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| | #REDIRECT [[Question: Was a "magic dagger" once owned by Hyrum Smith?]] |
| ==Criticism==
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| Critics claim that the Smith's owned a magic dagger that was among Hyrum Smith's heirlooms. They cite this as proof of the Smith family's deep involvement in ritual magick.
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| ===Source(s) of the Criticism===
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| {{MagicCritics}}
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| ==Response==
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| Wrote William Hamblin of these claims (formatting and headings have been added; references silently removed—please see link to original article in endnotes for further information):
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| ==Part I: The Mars Dagger==
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| Quinn's claim that the Smiths used magic circles as part of their alleged treasure-hunting activities is intimately connected with the so-called "magic dagger," first mentioned in a 1963 description of Hyrum Smith's heirlooms.155 According to Quinn, this was precisely "the kind of dagger necessary for ritual magic" (p. 70) and had "everything to do with ceremonial magic" (p. 70). Quinn also claims that this dagger was astrologically connected to Joseph Smith Sr.'s birth year: "it is crucial that [the sigil of] Mars (inscribed on the dagger) was the planet governing' the year 1771. That was the year of Joseph Sr.'s birth" (p. 71). As will be demonstrated below, in all these claims he is simply and clearly mistaken. There are two separate issues here: (1) What is the significance of the sigils (symbols) found on the dagger? and (2) Was the dagger designed for ritual magic and, more specifically, for making magic circles for treasure hunting?
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| ===An Astrological Connection?===
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| Quinn's claim of an astrological connection between the ceremonial dagger and the Smiths is extremely feeble; it is based on misrepresentation of several sources and fabrication of several ideas....
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| [We here omit Hamblin's chart showing various Smith family members' birthdates.]
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| Quinn's claim regarding the astrological significance of the dagger is as follows:
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| :Concerning the magic context for this artifact [the dagger] of the Smith family, it is crucial that Mars (inscribed on the dagger) was the "planet governing" the year 1771. That was the year of Joseph Sr.'s birth. It was not the governing (or "ruling") planet for the birth years of Joseph Jr. (b. 1805), Hyrum (b. 1800), or their oldest brother Alvin (b. 1798). . . . The astrological sign inscribed on the dagger was Joseph Sr.'s and not Hyrum's. (pp. 71, 72)159
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| But is this really the case? What evidence does Quinn provide to support these assertions? Quinn's major source of information for the idea of "planets governing" a particular year is Paul Christian's ''The History and Practice of Magic'' (p. 413 n. 38).160 A number of serious problems arise with Quinn's claim and evidence.
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| ===Problem #1: Quinn's source is too late===
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| First, the only sources Quinn provides claiming that Mars supposedly governed the birth year of Joseph Smith Sr. were first published in English in or after 1870 and were therefore not available to Joseph Smith Sr. (see p. 413 n. 38).161 Quinn provides no contemporary source available to the Smiths from which they could have derived this information. If, as Quinn claims, Joseph Sr. actually believed his birth year was governed by Mars, Quinn should either (preferably) provide evidence of this belief from the Smiths themselves for that claim (there is none) or, at the very least, provide a source printed before the 1820s from which the Smiths could theoretically have obtained this information. As it stands, for Quinn's thesis to be accepted we are forced to believe that the Smiths read a book that would not be published until some decades after their deaths.
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| ===Problem #2: Quinn misunderstands the sigils' importance===
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| Second, Quinn either misunderstands or misrepresents the significance of the sigils on the dagger.162 Inscribed on the dagger are several sigils—magical symbols or seals. As Quinn himself notes (see p. 71), the dagger has the astrological sigil for Scorpio, a sign of the zodiac for those born from 24 October to 21 November. As the family list given above demonstrates, neither Joseph nor any of his immediate ancestors nor siblings were born under Scorpio. Of his children, two were: Joseph III (6 November 1832) and David Hyrum, who was born on 17 November 1844, five months after Joseph's death. Both were born too late to be involved with Joseph's alleged drawing of the magic circles in the 1820s. Furthermore, the dagger was found among the possessions of Hyrum's descendants, not Jo seph's, and therefore was not connected to Joseph's sons. Of Hyrum's children, only Joseph Fielding, later the president of the church, was a Scorpio (13 November 1838). His life is well documented. Perhaps Quinn should examine it for possible use of the Mars dagger. At any rate, it is perfectly clear that Joseph Fielding, born in 1838, could not possibly have been involved in the alleged drawing of magic circles in the 1820s.163 Whomever the ceremonial dagger was astrologically linked to, it was not Joseph Smith Sr. nor one of his children, the only ones ever allegedly involved in treasure hunting. I should emphasize the importance of this point. If Quinn is correct in his claims that the dagger was astrologically linked to its maker and user, then the original maker and user of the dagger was not one of the Smith family! That can only mean that the dagger passed to the Smith family second hand. Thus the foundational astrological/magical connection be tween the Smiths and the dagger collapses, as does Quinn's argument.
