Angels and Seerstones: A Latter Day Saint Folklore Podcast

Send us Fan MailDating in Mormon culture comes with its own stories, warnings, and unwritten rules. Some are funny. Some are awkward. A few become folklore. In this episode, we explore LDS dating culture, BYU relationship stories, marriage expectations, and the traditions that shape how people navigate love and faith. Some stories make you laugh. Others make you think. 

Send us Fan MailStories about skinwalkers aren’t just campfire horror. They carry fear, memory, warning, and survival. In this episode, Elias joins us to explore Navajo skinwalker traditions, LDS missionary folklore, and the uneasy space where ceremony, doubt, and the supernatural overlap. Some stories are meant to scare you. Others are meant to protect you. 

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we explore skinwalker legends as they circulate through LDS missionary culture, where indigenous belief, fear, and folklore meet. These stories are intense, often deeply personal, and not always easy to tell.

Send us Fan MailIn the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saint missionaries were frequently faced with persecution on their journeys. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, they would dust their feet against those who rejected them. While this is no longer a common practice in the 21st century, stories of the practice continue to the present. Have you ever met a Latter-day Saint missionary who dusted their feet against one of their persecutors? 

Send us Fan MailWe all miss Jeffrey R. Holland. Join us for a discussion of the legends of Elder Holland's service among missionaries and find out the answer to one of the most important questions in LDS folklore: did he really kicked out a series of missionaries after getting the impression they were up to no good. 

Send us Fan MailJonathan Stapley has just published the first academic book on the temple published by a university press. To honor that momentous moment, we invited him over to give a fireside on what he learned. 

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Angels and Seerstones, Chris and Christine delve into classic and evolving legends within the Latter-day Saint missionary community. They explore stories of sister missionaries and how these narratives have evolved from depicting failures to showcasing miraculous successes. The episode discusses the significant 2012 policy change allowing women to serve missions from age 19 and its impact on missionary culture. Additionally, Chris and Christine address the dynamics and stereotypes between young male and female missionaries and speculate on future trends in missionary folklore.

Send us Fan MailStories about Missionaries seeking to find those they knew in the pre-existence. 

Send us Fan MailA dramatization of Parley P. Pratt's Dialogue Between Joseph Smith and the Devil. Starring Mahonri Stewart as Joseph Smith and James Goldberg as the Devil. 

Send us Fan MailThis episode is devoted to the ancient mythology of the Leviathan. Enjoy! 

Send us Fan MailIn this special episode of Angels and Seerstones, Chris and Christine Blythe reflect on the life and legacy of President Russell M. Nelson. We explore the powerful personal stories he shared—of divine protection, visions, and peace in the face of death—and consider how these narratives continue to shape Latter-day Saint faith.

Send us Fan MailOn June 29, 1844, the Saints in Nauvoo gathered to mourn Joseph and Hyrum Smith. As their real graves remained hidden for safety, W.W. Phelps stood before two empty coffins and delivered a funeral sermon unlike any other. In this episode of Angels and Seerstones, we dive into that powerful oration—and the mysteries it holds.Joined by historians Mark Ashurst-McGee and Bruce Van Orden, we explore Phelps’s striking claims: that Joseph Smith was a premortal archangel, possibly the Holy Ghost, the final martyr of the age, and even a future destroying angel bringing divine judgment.What did early Saints believe about Joseph’s eternal role? Why did Phelps reconstruct the sermon 11 years later? And how do ideas like Gazelem, the Prince of Light, reflect the esoteric teachings of Nauvoo?We also reflect on how modern Latter-day Saints have interpreted—or quietly sidelined—these bold theologies. Join us as we untangle one of the most fascinating funeral sermons in LDS history.🎧 Watch the full sermon on YouTube and explore more at angelsandseerstones.com

Send us Fan MailFinally, we focus on the stories of the most famous characters from LDS legends.

Send us Fan MailToday's episode we have on Liz Busby and Carl Cranney from Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree to discuss legends of Spencer W. Kimball having inspired Yoda! 

Send us Fan MailCelebrate Halloween with Angels and Seerstsones! This year we have stories of sleep paralysis, missionary ghost encounters in the Phillippines, and stories of Satanists in Provo! 

Send us Fan MailThis episode we talk to Mahonri Stewart about his new play, Secrets of Sleepy Hollow, now showing at the Hive Collaborative in Provo, Utah. Plus, he tells us about a terrifying sleep paralysis experience that he incorporated into the play.

