Parley P. Pratt's Dream of the Beast and the Serpent (Mr. Caird)

“That same night I had a dream, as follows: I thought I was in a vast wilderness of wild beasts of every description, among which was a species of elephant so large that its trunk reached nearly to the tops of the tall trees, and when he walked the earth trembled; the beasts of the field fled from before him, and the trees were swayed on either side of him as slender reeds. At this I was afraid, and I wafted myself up by the power of the Spirit, and sat in the top of a tall tree. As he approached, I reflected as follows: Why should such a man as I fear? I have any amount of power given me of God, I will, therefore, descend to earth before him; for he can never harm me. I accordingly descended. He considered this a defiance on my part, so he boasted that I had no power, and that I could not stand before him. At this I put forth my hand and caught him by the trunk, and lifting him from the ground by the power of the Spirit, I dashed him to the ground a number of times; at this he seemed to dwindle down to about the size of a suckling calf, and finally turned into a serpent and swelled out to the length of about a hundred feet, and half the size of a man's body. He then defied me, and said he was fastened to a white stone, which was the true gospel, and that I could not move him. I replied, I will move you, and I will show you that you have no power. I then took hold of him, and he slipped from my grasp like an eel, and I could not hold him. I then called to brother Orson Hyde, and said, Come and help me, for he is a serpent, and he is too slippery for me. Brother Hyde came, and we both took hold of him, and he dwindled down to a small snake, and we easily mastered him. I awoke, and the interpretation was plain. The elephant was Mr. Caird, and the serpent was the spirit of his doctrine, which was slippery and hard to hold, but by the help of the Spirit and the testimony of my brother, I should be able to overcome it. I had another dream the same night, which was as follows: I thought I was in the town of Kingston, and that I was surrounded by a great multitude of people, and that I was preaching the gospel to them with great power, and that they were all convinced of the truth, and that I was baptizing them by hundreds. I awoke, and felt that the Lord would give me a great work to do in that place. We accordingly took leave of our friends in Toronto, and started for Kingston.”

— Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt