Jaredites SHINING STONES ACID TEST FOR BOOK OF MORMON
Kerry Shirts
Not only are the Jaredites shining stones coming to be practical in
our modern day scientific sense, but they also are a serious ancient
historical gadget as well.
The oldest traditions of India talk about a wonderful stone that
shines in the dark. This is the famous Jalakanta stone and shines
only after being subjected to terrific heat. It was used to illuminate
the darkest recesses and sometimes shone as brightly as the sun.
It has been traced to China and the west and is given prominant
mention by some Middle Ages thinkers as well as the great Albertus
Magnus. It was even believed in Europe that the Holy Grail was such
a jewel and of such fiery power that the Phoenix bird cremated it-
self in its heat and was thus reborn, for among other things the
stone had the power of regeneration.
The Pyrophilus stone was described as a transparent crystal and
called "Jalakanta" or "moonfriend" because this stone *caused the
waters to part.* The strange property of the stone was that it had
the miraculous pwer to enable its possessor to pass unharmed through
the depths of the waters.
Interestingly, the sources all go back to claiming that Noah on the
ark possessed SHINING STONES! And in Ether, we find that the
Jaredites were copying a pattern from Noah, not only with their
strange ships (very much like the ancient Mesoptamian MAGUR-
BOATS, which were moonshaped and carried lots of animals and
people on board for LONG sea journeys, which were air tight except
for stopper holes-following Hilprect), but also with their weird shining
stones. The tradition is NOWHERE in the Bible, but certainly is
claimed in the BofM to go back way into hoary antiquity, and now
the ancient legends and ideas coming out show the ships and
shining stones to be strictly authentic.
We end up in the ancient Mesoptamian flood stories! The philosopher
Ausculapius, in a letter to the Emperor Augustus, gave an authentic
description of the Pyrophilus, closely agreeing with the Indian accounts,
but with the added information that such a stone was had by none
other than Alexander the Great. He would keep it under his belt and
would never part with it for a moment, until one day, wishing to bathe
in a stream, laid his belt and jewel down on the bank where a serpent
promptly seized the stone, carried it off, and vomited it up into the
Euphrates.
That this is no Medieval fantasy story is clear from the fact that Aristotle,
Alexander's teacher, mentioned such a stone in a lost writing, while
long before the stone was associated with none other than Gilgamesh!
The stone is interchangeable with the plant of life. The shining Pyrophilus
stone was also a life-giving stone, possessing power of regeneration, and
it was identified with the Holy Grail. The Greeks called it the "pharmakon
agerasias" or "specific against old age" the "medicine of immortality."
Gilgamesh's story of losing the plant of immortality to a serpent is
similar to Alexander the Great's. And only one person in the Gilgamesh
epic can tell where to get this plant, Utnapishtim, the Babylonian *Noah*.
The pagan Lucian, a native of Syria, preserved the story of Deucalion
which matches the Bible flood story on point after point. A cult center
was set up in Western Asia and the Babylonian flood story was im-
mortalized there in story, song, and ritual. The shrine there was very
famous for a very interesting reason. In the temple on the spot
was a certain STONE called "lynchnis" which by night gives off
light, which illuminates the whole shrine just like a lamp, though
by day the glow is weak. The shrine itself was made to represent
a vessel illumined by a sacred light, floating in the midst of the
cosmic sea, so that the only way of getting to it was by
swimming. The stone itself was set in the crown of the Lady in
her capacity as Moon goddess, which reminds us that the one
principle designation of the shining stone of the Indian legends
was as "Moonfriend." The MAGUR-BOAT, according to Hilprect
which the Babylonian Utnapishtim survived the flood was a vessel
sacred to the moon. The MAGUR-BOAT of the Sumerian Noah
was a moon boat not only because of its crescent shape and
wandering through space for 12 months, but also because it was
illumined by a sacred miraculous light.
The ancients were familiar with such fluorescent stones as barite that
will shine for some time in the dark after being exposed to sunlight.
The Moonfriend was also dependent on sunlight, shining by a borrowed
light, as the moon itself does. Macrobius noted that the light of the
stone of the Syrian shrine was divine, life-giving light. The ancients did
not think the stone and life-giving power was within themselves, but
received illumination from a higher source.
Interestingly, the Urim and Thummim is connected! The root of Urim
is Or-m, which means light, which actually indicates a shining stone,
according to Schoneveld. It was the symbol of God's presence in the
breastplate of the high priest. This certainly is on par with the
Jaredites shining stones actually touched by God!
