Essay, Research Paper: Edgar Cayce

Father of the holistic health movement in the west, Edgar Cayce was a Christian mystic, and probably the most documented clairvoyant of the 20th century. He grew up on a small farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky in, 1877. Hints of his abilities became apparent at a young age. At the age of 21 he would enter a hypnotic sleep, which allowed him to remember his school lessons from years before, which he learned by sleeping on his books. By this way he was able to find a cure for his own throat paralyses. He used these sleep-induced sleep states to answer almost any question, including questions about health and remedies. Many of predictions being accurate he developed a following. These encounters were recorded, and dubbed The Edgar Cayce readings. Dealing mostly with dreams, meditation, reincarnation, and prophecy, Cayce gave 14,000 readings on over 10,000 topics to people all over the world in his lifetime. Edgar was ahead of his time with his methods of healing, deriving much of his information from the practices from other cultures, such as Atlantis, Egypt, and China. All of his works are now kept at the A.R.E., the Association of Research and Enlightenment, where they are studied and used as guides in health and healing, meditation, reincarnation, ancient civilization, dream interpretation, earth changes.

Cayce said there were two sources of his information: the subconscious mind, which can draw information from the conscious and the superconscious mind, and the Akashic Records, also known as the Book of Life or God's Book of Remembrances, which is the equivalent of a celestial computer database of the universe, which includes the a biographical history and future of every soul's thoughts and actions.
This is a description of one of Cayce's psychic experiences.
I see myself as a tiny dot out of my physical body, which lies inert before me. I find myself oppressed by darkness and there is a feeling of terrific loneliness. Suddenly, I am conscious of a white beam of light. As this tiny dot, I move upward following the light, knowing that I must follow it or be lost.
As I move along this path of light I gradually become conscious of various levels upon which there is movement. Upon the first levels there are vague, horrible shapes, grotesque forms such as one sees in nightmares. Passing on, there begin to appear on either side, misshapen forms of human beings with some part of the body magnified. Again there is change and I become conscious of gray-hooded forms moving downward. Gradually, these become lighter in color. Then the direction changes and these forms move upward and the color of the robes grows rapidly lighter. Next, there begin to appear on either side vague outlines of houses, walls, trees, etc., but everything is motionless. As I pass on, there is more light and movement in what appear to be normal cities and towns. With the growth of movement I become conscious of sounds, at first indistinct rumblings, then music, laughter, and singing of birds. There is more and more light, the colors become very beautiful, and there is the sound of wonderful music. The houses are left behind, ahead there is only a blending of sound and color. Quite suddenly I come upon a hall of records. It is a hall without walls, without ceiling, but I am conscious of seeing an old man who hands me a large book, a record of the individual for whom I seek information.
Reading 294-19 Report File

Edgar Cayce was a Presbyterian Sunday school teacher all his life. He did not believe "just a teacher"�; he instead described him more as an older brother, whose role we too will have to play. His life of service to others should be an example for our lives. He predicted that our knowledge of our true relationship with Jesus. From his visions he brought back a message, which was to be at the heart of all his teachings. This was that there is only one source, one god, one law, one force, and a oneness that seemed to mean an interrelatedness of all things

No matter what religion, we are all from the same god, according to reincarnation we have all been Jewish, Buddhist, Atheists, Christians, whatever, that is why we should not be prejudiced towards any person or situation, because we will be or have already been in the same place at some time or another. Besides it's not what religion we are that matters, it is how, with each other would transform the way we treat each other we apply those spiritual principles. If we bring the experience of oneness into our own consciousness, it helps others to experience oneness, attunement and healing

His explanation for religion is that we have different needs at different times for spiritual growth and development, plus our inherently human need to outline and structure our beliefs and truths, into terms that we, on the level of conscious space and time, can grasp. He felt as though the need for this outline of spirituality is valid, but that it is important not to get caught up in the ritual and tradition of a certain religion and stop trying to understand how a the spirit manifests in our own lives.

According to Cayce, all healing comes from attunement. This is the process of reawakening to an awareness of our spiritual nature and our true relationship to God; it comes from harmony with a spiritual force and the infinite. We can attune, or bring into alignment our body, mind, and spirit, through regular practice of prayer and meditation. When we can achieve this we can achieve health, for health is balanced mind, body and
. Individuality is good unless taken to extremes in which we harm others Always act with good motives and eliminate self, selfishness and the desire to look out for one's own self interests alone.


The philosophy behind Cayce's holistic treatment was that spirit is the life, mind is the builder, and physical is the result. We create our distresses with our mind, and so our rejuvenation and longevity as well, therefore the mind should be used creatively to bring about healing to our own bodies. Holistic lifestyle means balance between inner and outer aspects of life, a balance of physical, mental, and spiritual. It requires observation of the life cycles, a fulfillment of the cycles of our own bodies, energies, of life itself. To do this we must have an ideal a center; we must know what we believe. It's always a good idea to take the middle path, like Jesus or Buddha.

He did not believe that health should not be left solely to the physician; it is, however, the responsibility of the patient as well. Your health is your responsibility. It is up to you to choose to live a healthy lifestyle, and it is then that you begin to live up to your potential. We can begin to find attunement when we go through purification of the physical nature (nutrition, exercise, internal cleansing) and at the psychological level, that is, letting go resentments, fears, doubts, and frustrations. Cayce highly recommends meditation as a means of bringing the three essential components into alignment: body, mind, and spirit. "Meditation is emptying of all that hinders the creative forces from rising along the natural channels of the physical man"� (emptying self). In meditation attunement is the focal point, and our desire to know our maker. Therefore, the key to meditation is the need to believe that there really is a spiritual realm and a Creator. There are seven spiritual centers (chakras), which should be learned in order to meditate properly. These are reflections of the seven aspects of human life and its potentials. When you come to the answers you receive during meditation then you have to trust and apply them to your life.

