I feel called to write about Emma today.
Oh, sweet and powerful Emma, I adore and love you, my prophtess, the Elect Lady.
Emma is described to us by the revelation of Spirit in D & C 25. This revelation was given to Joseph Smith, Jr in Emma's hometown of Harmony, PA which in and of itself is a huge revalation.
Let's have a glance at the spiritual nature of Pennsylvania, the pot from which the flower that is Emma grew. The following except is from my Master's degree thesis, Heavenly Mothers and Plain Goddesses.
"[Many authors and scholars] trace the current practice of Pow Wow faith healing to the magick and herbal tradition brought by the German communities [to Pennsylvania], fused with mystical Christianity and Native American practices of the region (Guiley and Valiente). Ravenwolf, Valiente, Guiley, pagan practitioners and writers, are backed up by scholars like Barbara Louise Reimensnyder of the University of Pennsylvania, who have found elements of German paganism in what RavenWolf calls the “Avalon of the Americas”, Pennsylvania. The cloak for paganism became the reality after several generations and Pow Wow artists often pray to Jesus and Mary instead of a God and Goddess.
I like to draw from a few sources when I’m making this point which is why I brought up Ravenwolf, Valiente, Guiley and Reimensnyder. I think it’s important to keep in mind that practicing witches in the area, like Ravenwolf, can discover things and make connections that a scholar might not be able to find while scholars like, Reimensyder from the University of Pennsylvania, can bring in academic oversight to the conversation of magick.
Many German descendants practicing PowWow are female, in keeping with the German female healing tradition. Pow Wow artists have many magickal aspects to their practice including the use of a magickal knife called an athome for divination, amulets, casting of lots, pagan symbols in rosettes of their churches, traditional Hex colors or red, white and black and they use astrology to determine gardening schedules, as we will discuss in depth later in the paper (Ravenwolf, Guiley, Valiente and Reimensnyder)."
We know that Joseph used astorology, amulets, seer stones and a magickal daggers in early Mormonism. We also know that the woman called by Spirit, the Elect Lady, the wife of the prophet, was from an area reffered to as The Avalon of America.
If you're wondering about Avalon read here.
So let's review a few of my favorite passages from D&C 25.
3 Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.
7 And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit.
8 For he shall lay his ahands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost, and thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much.
15 Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of brighteousness thou shalt receive
A crown of brightness. All hail Queen Emma! :)
Joseph called her "My beloved Emma—she that was my wife, even the wife of my youth, and the choice of my heart" (History of the Church, 5:107). (http://prophets.ldsblogs.com/?cat=194)
I adore you Emma, you give me strength and courage, my beloved Prophetess.