So to sum:
The Pyrophilus was a stone which shone in the dark. It was
believed to be pure crystal and could only be made luminous by
the application of terrific heat. It had the miraculous quality of
enabling its possessor to pass unharmed under the waters.
The story is found in the most recondite sources from East to West
anciently, and these stories were passed on. The wonderful
shining stone is found only in the possession of a Cosmocrator,
like Solomon, its most famous possessor was Alexander the Great.
The Alexandrian legends go back to Gilgamesh whose stone
appears as the plant of life which was sought after from Utnapishtim,
the Babylonian Noah.
The most wonderful object in the inmost shrine of the great cult
center at Aphek, in Syria, were the deeds of Noah and the flood
story and a stone which shone in the dark.
The zohar was described by the rabbi's as a shining stone, a
polished jewel, which Noah hung in the ark to tell the day from
night.
Now whether the ark was illuminated by such shining stones or
not is beside the point, which is that the idea of shining stones in
the darkness of the ark was not invented by Joseph Smith in the
19th century, or anybody else. This idea is not in View of the
Hebrews nor in the Solomon Spaulding manuscript. It is in
no contemporary accounts in Smith's day or place. No one
recognized anything about them except for their utter ludicrous
and ridiculousness.
(see also Hugh Nibley - "An Approach to the BofM", pp. 273-301)
I have also found another source which deals with this idea of
shining stones anciently. Graham Hancock in his marvelous
mystery history thriller, "The Sign and the Seal" which deals with
the search for the lost Ark of the Covenant, also mentions this
ancient idea of shining stones. He notes that there are parallels
between the ark and the Holy Grail which both were supposed
to have shined from supernatural light. This shining is directly
associated with the meteoric stones which fell from heaven! These
stones possessed divine life and glowed in the dark. (pp. 68f).
This is an acid test for the authenticity of the BofM and Joseph
Smith. NOTHING like it is found anywhere in the literature of the
1820's, 1830's and 1840's of Joseph Smith's era. They CERTAINLY
ARE authentically ANCIENT and go back to Noah as the BofM
says. This alone demonstrates that the BofM is for real and we
had better start paying attention to it and what it says. It is an
ancient book with a message for our time.
Kerry A. Shirts
Osiris
>The Jaredites Shining Stones and Ancient History
>This is an acid test for the authenticity of the BofM and Joseph
>Smith. NOTHING like it is found anywhere in the literature of the
>1820's, 1830's and 1840's of Joseph Smith's era. They CERTAINLY
>ARE authentically ANCIENT and go back to Noah as the BofM
>says. This alone demonstrates that the BofM is for real and we
>had better start paying attention to it and what it says. It is an
>ancient book with a message for our time.
>Kerry A. Shirts
Kerry,
Excellent post! I love stuiff like this. Here are a couple more tidbits:
The stone mentioned as the eighth in the levels of stone that formed the
foundation of the Holy City described by John in his Revelation is the Beryl.
The most interesting part of the Beryl stone is its name, which is derived from
the latin beryllus, meaning "brilliant; full of LIGHT." The elemental metal
Beryllium is used in manufacture of jet aircraft, especially around the
afterburners, because of the great levels of heat it can withstand.
Another item: I sat in on an Indian sweat lodge two weeks ago, done by another
friend of mine named White Eagle, a chief and a holy man among the Cherokee, as
well as an LDS High Priest. During the orientation meeting for us newcomers,
White Eagle spoke of the Urim and Thummim. He mentioned that there is a tribe
of Native Americans (the Hopi, if I remember correctly) which possess two clear
stones which are to be used only by their holy men, and which are supposed to
shine, and reveal hidden things.
This was a most enjoyable trip! I went down with Avraham Gileadi in his car.
It was just me and him for the four hour trip up and back. Boy, talk about
brain dump. He is a wealth of knowledge, and is the most humble man.
Again, excellent post! Let's see more like this one.
Trenton
_______________________________________________________
Trenton Hansen, Tecnical Advisor
HomeStar Communications
"Mankind is our Business."
"When a dwarf casts a long shadow,
the time for the sun to set is near."
--Giosue Carducci
______________________________________________________
Jon Graehl
>The stone mentioned as the eighth in the levels of stone that formed the
>foundation of the Holy City described by John in his Revelation is the Beryl.