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| ===Problem #3: Quinn presumes signs on dagger apply to birth years===
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| Third, what of Quinn's claim that the dagger was particularly associated with Joseph Smith Sr. because Mars was the "planet governing" his birth year? Quinn is correct that the dagger has sigils associated with Mars (see p. 71).164 However, Quinn has completely misrepresented the nature and purpose of the Mars sigils. He confuses astrological with talismanic signs. The two are completely different and easily distinguishable, with entirely distinct functions in magical thought and practice. The Mars sigils on the dagger do not include the astrological sign of Mars, which is a circle with an arrow pointing out of it. Rather, the signs on the dagger are "the seal of Mars" and "of his [Mars's] intelligence." They are specifically designed to be used for "talismanic magic."165 They are not astrological symbols for Mars and have nothing to do with birth years, as Quinn claims. Quinn provides no source, primary or secondary, to support this assertion. It is a pure fabrication.
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| Barrett has an explicit description of the purpose of these Mars symbols on the page facing the plate that Quinn cites as the source for these symbols:
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| :Out of it [the table of Mars on the facing page]166 is drawn the characters of Mars and of his spirits. These, with Mars fortunate,167 being engraven on an iron plate, or sword, makes a man potent in war and judgment, and petitions, and terrible to his enemies; and victorious over them.168
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| In other words, Barrett explicitly states that the purpose of engraving these Mars sigils on a sword (and presumably by extension, a dagger) is to give victory over one's enemies in war or litigation. The Mars sigils are not related to birth months or years, ceremonial magic, or treasure hunting, none of which is mentioned by Barrett in this section. Quinn attempts to convince his readers that both the Mars dagger and the Jupiter talisman (see below) are astrological items specifically designed to be used by people who are born under the respective planetary signs (see pp. 71—72). They are not. Rather, they are talismanic devices whereby anyone—no matter what astrological sign he was born under—can obtain the cosmic planetary influences in various aspects of his life. This can be done by making the talismans during times when the proper planets are in astrological ascendancy. If he desires victory in battle, he will use the Mars seals. If he is seeking success in love, he will use the Venus seals, and so forth.169 Anyone could use the Mars dagger or the Jupiter talisman. They were not specifically designed only for persons born under Mars or Jupiter. Thus, Quinn's alleged unique connection between the dagger and Joseph Smith Sr. is pure fantasy.
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| Quinn cites sources that emphasize this distinction between astrological and talismanic signs. On page 413 note 35, he quotes the following passage from Christopher McIntosh: "Barrett does not deal at all with conventional astrology and gives no instructions for the casting of horoscopes. Instead he describes the nature of the various planetary forces and tells how they can be harnessed by the use of talismans and charms."170 In light of this clear statement, which he himself quotes, I do not understand why Quinn insists that the Mars sigils on the dagger are astrological when his source says they are not astrological.
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| ===Problem #4: Quinn does the calculations inaccurately===
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| Fourth, Quinn also misreads Christian's calculations for determining the governing planet. Even if we were to grant Quinn's erroneous claim that the Mars dagger was specifically designed only for someone born under a year that Mars governs, no one in the Smith family was born under a Mars year. Quinn either misunderstands or misrepresents the calculations. As noted above, the only source Quinn cites for these calculations is Paul Christian. Here is Christian's explanation on the pages referenced by Quinn (see p. 413 n. 38):
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| :Periods of time are divided into cycles of 36 years. Each of the seven planetary Geniuses comes, in turn, to open and to close one of the cycles, that is to say, to rule the 1st and the 36th year of each cycle. [He then gives a long list of the beginning and ending years for each cycle and the planet they are associated with.] . . .
