Sunday Alyse and I spent some time at the temple walking around taking pictures of the temple and talking to some missionary couples. It was great to be back in Nauvoo. Alyse and I found out that the temple was open on Monday. What a treat! We were thrilled when we found that out. We also found there was only 2 sessions. 9:00 and 11:00. Our goal was to hit the 9:00 session and we did! We were told to get over to the Visitors Center as early as possible to get tickets for the play and rides. We found out after getting up early and going that they didn't open until 9:00 so we drive up to the temple. I love to be in the temple with my children. It is truly a peek into heaven. As we drove into Nauvoo and saw the temple it brought me back to those ancestors/saints who worked so hard to make Nauvoo and the temple such a wonderful place.
So one of the things I learned that I did not know is that each of the Sunstones were carved by a different stonemasons. While they generally all have the same look they are a bit different in subtle ways. Many people have asked if there is a meaning to the sun, moon and stars on some of the temples. I have always been told they represent Celestial glories...
1 Corinthians 15:41
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the
stars: for one
star differeth from another
star in glory.
I walked all round the temple looking at the different symbols. I came across this interesting article. While I don't know it if it's true it rings with some familiarity. (https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/123-26-27.pdf)
The temple mainly depicted symbols of heaven, signifying God’s divine presence in our midst. The importance of the sun, moon, and star in Mormon theology is seen in the placement and design of the sunstone, moonstone, and starstone. The sun and moon are linked together as implied pillars of the temple, while the stars reside above on a frieze around the entablature or in rows on the tower, like narrow strips of night sky.
Joseph equated the sun, moon, and stars to the three degrees of heavenly glory. Yet he also equated sun and moon to the masculine and feminine. “General Law asked why the sun was called by a masculine name and the moon by a feminine one. I replied that the root of masculine is stronger, and of the feminine weaker. The sun is a governing planet to certain planets, while the moon borrows her light from the sun.”
The sunstone had an animated face brooding over clouds or waves, uniting fire and water. The prominence and elaborate nature of the sunstone makes the moonstone pale by comparison, like a silent partner. Yet
the moonstone provided a foundational base.
The moonstone was simple and serene because a pedestal is usually plain. The placement of a crescent moon onto the temple pedestal was an inventive use of space; it fit into place by laying flat, horizontal or prone, face down. The moon’s face is only a faint outline with smiling lips, nose, and eye. Yet elsewhere (such as the skylight of the celestial room) the moon is depicted in all its phases, signifying completion.
The star is inanimate and appears in various ways: as a three-dimensional starstone, a carved relief, and a stained-glass pentagram. This symbol of the “morning star” points down to the sun. The five-pointed star and
the pentagram, either inverted or upright, were common architectural decorations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as symbols of truth, freedom, or power."
