Michael Reed earned his BA and MA in the state college of his home city: California State University, Sacramento. He wrote his MA thesis on “The Development of the LDS Church’s Attitude Toward the Cross,” and will soon publish an expanded revision of that thesis through John Whitmer Books entitled Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo. Michael is now working on his doctorate in the History/Christianity program at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, where he is focusing much of his research on ritual and esoteric studies. Michael’s other research interests include Mormon studies, freemasonry, folk magic, treasure seeking, theosophy, material culture, and transcendentalism.
