Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce - Edgar Cayce Foundation–Virginia Beach, VA; EdgarCayce.org.

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) was an American psychic and author. He has been called the "sleeping prophet" and the "father of holistic medicine," and is the most-documented psychic of the 20th century. By the time of his death he had amassed a record of more than 14,300 clairvoyant readings for people across the nation, with many of the sessions captured by his secretary of twenty-two years, Gladys Davis.

He left 9.000 medical diagnoses to the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), a nonprofit organization still active in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which he founded in 1931. In the 1920s, Cayce’s trance readings expanded beyond medicine to include “life readings”, in which he explored a person’s inner conflicts and needs. He employed references to astrology, karma, reincarnation, and number symbolism. He also expounded on global prophecies, climate or geological changes, and the lost history of mythical cultures, such as Atlantis and Lemuria. He had no recollection of any of this when he awoke from his sessions. He was a devout Christian and it was therefore hard for him to read the transcripts. Cayce was a member of the American Theosophical Society for about two years.

Early life

Edgar Cayce was born on March 18, 1877, near Beverly, south of Hopkinsville, Kentucky to the farmers Leslie Burr Cayce and Carrie Elizabeth (née Majo), one of six children. As a child he often played with his imaginary friends (“play folk”) or communicated with his deceased grandfather. His father also realized one day that Edgar Cayce had the ability to memorize the content of a book simply by sleeping on it but found it hard to focus in school. . He felt closest to his mother and a deep love for her because she never laughed at him and he felt comfortable sharing his thoughts with her. .

When he was young, he got quite attached to the Bible and resolved to read it once for every year of his life. He also worked as the sexton at the church. . In May 1889, while reading the Bible in his hut in the woods near a creek, he saw a woman with wings who told him that his prayers were answered and asked him what he wanted most of all. Even though he was frightened, he said that he wanted to help others, especially sick children. . One day he got injured at the spine in school and told his parents exactly what he needed overnight to be healed and it worked.

He attended school until he was 16 years of age and then started to work for his uncle in the fields. He felt as an outsider when he was young, and many people thought he was crazy. One night he had a foretelling dream about his future wife. When his family moved to town he first stayed behind and continued working the fields until he got another message from the woman with the wings telling him to follow his family because his mother missed and needed him. He followed the advice and started to work at the Hopper’s bookstore. Shortly after that he was introduced to his future wife, Gertrude Evans.

Career as a psychic

Cayce publications

At the age of twenty-one, Cayce developed a paralysis of the throat muscles, which caused him to lose his voice. Doctors could not find a physical cause or a remedy. One night he went to the performance of a hypnotist and when he was hypnotized that evening, he was able to speak but when he returned from the trance, the paralysis returned. After this occurrence, he turned to Al Layne, a Hopkinsville hypnotist and osteopath. When Layne hypnotized him, Cayce detailed in the entranced state a circulation problem in his throat area and recommended specific medication and manipulative therapy, which eventually aided in restoring his voice completely.

When Layne realized the potential of Cayce’s ability he suggested that Cayce try the same hypnotic method to help others and suggestions in the first health reading for Layne helped heal his decade-long stomach problems. After that doctors in the area took notice of Cayce and began testing him by having the entranced Cayce diagnose their own patients. They realized that he needed only name and address of the patient to tune in “telepathically” to the individuals mind and body and were impressed with the effectiveness of his recommendations. After an article on October 9th, 1910 in the New York Times, people from all over the country sought out the “Sleeping prophet”, as he was to become known.

Cayce established a routine to enter into his entranced state, first loosening his tie and collar, then untying his shoes, after that reclining on his back on his couch and folding his hands on his solar plexus. After a few moments of deep breathing his eyelids would flutter and his breathing would become deep and rhymical which was the signal for the conductor of the session to contact the subconscious.

All individuals who had a reading were identified with a number to keep their names private. Cayce gave health readings to literally thousands of individuals from famous people to ordinary citizens, even including President Woodrow Wilson.

