This special episode is a tribute to and homage of LORE, by Aaron Mahnke. If you haven’t already, you should check it out.
In 1888 a Mormon woman in the Southern States mission of the LDS Church requested a visit from the missionaries. She said she was possessed by the devil and asked the elders to help her by the laying on of hands. They were happy to comply and the evil spirit was summarily dismissed. Then things took a turn for the worse.
This, and other stories of Mormon exorcism are featured in this special edition of the Maxwell Institute Podcast. Learn more about the history of Satan as he was understood before, during, and after the life of Jesus, through Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation, to the days of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and beyond.
About the Guest
No one has done more research on dispossession in Mormonism than religious studies scholar Stephen C. Taysom, associate professor in the department of philosophy and comparative religion at Cleveland State University. He is author of Shakers, Mormons, and Religious Worlds: Conflicting Visions, Contested Boundaries. He edited Dimensions of Faith: Mormon Studies Reader. His article on Mormonism and exorcism was recently published in the journal Religion and American Culture. It’s called “‘Satan mourns naked upon the earth’: Locating Mormon Possession and Exorcism Rituals in the American Religious Landscape, 1830-1977.”
Transcript
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This episode is a tribute to and homage of LORE, by Aaron Mahnke. If you haven’t already, you should check it out.
Subscribe to the Maxwell Institute Podcast through iTunes or use the RSS feed mi.byu.edu/feed/podcast. Please help our podcast grow by rating and reviewing it in iTunes. Send questions or comments about this and other episodes to mipodcast@byu.edu.
Music
In order of appearance:
“ClarOscuro,” by Bruno Sanfilippo
‘Waves,” by Sten Erland Hermundstad
“Feel,” by Sten Erland Hermundstad
“Snowfall (Intro),” by Kai Engel
“Hope,” by Sten Erland Hermundstad
“Dreams,” by Sten Erland Hermundstad
“Piano Textures 3 V,” Bruno Sanfilippo
“My Piano, The Clouds,” by Fabrizio Paterlini
“Nocturne in A Minor,” by Chad Lawson
Character Voices
In order of appearance:
- Jeremy King, as Joseph Smith
- Morgan Davis, as Newell Knight
- Philip Barlow, as Palmyra Reflector editor
- Carl Griffin, as Benjamin Brown
- Brian Hauglid, as mission president
Clips
- The First Vision (1976) [Link]
- The Restoration (2004) [Link]
- Ask of God: Joseph Smith’s First Vision (2015) [Link]
- Carlos Eire, “How the Protestant Reformation Redefined the Sacred and the Supernatural,” The Living Reformation conference, September 15, 2017. [Link]
- The Exorcist film trailer (1973) [Link]
- James E. Faust, “The Great Imitator,” General Conference, October 1987. [Link]