the fruit consisted merely of a bunch of grapes, and adds: "Those conducting the ceremonies explained to us beforehand that this portion of the affair should be conducted with the men and women entirely naked; but that, in consequence of the prejudice existing in the minds of individuals against that method of proceeding, coupled with the fact that we were not yet sufficiently perfect and pure-minded, and that our enemies would use it as a weapon against us, it was considered necessary that we should be clothed." It is quite probable the ceremony is frequently changed.)
Eve yields and partakes of the "fruit;" soon after she is joined by Adam, to whom she offers the same; he first hesitates, but overcome by her reproaches, also eats. They grow delirious from its effects, join hands, embrace, and dance around the room till they sink exhausted.
A loud chorus of groans and lamentations is heard behind the curtain, followed by a sudden crash as of heavy thunder; a rift opens in a curtain painted to represent a dense wood, and in the opening appears Eloheim, behind him a brilliant light; he is clothed with a gorgeous dress, bespangled with brilliants and bright stripes to dazzle the eyes.
"Eloheim. Where art thou, Adam,
Erst created first of all earth's tribes,
And wont to meet with joy thy coming Lord?""Adam. Afar I heard Thy coming,
In the thunder's awful voice,
Thy footsteps shook the earth,
And dread seized all my frame,
I saw myself in naked shame,
Unfit to face Thy Majesty.""Eloheim. How knew'st thou of thy shame?
My voice thou oft has heard,
And feared it not. What has thou done?
Hast eaten of that tree
To thee forbid?""Adam. Shall I accuse the partner of my life
Or on myself the total crime avow?
But what avails concealment with earth's Lord?
His thoughts discern my inmost hidden sense.
The woman Thou gav'st to be my help
Beguiled me with her perfect charms,
By Thee endowed, acceptable, divine,
She gave me of the fruit, and I did eat.""Eloheim. Say, woman, what is this that thou hast done?" "Eve. The serpent me beguiled and I did eat." Eloheim then pronounces a curse - literally copied from the Scripture - upon the serpent, or rather Satan, who fell upon the ground, and with many contortions wriggles out of the room. A curse is next pronounced upon Eve, and then upon Adam, paraphrased from the Scripture. They fall upon the ground, beat their breasts, rend their clothes, and bewail their lost and sinful condition.
"Eloheim. Now is man fallen indeed. The accursed power which first made war in Heaven, bath practiced fraud on earth. By Adam's transgression should all be under sin; the moral nature darkened, and none could know the truth. But cries of penitence have reached my ears, and Higher Power shall redeem. Upon this earth I place My holy priesthood. To them as unto Me in humble reverence bow. Man, fallen by Satan's wiles, shall by obedience rise. Behold, the Woman's Seed shall bruise the Serpent's head; from her a race proceed endowed on earth with power divine. To them shall man submit, and regain the paradise now lost through disobedience. With power divine the priesthood is endowed, but not in fulness now. Obey them as the Incarnate Voice of God, and in time's fullness Woman's Seed shall all that's lost restore to man. By woman, first fallen, Adam fell; from Woman's Seed the priesthood shall arise, redeeming man; and man in turn shall Eve exalt, restoring her to the paradise by her first lost. Meanwhile go forth, ye fallen ones, with only nature's light, and seek for truth."
The attendants now place upon each of the initiates a small square apron, of white linen or silk, with certain emblematical marks and green pieces resembling fig leaves, worked in and handsomely embroidered.
The candidates then kneel and join in a solemn oath, repeating it slowly after Adam: That they will preserve the secret inviolably, under penalty of being brought to the block, and having their blood spilt upon the ground in atonement for their sin; that they will obey and submit themselves to the priesthood in all things, and the men in addition, that they will take no woman unless given them by the Presidency of the Church. A grip and a key-word are then communicated, and the First Degree of the Aaronic Priesthood is conferred. Man is now supposed to have entered into life, where the light has become as darkness. They pass through a narrow opening into the next room, which is almost dark, heavy curtains shutting out all but a few rays of light. Here they stumble about, fall against blocks and furniture; persons are heard calling, here is light," "there is light," etc., and a contest goes on among those who call themselves Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, etc. The curtains are constantly agitated, and being darkly painted with hideous figures, discover a thousand chimerical shapes. The sectarians seize hold of the initiates and pull them violently about, till the latter are quite exhausted. Satan now enters, commends the sectarians, laughs, chuckles and is quite delighted; the latter recommence their struggle for the initiates, when a sudden fall of curtains throws in a full blaze of light, and Peter, James and John descend into the room. They order the devil to withdraw: he falls upon the ground, foams, hisses and wriggles out, chased and kicked by the Apostle Peter.