When Edgar Cayce died on January 3, 1945, in Virginia Beach, he left 14,306 documented stenographic records of the telepathic-clairvoyant readings he had given for more than 6,000 different people over a period of forty-three years. These readings consist of 49,135 typewritten pages and constitute one of the largest and most impressive records of psychic perception ever compiled.

Later Life

Edgar and Gertrude Cayce - Edgar Cayce Foundation–Virginia Beach, VA; EdgarCayce.org.

Edgar Cayce met his wife, Gertrude Evans (born February 22, 1880) when she was only 15 years old. After the first meetings they went together to many social gatherings and Cayce started to reveal more about himself to her and her liberal family over time. He proposed to her on March 1897 and Gertrude accepted it even though she had some problems with his unusual abilities. After losing his job at the bookstore, he had several different jobs, including one in a photo studio. Soon afterwards he started to work as a photographer. During that time, he only reluctantly gave readings. A newspaper article describing his abilities in the Hopkinsville Kentuckian brought the kind of notoriety he and Gertrude disliked. Gertrude in particularly viewed is as an intrusion into their personal life and dreamed of a conventional lifestyle.

Being successful as a photographer and able to save up money, the wedding took place on June 17, 1903. Soon after their marriage his wife realized that Edgar valued helping people with his readings. Gertrude was deeply concerned for their marriage since Edgar Cayce was gentle and sensitive but when in trance, he used a completely different voice, which appeared distant to her and she understood that these readings would keep them from having a normal life.

Edgar Cayce and his sons - Edgar Cayce Foundation–Virginia Beach, VA; EdgarCayce.org.

Their first child, their son Hugh Lynn, was born on March 16, 1907. Their second son, Milton Porter, was born on March 28, 1911 but he got ill. When Cayce finally did a reading for Milton it was too late, and the baby died. They had relied on the doctors and it did not occur to Cayce to turn to a reading for help at first. Soon after Gertrude got very ill with tuberculosis and the doctors said she would not survive. Cayce did several readings for her and she was treated according to the advice given in the readings which seemed to help but it was slow, uphill work. In the end Gertrude realized that the readings had saved her, and Gertrude remained steadfastly at his side all her life despite of many difficulties they had to endure and helped him with his work. In 1914, when the family lived in Selma, Alabama, their son Hugh Lynn injured his eyes and while the doctors were sure he would be blind they were willing to follow the treatment suggested in Cayce’s reading and after 15 days he could see. During that time, he only gave a few readings – mainly for friends -, worked and - as in most cities he lived in – taught Sunday school. Their last son, Edgar Evans Cayce was born on February 9, 1918.

Cayce’s dream was to build a hospital where the treatments suggested in the readings could be done because often doctors refused to perform them. When he tried raising the money through finding oil in Texas the readings indicated that no oil would be found unless everybody involved wanted it to be used for helping. Since this was not the case the endeavor was not successful. This and other experiences changed him. He expected less of his fellow men and more of himself. In 1919 he hired the stenographer Gladys Davis. That year he also met Arthur Lammers who wanted to have some philosophical, esoteric and other questions answered with the readings. This is when he first was exposed to the concept of reincarnation which unsettled him. At that time, he also realized that when his readings were for a good purpose, he would wake up refreshed, but when people took readings that shouldn’t have been taken without his knowledge he began to feel badly after each reading. Arthur Lammers convinced Cayce to move with his family and stenographer to Dayton and promised them financial support. At that time Cayce started with the “life readings”. But then Lammers was involved in law suits and all his money was tied up. The only thing he was able to do was to help Cayce’s son to get a good education.

Construction of the Virginia Beach Hospital - Edgar Cayce Foundation–Virginia Beach, VA; EdgarCayce.org.

However, Cayce was grateful to Lammers because in his readings he found why he had psychic abilities. He had once attained a great height in soul development, only to slip downward through a series of lives until he had reached an almost opposite position of instability. The present life was a chance to atone for some of these mistakes. In another life he was badly wounded and for days in horrible agony. He used his mind as a weapon against the pain and succeeded in elevating his mind beyond reach of his body and its suffering. Since no achievement, good or bad, is lost this ability became part of his individuality.

