Why is the pentagram on the newly rebuilt Nauvoo Temple?

Page updated February 26, 2002.

During the decade of the eighties there was a deliberate and determined effort to link Joseph Smith Jr. and the founding of the Mormon religion to the occult, from enemies within and outside of the L.D.S. Church. Mark Hofmann’s forgeries were leading the way.

Various historians and critics of the Church were often fond of calling themselves “intellectuals,” most notably members of the Sunstone symposium, and writers for Dialogue, and were referred to as such whenever mentioned by the media. In article after article, in newspaper clippings throughout the eighties on this subject; the word “intellectual” came up when referring to these groups. “We are the intellectuals” they would say. They would go on to say they are not limited to just what history the church sanctions like the simple minded members do. They would say that they research their information from a variety of sources, they get the other side of the story, and they are open-minded, etc.

“The white salamander letter is consistent with other evidence that Joseph Smith had his occult side.” they would go on. In a Salt Lake Tribune article, Mormon historian Richard L. Bushman urged Mormons to be tolerant “about this culture of magic invading the life of the prophet.” BYU professor Ron Walker said “We are miles beyond the question of the authenticity of the letters.” and historians “now are reconciling the significance of the documents.” These self-proclaimed “intellectuals” were all so giddy they could hardly contain themselves. We finally got the goods on those simpleton farmers (L.D.S. Church founders) now, they would all gloat.

The Hofmann forgeries have since been exposed, but unfortunately, many people in the L.D.S. Church never repented for accepting the Hofmann forgeries as authentic. Neither did the self-anointed Sunstone “intellectuals”, nor any of the other various enemies of the Church. They all still strongly desire to believe that the Church founding was influenced by the occult, and they have taken great pains to try to dissuade popular opinion that way, in spite of these forgeries being exposed.

The latest such attempt involves placing inverted pentagrams, known symbols of the occult, on the newly rebuilt Nauvoo Temple.

In the first place, most Mormons, and anti-mormons have little or no idea what a pentagram looks like. Many of them will mistakenly insist that they can be found on the Salt Lake Temple. Unfortunately they are confusing the five pointed stars found on the Temples with pentagrams. These stars can be found on many of the nineteenth century temples and have sloping lines rising from each corner to a center point. As in the examples below:


Salt Lake Temple	Logan Temple	Temple Star

Although the pentagram has the same basic shape, it has no center point, with only five lines connecting each corner:


Pentagram	Modern Nauvoo Temple pentagram

Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary gives the definition of a pentagram as: “a five-pointed star-shaped figure made by extending the sides of a regular pentagon until they meet, used as an occult symbol by the Pythagoreans and later philosophers, and magicians, etc.” This definition hardly fits the stars that can be found on the Salt Lake Temple. Mormons and anti-mormons alike, who refer to these stars as such are simply mistaken.

Mormons should not be deceived by the misleading lies, that there are pentagrams on the Salt Lake Temple. Too many times, Mormons have been caught trying to defend pentagrams as religious symbols in the Mormon religion when they clearly are not. Unfortunately, the powers that be that have taken over the Mormon Church, are promoting the pentagram as a religious symbol, which was not in the original Mormon religion as taught by Joseph Smith. They are polluting the Holy Church of God as foretold in Mormon Chapter 8.

There is little evidence the pentagram ever existed on the original Nauvoo temple. Not one unaltered daguerreotype of the original temple shows a pentagram. All of the known surviving daguerreotypes do not produce a clear image of the temple. Some daguerreotypes reveal shapes in the windows which strongly suggest a design totally unlike a pentagram, and very much like the circular windows found on the St. George Temple, and various surviving paintings depicting the Nauvoo temple.

Unfortunately, some have taken upon it themselves to insert a pentagram into one of the windows on a copy of one of the daguerreotypes, where it previously didn’t exist. A comparison between previously unaltered copy and the forged copy will easily reveal the deception.

Two different versions of the same window from the same photo. Both windows are greatly enlarged from their original size. One showing a clarity and high resolution nearly impossible for an early daguerreotype.

There are no pentagrams on any of the nineteenth century temples including the Kirtland Temple, which was built by Joseph Smith. Brigham Young used to say he tried his best to follow Joseph Smith as closely as possible. Yet, he never put a pentagram on any of the Utah temples. A Mormon Temple is the most sacred and holy building that has ever been built by mortal man. If it is not built with humility in righteousness, in honesty and truth with an eye single to the glory of God, it will not be accepted by God.