peep stones

Peep stones, or seer stones, were used by Joseph Smith before and during the founding of the church. Smith used a brown stone he found while digging a well to search for buried treasure. Later, he placed this same stone in a hat, buried his face in it, and dictated the Book of Mormon. The church long suppressed this method, promoting instead the image of Smith translating directly from gold plates using the Urim and Thummim spectacles.

Profiles with peep stones on their "shelf":