Several readings indicated to move to Virginia Beach and create an organization there but emphasized the importance of the proper spirit of the people involved.

Cayce followed the advice of the readings and the family moved to Virginia Beach in 1925. Initially, things went well but then a period began, when nothing appeared to work out. Cayce had been finally able to realize two lifelong dreams with the help of Morton Blumenthal, a New York stockbroker, whom he had helped market-wise. The Cayce Hospital opened in February 1929 and it had room for 30 hospital beds, treatment rooms, offices with a vault to house the readings, a library, and a lecture hall. The hospital, headed by an MD, Thomas B. House, a remote relative, was to treat patients from the readings. The Atlantic University chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia on April 29, 1930, was to stress research into parapsychology and the occult, while providing a general education and a Bachelor of Arts degree. However, the collapsing stock market, which Cayce had ticked off for 1929, broke Blumenthal, who had inexplicably ignored Cayce’s advice. Without Blumenthal’s financial backing, the hospital was closed, and the college never really started. Soon after Cayce also lost his house.

While many people believe that Cayce’s income came from the readings, the truth is that Edgar Cayce was a professional photographer for the majority of his adult life. He won several national awards for his photographic work and never charged for a reading. His hobbies reflected the things he most loved in life. He was an avid gardener, loved to fish with family members, and enjoyed carpentry. He also taught Sunday school throughout his life.

Involvement with Theosophical Society

Edgar Cayce was a member of the American Theosophical Society for about two years. He was admitted to membership in the Birmingham, Alabama Lodge on December 6, 1922, sponsored by Mrs. Gladys Dillman and Mrs. Lucy Coonley.

In chapter 15 of the book There is a River, the author Thomas Sugrue recounts Cayce’s metaphysical explorations with an Ohio printer and avid seeker in Theosophy, ancient religions, and the occult named Arthur Lammers. His cooperation with Lammers starting in the fall of 1923 in Alabama marked a turn in Cayce’s career from medical clairvoyant to esoteric philosopher. Lammers, who was familiar with Theosophical Society founder Madame Blavatsky's work wanted Cayce to delve into questions about life after death, astrology, the existence of a soul and the purpose of our lives. In one of his readings for Lammers, he provided Lammers with a whole philosophy of life, dealing with karmic rebirth:

"In this we see the plan of development of those individuals set upon this plane, meaning the ability to enter again into the presence of the Creator and become a full part of the creation.

Insofar as this entity is concerned, this is the third appearance on this plane, and before this one, as the monk. We see glimpses in the life of the entity now as were shown in the monk., in his mode of living. The body is only the vehicle ever of that spirit and soul that waft through all times and ever remain the same."

Theosophists and spiritualists were always fascinated by Cayce, and the Theosophical Press and Theosophical Publishing House distributed many books about his prophecies. The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 21 articles about Cayce, and the psychic was mentioned in numerous other articles. Joseph Millard's book Mystery Man of Miracles was very influential to Dr. Shafica Karagulla, who worked with Theosophical Society in America president Dora van Gelder Kunz, as they studied clairvoyant healing.

Horowitz biography of Cayce

Over the years, numerous lodge programs of the Theosophical Society in America have centered on books about Cayce's life and teachings. His son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, represented the A.R.E. in lectures at Theosophical Society lodges. For example, he spoke at the Washington, D.C. Lodge in June, 1951; Herakles Lodge in Chicago in 1956; Washington again in 1957; St. Louis in 1958; Orlando in 1964; Ft. Wayne in 1970. Another son, Charles Thomas Cayce, gave a seminar, "Unlocking the Mysteries in Your Dreams," in Minneapolis in 1983. The Miami, Florida Lodge offered a set of three lectures and four classes under the supervision of A.R.E. members in 1953.

