Inverted or upside-down stars are commonly associated with Satanism today. So… why are there inverted stars on some Latter-day Saint temples? Is there something malevolent going on here? That is the subject David explores in this episode.
- “Why Are There Inverted Stars on Some Mormon Temples?” via ThirdHour: tinyurl.com/44...
- “The truth about Joseph Smith, treasure-digging, witchcraft, magic, and the occult. Ep. 193,“ via the Saints Unscripted KZitem channel: tinyurl.com/2y...
- “Star” in Webster’s 1828 dictionary: tinyurl.com/ya...
- “Pentagram” via the Encyclopedia Britannica: tinyurl.com/mr...
- “Baphomet” via the Encyclopedia Britannica: tinyurl.com/ms...
- “The Five Wounds of Christ, The Pentagram, and Temple Symbolism,” via LDS Daily: tinyurl.com/yc...
- “The Ancient Pentagram - A Christian Symbol,” by Bryce Haymond via Temple Study: tinyurl.com/5c...
- “5 Types of Stars You'll Find on LDS Temples (+ The Fascinating Meaning Behind Them)” via LDSLiving: tinyurl.com/bd...
Further reading:
- ”Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons,” by Matthew B. Brown
- “Symbols in Stone,” by Matthew B. Brown & Paul Thomas Smith
- “Temple and Cosmos,” by Hugh Nibley
Notes:
- The original Nauvoo temple was completed in 1846 amidst the Saints exodus west. It partially burned down in 1848, and further damaged by a tornado in 1850. Close-up pictures (of the inverted stars and such) are hard to find (I haven’t found any). That said, we do have the architectural drawings, which clearly show the inverted stars. The modern Nauvoo Temple was patterned after the original. Both feature inverted stars.
- Some claim that some of our star symbology was taken from Freemasonry. I don’t think that’s true, as the Saints had been dealing in star-related symbology for a long time before Freemasonry really became a factor - but even if Freemasonry did inspire the stars, I’m fine with that (and I explain why in episode number 57 on the Faith and Beliefs series on Saints Unscripted). But in any case, as far as I am aware, the Freemasons also did not associate their stars with Satan (at least during Joseph Smith’s time).
- The Messenger & Advocate notes that the woman from Revelation 12 represents “the church of Christ as established by the apostles, adorned with the glory and power of God”. Source: Messenger & Advocate, Vol. 1, No. 7, pg. 100 (April 1835), by M. C. Nickerson.
- Sources that indicate that Eliphas Levi was the first person to suggest that the inverted star was associated with Satan:
- “Gregory of Saint Vincent: A Pioneer of the Calculus,” by Ad Meskens, in The Mathematical Gazette, Vol. 78, No. 483 (Nov., 1994), pg. 319: “The inverted pentagram [as a symbol associated with evil] is almost certainly a 19th century invention by Eliphas Levi Zhad, a black magician and defrocked priest, who maintained that this form of the star was a vestigial drawing of the head of the Sabbatic Goat.”
- “The History of the Pentagram and Its Symbolism,” via templarhistory.com: “Eliphas Levi was the first to adapt the inverted pentagram shown left as symbolic of evil … he is alleged to have drawn the inverted pentagram as the goat’s head or Baphomet. In so doing, he formed for the first time, a differentiation between good and evil symbolized by the pentagram.” Also here: templarhistory...
- Some people might point out that there is a certain “magical parchment” allegedly owned by Hyrum Smith that features some 5-pointed stars (one of them seems to be properly inverted, though I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not). I doubt this folk-tradition inspired the inverted temple stars (as we’ve seen in this video, they seem to have clearly been inspired by scripture), but even if this folk-tradition did inspire the stars, I still don’t see evidence that the Smiths ever used these symbols as representations of evil. As D. Michael Quinn points out in his book, “Mormonism and the Magic Worldview” (pg. 112), this parchment would have been used to invoke good spirits, not evil ones. For more info on this “folk magic” (which was really just folk-Christianity), see this episode and the appended resources (Ep. 193): tinyurl.com/bp...
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