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| :In order to find out the planet governing the year, the Magi used a seven-pointed golden star [a diagram of which is found on page 464], on which were engraved the signs of the seven planets. Given for example the cyclic number [year] 1808, they would have discovered, from the preceding table, that this number belongs to one of the cycles of Venus, beginning in 1801 and ending in 1836. Then, taking the seven-pointed star, they would count 1801 at the sign of Venus, and, following the order of the planets, 1802 on Mercury, 1803 on the Moon, and so on.171
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| Thus, according to Christian's chart, the order of the sequence of the planetary years in the cycle of Venus is Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Sun. When performing the calculations, the sequence of planets remains the same, but the beginning planet of each sequence is different, depending on which planet dominates the cycle. Thus, in the cycle of Venus, given above, one begins the sequence of planets with Venus. In the cycle of Saturn, one begins with Saturn and follows the same order of planets, which would thus be Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Moon....
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| [We here omit another astrological table from Hamblin; see original article]
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| It is quite clear from this chart that neither Joseph Sr. nor any of the other Smiths born from 1765 through 1800 were born in a Mars year....
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| These two charts make it clear that none of the Smith family was born under a year of Mars. So, even if Quinn's misunderstanding of the purpose of the Mars sigils on the dagger were correct, it would simply prove that the Mars dagger was not made for the Smiths!
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| ===Conclusion===
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| In conclusion, Quinn has completely misunderstood or misrepresented the purpose of the dagger. The inclusion of the astrological sigil for Scorpio means the dagger was designed for someone born under the sign of Scorpio. None of the Smiths was. Therefore, it was not made for the Smiths. Quinn demonstrates no understanding of talismanic magic. The inclusion of the talismanic sigils for Mars means it was designed to grant victory in battle or litigation. It was not designed for ceremonial magic or treasure hunting, as Quinn claims. Quinn cites sources from after 1870 as evidence for what the Smiths supposedly believed, while completely misrepresenting those sources. The only possible conclusion to draw from all this is that the dagger was made for an unknown person, and, if it somehow came into the possession of Hyrum Smith, it was obtained secondhand with the engravings already made. This conforms with the late Smith family tradition that remembers the signs on the blade as "Masonic" rather than magical.
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| ==Part II: The Mars Dagger and Magic Circles==
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| Quinn's related claim is that the Mars dagger was specifically designed for making a magic circle for treasure hunting. He correctly understands that "most magic handbooks required a specially consecrated sword or dagger for the ceremony" of drawing magic circles (p. 70). However, he incorrectly claims that the Mars dagger was precisely "the kind of dagger necessary for ritual magic" (p. 70). He believes that "the inscriptions on the Smith family dagger have nothing to do with Freemasonry and everything to do with ceremonial magic" (p. 70). He repeatedly emphasizes his interpretation that "Hyrum Smith in 1844 possessed an instrument designed for drawing the kind of magic circles that Palmyra neighbors claimed his father was drawing on the ground in the 1820s" (p. 71). For Quinn, "the Mars-inscribed dagger . . .[was used] for drawing magic circles" (p. 97); it is, quite plainly, "a dagger for drawing magic circles of treasure-digging and spirit invocation" (p. 134).
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| This claim has two related assertions: (1) the Mars dagger was designed to make a magic circle, and (2) the magic circles mentioned in the occult books cited by Quinn were designed to find treasure. Once again, Quinn is simply wrong on both claims.
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| It is, however, important to note what Quinn's sources actually say about his claim that the Smiths drew magic circles with the Mars dagger. These sources have been analyzed above and will only be summarized here. Bennett simply says the Smiths dug for treasure in pits of a circular form. No use of magic is mentioned. Capron says that Joseph Sr. made a circle formed of stakes. This circle was not drawn with a dagger; indeed, it was not drawn at all. A sword (not a dagger) was used—but not to draw a magic circle; rather, it was carried by Samuel F. Lawrence (not Joseph Sr.) while circumambulating the staked circle to ward off the devil. Stafford describes two types of circles. First, he says that Joseph Sr. "made a circle," but he provides no description of the process. The circle was, however, staked with sticks. Second, Stafford talks about making a circle with sheep's blood. No dagger is mentioned in either of these accounts. Only one of Quinn's sources—Abner Cole—specifically describes making a magic circle with a weapon. But the circle was not made by Joseph Sr. with a dagger but by "Walters the Magician," who drew "a Magic circle, with a rusty sword." Thus even if one accepts these reports as accurate (rather than as malicious slander, satire, or village gossip), none of Quinn's sources ever describes anyone in the Smith family as drawing a magic circle with a dagger. Yet, perversely, this is what Quinn insists was actually going on.
