The Essential Edgar Cayce (6 page)

FIG. 1.
A Model of the Nature of Humanity

Cayce’s model of the mind, furthermore, is insightful regarding the
source
of his information in a given reading. He claimed it came from his own superconscious, that he acted as an
open channel
so that it could reveal its wisdom through him. But it’s not what is called
psychic channeling
of other noncorporeal beings, as with a medium. Cayce affirmed the validity of mediumship—at least as demonstrated by a gifted few—but he denied that he was one. Only with a few rare readings (perhaps a dozen total) did his subconscious mind serve as a mouthpiece for another being, such as an angel or a disembodied soul. In more than ninety-nine percent of Cayce’s readings he claimed that his source was the knowledge within himself—or, for that matter, within any of us if we are only willing to learn how to tap into it.

4. The seven spiritual centers.

Edgar Cayce echoed the wisdom of the East in proposing that human experience can be understood largely in terms of seven spiritual centers of the body. Theology, philosophy, and psychology traditionally have been concerned about the connection between the finite and the infinite. If there is such a thing as a soul, with its infinite nature, how is it able to affect the finite physical human being? One ancient answer was to codify the spiritual centers of the body, what are known as the
chakras
(Sanskrit for “wheel,” referring to the wheels, or vortices, of energy that clairvoyants claim to perceive in the body).

Spiritual centers can be found primarily in man’s higher-energy body—the
subtle body,
as it is sometimes called, although Cayce preferred the term
finer physical body,
emphasizing the strong connection to the physical even though the spiritual activity of these centers is difficult if not impossible to measure with scientific instrumentation. Cayce also emphasized that each of the seven centers has its own representation in the flesh, in the endocrine glands, organs that secrete chemical hormones directly into the bloodstream and thereby influence every cell of the body. From the first spiritual center up to the seventh, he named the respective glands as follows: the
gonads
(the testes in the male, the ovaries in the female), the
cells of Leydig,
the
adrenals,
the
thymus,
the
thyroid,
the
pineal,
and the
pituitary.

According to Edgar Cayce’s model for health, the activity of the endocrine centers represents in the flesh what is happening in the mind and spirit. The term to describe the function of these centers is
transducer,
which is defined as a device activated by one form of power from one system and supplying another form of power to a second system. With the spiritual centers, the two systems are: the soul (with its access to an infinite supply of energy), and the energy system we perceive as the physical human being. Although not an exact analogy, the centers function somewhat like valves in regulating the flow of the creative life-force into the physical body. What’s more, they are a storehouse of patterns of consciousness in the soul, and our thoughts, feelings, and memories (even past-life memories, Cayce would argue) find expression in the body largely through the spiritual centers and the endocrine glands linked to them.

5. Four phases of self-care for health.

Edgar Cayce emphasized learning how to care for one’s own health. In the 1930s and 1940s, he sent many people to the New York City clinic of Dr. Harold J. Reilly, who became an insightful interpreter of Cayce’s healing and health maintenance recommendations. Reilly identified four aspects of Cayce’s formula for physical well-being, a model that has become the foundation from which many health care professionals have attempted to research and apply what Cayce had to offer. They spell out the anagram CARE:

C
irculation.
Paying attention to the body’s need for both blood and lymph circulation. Poor circulation can result in a host of ailments.

A
ssimilation.
Eating nutritionally and breathing properly. Also, creating the right conditions in the body so that nutrients can be absorbed and used by the body.

R
elaxation.
Practicing stress-releasing techniques. Our bodies can quickly become out of balance and toxic, and illness is sure to follow.
E
limination.
Just as important as assimilating nutrients in the body is eliminating waste products from the body. Many of Cayce’s remedies involved not so much putting something in the body as stimulating the body’s nature wisdom to get rid of what is no longer needed.

EDGAR CAYCE AS CREATOR OF A NEW CULTURAL MYTH

• •

Some of the most fascinating material presented by Edgar Cayce involves stories that seem to fly in the face of modern historical scholarship. Tales of Atlantis. Tales of ancient Egypt and the building of its great monuments, but with a timeline that violates the timelines of virtually all mainstream Egyptologists. Tales of elaborate ancient civilizations in the Gobi Desert and in Persia completely unknown to historians. What are we to make of these remarkable pronouncements?

In short, Cayce proposed that Atlantis is not a whimsical legend or metaphoric myth but rather a long-standing culture that actually existed. He dated its final destruction to 10,500 B.C., and he proposed that remnants of the lost continent and its artifacts can be found under the waters of the Caribbean. While intriguing anomalies and seductive hints suggest that there is more to ancient history than we ever realized, clearly there is
no definitive proof
that Atlantis existed. For many people, Atlantis remains a provocative yet unsupportable part of Cayce’s overall philosophy.

Egypt is another matter, perhaps, since the monuments and artifacts
do
exist and are sometimes subject to debate. Cayce’s perspective on Egypt is quite controversial. He suggests that the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx were not built around 2600 to 2500 B.C., the traditional dating, but some eight thousand years earlier. And the pyramid was built as a kind of temple of initiation and not as a tomb for a pharaoh. Cayce claims that records of prehistoric civilization, including Atlantis, are buried in a chamber hidden in the sands not far from the Sphinx, a chamber as yet not uncovered in spite of diligent efforts over the past twenty-five years.

Edgar Cayce’s theory of ancient Egypt is not without its contemporary supporters. His timeline, for instance, coincides with that of Egyptologists John Anthony West and Robert M. Schoch, who maintain that water erosion on the Sphinx suggests that its oldest portion was built thousands of years before the widely accepted date of 2500 B.C. In his book
Voyages of the Pyramid Builders,
Schoch dates it between 7000 and 5000 B.C.—not quite as old as Cayce suggested but close nonetheless.

