According to Facsimile 2 in the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith interpreted Figure 5 this way:
Joseph Smith said, “Is called in Egyptian Enish-go-on-dosh; this is one of the governing planets also, and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand Key, or, in other words, the governing power, which governs fifteen other fixed planets or stars, as also Floeese or the Moon, the Earth and the Sun in their annual revolutions. This planet receives its power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko-kau-beam, the stars represented by numbers 22 and 23, receiving light from the revolutions of Kolob.” (Abraham Facsimile 2, Figure 5)
Modern, mainstream science teaches us that the Sun is a giant nuclear fusion reactor. Millions of tons of hydrogen are converted through this reaction into millions of tons of helium and gamma rays each day. (Visit nineplants.org for additional, mainstream information on the Sun. Most of the Sun’s anomalies, though, are left out.) We are also taught that the Sun’s energy source comes from itself, not from outside sources.
In contrast, Mormonism teaches that the planet Enish-go-on-dosh (the Sun) borrows its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrish, which is the governing power. It also teaches that this planet receives its power (Kae-e-vanrish) from two other stars (or planets), which in turn receive their light from Kolob. (I will reserve discussion of Kolob for another article.)
Other LDS scriptures also teach that the universe is connected together to, shall we say, “power lines” (Kae-e-vanrish, the governing power) and that through this outside source of power or light, all things remain in their present state, giving light or power to each other. (See D&C 88: 4-13, 42-47.) So, Mormonism teaches that the Sun’s power comes from an outside source, whereas mainstream science teaches that the Sun’s power comes from an inside source.
The mainstream scientific view is one of individual, isolated bodies, radiating their inner energies outward. The LDS scriptural view is one of a connected circuit, each body receiving power from the previous one or ones and sending on the power to the next one or ones in line, but none of the bodies being the central power source (God being that source.)
Another interesting aspect of Figure 5’s interpretation by Joseph Smith is that the planets in Abraham’s day were fixed. The Lord stated that in Joseph’s day the courses of the planets were fixed (D&C 88: 43.) But in Abraham’s day, not just their courses were fixed, but the planets themselves were fixed. Currently, when we look at the planets of our solar system, we see nothing fixed. Before continuing, it may be helpful to look up the word fixed in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, which was the dictionary in use at the time of the Abrahamic facsimile interpretation:
FIX’ED, pp. Settled; established; firm; fast; stable.
Fixed stars, are such stars as always retain the same apparent position and distance with respect to each other, and are thus distinguished from planets and comets, which are revolving bodies.
So, these fifteen planets, during the time of Abraham, were fixed, meaning that these planets always retained the same apparent position and distance with respect to each other, just as stars do now today. I stress that these were planets, not stars, in a fixed position, which does not correlate to what we see today.
Mainstream science would call our scriptures fantasy, as they don’t harmonize with the mainstream scientific theories about the planets and stars, nor with the assumed-to-be-true, mainstream history of this solar system. So, let’s turn to plasma science and plasma mythology to see if there is harmony with LDS scriptures.
First off, plasma cosmology teaches that the Sun’s power comes from outside, not inside. (See Solar Power, Internal or External?.) Plasma cosmology also teaches that all bodies in space are connected to each other via electrical circuits. (See The Electric Universe: Part 1, Bodies and Circuits.) Secondly, plasma mythology teaches that in antiquity the planets were not as far away as they now are. This is one of the reasons why the ancients knew so much about these now distant bodies, knowledge that is impossible to obtain without either the technology we now have or the planets themselves being much closer to Earth. Plasma mythology also teaches that anciently, there was a giant plasma column at the poles, which probably connected a stack of fixed planets. (See Saturn in Ancient Times and Stacked Ancestors.)
Note: None of these plasma researchers are LDS. Yet, their research shows that our LDS scriptures may, in fact, be descriptions of real plasma events and formations that occurred in the past and that will occur in the future.
Next Plasma Theology article: The Noachian Flood, Part One: The Role of Plasma
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