As a convert, I didn't have a clue in hell what it was about. But the members held it up as a major goal so the missionaries took me to the patriarch's house where I got mine shortly after baptism. To my utter shock and amazement it included my favourite Mormon scripture (Men are that they might have joy) - I assumed God meant women too. I quite liked the idea of that as a life promise. One of the missionaries, who knew it was my favourite verse from the BoM nearly fell out of his chair, he told me later. So that ensured a greater strength of his testimony for the foreseeable. I tripped over the fact a while later that, in fact, the stake missionaries (RMs) were friends of the patriarch and they knew my favourite scripture and I put two and two together (finally) and realized they must have told him about me, including my favourite verse. That really hit me hard. It was so unnecessary, so conniving, so disappointing, such a charlatan tactic.
So, yeah, not a fan of PBs. And that whole spiel. And Mormonism, come to think...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2020 04:24PM by Nightingale.
It ruined one of my good friends. She was very overweight. The patriarch(imo) judged her by that and said NOTHING in her PB about posterity, mother in Israel etc. even though he included it in all of the rest the blessings we girls got during that group trip we had made to his house. She was crushed. She completely emotionally shut down and never even entertained the thought that she would get married. She is now a homebound, elderly, single, virgin. I hate TSCC
It’s a tradition passed down from Joseph Smith Sr, who charged $4 for a patriarchal blessing. That would have been a week’s pay for average folks. A PB is basically a psychic reading. There are some psychics who have “the gift”, but many are either fake or have little knack for it. It’s possible for a qualified patriarch to be called, one who can actually do a reading, but the stake you’re in has to have such a guy and give him the job. The odds are slim of that being the case. You would be better off going to a professional psychic. Since the planetary shift, it has become easier to access psychic gifts, so you’re more likely to get a decent reading.
The "Murban Legend" is that Patriarchal blessings foretell the future. The church really doesn't claim much about them anymore. Same as if some one says bless you when you sneeze. Nothing in mormonism predicts anything-- as clearly demonstrated by whichever prophet is currently doing the prophesying and seering. So how you gonna get anything special out of a Patriarch?
I waited to have my blessing done by a Patriarch who did not know me. I didn't feel worthy being gay and all and waited til I got to the LTM and got it then. Unmemorable, uninspired, and was not worth fasting for. I coulda had German Chocolate cake instead. Damn.
My dad was a patriarch. He would give a blessing, then spend hours and hours editing and tweaking it to its final version. I took a look in the folder where he kept them and they were almost identical, very generic, very man made. If it's all inspiration/ revelation, why the need to edit over and over?
I was long gone when my Dad became the Patriarch. I know he was really into it and believed he was inspired. I don't know how his blessings turned out, but he did get to know each person and always fasted before. Maybe they got better ones than we did.
I do think a few drinks before the laying on of hands could work wonders for the tired old practice.
I received my PB when I was 16 years old. I was kind of disappointed by the whole experience because I was a super TBM teenager and thought that receiving the blessing would be a very spiritual experience. I thought the blessing would be specific to me and help to guide my life. It was all such a big letdown. The patriarch was unfriendly and intimidating and only gave me the blessing after he'd drilled me with questions for over an hour. Nothing in the blessing seemed very unique to me or had any impact on my life. Years later I tore up my PB and chucked it in the garbage.
When I joined the Mormon church as a 12 year old the ward I attended was in a university town and full of highly educated, professional and successful members. The bishop was a trial attorney and very intimidating during interviews. The ward patriarch taught physics and was a scientist. He was a brilliant man but not a very social one. I think he had Aspergers syndrome. As a teenager with divorced parents and new to the Mormon church, those men were my father/authority figures and I looked up to them. Instead of being kind and caring when I was alone with them in their office during interviews and blessings, they were stern, intimidating and terrifying. I don't think they were deliberately awful but just very clueless and unskilled in communicating with teenagers. They had such a hurtful impact on my young (and older) self when I was just a good, obedient teenager who believed the Mormon church was true. I wanted to please and do the right thing but was treated like an unworthy sinner. Curse them.
thedesertrat1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > give me your thoughts about the patriachal > blessing Another thing that I have noticed No recording of the blessing is allowed. That way the patriarch can edit it as he pleases
Long before I had ever heard of Mormonism my wife's grandmother claimed to read my future in the tea leaves of my cup (Brooke B ond, I think). She was far more accurate in her predictions than my PB. She said she "saw" three things: 1. I would never be particularly rich (a relative thing thing) 2. I would travel to a distant country, and 3 She saw me in some kind of spacious building she could not identify where everyone was dressed in white. If I had to keep score I'd say grandma 3 Patriarch 0