William C. Conway

Who was William C. Conway?

William C. Conway was the leader of a mystical sect in the Latter Day Saint movement that combined the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr. with Druidry and some of the ideas of Aleister Crowley and the Ordo Templi Orientis.

A native of Redondo Beach, California, Conway was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held the office of high priest in the Melchizedek priesthood and bishop in the Aaronic priesthood. Conway was also a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis, and was initiated into the XI° order of the O.T.O. on January 1, 1945 by Franklin Thomas or perhaps at some earlier date by Victor Neuburg. In the O.T.O., Conway was referred to as Tau Lucifer II.

In the early 1950s, Conway began to claim that he had possession of the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone that Joseph Smith used to translate the Book of Mormon. He generally accepted the teachings of Mormonism, but began to teach that the LDS Church had been incorrect to abandon the practice of plural marriage, which Smith had taught. Conway also believed in the major tenets of Druidry—particularly reincarnation—and sought to incorporate them into Mormonism.