Kirtland, Solar Eclipses, and the Life of Pi

Two days ago, the LDS Church purchased a number of historical sites from the Community of Christ.  For those not familiar with the various Mormon factions and their history, the Community of Christ was formerly named the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and comprised many Mormons who stayed behind in Nauvoo rather than follow Brigham Young out to Utah.

The sites that the LDS Church purchased are pretty striking and relevant, and there were also a number of documents included.  Foremost of these sites is the Kirtland Temple (and the subject of this post).  The Kirtland Temple is the first temple that was built and dedicated by the Mormons, in 1837.  Joseph Smith would have been alive for this, obviously.  There are a few critical events that LDS leaders claim happened in the Kirtland Temple, including the visitation of various Beings to transfer or reveal 'keys'.  I have mentioned one of these alleged visitations in the form of Elijah in the post, "Elijah in England:  JRR Tolkien and Frodo".  I say 'alleged' for the brief reasons I touch on in that post, namely that it is probably unreliable, and I personally view Elijah's return to be somewhat different and in the future relative to 1837 (also covered in that post I linked).

Regardless, the Kirtland Temple is a very important landmark, and whether or not certain Beings appeared or not in the building (all, some, or any of them), it is noted and well recorded that many of those early Mormons who attended the dedicatory sessions experienced miracles, including angel visitations.

Anyway, in my mind, it may not be completely random that the LDS Church purchased the Kirtland Temple at this particular time.  And when I say 'this particular time', I mean specifically about a month in advance of the Solar Eclipse that will literally pass directly over that House on April 8.

I mentioned the upcoming Solar Eclipse passing over historic Mormon sites in the post "The Heavens speak through eclipses", with the title inspired by the name of a conference a group of Mormons known as the "Remnant" is holding during the Eclipse.  In that post, I made specific mention that the time of the eclipse reminding me of a rocket launch:

[The conference] is being held in upstate New York.  Apparently the eclipse will pass right over, or fairly close to, the town of Palmyra.  Palmyra is very relevant to Mormonism as it is where Joseph Smith lived, and where a number of important events occurred, such as Joseph's First Vision, the publication of the Book of Mormon, and the establishment of the church as an official organization in nearby Fayette.  Afterward, the church moved to Ohio.  Interestingly, the total eclipse will also pass directly over Kirtland, Ohio.

The eclipse occurs on April 8.  The time of totality at the venue this conference has selected is apparently 3:21pm.  Given discussions of rockets on this blog, that time struck me as funny (3-2-1 being something like a countdown before lift-off).

In that spirit, I looked up the time of the Eclipse in Kirtland to see if it had any relevance.  Bingo again!

Totality (when the moon completely covers the sun's face) begins at 3:14pm over the Kirtland Temple.  Those familiar with math, specifically geometry, might recognize that number.  The constant that one can use to find certain measurements of a circle like its circumference is called Pi, and it is usually written as 3.14.

The exact time is actually 3:14:19 (19 seconds after 3:14).  The next two digits in Pi (which is an irrational number that goes on forever - it can't be written as a simple fraction) are 15.  So digit #6 doesn't match up, but I think in this case getting things to match up to 4 significant figures is pretty good, at least by my scorekeeping.

There could be a number of interesting things to write regarding potential symbolism for Pi here in this post, but for sake of brevity and staying on a specific point, I will focus on the letter that represents it.

Pi is the 16th letter in the Greek alphabet and its capitalized form looks like this:

It's like two columns with a horizontal beam across it.  To me, it forms a door or a passageway, but that is probably because those are really on my mind right now.  I tried looking up to see if there was any background as to this particular shape, but had no luck.  So, to me at least, it looks like some kind of door or entrance.

A door or passageway is interesting, for obvious reasons on this blog.   The Solar Eclipse symbol, at least as we have explored here, besides representing the alignment or link of the Anor and Ithil Stones, also represents a door or passage that is created potentially in conjunction with these Stones.  Thus, we have one symbol (the Eclipse) passing over the Kirtland Temple at the exact time, 3:14pm, that is represented by another symbol (the letter Pi), with both of these symbols dealing with circles and apparently doors.