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| ===Sources for Drawing Magic Circles===
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| We must begin with something Quinn never undertakes—a careful analysis of his sources for the Smiths' alleged knowledge of making magic circles. Quinn lists nine sources in his footnote on this subject (see pp. 411—12 n. 25). Of these, however, two are simply modern encyclopedia articles on necromancy. Of the remaining seven, two are brief modern secondary descriptions of magic circles, and one, The Greater Key of Solomon, was first published in English in 1889 and therefore was not accessible to Joseph Smith.173 This leaves four possible primary sources that Joseph Smith could have used for information on magic circles: Reginald Scot (last reprinted 1651), pseudo-Agrippa (1655, reprinted 1783), Ebenezer Sibly (1784), and Barrett (1801). I will examine most of these sources relative to two questions: (1) what is the description of the sword (or dagger) for drawing magic circles, and (2) what is the description of the magic circle itself?174 Finally, we will compare and contrast this information with the descriptions of the magic circles the Smiths are alleged to have drawn.
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| ====Reginald Scot (1651)====
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| Reginald Scot's book is the least likely that Joseph would have obtained. First, Scot's book was originally written in 1584 and last reprinted in 1651.175 It was thus nearly two hundred years old when Joseph was allegedly engaged in his magical activities. Furthermore, the first edition of Scot's book is extremely rare because it was destroyed by order of King James in 1603 since it denied the power of witchcraft. Scot's purpose is to "ridicule witchcraft in the eyes of the general public." "His whole attitude was skeptical and sarcastically mocking" of the reality of magic and witchcraft. He believed that "spiritualistic manifestations were artful impostures or illusions due to mental disturbance in the observers.'"176 It is not a book designed to help someone learn how to be a magician, as Quinn implies, but a book that mocked belief in magic and witchcraft as utter nonsense. Why, if Joseph read this book and took it seriously, would it have inclined him to want to participate in the magi cal operations which Scot denounces as manifestations of "mental disturbance"?
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| Scot describes using a knife for making a magic circle177 but insists that it must be of special design (see fig. 1).
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| :You must have also a bright knife that was never occupied [used or marked], and he must write on the one side of the blade of the knife + Agla178 + and on the other side of the knifes blade + [four sigils]179 + And with the same knife he must make a circle, as hereafter followeth: the which is called Salomons [Solomon's] circle.180
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| The Mars dagger clearly does not match the one described by Scot.
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| Scot also describes how to draw a magic circle.181 According to Scot one must also draw complex forms and write names in the circle; detailed diagrams are provided (see fig. 2).182 The circle described by Scot is nothing like what the Smiths are accused of doing, other than the fact that both are circles. It is quite clear that Scot could be the source for neither the Mars dagger nor the circles the Smiths are alleged to have drawn. The alleged Smith circles are not nearly complex enough.
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| Quinn's claims lead one to ponder: if Joseph really used Scot's books for magical purposes and believed that the spells and practices therein were efficacious, why was he not influenced by any of the other materials in the book? For example, in the section of Scot's book describing conjurations by the magic circle—which Quinn cites as a source for the Smiths' practices—Scot mentions numerous spirits that can be conjured. They include Baëll, Agares, Marbas, Amon, Barbatos, Buer, Gusoin, Botis, Bathin, Purson, Eligor, Leraie, Valefar, Morax, Ipos, Naberius, Glasya Labolas, Zepar, Bileth, Amai mon, Stiri, Paimon, Bune, Forneus, Ronove, Berith, Astaroth, Foras, Furfur, Marchosias, Malphas, Vepar, Sabnacke, Sidonay, Gaap, Shax, Procell, Furcas, Murmur, Caim, etc.183 Moroni is notably absent from this list. What role do any of these spirits play in Mormonism? None.184
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| So, according to Quinn, Joseph read Scot's book, from which he obtained knowledge of making magic daggers to draw magic circles to summon or control spirits to find treasure. But the dagger described by Scot does not match the Mars dagger, the circle described by Scot does not match the circles the Smiths are alleged to have drawn, and the names of the spirits mentioned by Scot to be conjured do not match the names of any of the angels who visited Joseph. So, why should we possibly think that Joseph had ever read Scot?
