It just goes no place just like the religion. Members were never allowed to use it. It was their tithing money that built it but only the authorities could use it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2011 02:43PM by get her done.
Several decades ago DH and I went to the Manti Temple, and after the session (a very sparse daytime session--we were on vacation--we asked a temple worker to take us there to see it. Sorry, but he couldn't, he said. It was in a place where patrons were not allowed to go. He thought it was a shame and that people should be able to see it and use it, but that was the rule and he wasn't about to break it.
I was there a few years ago for a wedding. We were be able to see it. It certainly is a beautiful work. I didnt know it was such a rare thing to be able to see it at the time.
... even as a TBM I took it upon myself to self-explore several of the Utah LDS temples.
I really got away with a whole lot and never really got into too much trouble.
A few high points:
-- "Adam's" bathroom _underneath_ the spiral staircase in the Salt Lake Temple has the urinal tucked so far under the sloping stairs that a tall "Adam" like myself can't quite get a clear shot at it ... dribbles are inevitable ;-) Dribbling in the Lard's House is fun.
-- The Lard's prophet has a secret doorway to get in/out of the Holy-o-Hollies so his eminence won't have to mingle with the "saints" milling around the celestial room.
-- There is a secret room just to the right of the Holy-O-Hollies (behind the sealing room) that has clear windows on the back side, but has dark drapes that are always pulled so that I could never peek inside (oh, and I tried, even at the corners).
-- Don't know if the church Gestapo has corrected this yet, but in my day you could completely avoid setting off any alarms by walking up the spiral stairway on either the extreme inside portion of the stairs or the outside of the stairs. There were sensors underneath the carpet and you'd know if you set them off rather quickly (always be prepared with a big cheezy TBM excuse as to what you were doing -- they had no record keeping of multiple offenders that I discovered).
I've been alone in places I'd have never got to as a good abiding TBM:
-- The "dome room" just over the hole-e-O-Holies which was a sad disappointment and knew after going there the temple isn't as "sacred" as some would think (locker room for the GAs -- seriously).
-- The meeting room for the Twelve (every Thursday morning as I understand). Eh, I've seen better board rooms.
-- The Slalom-Assembly room -- yep, been to Kirtland too and you can look at that one without any tithing-ticket of any kind.
> > A few high points: > > -- "Adam's" bathroom _underneath_ the spiral > staircase in the Salt Lake Temple has the urinal > tucked so far under the sloping stairs that a tall > "Adam" like myself can't quite get a clear shot at > it ... dribbles are inevitable ;-) Dribbling in > the Lard's House is fun.
Wow, I have also peed in that tiny (apocalypse-proof, presumably) bathroom! Great minds we have! :)
> > I've been alone in places I'd have never got to as > a good abiding TBM: > > > -- The meeting room for the Twelve (every Thursday > morning as I understand). Eh, I've seen better > board rooms. >
Yes, but those overstuffed chairs for those geriatric bags of bones are VERY comfy!
The presidency has a room they use in the SLC Temple where they play poker and watch porn (actually, where they purportedly pray and commune with one another). The SLC Temple was to be the main Holy of Holies but it wasn't finished yet. Therefore, the room at the top of the staircase at Manti was used as a Holy of Holies until the SLC Temple was completed. In the 1970's the altered the use to temple sealings.
You know the elevator that is famous for stories about the lard planning the SL temple, and having an empty shaft built into it for no known reason untill elevators were invented.
I took that elevator and I have a fireman's key. I took it to the top and it opened up into a small lobby with a big wooden door.
I tiptoed over and cracked the door a little. And sure enough, a bunch of the conference guys were in there performing some kind of ritual on a beautiful women with a veil over her face, and her robe up over her hips.
This was before cell phone cameras mind you, so I have no proof.
What would all the TBMs do IF lets say a child decided to climb up those stairs and "ride" the handrail all the way back down to the bottom??? Just wonderin'.
A close study of temples reveals that there is a lot of human body symbolism in the architecture. The two staircases in the Manti temple are opposing spirals, one going up, the other down, in a double helix structure. This represents human DNA. The same thing exists in the SLC and San Diego temples. This was worked out in the mid 19th Century.
There is much more REAL human body symbolism in the Church Office Building. The architect clearly intended it to resemble a large white and delightsome phallus with a pair of spherical gonads at the base.
As a kid I attended high school in Manti. Quite often, especially in winter months we would get called out of class and asked to go do baptisms whenever a load of kids from other towns in central Utah couldnt get through the storms. So usually every other week I was in there getting dunked. One time a few of us ventured out when things were quiet and climbed the stairs. I was excited since my great grandfather was one of the carvers in the temple and worked on them I was told. We managed to find our way to the assembly room upstairs and when we heard someone coming up there we hid behind the pulpits on one end. Nowadays, I suspect there isnt the freedom we had in the late 60s, early 70s.
I was told one of my ancestors made the banister supports on his lathe. The Manti Temple has two spiral staircases. One on each side of the west tower. My mom got to go up to the widow's walk when she was a youth.
"A close study of temples reveals that there is a lot of human body symbolism in the architecture. The two staircases in the Manti temple are opposing spirals, one going up, the other down, in a double helix structure. This represents human DNA. The same thing exists in the SLC and San Diego temples. This was worked out in the mid 19th Century."
Watson and Crick described the double helix in 1953. Sorry, another faith promoting rumor.
I have no proof, no documentation, just the oral history. GGG came from Denmark and was said to be an extraordinary craftsman.
My Mom's side of the family hated GGGrandfather so I doubt if they'd have made up this story to honor him. They must have heard it from someone in the family of GGG's 2nd wife. Still, I don't know how much truth is there and don't know how to start to research the story.
Beautiful staircase…. I was there last week for a wedding, we were escorted to see it without delay. Shame on all of the harsh remarks and outright lies about what you claim to have seen in the temples.
I did not see anything about lies ect. in the above thread, you need to get back on your meds....no one said anything negitive, and fannatical cult processing is just looking to be angry...It is part of the cult to keep you guilty and angry and afraid. Your a perfect example of sucess of the cult. I attended Manti temple while at BYU at least 4 times a week for over two years and was at the pagent for several years....You saw it one time and developed and immediate opinion that the above thread was negitive. Get a life.
I never got to explore the temples, but I know my way around the wards. If you go in the kitchen and open the cabinet that is closest to the the exit door to the outside. Open that cabinet and there is a removable bottom panel that opens up to the tunnels underneath the church. You can find all kinds of stuff down there.
Also as a kid we would sneak into the church, and crawl under the locked curtain in front of the font. Fill that baby up and you have your own pool.