I suggest that Joseph realized Christ in himself in his First Vision, and I think this can be seen in many details in his accounts.
Blog
The “Lamb of God”: A Mystical Symbol of Divine Purity in the true Self
Jesus became a symbol of the "Lamb of God," the flip side of the "scapegoat" of the egoic enemy.
Who is “the Devil”? A Mystical Interpretation
We often think that the "devil" is something or someone else, pointing fingers elsewhere, but what if we look within?
The Mystical and Archetypal Nature of a “Heavenly Book” and Joseph Smith’s “Gold Plates”
A tradition of a "heavenly book" runs through many traditions, including Mormonism with its "gold plates." What spiritual reality might these traditions be pointing to?
Infographic—The Perennial Cycle of Religions: Mysticism to Politics v1.0
I created a graphic to better illustrate the evolution (or devolution) from mysticism to religion to politics, and back again, as originally modeled by David Steindl-Rast.
What is “Seeing” Christ? An Interspiritual, Mystical, and Psychospiritual Perspective
Is it seeing a man with brown hair, a beard, and a white robe? Or is there much more to the "Christ" than this?
The “Ahman Prayer”: Toward a Mormon Contemplative Practice
There is no genuine contemplative practice in Mormonism, an inner meditative gaze deep in consciousness. I offer a possible format for a uniquely Mormon practice.
1 Corinthians 13, BHT: The Supreme & Eternal Nature of Love
Paul writes about Love.
The World is Made by the Trickster
The trickster archetype is often found in mythologies, and cultures of all kinds, including religions, and it is by these tricks that the world turns.
Joseph Smith’s First Vision in the Book of Mormon: The Earliest Accounts?
The earliest known account of First Vision may not be the one in 1832, but many esoteric accounts in April-June 1829, in the Book of Mormon text itself.