In
October 1910, this photograph appeared on the front page
of The New York Times after a reporter stole it from the
home of Cayce’s parents to use for a story.
Born
March 18, 1877
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died
January 3, 1945 (aged 67)
Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) (pronounced /'keɪsiː/ or like 'Casey') was an American who had astute psychic abilities. He claimed an ability to channel answers to questions on subjects such as health, astrology, reincarnation, and Atlantis while in a self-induced trance. Although Cayce lived before the emergence of the New Age movement, he remains a major influence on its teachings.
Cayce became an American celebrity towards the end of his life and the publicity given to his prophecy has overshadowed what to him were usually considered the more important parts of his work such as healing (the vast majority of his readings were given for people who were sick) and theology (Cayce being a lifelong, devout member of the Disciples of Christ). Skeptics challenge that Cayce demonstrated psychic abilities and conventional Christians also question his unorthodox answers on religious matters (such as reincarnation and Akashic records). He may have been the source for the idea that California would fall into the ocean (though he never said exactly this).
Today there are tens of thousands of Cayce students. Most are located in the United States and Canada, but Edgar Cayce Centers are now found in 25 other countries. The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE), headquartered in Virginia Beach, is the major organization promoting interest in Cayce.
Biography
Edgar Cayce was born into a farming family on March 18, 1877 near Beverly, seven miles south of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. One convenient way to divide Cayce's life is according to geography:
1877 to 1920—the Kentucky period.
In December 1893 the Cayce family moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky and occupied 705 West Seventh, on the south-east corner of Seventh and Young Street. During this time Cayce received an eighth-grade education; discovered his spiritual vocation; left the family farm to pursue various forms of employment (at Richard's Dry Goods Store, then in Hopper's Bookstore both located on Main Street).
Cayce's education stopped with the eighth grade because his family could not afford the costs involved. An eighth-grade education and was often considered more than sufficient for working-class children. Much of the remainder of Cayce's life would be characterized by a forlorn search for employment and/or money.
Throughout his life Cayce was drawn to church as a member of the Disciples of Christ. He read the Bible once for every year of his life, taught at Sunday school, recruited missionaries, and is said to have agonized over the issue of whether his supposed psychic abilities--and the teachings which resulted--were spiritually legitimate.
In 1900 he formed a business partnership with his father to sell Woodmen of the World Insurance but was struck by severe laryngitis in March that resulted in a complete loss of speech on April 18. Unable to work, he lived at home with his parents for almost a year. He then decided to take up the trade of photography, an occupation that would exert less strain on his voice. He began an apprenticeship at the photography studio of W. R. Bowles in Hopkinsville.
A travelling stage hypnotist and entertainer called "Hart - The Laugh Man" was performing at the Hopkinsville Opera House in 1901. He heard about Cayce's condition and offered to attempt a cure. Cayce accepted and the experiment took place on stage in front of an audience. Remarkably, Cayce's voice apparently returned while in a hypnotic trance but allegedly disappeared on awakening. Hart tried a post-hypnotic suggestion that the voice would continue to function after the trance but this proved unsuccessful.
Since Hart had appointments at other cities, he could not continue his hypnotic treatment of Cayce. However a local hypnotist, Al Layne, offered to help Cayce in restoring his voice. Layne suggested that Cayce describe the nature of his condition and cure while in a hypnotic trance. Cayce described his own ailment from a first person plural point of view ("we") instead of the singular ("I"). In subsequent readings he would generally start off with "We have the body." According to the reading, his voice loss was due to psychological paralysis and could be corrected by increasing the blood flow to the voice box. Layne suggested that the blood flow be increased and Cayce's face supposedly became flushed with blood and his chest area turned bright red. After 20 minutes Cayce, still in trance, declared the treatment over. On awakening his voice was alleged to have remained normal. Relapses were said to have occurred but were claimed to have been corrected by Layne in the same way and eventually the cure was claimed to be permanent.
Layne had read of similar hypnotic cures effected by the Marquis de Puységur, a follower of Franz Mesmer, and was keen to explore the limits of the healing knowledge of the trance voice. He asked Cayce to describe Layne's own ailments and suggest cures, and reportedly found the results both accurate and effective. Layne suggested that Cayce offer his trance healing to the public but Cayce was reluctant. He finally agreed on the condition that readings would be free. He began with Layne's help to offer free treatments to the townspeople. Reportedly he had great success and his fame spread. Reports of Cayce's work appeared in the newspapers, inspiring many postal inquiries. Supposedly, Cayce was able to work just as effectively using a letter from the individual as with having the person present. Given the person's name and location, he claimed he could diagnose the physical and/or mental conditions and provide corrective remedy. He became popular and soon people from around the world sought his advice through correspondence.