The initiates are then ranged in order to listen to a lecture-
"Peter. Brethren and Sisters, light is now come into the world, and the way is opened unto men; Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat, and great shall be his condemnation who rejects this light. - (The ceremony is explained up to this point.) - The holy priesthood is once more established upon earth, in the person of Joseph Smith and his successors. They alone have the power to seal. To this priesthood as unto Christ, all respect is due; obedience implicit, and yielded without a murmur. He who gave life has the right to take it. His representatives the same. You are then to obey all orders of the priesthood, temporal and spiritual, in matters of life or death. Submit yourselves to the higher powers, as a tallowed rag in the hands of God's priesthood. You are now ready to enter the kingdom of God. Look forth upon the void and tell me what ye see." (Curtain is raised.)
"Adam and Eve. A human skeleton."
"Peter. Rightly have ye spoken. Behold all that remains of one unfaithful to these holy vows. The earth had no habitation for one so vile. The fowls of the air fed upon his accursed flesh, and the fierce elements consumed the joints and the marrow. Do ye still desire to go forward?"
"Adam. We do."
The initiates then join hands and kneel in a circle, slowly repeating an oath after Peter. The penalty is to have the throat cut from ear to ear, with many agonizing details. The Second Degree of the Aaronic Priesthood is then conferred, and the initiates pass into the third room in the middle of which is an altar.
III
THIRD ESTATE.
Emblematic of celestialized men.
" Michael. Here all hearts are laid open, all desires revealed, and all traitors are made known. In council of the gods it hath been decreed that here the faithless shall die. Some enter here with evil intent; but none with evil intent go beyond this veil or return alive, if here they practice deceit. If one among you knows aught of treachery in his heart, we charge him now to speak, while yet he may and live. Brethren, an ordeal awaits you. Let the pure have no fear; the false-hearted quake. Each shall pass under the Searching Hand, and the Spirit of the Lord decide for his own."
The initiates are placed one by one upon the altar, stretched at full length upon the back, and the officiating priest passes an immense knife or keen-edged razor across their throats. It is understood that if any are false at heart, the Spirit will reveal it, to their instant death. Of course, all pass. They again clasp hands, kneel and slowly repeat after Jehovah, another oath. The penalty for its violation is to have the bowels slit across and the entrails fed to swine-with many horrifying and disgusting details. Another sign, grip and key word are given, and the First Degree of the Melchizedek Priesthood is conferred, being the third degree of the Endowment. Copies of the Bible, "Book of Mormon" and "Doctrine and Covenants" are placed upon the altar, and another lecture delivered. The initiates are now instructed that they are in a saved condition, and are to go steadily on in the way of salvation; but that temporal duties demand their first care, chief among which is a positive, immediate duty to avenge the death of the Prophet and Martyr, Joseph Smith. The account of his martyrdom is circumstantially related, after which the initiates take a solemn oath to avenge his death; that they will bear eternal hostility to the Government of the United States for the murder of the Prophet; that they renounce all allegiance they may have held to the Government, and hold themselves absolved from all oaths of fealty, past or future; that they will do all in their power towards the overthrow of that Government, and in event of failure teach their children to pursue that purpose after them. Another oath of fidelity and secrecy is administered, of which the penalty is to have the heart torn out and fed to the fowls of the air. The initiates are now declared acceptable to God, taught a new form of prayer, "in an unknown tongue," and the Second Degree of the Melchizedek Priesthood is conferred. They are then passed "behind the veil," a linen curtain, to the last room.
IV.
FOURTH ESTATE.
The kingdom of the Gods.
The men enter first, and the officiating priest cuts certain marks on their garments and a slight gash just above the right knee. Then, at the command of Eloheim, they one by one introduce their women to the room. Very few instances have occurred of women being admitted to these rites before marriage. "Sealing for eternity" is then performed for all who have previously been only " married for time."
The initiated then retire, resume their regular dress, get a lunch and return to hear a lengthy address, explaining the entire allegory, and their future duties consequent on the vows they have taken. The entire ceremony and address occupy about ten hours.