Joseph Smith envisioned the Kirtland Temple as a place that Jesus himself could possibly visit (or perhaps the Holy Ghost bearing Jesus' name and authority, based on what I have thought about and written here on this blog), thus alluding to this bridge between worlds, in a sense.  In the opening section of his dedicatory prayer, given on March 27, 1836, he said this:

For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people.

The dedicatory prayer is found in D&C 109, and might be an interesting read if you have the time.  A number of promises are given relative to that House, and they might yet be fulfilled.  

And actually, thinking more on my parenthetical comment above before the quote, it may well be that the "Son of Man" in this case would in fact be Faramir.  I have written both that Faramir might at some point bear Jesus' name and authority (as my alternative reading of Joseph Smith's First Vision suggests) and that Jesus himself would not manifest himself to the Gentiles.  For those reasons, Joseph might be referring to the Holy Ghost/ Faramir with this statement, whether knowingly or not.  I just wanted to build out that thought a bit more here as a possibility.

Thomas B. Marsh, Doors, and the Blasphemers in God's House

Thomas B. Marsh-Bucket-Peter has been in the news on this blog very recently and elsewhere, and that timing might not be coincidental, either, relative to all of this. 

I cited a few things from D&C 112 in the post Swampy Key Holders:  Thomas B. Marsh and Pokelogan to suggest that Marsh might still retain the 'keys' that were given to him in 1837 (and actually long before that as Peter!), which include that of doors and potentially travel off of this world to others - basically all doors that have to do with "Gentiles", of which this Earth is one, maybe, at least since the 4th age.  That blessing was given on July 23, by the way, which astrologically is the first day of Leo, which might be relevant.  We are kind of equating Marsh-Peter with a Lion, Chamel-Leons, and the like.  That day and horoscope delineation came to me, by the way, because my birthday is July 22, so I am well aware that July 23, not July 22, is the start of Leo.

Anyway, there are a number of great promises to Marsh, and the Twelve that will work with him, in that section.

There are also, however, a few not-so-nice things in that section relative to this Earth and its inhabitants in general...  some minor details, such as mention of the Lord's vengeance, some things about wrath, desolation, mourning, etc., said to come at some point over the face of the Earth.  You know, a few not so pleasant things, I guess.

Interestingly, as part of those unpleasantries, the Voice to Joseph and Marsh said that these will begin in the Lord's own house, and among those people who professed to know his name, but have actually blasphemed against God.  Here is part of what the Voice says:

Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord;

First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord

What is the 'house" that is mentioned here?  Well, I might argue that we are still talking about the Kirtland Temple.  Just 3 sections previous in D&C 109, (and roughly 4 months prior to the Marsh blessing) Joseph Smith dedicated that House to the Lord, that it would bear his name, and that from it his servants would go forth with Power.  Unlike the Nauvoo temple, the Kirtland Temple was never burned or destroyed - the same building that was dedicated back in 1837 as the Lord's House is the same building, with the same original materials, that exists today.

So, the whirlwind that will overtake the world will first start in the Lord's House as defined in 1837 and as stated to both Joseph and Marsh in D&C 112.  That House would appear to be the Kirtland Temple.  

As of March 5, the owner of that house is now the LDS Church (for the first time in its history!).  Brigham Young is the chief blasphemer as far as Mormons go (again, in my book), and now the organization that traces its authority back to him is in possession of the Lord's House that D&C 112 might reference, just in time for that symbol that has become so prevalent in my writings on this blog (the eclipse/ new moon shining/ black hole/ whatever) to pass over it in about a month.

Crazy.  Anyway, I think that all comes together pretty well.  I am sure I have some other thoughts rattling around in my mind relative to all of this, but that is what I have for now, I guess.