Cayce's work grew in volume as his fame grew. He asked for voluntary donations to support himself and his family so that he could practice full time. He continued to work in an apparent trance state with a hypnotist all his life. His wife and eldest son later replaced Layne in this role. A secretary, Gladys Davis, recorded his readings in shorthand.
The trance reading was alleged to have produced a visible strain on Cayce's health. He attributed the occasional failure in his accuracy to the stress involved in his work. He claimed to be scrupulous in giving refunds to unsatisfied clients, but since the clients were on several occasions already dead when Cayce gave readings it is unclear how he could have managed this, because everyone knows how many dead people walk to the corner store to get readings from a psychic.
1920 to 1923—the Texas period
The growing fame of Cayce coupled with the popularity he received from newspapers attracted several eager commercially minded men who wanted to seek a fortune by using Cayce's clairvoyant abilities. Even though Cayce was reluctant to help them, he was persuaded to give the readings, which left him dissatisfied with himself and unsuccessful. A cotton merchant offered Cayce a hundred dollars a day for his readings about the daily outcomes in the cotton market. However, despite his poor finances, Cayce refused the merchant's offer. Others wanted to know where to hunt for treasures; some wanted to know the outcome of horse races. Several times he was persuaded to give the readings as an experiment. However he was not successful when he used his ability for such purposes, doing no better than chance alone would dictate. These experiments allegedly left him depleted of energy, distraught, and unsatisfied with himself. Finally, he claimed to have come to the conclusion that he would use his gift only to help the distressed and sick.
He was persuaded to give readings on philosophical subjects in 1923 by Arthur Lammers, a wealthy printer. While in his supposed trance state, Cayce spoke unequivocally of past lives. Reincarnation was a popular subject of the day, but is not an accepted part of Christian doctrine. Cayce reported that his conscience bothered him severely over this conflict. Lammers reassured and argued with Cayce. His "trance voice," the "we" of the readings, also supposedly dialogued with Cayce and finally persuaded him to continue with these kinds of readings. In 1925 Cayce reported his "voice" had instructed him to move to Virginia Beach, Virginia.
1925 to 1945—the Virginia Beach period
Cayce's mature period, in which he created the several institutions which would survive him in some form, can be considered to have started in 1925. By this time he was a professional psychic with a small staff of employees and volunteers. The "readings" increasingly came to involve occultic or esoteric themes.
In 1929 the Cayce hospital was established in Virginia Beach sponsored by a wealthy recipient of the trance readings, Morton Blumenthal.
Cayce gained national prominence in 1943 through a high profile article in Coronet. Claiming that he couldn't refuse people who felt they needed his help, he increased the frequency of his readings to 8 per day to try and make an impression on the ever-growing pile of requests. He claimed this took a toll on his health, as he said that it was emotionally draining and often fatigued him. He even went so far as to claim that the readings themselves scolded him for attempting too much and that the reading had limited his workload to just 2 readings a day or they would kill him.
Edgar Cayce suffered a stroke on January 2nd, 1945. He died a day later on January 3rd.
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Controversy and criticism
Skeptics
of Cayce's purported powers point out that all of the
evidence for Cayce comes in the form of anecdotes and
testimonials from true believers, none of which is considered
scientifically rigorous. They are also critical of Cayce's
support for various forms of alternative medicine, which are
now regarded by skeptics as quackery.
Michael Shermer writes in Why People Believe Weird Things,
"Uneducated beyond the ninth grade, Cayce acquired his broad
knowledge through voracious reading and from this he wove
elaborate tales."[1] Furthermore, "Cayce was fantasy-prone
from his youth, often talking with angels and receiving
visions of his dead grandfather."[1] Shermer further cites
James Randi as noting "Cayce was fond of expressions like 'I
feel that' and 'perhaps' -- qualifying words used to avoid
positive declarations."[1] Shermer also explains that methods
used at the institution operated by Cayce's followers show
their ESP experiments have no statistical difference from
chance.[1]
Cayce's followers accept that he was sometimes inaccurate.
Cayce's sons, Hugh Lynn Cayce and Edgar Evans Cayce, even
co-authored a book called The Outer Limits of Edgar Cayce's
Power detailing some of their father's mistakes. They
theorize that Cayce's accuracy depended on many variables,
such as the spiritual motivation of those seeking the
reading. Skeptics identify these theories as excuses intended
to prevent paranormal claims from ever being disproven.
