Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman’s Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond by Deborah Laake (Morrow; 1993, ISBN 978-0-688-09304-4)
In my research regarding Mormon fundamentalism, I came across this memoir written by a mainstream Mormon woman who was wed at a young age to another mainstream Mormon in a temple ceremony. The “sealing” service is, despite the fact that Ms. Laake was sworn to keep the service secret, revealed by Ms. Laake to be a knock off of well-known Masonic initiation rituals. No great surprise since; at exactly the time Joseph Smith was creating the temple ceremonies for his new religion, he was partaking of Masonic rituals as a member of the Nauvoo, Illinois Masonic lodge. Smith and the other Mormons were soon booted out of the Masons, and remain unwelcome to this day, because of Smith’s appropriation of Masonic ritual for his new church.
Mostly a personal diary of the trials and tribulations of being a young woman growing up Mormon at the height of the feminist movement of the 60s and 70s, Secret Ceremonies sheds some light on the place of women in contemporary Mormonism. Very readable (no doubt because the author is a print journalist) but not deep in terms of content or meaning. 2 stars out of 5.