Cayce believed that our souls have manifested as humans on earth so that we can learn more and return to our spiritual awareness, our collective purpose, which is to bring spirituality to earth. As we grow we learn or remember ourselves as spiritual beings. (It is interesting to note that Cayce simply said to discard this information if the idea of reincarnation was too confusing, or it did not agree with you). He goes on to say that not only have we had previous lives, but in between these lives our soul has a nonphysical life, and that we choose when to be born. The goal of reincarnation is to be able to love every soul, including our own with the greatest love possible. Because of the recycling of the soul, we are affected by karma, from this life, and past lives. Karma is memory; it influences our abilities and relationships with people. It provides us with the potential to learn a lesson, which will hasten our growth on the soul-level. Sometimes memories of these other incarnations, or past lives, in the soul-mind, can trigger problems within the body. This is not to say that every illness originated in a previous lifetime, however some can be attributed this sort of karmic debt.

There must be an internal balance within the body, or disease begins when one part of the body draws energy from another part. In determining if one is ill, simply recognize the dis-ease within one's body, or through a complete physical examination. Illness or disease can't be treated on only one level. You can temporarily cure the external body, but still be spiritually sick. The cure for the spirit is commitment to a purposeful life that reflects care for others. Cayce suggests the use of medicines and surgery only in very extreme cases, because medicine can actually diminish the body's healing ability, and deceive us with temporary, artificial relief, (i.e. they simply cure us of the symptoms, but not the actual illness). Although sometimes-strong medicine is absolutely necessary, the use of herbal formulas as immunity stimulants is more practical in not so severe circumstances.

One technique for healing without prescription drugs is visualization. Through visualization you are talking to the unconscious mind in its own language, through pictures and symbols. This is where you picture the inside of your body and actually "see"� the healing transformation taking place. Another form of treatment was castor oil packs. Cayce did extensive work with castor oil packs. Castor oil can be used in the form of packs, local applications, drops, and large dosages by mouth. The castor oil plant was called Palma Christi- the palm of Christ- during the middle ages, for unknown reasons. When taken internally it is cleansing to the entire intestinal tract, because the blood and lymphatic streams are in close proximity to the intestinal lumen it also cleanses these vital fluid streams. William A. McGarey, M.D. postulates that the castor oil stimulates the activity of the lymphatic streams while enhancing the elimination of toxic substances the cells locally where the castor oil is applied. When an inflamed, or injured area is treated with the packs, the cellular tissue in that area is capable of responding more normally with toxins removed, and thus is able to take care of the infection or inflammation, more efficiently. The attitudes that best promote healing are: self-acceptance, optimism and hope (expect health) and patience. Cayce warns that sometimes the best procedures sometimes cause a worsening of conditions, in which body is healing and is very sensitive.


As for the development of own psychic abilities, they will come forth naturally as an expression of our oneness, our connectedness with each other. Talents emerge when we make a commitment to ourselves to be more loving. We all have psychic abilities whether or not we have tapped into them yet. He says contact with the spiritual realm is natural because we are all built in the same way. The true source of these abilities is god, and this true source can be found within ourselves. He, however, warns against seeking out contact with spiritual beings and deceased relatives, stating that there is a difference between spirituality and soul development and spiritualism, or contact with disembodied souls. Physical performance is also a key to psychic intuition. We should not get obsessed or distracted with psychic phenomenon, but instead enjoy as it comes naturally from our connection with God.


Stretching, exercise, manipulation and massages are recommended; walking is the best exercise, massage balances energies as well as bodily systems. A massage is equal to a four-mile walk


DIET AND NUTRITION-a very important part of health is duh"� what you eat; your physical and mental health is directly related. It is crucial to eat foods, which are easy for your body to take nutrients from. In other words, nutritious foods. Cayce suggests that it is better to get your vitamins from the food you eat, but at his time, early 1900's the food was far richer in vitamins and far poorer in additives and chemicals than food today, due to overuse of the topsoil. Vitamins should be taken all at once, preferably at the same time of day, everyday
As for what to eat, he recommended some very simple suggestions:
Breakfast: Citrus fruit juices or dry cereals with milk, but not together, as the effects of the two do not coincide with each other. Other acceptable things crisp bacon, whole-wheat toast, graham crackers, eggs (not fried) fresh fruit, and stewed fruit.
I believe our knowledge of nutrition has come a long the way, in terms of calories and carbohydrates, protein, and the like, but for the most part these are agreeable

Lunch: A fresh green vegetable salad, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, peppers, radishes, carrots, with an oil dressing

Dinner: a general vegetable diet, well balanced with three above the ground veggie to one below the ground veggie. (Well-cooked and well- seasoned?) Although we've now added that they should be as much as possible steamed to retain their nutrients, meats he says should only include lamb, fowl and fish, with a little condiment.
Sweets and caffeine should be taken in moderation. Now we have plenty of decaffeinated coffees and teas

NO WHITE SUGAR (HONEY IS AN EXCELLENT REPLACEMENT), NO WHITE FLOUR, NO FRIED FOODS, AND NO PORK

FASTING-fasting according to Cayce is a means of allowing himself to become a channel through which god works, it promotes the coordination of organs and systems and enhances assimilation and elimination, so fasting is a mechanism of the mind because it can purify a mind in a state of mental confusion