Such is the Endowment, as reported by many who have passed through it. The general reader will readily recognize that portion which is paraphrased from the Scriptures and Milton's Paradise Lost. The general outline is evidently modeled upon the Mysteries or Holy Dramas of the Middle Ages, with, perhaps, an attempt to reproduce portions of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece. Much of it will be recognized as extracted from "Morgan's Free-masonry Exposè," by those familiar with that work; and the origin of this is quite curious. When Smith and Rigdon first began their work they were in great doubt what to preach; a furious religious excitement was prevalent in the West, and portions of argument in regard to all the isms of the day may be found in the " Book of Mormon." But Anti-Masonry was just then the great political excitement of New York, and the infant Church was easily drawn into that furious and baseless crusade, which already ranks in history as one of those unaccountable popular frenzies which occasionally disturb our politics, rising from no one knows where, and subsiding as apparently without cause. Smith's "New Translation" of the Old Testament is full of Anti-Masonry; the fifth chapter of Genesis as he has it, which is added entire to our version, is devoted entirely to the condemnation of secret societies, and sets forth particularly how they were the invention of Cain after he "fled from the presence of the Lord." But the Brighamites declare the time has not yet come to publish or circulate this Bible; and it is only quoted by the Josephites, who use this chapter to condemn the Endowment. Some years after, however, the Mormons all became Masons, and so continued till they reached Nauvoo; there Joseph Smith out-masoned Solomon himself, and declared that God had revealed to him a great key-word, which had been lost, and that he would lead Masonry to far higher degrees, and not long after their charter was revoked by the Grand Lodge. How much of Masonry proper has survived in the Endowment, the writer will not pretend to say; but the Mormons are pleased to have the outside world connect the two, and convey the impression that this is " Celestial Masonry."
But the experience of the Mormons has fully proved - if any proof were needed - that among so many ready to take vile and abominable oaths, some would be found equally ready to violate them. Of those apostate Mormons who communicated some portions of the matter to the writer, he is convinced their account is correct, and is at liberty to say no more; but it may be of interest to the reader to know how others justify the breaking of such solemn vows, even at considerable risk to themselves. John Hyde, the most noted of all apostates, and esteemed a very honorable man, gives his reasons at length, summing up as follows:
First, As no one knew what were the oaths previous to hearing them, and no one after hearing, could refuse to take them, they are not binding in justice. Secondly, As the obligations also involved other acts of obedience as well as secrecy, and as I do not intend to obey those other obligations, it can be no more improper to break the oath of secrecy than the oath of unlimited obedience. Thirdly, As the obligations involved treason against the United States, it becomes a duty to expose them. Fourthly, The promise of Endowment being a principal bait held out to the Mormons, to get them to Salt Lake, it is well they should know what it is worth. Fifthly, It is better to violate a bad oath, than to keep it.
In ethics Mr. Hyde's first reason is worth all the rest; the third can hardly be admitted, as he was a resident of England, unnaturalized in America, and the last would apply with equal force to any oath, and in the mouth of any man. But Elder Hyde has only exemplified the usual course of apostate Mormons; from a material and gross extreme he has blundered to the opposite ultimate of vague mysticism, and is now preaching Swedenborgianism in England. If he live twenty years, he will probably again recant, relapse into complete infidelity, or become a Millenarian, Spiritualist or lunatic.
Are we to believe the testimony of apostates, and do these things really occur?
My own opinion is, that the account is substantially correct, for many reasons: that the witnesses agree where collusion is impossible; the relation is in many instances by persons utterly incapable of inventing or constructing such a plot; apostates universally have a horror or fear of speaking about it, and never do until they are safe beyond the power of the Church; all that can be observed by outsiders corresponds with these accounts, and particularly the fact that there is a close agreement and perfect analogy between the known doctrines of the Church and the outlines of the drama.
Such is one of the means employed by the Mormon leaders to weld their people into perfect unity; and to such a feast of blasphemy and horrors do they invite the world, in their seductive
MISSIONARY HYMN
"Lo! the Gentile chain is broken;
Freedom's banner waves on high;
List, ye nations! by this token
Know that your redemption's nigh."See, on yonder distant mountain,
Zion's standard wide unfurl'd;
Far above Missouri's fountain,
Lo! it waves for all the world."Freedom, peace, and full salvation
Are the blessings guaranteed;
Liberty to every nation,
Every tongue, and every creed."Come, ye Christian sects and Pagan,
Pope, and Protestant, and Priest;
Worshippers of God or Dagon,
Come ye to fair Freedom's feast"Come, ye sons of doubt and wonder,
Indian, Moslem, Greek, or Jew;
All your shackles burst asunder,
Freedom's banner waves for you."Cease to butcher one another,
Join the covenant of peace;
Be to all a friend, a brother,
This will bring the world release."Lo! our King, the great Messiah,
Prince of Peace, shall come to reign!
Sound again, ye heavenly choir,
Peace on earth, good-will to men."
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