The TSA also shared lecturers with Cayce's organization. The A.R.E. invited Dora van Gelder Kunz to conduct a workshop in Virginia Beach on July 16-29, 1986. Several Theosophists wrote important books about Edgar Cayce, including Gina Cerminara, Mitch Horowitz, and K. Paul Johnson. The pocket book "Mind as a Builder" by Mitch Horowitz is the text to a lecture by the author exploring the principle of “Mind as Builder,” a core theme from the Edgar Cayce readings and can be found online.

Pioneering work

Cayce was a significant pioneer in many disciplines that have gained widespread acceptance since his death:

The value of dreams as a tool for self-understanding and guidance. He saw dreams as a safe and reliable work to explore one’s own soul.

The importance of meditation as a spiritual discipline. He evolved an approach that was easy to apply to the Judeo-Christian world.

A perspective on reincarnation, karma, and grace that is potentially acceptable to the Judeo-Christian world. He presents reincarnation as an inescapable reality of how the universe operates. Karma can be softened by the influences of grace available to all souls.

An approach to astrology that recognizes past lives and the influence of the planets, especially with regard to helping people find a sense of purpose in life. He used the influence of the planets as a way of describing innate temperament and its impact upon the personality and aptitude.

According to Cayce’s reading we live in an orderly universe that is governed by universal laws. Humanity has a purposeful place in this universe, and there is a plan for us as souls: to bring the qualities of spiritual life into the material world consciously. That plan requires that we make proper use of two great gifts that God has given each of us: a creative mind and a free will. Edgar Cayce emphasized in his readings the importance of staying healthy with careful, consistent application of certain fundamental principles, among them the need for balance, and an awareness of the creative power of our attitudes and emotions in shaping the condition of our physical body. Healthy living also means having positive, supportive, and loving relationships with other people. He also pointed out, that we need to understand that the various systems of the physical body – the nervous system, the circulatory system, the endocrine system, and the internal organs – are interconnected profoundly. A disorder in one system can cause problemss in another; achieving balance and harmony in one system can benefit the others. We also have to remember that each of us is made up of a body, a mind, and a spirit that are interconnected. For healing to be total and lasting, we need to work on integrating all three aspects of ourselves. In his readings Edgar Cayce pointed out that a succession of lifetimes makes it possible for the soul to move towards oneness with God while taking responsibility for its choices. Karma is more than debts to be paid; it is a matter of soul memory, even memory stored in the unconscious mind. We tend to repeat old patterns until our free will consciously decides to create new patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. It is not important to remember details of past lives but to focus on the challenges and opportunities in our current lifetime, employing reincarnation as a tool for understanding how and why everything happens for a reason. In addition, for each lifetime the soul comes into the material world it has a mission that includes work to help transform itself for the better as well as work that transforms the world for the better. Finding and using the soul’s talents through self-study is the key. Cayce’s approach to the soul and spirit demands that we take responsibility for our own lives. Often, the circumstances in which we find ourselves are of our own making, sometimes stretching to previous lives. Similar to Theosophy, Cayce’s premise was that there are two sides to ourselves: The personality (familiar identity) and the individuality (the authentic self). Healthy living requires that we learn to forge a deeper connection to our individuality, and the process begins by paying attention to our purposes, intentions, and ideals. Two disciplines support this work: meditation (listening to the divine within) and self-analysis through dream interpretations. Soul development involves maturing into a certain way of being in life: present, patient, helpful, loving. It is learning how to put aside one’s personality and willfulness and instead waken to one’s individuality and willingness to serve God. In his readings Cayce also points to a new way of understanding Christ. He distinguishes between Jesus, the most recent incarnation of a soul who had many lifetimes on earth, and the universal Christ Consciousness, the awareness of the oneness of all life. Christ Consciousness resides in the unconscious mind of each soul, waiting to be awakened by free will.

The Essence of the Cayce Philosophy

1) Everything is connected – all is one: Once we perceive this unity it is our challenge to apply this understanding as practical mystics.

2) Life is purposeful: Each of us is born with a personal mission, a “soul-purpose”. There is an aspect of service to soul-purpose.

3) Approach life as an adventure: Life is meant to be a playful search for the truth; it is research in the broadest sense of the word.

