"Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer " --- 1 Samuel 9:9
In 1882, apostle Franklin D. Richards saw this stone in church president John Taylor’s possession. Richards recorded in his diary that “the pouch containing it [the stone] [was] made by Emma,” meaning Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith
"Our English word 'prophet' is derived from the Greek prophetes = 'spokesman'. To this corresponds two sets of terms in Hebrew: ro'eh, 'seer' with its cognates hozeh, 'gazer' sopheh, 'spyer' and shmer, 'watchman' and the more specific nabi, ;prophet; literally 'spokesman', with it's cognates mal'ach, 'messenger' and melis, 'interpreter' (of Jehovah) -- Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 150
"And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; ...and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found." -- 1 Samuel 9:19-20
"And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times." --- Mosiah 28:16
"We learn from the Babylonians there was a word ARIK in the Sumerian language which signifies 'a seer'; Joseph was a seer of seers, and it was in virtue of his seership that Pharaoh had raised him to the dignity next to his own. Egypt was especially the land of the seers." --- Joseph of Egypt, p. 112
"And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet. And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God." - Mosiah 8:15-16
Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum
"And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations." --- Alma 37:23
"The Urim and Thummin is a stone, or other substance, sanctified and illuminated by the Spirit of the living God, and presented to those who are blessed with the gift of seeing." - Masterful Discourses of Orson Pratt, by N.B. Lundwall, p. 552
Brigham Young's Stone
Brigham Young,
Note Masonic symbol on his cravat
As the powers of seership are developed within a man, he becomes illuminated by the Spirit of God and can “see” into the past or future. Jesus was the most perfect example of this gift, as He was in all spiritual things. Examples of His seership ability are indicated in the following passages;
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, `Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ Nathanael saith unto him, `Whence knowest thou me?’ Jesus answered and said unto him, `Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. . . . Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.’ (John 1:47-50)
* * *
And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, `Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, [65] ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them.’ (Matt. 21:1-2)
* * *
Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, `Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples, and the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.’ (Matt. 26:17-19)
* * *
Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. (Matt. 26:45)
* * *
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net brake. (Luke 5:5-6)
* * *
Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, give unto them for me and thee. (Matt. 17:27)
300 N. Whitewoman St.
Coshocton, Ohio 43812 - May 2022
Hiram Page Stone
During the last week in September of 1830, a conference was held at Fayette. There were only sixty-two members of the Church at that time. At the conference much was said about Hiram’s peepstone. He acknowledge his error and promised to be loyal to his leader and cease consulting the stone for guidance. Oliver Cowdery had apologized for his course and so Hiram was re-instated in the good graces of his leader. The Page `peepstone’ however, has been preserved as a souvenir in the Archives of the Reorganized Church. The writer was permitted to examine it. It is a flat stone about seven inches long, four wide and one quarter inch in thickness. It is dark gray in color with waves of brown and purple across the surface. A small hole has been drilled through one end of it as if a string had been threaded through it. It is simply impressive enough to make a good paper weight, yet it became a tool through which the adversary attempted to stir up strife and create a schism in the Church. Hiram E. Page had received spurious information about the building up of Zion, which was a popular theme with the little flock. (Historical Background of the Doc. & Cov., by Cecil McGavin, p. 93)
However...
When Apostle Alvin R. Dyer was in Richmond, Missouri, he visited Mrs. Mayme Koontz, who possessed the Hiram Page stone. He described it as a light gray, highly polished stone, about 5″ by 3″ by 1/2” thick with two round holes in it. (???)