>The most interesting part of the Beryl stone is its name, which is derived
from
>the latin beryllus, meaning "brilliant; full of LIGHT." The elemental metal
>Beryllium is used in manufacture of jet aircraft, especially around the
>afterburners, because of the great levels of heat it can withstand.
>
What is that supposed to mean? You don't suppose that the element was named
after the Beryl stone because of its properties, though?
Osiris
>What is that supposed to mean? You don't suppose that the element was named
>after the Beryl stone because of its properties, though?
Beryl and Beryllium are composed of the same element. One is combined with
others to form crystals, the other is metallic. Both have similar properties,
including the ability to withstand tremendous heat.
The point is that it is likely that these shining stones are beryl stones.
Kerry Shirts
>
(Kerry Shirts) wrote:
>
>>The Jaredites Shining Stones and Ancient History
>
>>Smith. NOTHING like it is found anywhere in the literature of the
>>1820's, 1830's and 1840's of Joseph Smith's era. They CERTAINLY
>>ARE authentically ANCIENT and go back to Noah as the BofM
>>says. This alone demonstrates that the BofM is for real and we
>>had better start paying attention to it and what it says. It is an
>>ancient book with a message for our time.
>
>>Kerry A. Shirts
>
>Excellent post! I love stuiff like this. Here are a couple more tidbits:
>
>foundation of the Holy City described by John in his Revelation is the Beryl.
>The most interesting part of the Beryl stone is its name, which is derived from
>the latin beryllus, meaning "brilliant; full of LIGHT." The elemental metal
>Beryllium is used in manufacture of jet aircraft, especially around the
>afterburners, because of the great levels of heat it can withstand.
>
>friend of mine named White Eagle, a chief and a holy man among the Cherokee, as
>well as an LDS High Priest. During the orientation meeting for us newcomers,
>White Eagle spoke of the Urim and Thummim. He mentioned that there is a tribe
>of Native Americans (the Hopi, if I remember correctly) which possess two clear
>stones which are to be used only by their holy men, and which are supposed to
>shine, and reveal hidden things.
>
>This was a most enjoyable trip! I went down with Avraham Gileadi in his car.
>It was just me and him for the four hour trip up and back. Boy, talk about
>brain dump. He is a wealth of knowledge, and is the most humble man.
Hey! How dare you be alone with Gileadi and *not* tell us what you guys
talked about!!! Come on, fess up!!! I envy you (in a good way of course),
but do you have access to Gileadi, so I can get some answers to some
questions I am dying to learn? This could be interesting and fun!
>
>Again, excellent post! Let's see more like this one.
Well.... O.K., you asked for them, keep tuned, I gotta lotta more! A LOTTA
MORE!!!
>Trenton
Kerry A. Shirts
citrus...@gmail.com
SAW
Sandia National laboratories in New Mexico have recently developed radioluminescent lights that invite some interesting comparisons with the Jaredite stones. These lights are intended to "serve needs for lighting where no electricity is readily available." (n.3) Their life expectancy is about 20 years, and they are described as being "bright" and very "intense."
The radioluminescent lights are made from a highly porous silica matrix-"aerogel"-- in which a phosphor such as zinc sulfide is dispersed. The radioactive source of the lights is tritium gas, which when incorporated into the aerogel, actually becomes chemically bonded to the aerogel matrix. (n.4) The radioactivity of tritium results in beta decay. The beta particles (electrons) "permeate through the open spaces of the aerogel and strike the phosphor particles, exciting them and causing them to emit light." (n.5) The majority of the light emitted escapes to the outside, whereas the beta radiation is contained inside the matrix. Therefore there is no appreciable external radiation.
Radioluminescent light is consistent with and supplies an intriguing parallel matching the requirements of the Jaredite stones: they are small, long-lasting, and physically harmless. It is possible that the Jaredite stones were created in a similar fashion, according to existing physical laws. Although making the molten rocks would most likely have boiled off any tritium present, it is conceivable that the Lord could have altered some other molecule in the stone to create the radioactive isotope that would produce the glowing effect. It is also possible that he could have simply infused the stones with tritium gas as the Sandia researchers have done. Interestingly, years ago Elder
Spencer W. Kimball proposed that perhaps the Jaredite stones were illuminated "with radium or some other substance not yet rediscovered by our scientists." (n.6)