4) Be noncompetitive: show compassion: Nothing takes us away quicker from the sense of oneness, and therefore from our own soul-purpose, than the drive for competitiveness. Compassion is the capacity to be present for another person and experience how we are all really the same. It is a matter of feeling with another person, not taking responsibility for that person but being responsible and responsive to that person.

5) Take responsibility for yourself: Help is available but no one else can fix things for us. Ultimately each soul is accountable for itself. The principle of self-responsibility is a cornerstone of Edgar Cayce recommendations.

6) Look ahead rather the back: The present and the future cannot be understood outside the context of the past but in essence he was saying to always look ahead and never back and understand that you are going to come back again. We should make choices that will help create the best possible results in the next lifetime.

7) Changing anything starts with an ideal: Motives, purposes, and ideals are the center of Cayce’s psychology. If we want to change anything in life we have to start at the motivational level.

8) All time is one time: Sometimes we get hints about the deeper mysteries of time (e.g. a precognitive dream). If we pay close attention to our inner lives, we might find clues that time is more complex than we think.

9) Success cannot be measured by material standards: Measuring success, especially in terms of one’s soul, is elusive because we cannot use the same standards for measuring the internal and external life.

10) Courage is essential to any spiritual growth: High aspirations and ideals are not enough, we have to do something with them.

11) Evil is real and comes in many forms:

a) A lack of awareness – a deficit in conscious awareness

b) Extremism – we need to watch for our own tendency to go to extremes

c) Aggression and invasion – all human relations have the potential for these forms of evil

d) Transformation – stay engaged with anything ungodly and keep working to transform it

e) Rebellion and willfulness – we choose every day how to respond to evil; the focus is on our behavior – are we going against the impulse to bring the spirit into the material world.

12) Learn to stand up for yourself; learn to say no when it is needed: It is similar to self-assertion and setting boundaries.

Atlantis

Atlantis is a legendary tale that has provided one of the most intriguing and enduring mysteries of all time. Plato wrote the first known account of Atlantis ca. 355 B.C in two of his later dialogues, Timaeus and Critias. The narrative involved actual historical figures and contained other accurate historical elements as well. Plato’s story of Atlantis comes from the tradition of orally handing down an important story from one generation to the next.

Speculations and debate on Plato’s Atlantis started the moment he first related the tale and have never stopped. Beginning in the 1800s, however, a completely unique set of Atlantis ideas emerged and the most influential of these came from Theosophy. Blavatsky’s Atlantis speculations are primarily described in The Secret Doctrine. Like Plato, Blavatsky wrote that civilizations are periodically destroyed by cataclysms that result in changes in the earth’s surface, but she added that each new root race springs forth from the destruction. According to Blavatsky, the third root race was called Lemuria and it began some 18 million years ago in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the major remains today are Australia, the islands of the Pacific, and portions of California. The development of the fourth root race – Atlantis – greatly overlapped with the Lemurians, and Blavatsky indicated that a major destruction of Lemuria occurred 4,25 million years ago.

How is the legend of Atlantis connected with the Edgar Cayce life readings? The 2500 life readings in file were given for approximately 1600 different people. About 700 of these people had incarnations in Atlantis that influenced their present lives. There was a coherent, non-contradictory series of events in those readings. According to Cayce, many individual souls who had one or more incarnations in Atlantis are reincarnating in this century, particularly in America. Along with technological abilities, they bring tendencies for being extremists. Often, they exhibit individual and group karma associated with selfishness and exploitation of others. Instead of a continent destroyed in a single day, as related by Plato, we get glimpses of men’s activity in a land wrecked by at least three major upheavals at widely separated times.

In the readings it is revealed that Atlantis, located in the area of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from Gibraltar to the Gulf of Mexico, was first occupied by an advanced race of humans in 210,000 B.C. By 50,000 B.C., the country had developed an advanced culture with strange technology. Cayce’s Atlantis was a maritime culture throughout its entire existence, trading with nearly all of the other lands of the world. Plentiful natural resources existed on the temperate islands. Temples were constructed in the cities. One fascination with Cayce’s Atlantis concerns a mysterious crystal, similar to a laser-like device, because it became the reason for the struggle between two factions, the peaceful spiritual group, Law of One, and the Sons of Belial, who worshipped self-aggrandizement, sought power over others, and practiced human sacrifice. Cayce’s story of how the destructive forces were unleashed is entwined with the mysterious crystal.

