Cunning folk traditions and the Latter Day Saint movement

Cunning folk traditions, sometimes referred to as folk magic, were intertwined with the early culture and practice of the Latter Day Saint movement. These traditions were widespread in unorganized religion in the parts of Europe and America where the Latter Day Saint movement began in the 1820s and 1830s.^[2][3] Practices of the culture included folk healing, folk medicine, folk magic, and divination, remnants of which have been incorporated or rejected to varying degrees into the liturgy, culture, and practice of modern Latter Day Saints.^[4]

Early church leaders were tolerant of these traditions, but by the beginning of the 20th century folk practices were not considered part of the orthopraxy of most branches of the movement, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).^[5] The extent that the founder of the movement Joseph Smith and his early followers participated in the culture has been the subject of controversy since before the church's founding in 1830, and continues to this day.^[6][7]