"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
Lucy Mack Smith quote...
"Early in the morning of September 23, 1837, Joseph returned home from Hill Cumorah after retrieving the plates, spectacles, and breastplate. As Joseph entered the house, Lucy Mack Smith said, “I trembled so much with fear lest all might be lost again by some small failure in keeping the commandments, that I was under the necessity of leaving the room to conceal my feelings. Joseph saw this and followed me. Mother, said he. Do not be uneasy. All is right. See here, said he, I have got the key. I knew not what he meant, but took the article in my hands and, examining it with no covering but a silk handkerchief, found that it consisted of two smooth three-cornered diamonds set in glass, and the glasses were set in silver bows connected with each other in much the same way that old-fashioned spectacles are made."
3rd Filter ADDs light... ???
Light passes through 2x stones...
and the "Eye of the Beholder" = 3x lenses
JS History 1:35 - "and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim
Lucy Mack Smith quote...
"I have seen and felt also the Urim and Thummim. They resemble two large bright diamonds set in a bow like a pair of spectacles. My son puts these over his eyes when he reads unknown languages, and they enable him to interpret them in English. I have likewise carried in my hands the sacred breastplate. It is composed of pure gold and is made to fit the breast very exactly.” Lucy Mack Smith (in Henry Caswall, The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842, 2nd ed. revised and enlarged, (London: J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1843), 26)
The Israelie Flag is a statement...
About who they ARE,
And, what they HAVE...
"And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow. Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages; And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;
And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times." --- Mosiah 28:16
"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
"And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim..." -- Abraham 3:1
"Abraham sought the Lord diligently, and finally he had given unto him a Urim and Thummim, in which he was enabled to obtain a knowledge of many things that others were ignorant of. I think the meaning of the name of this instrument is Light and Perfection, in other terms, communicating light perfectly, and intelligence perfectly, through a principle that God has ordained for that purpose." --- Journal of Discourses, vol. 24, pg. 262
"When the brother of Jared was coming to this land the Lord gave him some very remarkable visions, and, among other things he gave him the Urim and Thummim, prepared two crystal stones in two rims of a bow, and sanctified them, and showed to the brother of Jared many marvelous things..." --- Journal of Discorses, vol. 19, pg. 208
"Noah, after having preached the Gospel and published glad tidings among the nations, was commanded to build an ark. He had a Urim and Thummim by which he was enabled to discern all things pertaining to the ark, and its pattern. He was a great Prophet, and predicted many things, and his records, no doubt, were hidden up, and will come forth in due time" --- Journal of Discourses, vol 16:50
" The reason of this was that Aaron was appointed to be a judge among the children of Israel, occupying a similar place among that people that the President of the Bishopric occupies in the Church. But he was blessed above those who have been ordained to the same calling in this dispensation, for he was in possession of the Urim and Thummim, and by virtue of this instrument he could inquire of the Lord in relation to every case that should be brought before him for adjudication. The judgment of man is naturally very weak and imperfect, and inasmuch as Aaron was required to judge the people of God, it was of the utmost importance that all his decisions should be given in righteousness, that there should be no imperfections connected with them, and for that reason the Lord gave express instructions to Aaron, through his brother Moses, to have a breastplate. In this breastplate were twelve stones, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and in the center of these rows of stones the Urim and Thummim was placed, and when he was required to render judgment upon any matter, he inquired of the Lord through it, and was enabled to give decisions according to the word of the Lord." --- Journal of Discourses, vol. 19:206
"Smith would take the plates and translate the characters one at a time. The graven characters would appear in succession to the seer, and directly under the character, when viewed through the glasses, would be the translation in English. Sometimes the character would be a single word, and frequently and entire sentence. In translating the characters, Smith, who was illiterate and but little versed in Biblical lord, was ofttimes compelled to spell the words out, not knowing the correct pronunciation, and Mr. Whitmer recalls the fact that at that time Smith did not even know that Jerusalem was a walled city." --- Millennial Star, 48:36
Article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, 15 December 1885
The Saints Herald, March 9 1822
"In Staffordshire, a branch of the church was organized at the Potteries and Elder Alfred Cordon was president among those who embraced the gospel at this place were some who had practiced magic, or astrology. They had books which had been landed down for many generations, they also had two stones, about the size of goose eggs, they were rough uncouth looking stones, one end was flattened so they could be placed on a table. When they wished to gain information from this source, they would place these stones upon a table, and kneel down and pray to one who they addressed as Sameazer, which they called charging the stones, when upon looking into them they saw what they sought, for instance, a young woman, whose sister joined the church and emigrated to Nauvoo, not hearing from her, became very anxious, and to learn something about her went to one of these astrologers, or magicians to inquire if her sister was well–or something about her. The magician after charging the stones as before explained, told her to look into them. The young woman did so and said she saw her sister sitting upon something but could not describe what kind of a seat it was–by the side of a curious looking house, and apparently in good health. This satisfied her that her sister was safe and well, but the house and the seat her sister was on she could not understand what it could be. The young woman afterwards joined the church and came to her sister who was living on a farm a short distance from Nauvoo, a worm fence enclosed the farm and log house and it was upon this fence near the log house she had seen her sister sitting when she looked into the magicians stones in Scaffordshire, England. This is the substance of the narration as I heard it from Uncle John. Sometime after I moved to Nauvoo I became acquainted with Elder Alfred Cordon, who related to me the same, he also said, the books with the stones were placed in his hands by these men after they joined the church, and he gave them to Apostle George A. Smith who destroyed the books, but put the stones in the bottom of his trunk and brought them to Nauvoo. He gave them to Joseph the prophet who pronounced them to be a Urim and Thummim as good as ever was upon the earth but he said, “they have been consecrated to devils.” --- Wandle Mace Diary, p.66
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 Urim-n-Thummin can see 'all things past, present & Future" --- CKS Oct 17, 2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seer_stone_(Latter_Day_Saints)