There is no known photograph of Joseph Smith. This portrait hung in his home and was put in place by his wife, Emma. The likeness appears to be somewhat idealized. It was done by an unknown painter around 1842.
June 27, 1844. Joseph Smith had made a lot of enemies. The Nauvoo Expositor reported he was practicing polygamy. * Mayor Smith ordered the printing press destroyed. That act infuriated the public. He declared martial law. Authorities in Illinois jailed Smith and brother Hyrum and charged them with treason.
The brothers were loosely detained in Carthage, Illinois’ small jail. 150-200 angry men stormed the brick building. Hyrum was shot in the face and immediately died. A pepperbox pistol had been smuggled to Joseph earlier in the morning. As the attackers entered into the room holding him, Smith fired and wounded three of them. He retreated toward a window and prepared to jump but was twice shot in the back and once in the chest by a musket from the outside. “Oh Lord, my God!” cried Smith as he fell from the window. The wounds were probably mortal, but one eyewitness reported Joseph was propped up and shot again by a firing squad. (Wikipedia, “Killing of Joseph Smith”)
Visions
Young Joseph Smith was perplexed. He and his parents attended many religious revivals in rural Palmyra, New York where Joseph lived as a teen. There were varied interpretations of Scripture. What was he to believe? Confused, Smith prayed and said God appeared in a bright light with Jesus. “This is my son, said God, do what he says.”
In 1823 Smith stated he was visited by the angel Moroni who told him of a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants who dwelt in the Americas. He retrieved the record—it was inscribed on golden plates—in 1827 and began translating its word. (PBS Biography: Joseph Smith)
“By the power of God, I translated the Book of Mormon from [Egyptian] hieroglyphics the knowledge of which was lost to the world…to combat the multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries with a new revelation.” (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Church History: The Book of Mormon)
The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is the story of a schism in a family. Lehi was a prophet in Jerusalem. God told him the city would be destroyed and told him to leave. He and his family took a boat to the Americas.
Lehi had three sons. Laman and Lemanuel had difficulty following God. Nephi, the youngest, was a person of great faith.
The older brothers hated Nephi. They wanted to kill him. This enmity was generational because the siblings married, had children, and inculcated them with their beliefs.
Jesus appeared to the people in the Americans in the sixth century BCE after being crucified in Judea. He again had twelve disciples, taught about forgiveness, baptism, and healed the sick.
The people lived at peace for many years. However, the people lost faith, and the Nephites were wiped out in a war. The Lamanites survived, and they are the ancestors of the American Indians. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: A Quick Summary of the Book of Mormon)
Afterward
The church split into factions after Smith’s death. Most went with Brigham Young to Utah—they traveled thirteen hundred miles– to avoid further persecution. There they founded Salt Lake City. By 1900 there were 500 Mormon settlements. (Gotta Go Utah: “The History of Mormon Settlement Explained)
Horoscope and Transit Analysis
In Joseph Smith’s chart we see the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Chiron, the North Node, and Black Moon Lilith all in Capricorn (1 to 20 degrees). Let’s examine some of the individual aspects.
Smith’s Sun is together with the node. He had difficulty in finding and understanding himself as an adolescent. “When you are an adult, you can be a guiding light or notable person.” (Cafe Astrology, “When the Sun Conjuncts the Moon’s North Node”)
Mars is together with Black Moon Lilith. Smith may have expressed his emotions through his visions and writings and was determined to press forward. Joseph was authentic—he believed what he espoused– and highly independent. (Astromatrix, “Lilith Conjunction Mars”)
Mercury conjunction Black Moon Lilith: This aspect gravitates toward activism and revolution. This position inclined Joseph Smith to become a revolutionary writer, “someone who defies conventional norms to pave new ways of thinking.” (Ibid) This would have been exacerbated in Smith’s chart with his Moon in Aquarius.
Mercury conjoined with Chiron: Smith’s emotional wounds received solace through his writings, and he wanted to share this with others.
Transits for June 27, 1844
The resentment to Mormonism can be seen in transiting Jupiter and Uranus (both together) square Joseph Smith’s natal Sun. They are in the 10th House representing community affairs. ** These squares show his religious ideas will not be generally accepted and will be unsettling—violently so– to much of the public.
Transiting Mars in Cancer is conjunction the Ascendant which represents the self. It is square to natal Mars, Mercury, Chiron, and Black Moon Lilith. As Mars represents violence, his death by gunshots seems easy to portend. Furthermore, it is in Cancer, the sign of its detriment and in the 12th House of self-undoing. **
Transiting Pluto is trine Natal Jupiter in its own sign, Sagittarius. This sign has a strong affiliation with religion. The positive aspect shows the growth and regeneration of Smith’s ideas following his demise.
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*Joseph Smith married thirty-seven wives in the period 1841-1843. Most were the children of associates. The youngest was 14 while the oldest was 58. (Mormon Research Ministry: “Joseph Smith’s Wives”)
**Even though the time of birth is speculative, much of the analysis would be correct. The time made it doubly so.