Glossary

Webster's Dictionary 1828 defines “seer” first as “One who sees; as a seer of visions.” And second as “A prophet; a person who forsees future events.” 1 Samuel 9:9 says: “(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.)” The Book of Mosiah states: “And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.

But a seer can know of things which have passed and also of things which are to come; and by them shall all things be revealed, or rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them; and also, things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.” -5:77-80 RLDS Edition, 8:16-17 LDS Edition

A seer stone is a rock used for divination. Joseph Smith Jr. owned a minimum of two seer stones. He began using a seer stone as early as at least 1819. It was common at that time to use seer stones in attempts to gain revelations from God. They were also used in attempts to find buried treasure. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Jr. were known to use seer stones and had reputations of doing so. Some say they did so successfully, others claim they were conning people out of money. Joseph Smith Jr. would place a seer stone in a white stovepipe hat, then put his face in the hat to block the light to "see" or divine information as a form of revelation from God. Seer stones were used for “scrying,” a form of divination. Scrying was used by Biblical figures such as Joseph of Egypt (see Genesis 44:1-5), Miriam (see Sefer Ha Aggadah), the sister of Moses, and the High Priests that wore the Urim and Thummim.

(Hebrew: יםִ מֻּתַהְ ו יםִ ורּאָה )A set of two objects used by the High Priest in the Old Testament to answer a question or reveal the will of God. The meaning of these terms is uncertain, possibly Urim from the root word "Lights” and Thummim from the root “Innocents” is generally taken to mean “Perfections." The terms together may also mean “revelation and truth.” The Urim and Thummim are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a part of the breastplate worn by the High Priest. They were somehow attached to the ephod. They were believed to be used for divination and cleromancy. The Urim and Thummim used to divine the translation of the lost 116 pages of Book of Lehi were not identical to the Urim and Thummim of the Old Testament.

According to page 101 of Lucy Mack Smith, mother or Joseph Smith Jr.’s 1853 "Biographical sketches of Joseph Smith the prophet, and his progenitors for many generations" they were “two smooth three-cornered diamonds.” These “diamonds” were said to have been placed in silver bows that were fastened to a breastplate. The “Urim and Thummim” actually used to divine the translation of the Book of Mormon available to readers today was given to Joseph Smith Jr. by placing his brown seer stone into a hat.