Folklorists Chris and Christine Blythe’s podcast brings hidden Latter-day Saint folklore out of the dark and into the light.
Bigfoot. Family history. Birthday parties. What do these things have in common?
According to Assistant Professor Chris Blythe (Latter-day Saint Folklore) and Latter-day Saint folklorist Christine Blythe, all of them fall under the umbrella of folklore. While at first glance the word folklore evokes fairy tales and urban legends, it has a much broader definition—one that includes stories as real as the pioneers crossing the plains to Utah and long-held cultural practices like decorating a tree for Christmas. Every people, culture, and religious tradition has its own collection of distinct folklore, and the Blythes have devoted their lives to studying the folklore specific to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In summer 2023, they launched a podcast called Angels and Seerstones, which dives into this folklore to examine the rich tapestry of connection, tradition, and stories that permeates the religion.
Whether they realize it or not, members of the Church have intimate familiarity with folklore from their religious tradition. By definition, every person is an expert in their own culture’s folklore, and from the Joseph Smith story to Three Nephites lore to personal family history stories, Latter-day Saints are no exception. Christine Blythe explains that folklore counts as anything that has an established tradition around it, which can include cultural practices, narratives, and even objects. “It’s the quilts your grandmother makes for all the grandchildren when they get married and what they symbolize,” she says. “Or it’s the stories you tell about how your family came to America. It’s the personal intimate beliefs you’ve developed about Latter-day Saint theology. It’s how you practice the Church in your own home.” In short, folklore acts as the cultural glue that binds people and communities together.
For Chris, this connective power of story drew him to the topic in the first place. He says, “What I like about folklore is that students don’t think they have stories, and then you sit down with them, and everybody has folklore stories they know.”
Whether through sharing common individual experiences or talking about popular stories like the First Vision, folklore is a powerful way to bring separate individuals together—so powerful, in fact, that the Blythes credit it as part of the driving force behind their spiritual conversions. Christine explains that the universal Latter-day Saint experience of praying to know and receiving a witness connected her to both the Church community and to the Spirit—an example of how folklore can be a vehicle for truth. “That experience was compelling to me,” she says. “That folklore was what made me decide to be baptized.”
While stories in the official canon of Church revelation (such as stories in scriptures or General Conference talks) bring the Spirit and teach about the true nature of God, a lot of stories or pieces of folklore can seem bizarre or uncomfortable, like seer stones in the early Church or tales of demonic encounters. This kind of folklore often remains hidden or private, since the topics can be delicate and Latter-day Saints may choose not to share them with others for fear of judgment. However, for the Blythes, the messy, genuine nature of this type of folklore is part of the pull. “We chose this community,” Christine says. “We chose to be a part of it, and some parts are bizarre, and maybe some parts are uncomfortable, but it’s interesting. It’s such a unique, distinct, robust culture that’s unlike anything else.”
This uniqueness inspired the Blythes to start their podcast, which chronicles a range of stories and topics, from martyrdom canes to wayward missionaries to pre-birth visitations from children and more. Since the subject tangles so closely with spiritual experiences, the Blythes avoid trying to prove or disprove the stories. Instead, they focus on what the stories reveal about the people who tell them. “We don’t know which of these stories are true or not,” Chris says. “That’s part of our basis. So instead, we ask why they’re important. What ideas and beliefs are being expressed in them? Why might someone have this experience and tell me about it?”
For the future, the Blythes hope to expand the podcast to explore folklore topics beyond just those they personally have studied. They keep an open mind to the many varieties of folklore that exist, whether the stories originate from esoteric Church history or from cultural traditions in international Church communities. Ultimately, they created the podcast to celebrate Latter-day Saint culture in all its forms and aspects. “There are so many people who want to denigrate Latter-day Saints based on our culture,” Chris says. “I want people to be proud to be Latter-day Saints. We’re radical believers when others aren’t. We’re super optimistic, even though others aren’t. Those traits mean so much to me, and I hope they’re conveyed through the podcast.”
You can find Angels and Seerstones on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If there’s a topic you’d like to hear covered, or if you have stories to share, send an email to the Blythes at angelsandseerstones@gmail.com.