Send us Fan MailThis episode discusses the folklore that people often discussing when trying to explain why missionaries are forbidden to swim: the apparition of the destroyer on the Missouri River in 1834. This experience led to a prominent belief among Latter-day Saints that Satan had dominion over the water in the last days.

Send us Fan MailLatter-day Saints wear the garment of the priesthood under their clothes. This garment includes promises of protection against spiritual and physical danger. In this episode, Christine and Chris dig into legends of its supernatural protection, legends about its origins, and legends about those who have defiled it. 

Send us Fan MailIn this Episode, Jessica and Barrett Burgin discuss their short film, The Angel, which dives into all the supernatural LDS themes that we love. Plus, Jessica shares a really compelling family story about a supernatural assault that occurred in 1870s Utah.

Send us Fan MailThis episode looks at the representation of Latter-day Saints in popular culture, including the recent depiction of Latter-day Saint sexuality in the form of "soaking" and "jump humping."

Send us Fan MailChad Daybell accused the detectives involved in his case of being Immortal disciples of Cain. What was that about? 

Send us Fan MailThis episode includes a review of the upcoming film, Heretic, and a discussion of missionary tracting (door knocking) stories. 

Send us Fan MailWhere did Chad Daybell learn about reincarnation? Did he believe that he was the angel Raphael?

Send us Fan MailAll about Chad Daybell's beliefs on past lives and how he used this belief to manipulate others into believing they had a deep relationship with him and Lori Vallow. 

Send us Fan MailWhere did Chad Daybell come up with his elaborate theology of demons? Turns out some basic ideas had their roots in the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the Bible, but the more peculiar developments occurred among  a group of fringe visionaries in the twenty-first century. 

Send us Fan MailLori Vallow saw Jesus Christ; she believed she was on the pathway to immortality. In this episode, I contextualize those beliefs.

Send us Fan MailThis episode is on Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow's beliefs about their relationship and the role they would play in the coming apocalypse.

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Send us Fan MailHow Chad Daybell's zombies relate to a long history of child murder based on supernatural causes. 

Send us Fan MailThe first episode of our limited series on Chad Daybell entitled "Demons and Pendulums."

Send us Fan MailThis episode looks at stories of Latter-day Saints testing angels with a handshake. 

Send us Fan MailStories of the dead reaching out to individuals in the temple. 

Send us Fan MailIn regards to the news that the LDS Church has purchased the Kirtland Temple and Nauvoo sites from Community of Christ, Christine and I talk about our experience giving tours in Nauvoo while working for Community of Christ.  We talk about the nature of historical presentation and we bring in a great story from Mags Edvalson that considers the different ways Community of Christ and LDS members appreciate these sites.

Send us Fan MailIntro to Season 2

Send us Fan MailRemastered Episode 5. 

Send us Fan MailRemastered Episode 4. 

Send us Fan MailRemastered Episode 3.

Send us Fan MailRemastered version of Episode 2.

Send us Fan MailThis is a remastered version of Episode 1. 

Send us Fan MailThis a Joseph Smith Birthday Short discussing the legend that Joseph Smith was born in the caul or the veil and what some people believed that meant in the nineteenth century. 

Send us Fan MailThe "Public Dreams, Private Myths" art exhibit is only open until Saturday night at Writ and Vision in Provo!

Send us Fan MailThis episode examines Latter-day Saint folklore and debates over the concept of Guardian Angels, including how they relate to our dead family members. 

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we look at stories and beliefs about raising the dead, as well as mankind's future participation in the final resurrection following the Second Coming of Christ. 

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we discuss stories about Joseph Smith and treasure digging. Our special guest, Don Bradley, joins us to tell us about Miner's Hill, a site associated with this history, as well as the legend of Cumorah's Cave.

Send us Fan MailThis episode looks at Latter-day Saint stories about Jesus appearing in modern temples from the Kirtland Temple to the Salt Lake Temple, to the Provo and Washington DC Temples. 

Send us Fan MailWe spent Halloween telling Latter-day Saint ghost stories.

Send us Fan MailThis episode is on secret societies of wayward missionaries sometimes called the Quorum of the 12 Apostates. 

Send us Fan MailThis episode looks at the significance of Moroni in Latter-day Saint culture. We examine stories about Moroni's travels across America dedicating future temple sites, the legend of his appearance to the American founding fathers, the controversy over a statue in Manti, Utah, and conclude with an account told of his death.  

Send us Fan MailStories about hearing angelic choirs and singing in tongues. Special Guest: Mchael Hicks.