Mrs. Koontz stated that–
As to how this seer stone came into my possession, it has been handed down through one generation of the Whitmer family to the next generation until it finally was given to me, and I consider it a very great honor to have such a sacred trust in my possession. (Refiner’s Fire, by Alvin R. Dyer, p. 257)
Sept. 26, 1830: To our great grief, however, we soon found that Satan had been lying in wait to deceive, and seeking whom he might devour. Brother Hiram Page had in his possession a certain stone, by which he had obtained certain `revelations’ concerning the upbuilding of Zion, the order of the Church, etc., all of which were entirely at variance with the order of God’s house, as laid down in the New Testament, as well as in our late revelations. As a conference meeting had been appointed for the 26th day of September, I thought it wisdom not to do much more than to converse with the brethren on the subject, until the conference should meet. Finding, however, that many–especially the Whitmer family and Oliver Cowdery–were believing much in the things set forth by this stone, we thought best to inquire of the Lord concerning so important a matter. (D.H.C. 1:110)
The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the dangers of stone, and the source of its power:
"And again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, between him and thee alone, and tell him that those things which he hath written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him;." --- DyC 28:11
" It is not safe to depend on peepstones in any case where evil spirits have the power to put false appearances before them while looking in a peepstone. If evil influences will not interfere, the verdict will be as true as preaching. That is my experience in the matter; also the Patriarch, Hiram Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith held the same idea, but stated that our faith was not strong enough to overcome the evil influences that might interfere, but seemed to think that time would come..." --- Journal of Priddy Meeks, Utah State Historical Quarterly 10:200
"Dec. 27, 1841: I met with the Twelve at Brother Joseph’s. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make an evil use of it; he showed us his seer stone. --- Brigham Young, Mill. Star 26:118"
"A person may see the power of the devil displayed, and mistake it for the power of God, for without the light of the Spirit one cannot tell the difference between the power of the Lord and the power of the devil. --- Brigham Young, J.D. 3:155
Notes:
It appears from my current study, that a seer stone can only "see" the current location of an object or events now happening...
While the person who has the Urim-n-Thummin can see "all things; past, present & future" --- CKS Oct 17, 2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seer_stone_(Latter_Day_Saints)
Rabbinical lore includes the story is that Jacob gave Joseph the stone [& garment] before he was sold by his brothers, but didn’t tell him what it was.
However, It started to glow in the pit his brothers threw him into, showing Joseph that this necklace was much more than a rock:
“When Joseph was imprisoned in the dungeon, he discovered that if he placed the Tzohar inside his cup and peered into it, he could read the future and interpret dreams. That is how he interpreted the dreams of the butler and baker, and later the dreams of Pharaoh that prophesied the seven years of famine. It was that same cup that Joseph hid in the saddlebags of Benjamin, about which his servant said , “It is the very one from which my master drinks and which he uses for divination.”
-- Tree of Souls the Mythology of Judaism P. 86 by Howard Schwartz
"Among the different Aramaic terms for pearl, alone seems to be restricted to the pearl, while , and the Hebrew are sometimes used to designate precious stones in general. Thus (Ex. xxviii. 17) is rendered by the Jerusalem Targum; and (Gen. vi. 16), which denotes something to illuminate Noah's ark, is explained in Gen. R. xxxi. 11 as being a term "a brilliant gem" is to be understood."
“Abraham wore a glowing stone around his neck. Some say that it was a pearl, others that it was a jewel. The light emitted by that jewel was like the light of the sun, illuminating the entire world. Abraham used that stone as an astrolabe to study the motion of the stars, and with its help he became a master astrologer. For his power of reading the stars, Abraham was much sought after by the potentates of East and West. So too did that glowing precious stone bring immediate healing to any sick person who looked into it.” (http://www.umsl.edu/~schwartzh/samplemyths_7.htm)
"According to Jewish myth [the original light] was a primordial light through which Adam could see from one end of the world to another. (Mayans - PolPovuh also teaches this!) When Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden, God preserved a small part of this light in a stone so that Adam could take it with him. This stone was called the Tsohar and was passed down from prophet to prophet. According to the legend Adam gave it to Seth, Seth gave it to Enoch who gave it to Methuselah who slept next to it. This is why, some say, he lived to such an old age. Methuselah gave it to Lamech who gave it to Noah who hung it in his Ark." -
“…this ancient Hebrew tradition says the tsohar was a very large pearl or gem that Noah hung in the rafters of the Ark, which powered itself and illuminated the Ark. https://arkencounter.com/blog/2012/09/07/when-is-a-window-not-a-window/
"...fourth-century Christian father Ephraem of Syria wrote a document called The Pearl, Seven Hymns on the Faith, in which he mentioned a glowing pearl that today seems to be a urim and thummim: “On a certain day a pearl did I take up; I saw in it mysteries pertaining to the Kingdom . . . It was greater to me than the ark . . . this pearl fills me in the place of books, and the reading thereof, and the explanations thereof.” + "“In the covenant of Moses is Thy brightness shadowed forth: in the new covenant Thou dartest it forth: from those first thy light shineth, even unto those last..."
"Glowing Stones in Ancient and Medieval Lore", by Tvedtnes, John A
(1997) Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 6: No. 2, Article 6.