There are numerous books out there about Edgar Cayce’s readings pertaining to Atlantis, among them one book by his son Edgar Evans Cayce.

Death and Legacy

Edgar Cayce did not pay much attention to the rules of diet he so stringently recommended to others and he was also a chain-smoker. Throughout 1941 and 1942, readings repeatedly warned Cayce about his poor diet, high blood pressure, respiratory problems, and various lesions and other obstructions in his intestinal tract. The warnings came as no surprise to his wife Gertrude and his secretary Glady because of his high-fat diet, his smoking, and a lack of sleep. At time, the “Source” even appeared to be angry with Cayce’s inability to better take care of himself. It was a tragic irony that Cayce didn’t act on the advice given, probably due to the ever-increasing demands being placed on him after the publication of There is a River which brought many new members to A.R.E. in 1943. The deluge of publicity brought an estimated 4,500 requests for readings and a lot of dollars for the organization. He was over-extending himself until he was stopped by a stroke in August 1944. He gave his last reading on September 17, 1944 for himself. Everyone present was counseled to be at peace. Recommendations were given for Cayce’s physical comfort, but little else. He passed away on January 3, 1945. His wife Gertrude followed him on April 1, 1945.

A.R.E. Logo - Edgar Cayce Foundation–Virginia Beach, VA; EdgarCayce.org.

Although Cayce died in 1945, the timeliness of the material in the readings — with subjects like discovering your mission in life, developing your intuition, exploring ancient mysteries, and taking responsibility for your health — is evidenced by the hundreds of books that have been written on the various aspects of this work as well as the dozen or so titles focusing on Cayce's life itself.

Members of Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), the nonprofit founded by Cayce in 1931 with the purpose of helping people to transform their lives for the better through ideas and information found in his psychic readings, have access to the entire set of 14,306 readings in a database residing online in the members-only section. The readings can also be found in their entirety in A.R.E.’s physical library, located at their headquarters campus in Virginia Beach, which is open to the public daily. Members also receive the quarterly Venture Inward magazine, a quarterly newsletter and have access to other material online.

Biography by Harmon Bro

Additional resources

• Association for Research and Enlightenment website.
• Bro, Harmon Hartzell. Edgar Cayce: A Seer Out of Season. St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1996. One of the best biographies.
• Cerminara, Gina. Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce Story on Reincarnation. New York: Signet Books, 1950, 1990.
• Horowitz, Mitch. Mind as the Builder: The Positive-Mind Metaphysics of Edgar Cayce. Virginia Beach, Virginia: A.R.E. Press, 2017.
• Horowitz, Mitch- "Mind as the Builder", presentation at A.R.E.
• Johnson, K. Paul. Edgar Cayce in Context: The Readings: Truth and Fiction. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1998. Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions.
• Kirkpatrick, Sidney D. An American Prophet, New York: Riverhead Books, 2000.
• Kittler, Glenn D. Edgar Cayce on the Dead Sea Scrolls, New York: Warner Books, 1970.
• Puryear, Herbert B. The Edgar Cayce Primer: Discovering The Path to Self-Transformation, New York: Bantam Books, 1982.
• Stearn, Jess. The Sleeping Prophet, New York: Bantam Books, 1967. This was a bestselling book.
• Sugrue, Thomas. There Is a River, Virginia Beach, Virginia: A.R.E. Press, 2003.
• Todeschi, Kevin. Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records. Virginia Beach, Virginia: A.R.E. Press, 1998.
• Todeschi, Kevin and Henry Reed. Contemporary Cayce: A Complete Exploration Using Today’s Science and Philosophy. Virginia Beach, Virginia: A.R.E. Press, 2014.