Cayce's prophecies occupy somewhat shaky ground. Examples of
incorrect Cayce prophecies include him stating that 1933
would be a "good year," and in fact it was one of the worst
in the Great Depression. He also stated that US scientists
would discover a "death ray" from Atlantis in 1958. Other
predictions that have not as yet occurred include massive
earth changes and that China would one day be "the cradle of
Christianity as applied in the lives of men." Furthermore,
many of the predictions claimed as successes are little more
than vague statements that can be interpreted in a wide
variety of ways, and hence can be upheld as "true" simply
because of their inherent vagueness.
Some Christians regard Cayce as someone who was misled by
demonic forces and who has led many astray from what they see
as the true path.[2]
Psychic
abilities
Edgar
Cayce has variously been referred to as a "prophet" (cf. Jess
Stearn's book, The Sleeping Prophet), a "mystic", a "seer",
and a "clairvoyant".
Cayce's methods involved lying down and entering into what
appeared to be a trance or sleep state, usually at the
request of a subject who was seeking help with health or
other personal problems (subjects were not usually present).
The subject's questions would then be given to Cayce, and
Cayce would proceed with a reading. At first these readings
dealt primarily with the physical health of the individual
(physical readings); later readings on past lives, business
advice, dream interpretation, and mental or spiritual health
were also given.
Until September 1923, they were not systematically preserved.
Accordingly, only about 14,000 Cayce readings are currently
available. When out of the trance he entered to perform a
reading, Cayce claimed generally not to remember what he had
said during the reading. The unconscious mind, according to
Cayce, has access to information which the conscious mind
does not — a common theory about hypnosis in Cayce's time.
After Gladys Davis became Cayce's secretary on September 10,
1923, all readings were preserved and his wife Gertrude Evans
Cayce generally conducted (guided) the readings.
Cayce said that his trance statements should be taken into
account only to the extent that they led to a better life for
the recipient. Moreover, he invited his audience to test his
suggestions rather than accept them on faith.
Other abilities that have been attributed to Cayce include
astral projection, prophesying, mediumship (communication
with the dead), viewing the Akashic Records or "Book of
Life", and seeing auras. Cayce claimed to have become
interested in learning more about these subjects after he was
informed about the content of his readings, which he reported
that he never actually heard himself.[3]
Major
Themes
The choice of which elements of the Cayce corpus to emphasize
is fraught with hermeneutic hazards. The health readings are
most numerous, and they involve many alternative health
concepts and practices. Cayce described his work in terms of
Christian service. Finally, people with esoteric interests
have focused on a somewhat different set of topics.
Origin and destiny of humanity. "All souls were created in
the beginning, and are finding their way back to whence they
came." [Reading 3744-5] The Cayce readings suggest that human
souls were created with a consciousness of their oneness with
God. Some "fell" from this state; others —led by the Jesus
soul— volunteered to save them. The earth, with all its
limitations, was created as a suitable arena for spiritual
growth.
Reincarnation. Cayce's work teaches the reality of
reincarnation and karma, but as instruments of a loving God
rather than blind natural laws. Its purpose is to teach us
certain spiritual lessons. Animals have undifferentiated,
"group" souls rather than individuality and consciousness.
Humans have never been incarnated as animals. He describes a
very complex design arranged between souls and God to "meet
the needs of existing conditions", which was a reference to
the souls who became entrapped in the Earth's physical
materiality which was not intended for a habitat of the soul.
Spirit "thought-forms" stayed near and guided the anthropoid
ape which was chosen to be the most ideal vehicle for the
human physical race to be created from, and psychically
guided their separate evolution into a Homo sapiens species.
Cayce's view arguably incorporates Theosophical teachings on
spiritual evolution.
Astrology
Cayce
accepts astrology on the basis that our souls spend time on
other planets (or perhaps their spiritual counterparts) in
between incarnations. The position of the planets at our
birth records these influences.
Universal
laws
Souls
incarnated on the earth are subject to certain spiritual laws
such as, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" (karma) or "As ye
judge (others), so shall ye be judged." Properly regarded,
such laws represent an aspect of God's mercy whereby no
matter what our circumstances, He has promised to guide us in
our spiritual path. Cayce said that when you view it from the
highest dimension there is no time and no space, nor any
future or past, and that it is all happening in one
fascinating expression and time is an illusion that has
purpose.