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| ====Pseudo-Agrippa (1655, reprinted 1783)====
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| The magic circles described in pseudo-Agrippa's Of Occult Philosophy are also much more complex than anything the Smiths are described as doing. Here is one example:185
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| :Therefore when you would consecrate any Place or Circle, you ought to take the prayer of Solomon used in the dedication of the Temple [1 Kings 8]: & moreover, you must bless the place with the sprinkling of Holy-water, & with Fumigations; by commemorating in the benediction holy mysteries. . . . And by invocating divine names which are significant hereunto; such as the Place of God, the Throne of God, the Chair of God, the Tabernacle of God, the Altar of God, and the Habitation of God. . . .
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| :And in the consecrations of instruments, & of all other things whatsoever that are serviceable to this Art, you shall proceed after the same manner, by sprinkling the same with Holy-water, perfuming the same with holy Fumigations, anointing it with holy Oyl, sealing it with some holy Sigil, & blessing it with prayer.186
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| Another passage requires the following ritual:
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| :Let the man that is to receive any Oracle from the good spirits, be chaste, pure, & confessed. Then a place being prepared pure & clean & covered everywhere with white linen, on the Lord's day in the new of the Moon let him enter into that place, clothed with clean white garments; & let him exorcize the place, & bless it, & make a Circle therein with a sanctified coal; & let there be written in the uttermost part of the Circle the names of the Angels, & in the inner part thereof let there be written the mighty names of God [given earlier]: & let him place within the Circle, at the four angles of the world, the Censers for the perfumes. Then let him enter the place fasting, & washed, & let him begin to pray towards the east this whole Psalm [Ps. 119]: . . . by perfuming; & in the end depreciating the Angels, by the said divine names, that they will deign to discover & reveal that which he desireth: & that let him do six days, continuing washed & fasting. And on the seventh day, which is the Sabbaoth, let him, being washed & fasting, enter the Circle, & perfume it, & anoint himself with holy anointing oyl . . . [and read a Psalm]. Which being said, let him arise, & let him begin to walk about in a circuit within the said Circle from the east to the west, until he is wearied with a dizziness of his brain: let him fall down in the Circle, & there he may rest; & forthwith he shall be wrapped up in an ecstacy, & a spirit will appear unto him, which will inform him of all things. We must observe also, that in the Circle there ought to be four holy candles burning at the four parts of the world.187
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| If the Smiths really read pseudo-Agrippa as Quinn claims, we would expect their magic circles to parallel these descriptions by pseudo-Agrippa. Yet where in the anti-Mormon accounts do we find descriptions of sprinkling with holy water, fumigations, anointings with oil, sealing with sigils, prayers, use of white linens, wearing white garments, exorcisms, using a sanctified coal to make the circle, writing the names of angels and God in the circle, washing, fasting, praying to the east, reciting psalms, repetitions for seven days, holy candles, and rapid circumambulation within the circle until the magician collapses from dizziness and has an ecstatic vision? Since none of these things is mentioned in the anti-Mormon allegations of making magic circles, we can safely assume that the Smiths did not use pseudo-Agrippa as their source.
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| ====Barrett (1801)====
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| Barrett, a source Quinn repeatedly claims Joseph read, gives the following instructions for making a sword (not a dagger) to be used in drawing the magic circle. Quinn references this passage as evidence concerning the types of magic circles Joseph is alleged to have drawn (see p. 412 n. 25).
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| :The operator ought to be clean and purified for nine days before he does the work. Let him have ready the perfume appropriated to the day wherein he does the work; and he must be provided with holy water from a clergyman, or he may make it holy himself, by reading over it the consecration of water of baptism; he must have a new vessel of earth, with fire, the vesture, and the pentacle; and let all these things be rightly and duly consecrated and prepared. Let one of the companions carry the vessel with fire, and the perfumes, and let another bear the book, the garment, and pentacle; and let the operator himself carry the sword, over which should be said a prayer of consecration: on the middle of the sword on one side let there be engraven Agla +, and on the other side, + On + Tetragrammaton +. And the place being fixed upon where the circle is to be erected, let him draw the lines we have before taught, and sprinkle the same with holy water, consecrating, &c. &c.188
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| Notice that only a sword is mentioned, not a dagger. Additionally, the sword must have a specific inscription.189 The Mars dagger does not have that inscription. On the other hand, Barrett's discussion of the Mars symbols that are actually found on the Mars dagger is 140 pages away190 and, as noted above, has nothing to do with the sword for drawing magic circles. Thus, while the sigils on the Mars dagger were probably based on Barrett's section on talismans, they are not in any way related to Barrett's discussion of the sword to be used to draw the magic circle! Quinn is arbitrarily conflating two quite distinct magical practices: talismanic magic and magic circles.
