Early American Treasure-Seeking Rituals

[Brant Gardner]

Could you point me to a reference on this or to a a specific use of a seer-stone in Ireland prior to the late nineteenth century?

Thompson then went on to say: "My wife, who is an English woman, told me that she had seen peep-stones in England and in Scotland, when she was a girl. I think Mrs. Bowers brought her old peep-stone form Scotland." Thompson appeared to be a believer in the virtues of the peep-stone. Superstitions of many kinds prevail in the land of his birth. Dan De Quille, "Snow-Shoe Thompson," in The Overland Monthly: Devoted to the Development of the Country, vol. VIII (San Francisco: Commercial Publishing Company, Printers, 1886), 430.

The publication date is late 1800's, but it is quoting stories that must have been earlier. Move at least one generation back and you have contemporaries of Joseph using a peep-stone in Scotland and England.

From Quinn:

The best known magician of the Elizabethan era was the Queen's mathematician John Dee, "who firmly believed that by means of a small black stone with a shining surface, and cut in the form of a diamond, which he possessed, he could hold converse with the elementary spirits.". Dee also had a scryer (i.e. a person using a stone for divination), described in popular books of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as "Prophet or Seer to Dr. Dee." The earlier of these books recorded the many spirit communications Dee's prophet-seer revealed through is "Shew-stone" of "Holy-stone". Quinn's Early Mormonism, 1st edition, 37

I believe this one puts the stone in the 1700's or earlier.

You should find Dee in Thomas's book.

[Joseph Antley]

Hi Joseph,

In the context of seerstones, I probably used the term Celtic instead of the more restrictive Irish (since I have run across the practice in earlier Scottish culture). Here's an example of a pre-Restoration Scott who reportedly used a seer stone.

In addition, it might be said that the Irish Lia Fail functioned as a sort of seer stone. And one might say that the Scottish Stone of Scone also functioned as seer stone (if one believes its purported origin, and chooses to account some of Jacob's experience to it.) At least Celtic culture ascribes divine communication to be associated with both stones. And I suspect these two stones once served a similar function.

But for a pocket-sized stone, accounts of the Brahan Seer are probably your best launching pad. (Notably, the Mack family traces to the region close to his stomping grounds - where he was supposedly quite famous among the common people.) He's otherwise known as Kenneth Mackenzie (anglicized).

Overall, the idea of having the "second sight" is much discussed pre-modern Celtic society, in the context of seership. So it's mentioned frequently, for example, in the book I linked to a few days back - the premise of Celtic seers who needed no stone, but could simply see. (Similar to how Joseph eventually needed no physical object for such things.)

I hope that's helpful.

Thanks Hagoth.

The publication date is late 1800's, but it is quoting stories that must have been earlier. Move at least one generation back and you have contemporaries of Joseph using a peep-stone in Scotland and England.

From Quinn:

I believe this one puts the stone in the 1700's or earlier.

You should find Dee in Thomas's book.

Thanks for the reminder about John Dee, Brant. For some reason I had completely forgotten about him.