Jesus and Christ. Following New Thought precedent, Cayce
distinguishes between Jesus and Christhood. Briefly, Jesus
was a soul like us, who reincarnated through many lifetimes
(and made many mistakes). "Christhood" is something which he
was the first in allowing to be "manifest" through his
material life, and is something which we also ought to aspire
towards. Cayce accordingly calls Jesus our "elder brother"
and frequently makes reference to the way of the "lowly
Nazarene."
Unknown
Life of Jesus
Cayce
presented narratives of Jesus' previous incarnations,
including a mysterious Atlantean figure called "Amilius" as
well as the more familiar biblical figures of Adam, Enoch,
Melchizedek, Joshua, Asaph, and Jeshua. Cayce describes Jesus
as an Essene who traveled to India in his youth in order to
study Eastern religions.
Ideals
Cayce
repeatedly stresses the choice of an ideal as the foundation
of the spiritual path. "And O that all would realize... that
what we are... is the result of what we have done about the
ideals we have set" (1549-1). We may choose any ideal we feel
drawn to. As we attempt to apply it in our lives, God will
guide us further, perhaps inspiring us to revise our choice
of ideal. The highest ideal, says Cayce, is Christ; however,
the readings recognize "the Christ spirit" in some form as
the basis for religions other than Christianity.
Body, Mind, Spirit. Cayce often invokes these three terms, or
their equivalents, to describe the human condition. "Spirit
is the life. Mind is the builder. Physical is the result."
(conflation of various readings). The concept has application
not only to holistic health but also to the spiritual life.
Meditation. While Cayce sometimes describes particular
meditation techniques of sitting or chanting
("Arrr--eee-oommm" which is strikingly similar to popular
Hindu mantra "Hari Om") the crucial element is that of
opening up to divine influences. The Search For God books say
that "Through prayer we speak to God. In meditation, God
speaks to us." Cayce's concept of meditation has some aspects
in common with Hinduism or Buddhism (the chakras, kundalini)
but is most similar to Christian versions of New Thought. The
symbolism of the Book of Revelation, he says, is based on
meditative experiences.
ESP
Cayce accepted psychic experiences and ESP as a natural
by-product of soul growth. God may speak to us through dreams
(many readings consist of dream interpretation), or through
intuitions similar to the pangs of conscience. However, Cayce
does not endorse Spiritualism or mediumship on the grounds
that entities thus contacted are not necessarily particularly
lofty. Instead, he encourages seekers to focus on Christ.
Atlantis. The Cayce readings affirm the existence of
Atlantis, a vast continent with an advanced technology whose
refugees peopled ancient Egypt as well as pre-Columbian
America. Cayce's description of Atlantis has much in common
with that of Ignatius L. Donnelly. According to Cayce,
Atlantean society was divided into two long-lived political
factions--a "good" faction called the "Sons of the Law of
One," and an "evil" faction called the "Sons of Belial." Many
people alive today are the reincarnations of Atlantean souls,
who must now face similar temptations as before. In this
regard Cayce also predicted the coming of a certain 'blue
stone' of Atlantean origin, that was to be found on "an
island in the Caribbean" and was to have the power to heal.
In 1974 a Volcanic blue pectolite now known as the Larimar
was found in the Dominican Republic. In occult circles this
colored gemstone is said to have healing powers; as with most
crystals and gemstones, there is no scientific evidence that
it has any special properties. Atlantis suffered 3 major
destructions one of which was the deluge. According to the
readings, a major source of turmoil was the Sons of Belial's
desire to exploit the Things, sub-humans with animal
appendages and low intelligence, and the movements to protect
and evolve them by the Sons of the Law of One. The final
destruction was the overcharging of the Crystal which caused
a massive explosion.
Egypt. Next to biblical times, the most significant era for
the "life readings" was a pre-dynastic Egyptian civilization
consisting of Atlantean refugees. Cayce purported to have
been an Egyptian priest named "Ra Ta" who built a
spiritually-based healing center (the "Temple of Sacrifice")
and educational institution (the "Temple Beautiful"). His
diagnostic readings and narratives about the past and future
were supposed to be a continuation of his ancient work. This
civilization also built monuments on the Giza plateau,
including the Great Pyramid, and left records of Atlantis in
a "hall of records" located somewhere beneath the Sphinx.
These readings bear a close resemblance to books by AMORC
founder H. Spencer Lewis.
Earth changes. Some Cayce readings allude to massive earth
changes—perhaps in conjunction with a pole shift—in the
1930s, 1960s, or 1990s. Cayce people have developed several
creative ways of interpreting such passages, although some
were disappointed with the failure of 1998 to bring either
the rising of Atlantis, the sinking of California, or the
Second Coming of Christ. Although he didn't actually state
these would happen at this specific time, the period was
referred to as a pivotal point that could see the beginning
of many of these prophecies. Cayce however, stressed
repeatedly that free will influenced all facets of what will
become reality and even something predestined to happen can
be postponed or altered.
