Sick, yes; concocted, no (see excerpts below)
Hasn’t the LDS church got enough silly crap going on you can make fun of without dragging in that loser LaVey? [LibertarianinExile, post #8]
See excerpts below
Do you believe that Mormons are called Mormons because of this Mormo thing? I thought it was after their angel Moroni deal. I always thought that was a funny name, you have to add an “m” to not come off kind of silly, or Italian. [Ransomed, post#11]
MORMO ΜΟΡΜΩ
A female spectre, with which the Greeks used to frighten little children. (Aristoph. Acharn. 582, Pax, 474.) Mormo was one of the same class of bugbears as Empusa and Lamia.
Source: Greek Mythology Index
From Mormo from The Arcana Wiki
Saint of streets, and brilliant one, that strays by night;
Foe of radiance, but friend and mate of gloom;
In howl of dogs rejoicing, and in crimson gore,
Wading 'mid corpses through tombs of lifeless dust,
Panting for blood; with fear convulsing men.
Gorgo, and Mormo, and Luna, and of many shapes,
Come, propitious, to our sacrificial rites!
- Philosophumena of Hippolytus
Book IV, Chapter XXXV
Basic Information
Mormo is a Spirit that bites bad children. This female figure from Greek and Roman Mythology is possibly a Vampire. She may be a companion or Avatar of Hecate, the Greek goddess of the moon and magic. Very little information about Mormo has survived from classical antiquity, where she appears to have been revered in part of a mystery cult.
As with Lilith, the identity of Mormo may have started as a more general term, which then became more personified over time. Mormo appears in a few plays of Aristophanes, who uses the name as if it were a synonym for "bogey man" or "monster".
Hippolytus of Rome, in his Refutation of all Heresies (also known as the Philosophoumena), detailed a pyromantic form of Divination that invoked Mormo, Bombo, Gorgo, Hecate, and Luna. As described by Hippolytus, the divination was nothing more than a Hoax involving pyrotechnics and a cauldron with a fake bottom, a hoax he proceeded to debunk the way one might ruin the secret of a magic trick. Therefore, Mormo might have magic and powers connected to fire.
Note that phrases from the Philosophoumena are hard to clearly define and explain. When he says "Gorgo, and Mormo, and Luna, and of many shapes," is that calling out to three, four, or just one entity? Is Mormo just another name for Hecate, and/or the Moon? Does Gorgo refer to a Gorgon? Hecate is a three-headed goddess, and there were three Gorgon Sisters in Greek Mythology, and three names are given in that line. In The powers of evil in Western religion, magic and folk belief, Richard Cavendish says that Mormo was a "nursery bogy" that was a source of fear for Erinna of Telos, a poetess of Ancient Greece. In the very next sentence he opines that Gorgo indeed refers to Medusa, and says the face in the moon used to be called the "Gorgon's Head". The face of Medusa was a common protective device in ancient greece, known as the Gorgoneion. In The Satanic Bible, Anton Levay flips the gender of Mormo, rendering him "King of the Ghouls, Consort of Hecate". Wikipedia makes tantalizing references to a Mormo in australian mythology, but (as of this writing) never explains the reference.
Yeah, I reckon ol’ HP nixed “bombo” as being too dorky. Do you buy that Mormo is where Mormon comes from?
Freegards
From Mormo from The Arcana Wiki
Hippolytus of Rome, in his Refutation of all Heresies (also known as the Philosophoumena), detailed a PYROMANTIC form of Divination that invoked Mormo, Bombo, Gorgo, Hecate, and Luna. As described by Hippolytus, the divination was nothing more than a Hoax involving pyrotechnics and a cauldron with a fake bottom, a hoax he proceeded to debunk the way one might ruin the secret of a magic trick. Therefore, Mormo might have magic and powers connected to FIRE.
Some of the worst Mormon teachings popped up @ funeral services. What did Joseph Smith have to say @ a funeral service that has a close linkage to fire?
See: Joseph Smith's King Follet Sermon
'Twas on that forum where Smith's King Follet sermon, where this common focus of Joseph Smith toward the end of his life was represented re: looking forward to a spirit world where he and his followers would dwell in "everlasting burnings" (his words, not mine). [ALL: Clink on link above for context for Smith quotes I cite below]
"...you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves...going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one...from exaltation to exaltation, until you...are able to dwell... (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 346-347)
Well, "until you...are able to dwell" where?
WHERE were the "ghost-lights" -- the demon-lights of Smith telling him where he & his followers would dwell???
The answer is right there on p. 347 of Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"until you...are able to dwell in everlasting burnings."
"The spirits...are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us...
Whoaaa.
Smith must have felt the guilt gnawing at him from no assurance of forgiveness of sins; but he wouldn't let go of his "everlasting burnings" teaching late in life: "Those who have done wrong always have that wrong gnawing them. Immortality dwells in everlasting burnings." (ToPJS, p. 367)
These spirits -- perhaps the demon "Mormo" -- craving their own "immortality" as false gods wouldn't let go of Smith...
...and actually occasionally told him the truth...
...as they did about "everlasting burnings"... and "enveloped in flaming fire"
...They had the last laugh at Smith's -- and his followers' -- expense.
Mormo is a Spirit that bites bad children.
The Langoliers