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| Note also that the purpose of the magic circle as described by Barrett is to protect the magician from the powers of demonic spirits he is trying to summon. Barrett informs us that "the greatest power is attributed to the circles, (for they are certain fortresses)." The circle is a "piece of ground for our defence, so that no spirit whatsoever shall be able to break these boundaries."191 Barrett nowhere mentions treasure hunting as a purpose for drawing the magic circle. Ac cording to Barrett, the magician stands inside the magic circle, which will protect him from the spirits he summons. Treasure circles were apparently designed to stake down the treasure and prevent spirits from moving it. Thus, both the Stafford and Hamilton accounts cited by Quinn mention making a circle of stakes because "the hid treasure is wont to move" (pp. 46—47). Such stakes are not used in the magic circles described by Barrett.
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| Furthermore, the number and size of the circles supposedly drawn by the Smiths do not match the description or diagram in Barrett, who says the magic circle consists of three concentric circles with the largest about nine feet in diameter.192 The circle Stafford alleges Joseph Sr. drew was a double (not triple) circle, the smaller 8—10 feet, with the larger 12—14 feet.193 Hamilton's manuscript calls for two circles of indeterminate size (see pp. 46—47). Likewise, the Smiths are never said to have drawn magic words and symbols on the ground in their circles as Barrett, Scot, and pseudo-Agrippa all require.194
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| Finally, the Smiths are never described as performing the complex rituals associated with Barrett's magic circle. Here is Barrett's description of what should be done to make a magic circle:
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| :The forms of circles are not always one and the same, but are changed according to the order of spirits that are to be called, their places, times, days, and hours; for in making a circle it ought to be considered in what time of the year, what day, and what hour, what spirits you would call, and to what star or region they belong, and what functions they have: therefore, to begin with, let there be made three circles of the latitude of nine feet, distant one from another about a hand's breadth. First, write in the middle circle the name of the hour wherein you do the work; in the second place, write the name of the angel of the hour; in the third place, the seal of the angel of the hour; fourthly, the name of the angel that rules the day in which you work, and the names of his ministers; in the fifth place, the name of the present time; sixthly, the name of the spirits ruling in that part of time, and their presidents; seventhly, the name of the head of the sign ruling in the time; eighthly, the name of the earth, according to the time of working; ninthly, and for the compleating [sic] of the middle circle, write the name of the sun and moon, according to the said rule of time: for as the times are changed, so are the names: and in the outer circle let there be drawn, in the four angles, the names of the great presidential spirits of the air that day wherein you would do this work, viz. the name of the king and his three ministers. Without the circle, in the four angles, let pentagons be made. In the inner circle write four divine names, with four crosses interposed: in the middle of the circle, viz. towards the east let be written Alpha; towards the west, Omega; and let a cross divide the middle of the circle.195
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| If Stafford, who claims to have been an eyewitness, had seen Joseph Sr. performing such a complex and dramatic ritual, he surely would have mentioned something more about it in his account. Instead, he simply says that Joseph Sr. "walked around three times on the periphery of this last circle, muttering to himself something which I could not understand."196 The Smiths are never described as doing anything like what Barrett requires. Nor, with the exception of Cole's claim that Walters (not a Smith) used a "rusty sword," are the Smiths ever mentioned as using "pentacles, perfumes, a sword, bible, paper, pen, and consecrated ink," which Barrett says are "necessary hereunto" in making magic circles.197
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| ==Part III==
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| {{ProbabilityMagicItems}}
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| ==Conclusion==
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| To summarize, not only are the nineteenth-century anti-Mormon primary sources used by Quinn inconsistent among themselves in describing the magic circles the Smiths are alleged to have drawn, they are also inconsistent—in terms of size, number, construction, purpose, materials, inscriptions, paraphernalia, and rituals—with the standard magical handbooks Quinn claims the Smiths used to learn how to make these magic circles. The only similarity is that they both happen to be circles.{{ref|hamblin.1}}
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| ==Endnotes==
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| #{{note|hamblin.1}} Part I and Part II were initially based on {{FR-12-2-16}} Due to the nature of a wiki project, the text has been formatted and potentially modified.
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| {{ProbabilityMagicItemsEndnotes}}
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| ===FAIR wiki articles===
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| {{MagicWiki}}
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| ===FAIR web site===
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| {{MagicFAIR}}
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| ===External links===
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| {{MagicLinks}}
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| ===Printed material===
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| {{MagicPrint}}
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