Juvenile Instructor » Dreaming of Joseph Smith’s Mummy

Dreaming of Joseph Smith’s Mummy

By: Jared T - August 24, 2008

So, I had a pretty wacked out dream last December. I found it rich with symbolism, though, so as something of a change from the usual I thought I’d post what I wrote about it in my journal and ask you all to play Joseph of Egypt and have your hand at interpreting it. In the process you get to see what an extreme nerd I am. I’m interested to see what you all come up with.

I had a dream last night that I was on some sort of tour of a church site. It was out somewhere like Missouri or New York. There was a church museum there and I’m pretty sure it was run by LDS-Church affiliations. There was a bookstore or two in it and actually very few relics, but the big thing they had there was the body of Joseph Smith. It was in a glass box so as to be able to see it from all angles. It was, I guess, mummified. I approached from the back, as the head was turned away from me. The body was somewhat tilted towards where the head was turned, somewhat on that side. I didn’t notice the clothes. I came around to the other side and was shocked that the face and head were swollen and distorted. It was something like the Elephant Man. The complexion seemed polished and there seemed to be liver spots about the hairline, which was very much receded. But the face was huge and the features exaggerated. I didn’t notice the hands, but the feet were bare and calloused. In this box, the legs were bent somewhat under the body and the box was that size. I presumed that because of rigor mortis that this was the way the body was instead of having been stuffed in there. I searched the postings around, searching for some reason for this. There was nothing. I was surprised. How can there be such a distortion of the body without some explanation? It’s the question everyone must be asking themselves, but there is no answer for it. I was repulsed by the disfigurement, but if this was really Joseph Smith’s body, then I was ready to reverence it as such. After all, this wasn’t how he looked when he was alive. I didn’t want to leave. Though I was disturbed to contemplate his face, I yearned to, as I had the death mask before, yearning to conceptualize his face and how he looked when he was alive. I had understood that the body had been excavated and found as bone fragments only. I was ready to put that aside as a mistake if this was really his body. What was important to me was if this really was him. That’s what mattered. [1]

[1] Jared T., Journal, December 6, 2007, manuscript in my possession.

Comments (9)

9 Comments

Well, the easiest narrative is that Joseph’s image has been distorted by the passage of years to the present day. Some of it in ways that are not pretty. It may be hard for us to accept the Joseph we’ve been told about by historians, but you appear to be willing to accept it all, as long as it really is Joseph and not some fake of him.

Comment by Seth R. — August 24, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
Since that interpretation was “easy” it’s probably wrong, but oh well…

Comment by Seth R. — August 24, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
Jared T., where are the footnotes?

(My take was similar to Seth R.’s.) That will be a nickel, please.

Comment by Kevin Barney — August 24, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
I cannot offer an interpretation until you supply the proper dream provenance, and have drawn dreamy parallel lines between the mummy’s features and a daguerreotype of my Uncle Albert. In the meantime I recommend that you not eat mustard after 5:00 p.m.

Comment by Ardis E. Parshall — August 24, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
Oh my. You are a nerd. I hope you grabbed an ear or a pinky to sell on E-Bay as a sacred relic.

Comment by Christopher Smith — August 24, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
Haha…we’re off to a good start.

Seth R., good thoughts, there’s no wrong answer, I think.

Kevin, there’s your footnote

Christopher S., No grabby, it was all behind glass, you see

Ardis, no mustard, check. However, I think I could whip up a line comparison with the Scannel daguerreotype…or even better, with some random Brazilian daguerreotype.

Comment by Jared T — August 24, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
i thought this post was going to be about lucy mack smith, and you had forgotten her name.

Comment by tricky — August 25, 2008 @ 3:51 am
i thought this post was going to be about lucy mack smith, but you had forgotten her name.

Comment by tricky — August 25, 2008 @ 3:51 am
Secret worship of Zina DHJS Young? she told a story about hiding the mummies under her bed and of course had special access to JSJ when alive.

I guess Freud spoiled dreams for me. I see them as things to enjoy rather than interpret.

Comment by smb — August 25, 2008 @ 8:03 am