"Cayce cures." Cayce's medical readings typically prescribe
poultices (often of castor oil), osteopathic adjustments,
colonic irrigation, massage (often with peanut oil), prayer,
folk remedies (e.g. charcoal tablets), various forms of
electric medicine and patent medicines (such as Atomidine),
and specific recommendations concerning diet and exercise.
Cayce is often seen as a practitioner of holistic medicine,
and has particularly strong philosophical ties with
naturopathy.
The
"Cayce diet"
Major
dietary recommendations include the avoidance of red meat
(esp. pork), alcohol (except red wine), white bread, and
fried foods; a preference for fruits and (above-ground,
leafy) vegetables over starches; and a high ratio (80:20%)of
alkaline foods over acidic. One meal per day should consist
entirely of raw vegetables. Under strict circumstances, Cayce
advocated both coffee and pure tobacco cigarettes to be
non-harmful to health. “Food Combining” was also a central
idea in the Cayce diet. Several food combinations that are
contraindicated are coffee with milk or sugar, citrus fruit
with starchy foods and high protein foods with starches.
Cayce followed very few of the dietary recommendations that
were suggested by the readings.
Sources
of Cayce's beliefs
This
article needs additional references or sources for
verification.
Please help this article by adding reliable references.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(December
2006)
Hopper's Bookstore in Hopkinsville where Cayce worked for
many years as a young man specialized in occult and
osteopathic works and he may have consciously or otherwise
absorbed much of this material. It is possible, that he may
not have read the books as a simple material leech, but to
learn from them, how to perform accurate readings and extend
his natural abilities. However, knowledge of this material
cannot account for most of Cayce's specific diagnoses, such
as directing that osteopathic adjustments be given to a
developmentally-delayed and seizure-ridden child named Aime
Dietrich. She was restored to normal health by Cayce-directed
treatments after conventional doctors had pronounced her case
hopeless.
Books such as Frederick Oliver's Atlantean fantasy A Dweller
on Two Planets and Marie Corelli's novels were probably
accessible to Cayce at his bookstore. Corelli's writings in
particular seek to reconcile mystical beliefs such as
reincarnation with Christianity, and Cayce may have been
subconsciously trying to accept this idea. Some books of this
type refer to Jesus as "elder brother". However, Cayce's life
readings show remarkable consistency over many years. In
fact, it has not been demonstrated that Cayce ever was
inconsistent in his chronology; e.g., telling a woman whose
reading was done in the 1920s that in a lifetime in ancient
Persia she was one of three sisters of a warrior, but then
telling a man whose reading was done in the 1940s that he was
that warrior and had only two sisters.
Gina Cerminara published books such as Many Mansions, The
World Within and Many Lives, Many Masters which provide
compendious information about Cayce's works and buttress his
claimed abilities with real life examples.
One
such example from Gina Cerminara's works:
"Cayce
once gave a reading on a blind man, a musician by profession,
who regained part ot his vision in one eye through following
the physical suggestions given by Cayce. This man happened to
have a passion for railroads and a tremendous interest in the
Civil War. In the life reading which Cayce gave, he said that
the man had been a soldier in the South, in the army of Lee,
and that he had been a railroad man by profession in that
incarnation. Then he proceeded to tell him that his name in
that life was Barnett Seay, and that the records of Seay
could still be found in the state of Virginia. The man took
the trouble to hunt for the records -- and found them, in the
state capitol at Richmond: that is to say he found the record
of one Barnett Seay, standard-bearer in Lee's army who had
entered and been discharged from the service in such and such
a year."
Mention
in The Law of One
The
Law of One, Book 1, a collection of word-for-word question
and answer sessions which purport to channel a "social memory
complex" known to us as "Ra," the following exchange takes
place:
QUESTIONER: Who spoke through Edgar Cayce?
RA: I am Ra. No entity spoke through Edgar Cayce.
QUESTIONER: Where did the information come from that Edgar
Cayce channeled?
RA: I am Ra. We have explained before that the intelligent
infinity is brought into intelligent energy from eighth
density or octave. The one sound vibratory complex called
Edgar used this gateway to view the present, which is not the
continuum you experience but the potential social memory
complex of this planetary sphere. The term your peoples have
used for this is the "Akashic Record" or the "Hall of
Records".[5]
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