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Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 - 1945) was born near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, raised on a farm, and as a young man became a photographer in Selma, Alabama. As a young boy, he stunned his parents by a reputed ability to sleep on any book and then know the complete contents. Cayce is best known for his claimed psychic abilities.
Cayce was sometimes referred to "the sleeping prophet". He closed his eyes lying down, seemingly in a trance, as he did his "readings."
Edgar Cayce is primarily known for the thousands of readings that were given under an unconscious guided hypnotic state.
In the beginning the readings were medical, describing the nature of a sickness or diagnosis and a cure. He would be put under hypnosis, be given the name of the afflicted and ask to describe the sickness and a cure. Seekers sought Cayce's help only as a last resort. As the readings progressed, there were hints of controversial concepts of Karma and Reincarnation, until there were direct questions on these matters.
In the latter stages of the readings, there were mentions of life in Atlantis, former lives, life in Ancient Rome, future predictions, etc.. Adherents claim historical accuracy. Skeptics claim otherwise. For many thousands, the readings had a powerful impact on attitudes, beliefs , health practices, outlook on life, matters of faith, etc. and the readings provided an effective working concept of the principles of Karma and reincarnation with references to biblical quotes and principles.
In 1910 Dr. Wesley Ketchum submitted an article to the American Society of Clinical Research mentioning Cayce's abilities. With the publication of an October 9, 1910 New York Times article entitled "Illiterate Man Becomes A Doctor When Hypnotized," Cayce's career as a psychic and healer began in earnest. People began to visit him at his house in Kentucky.
The story about Cayce's illiteracy happens to be an urban legend — while having no formal schooling much past grammar school, he was quite well read, and was a smart man. He worked at a bookstore which specialized in texts on osteopathy and natural medicine. He was also an avid Bible reader.
Some of the abilities Cayce is reported to have had include:
To achieve what he said was the proper state of mind for his abilities, Cayce rested on a couch with his eyes closed, where he would sleep, as if in a trance. Once in that state he could reply calmly to questions asked by those present in the room. This sleep session was called a "reading". Over a period of 43 years 14,000 of his readings were recorded on paper by Gladys Davis, his assistant.
The great bulk of the early readings concerned medical diagnoses and associated treatments (where much of the prescribed approach was holistic). Later readings range through many issues, including the structure of reality, reincarnation, life readings, physical readings, karma debts, etc.
Cayce had difficulty adjusting to and believing some of the views that he was reported to have expressed during trance. For example, having been raised a devout Christian (who read the Bible from start to finish each year of his life), for a long time he was reluctant to accept the views (expressed in trance) that reincarnation was a reality. He expressed the view (again in trance) that the Essenes (an early Christian group) had believed in reincarnation but that that view was expunged from the Bible following a papal council decision in around 500 AD.
is debatable, as with ancient Egyptian religion.
During a hypnosis session, Cayce mentioned a former life as Ra Ta, an Egyptian healer-priest. As Ra Ta, he worked with Hermes-Thoth, who was reincarnated as Jesus Christ. Cayce's readings also mentions some of the former incarnations of Jesus Christ in the following:
His son, Evans Cayce, published a book in 1968, Edgar Cayce On Atlantis, a collection of his readings made in the 1920s.
One of Cayce's trance statements implies that knowledge about about all Cayce readings is not needed if a person is well grounded in one's faith: "Does it make one a better husband, a better businessman, a better neighbour, a better artist, a better churchman, if so cleave to it, if not reject it." Despite teachings of one's faith, people still engage in revenge, bitterness, violence, etc.. "Karmically, wonderful things can happen if one follows the teaching 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'". The Inquisition, the Inca genocide, etc. were executed in the name of religion, but are incompatible with the concept of a God of infinite love or brotherhood and, according to the readings, these incidents incurred severe Karmic retributions. The readings also warn against the misuse of religion for personal gain. 'God is not mocked' is an often quoted verse in the readings.
Many doubt Cayce's claims, noting times when his predictions proved inaccurate. He predicted that 1933 would be a good year, when in fact it was the very year that the Great Depression got under way in earnest, and that China convert to Christianity by 1968. He and a dowser once went searching buried treasure on the seashore, finding nothing. Psychic believers defended him, saying treasure had been buried there before and dug up, or it would be buried there in the future.
Cayce's monumental failure to help locate the kidnapped son of aviator Charles Lindbergh was never publicised by the metaphysical or New Age communities, but it was well known to police investigators. Many of his healing recipes included ingredients that didn't exist. Others were folk remedies, some well known to today's herbalists and naturopaths, but many others based on superstition rather than nutrient value. For example, "oil of smoke" turns out to be an old-time name for beechwood creosote, a popular remedy for psoriasis, but "the raw side of a freshly skinned rabbit, still warm with blood, fur side out, placed on the breast for cancer of that area" is not only gross but totally ineffective.
He failed to heal his own wife and infant son; both died.
Another failed prophecy of Cayce was his catastrophic readings regarding massive earthquakes, flood-ins and other calamitious natural phenomena which were to affect eastern US and Japan in particular. By the year 2000, Cayce predicted, the ocean would invade North America as far as Idaho and Kansas, leaving a trail of islands to the west. He also said US scientists would discover a death ray from Atlantis in 1958. George Pal's 1961 film Atlantis, the Lost Continent () seems to be at least partly based on Cayce's story of how Atlantis fell through misuse of "The Great Crystal".
Skeptics also cite the supposed vagueness in his language while using his psychic abilities. Martin Gardner cites an example of a Cayce reading from when Cayce's wife had tuberculosis:
Cayce used the word lung, and this his followers take as a correct diagnosis; i.e., a psychic "hit."
Cayce was also one of the firsts to recommend laetrile as a cure for cancer. Laetrile contains highly toxic cyanide and has been proven inffective as a cancer cure.
In fairness to Cayce, he was likely not a conscious fraud such as Uri Geller.
The subject matter of many Cayce readings would later become commonly known practices of some elements of the New Age movement.
In 1931 Edgar Cayce founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc. (A.R.E.®) headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Today there are Edgar Cayce Centers in 18 other countries thoughout the world.
There have been many thousands of people who have found Cayce's predictions, prognostications, and experiences as valid in their lives. Skeptics consider him a fraud.
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