Because of the recent Ordain Women campaign, the Mormon “bloggernacle” has been buzzing over the issue of female ordination. One of the more common criticisms of the movement is that men are designed to administer priesthood blessings and women have a separate sphere; that of the home and family. While this blog post is not going to address those issues entirely, I do intend to keep on addressing questions regarding this issue in blog posts like this one.

Today I intend to spotlight a little-known subset of women in LDS history and profile several stories of women who used to bless and heal with the laying on of hands through the anointing of the priesthood.

For further information regarding the history of this practice, please read up here, here, here and here.

You don’t have to search very hard to see modern women villified for practicing spiritual gifts or those asking for authority to use them being criticized as led away by the devil. Those involved in the Ordain Women campaign are being lambasted on message boards, blog posts and other venues of social media. They are being called heretics, sinners, power-hungry b*tches, apostates and worse. Although shaming and looking with suspicion on women who step outside cultural norms is not unique to our society, it would surprise most Latter-day Saints to know, especially those most openly critical of the Ordain Women movement, that LDS women once had a very rich tradition of giving blessings and healing the sick and afflicted.

Here is a small sample of Latter-day Saint women that felt called to use their spiritual gifts by administering through priesthood blessings:

-History of the Church 4: 64. Print.-“Women of Covenant: The Story of the Relief Society” , pg 67.-Quinn, D. Michael. “Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843.” The Signature Books Library Women and Authority 17 Comments. Signature Books, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.-Smith, Bathsheba W. “Autobiography of Bathsheba W. Smith (1822-1910).” Autobiography of Bathsheba W. Smith (1822-1910). Http://www.boap.org, 9 May 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.-Stapley, Jonathan A., and Kristine Wright. “Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism.” Journal of Mormon History Winter 2011 37 (2011): 1-85. By Jonathan A. Stapley, Kristine Wright. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.