In spite of the intriguing evidence, many experts would argue that all of this material on Atlantis is not history at all but a precognitive vision of what lies ahead for humanity. Others would say that Cayce’s account of Atlantis as well as Egypt are best understood as myth in the most positive sense of the word, that myth is a story that explains the
meaning
behind things. It’s unfortunate that, in our time, myth has become virtually synonymous with erroneous thinking. Myth attempts to speak the unspeakable, and, in trying to explain the extraordinary in ordinary terms, myth must use metaphors, analogies, and symbols. Edgar Cayce’s stories of Atlantis and Egypt at the very least can be taken as powerful and valuable stories that account for how we shape our own reality, how we must choose oneness over divisiveness, and how the purification of the body is needed to achieve our spiritual potential. All these stories point out how we face those same challenges in the modern world.

It might be said that Edgar Cayce’s Atlantis and Egypt are the foundation of a new cultural myth. Without falling into the convoluted, unresolvable arguments about what can and cannot be supported historically in his work, we can appreciate it for the rich symbolism and profound teachings about the human condition. The historical validity of his accounts may be beyond our ability to ever judge definitively. But the “moral of the story,” as we sometimes refer to it, is solid. Only when humanity embraces the principle of oneness to guide society do we have any chance of building a sustainable future together.

EDGAR CAYCE AS AN AGENT OF PERSONAL CHANGE

Edgar Cayce’s philosophy and recommendations always had a palliative quality. People came to him with all kinds of pain—physical, mental, spiritual—and an essential part of his work was to help alleviate that pain. But short-term “Band-Aid” help is one thing; truly helping an individual change is another. And Cayce intentionally provoked people to change, usually in a gentle, prodding way. But change they must if healing was to be successful.

Some who came to Cayce were prepared to make only superficial changes; others were ready to tackle the more daunting task of changing at the soul level. When we consider what personal change means, it’s important to distinguish between
improvement
and
transformation,
terms often misleadingly linked as synonyms; both involve change, but transformation is more radical and, ultimately, much more significant.

Improvement—self-improvement—means making a better version of essentially the same person. In the language of the readings, it would be a matter of
polishing up
or
adjusting
the personality, the familiar person we know we are and show the world. Transformation, on the other hand, is a quantum leap in our sense of self; it’s the awakening of our individuality, the essence of who we are. While improvement is a worthy, even necessary endeavor, we shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking it alone brings about genuine spiritual awakening. “PERSONALITY is certainly something NOT to be paraded or boasted of!” Cayce pronounced. “Well to have, and necessary! if used properly! WITHOUT INDIVIDUALITY, you are nothing!” (257-79). Transformation is more challenging because the personality doesn’t easily surrender its claim on the whole of who we are. But without transformation, the soul remains restless and unfulfilled.

The following wonderful passage from Cayce defines transformation succinctly:

Q
Explain what is meant by the transformation taking place or to take place in connection with the work of Edgar Cayce?

A
In an explanation, let’s all understand in their own speech. To some, an awakening to the greater channels of power; to others, more spirituality THAN materiality. To others, the karmic influences have reached THEIR changing point, that the vibrations may be brought one to another. In transformation comes a light for those that LOOK for same.
262-7

What a truly remarkable statement; in essence, it’s the heart of the Cayce legacy. Notice the final sentence: it’s a summary of what the previous sentences are trying to capture. Transformation brings
light
into our lives, but we have to be
looking
for it. Light, or
illumination,
as soul awakening is sometimes called, brings a new capacity to see what’s going on inside and outside of ourselves. It also brings vibrancy and vitality, sure signs that a transformation is taking place.

Returning to Cayce’s answer, he points out early on that transformation may mean different things to different people. There are three ways we can experience transformation:

“Awakening to greater channels of power.”
When we make the quantum leap of transforming the soul, we gain access to
a new kind of power
in our lives. But with that power comes greater responsibility.

“More spirituality than materiality.”
Spirituality emphasizes oneness, whereas materiality emphasizes distinctions, competition. With authentic transformation, we begin to respond to life in terms of oneness.

“Karmic influences reach their changing point.”
Here, it sounds like Edgar Cayce may be referring simply to
grace,
the law that complements karma. Karma means we are constantly contending with situations of our own making. Grace does not eradicate karma; it introduces an additional element to it that can turn “stumbling blocks into stepping-stones,” as Cayce often stated. Transformation comes when we are open to grace, that seemingly magical force of love that heals our most vexing problems. Grace lets us know we are undergoing transformation and not just improvement.

EDGAR CAYCE’S WORK FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Edgar Cayce cofounded three organizations, two of them still active today.

In 1925, Cayce joined forces with supporters to create the Association of National Investigators. It provided a legal framework for conducting Cayce’s work in general and a framework for parapsychological investigation in particular, especially with regard to medical clairvoyance. The ANI, as it was known, raised money to build and run the Cayce Hospital of Research and Enlightenment for two years starting in 1928. But when the hospital failed due to lack of funds and discord among its directors, ANI also collapsed.

Concurrently, Cayce and several colleagues founded a small institution of higher learning, Atlantic University, in Virginia Beach, which opened its doors in the autumn of 1929. While there were great plans to expand the school’s scope, enrollment, and influence, less than two years later it, too, ran into severe financial difficulty and had to close its doors.

But while ANI folded along with the hospital, Atlantic University was kept alive as a legal entity chartered in the state of Virginia, and some forty years after Edgar Cayce’s death, in the mid-1980s, it was reactivated as a small graduate school entitled by Virginia’s Council of Higher Education to grant master’s degrees. The program, referred to as
Transpersonal Studies,
is interdisciplinary, including courses in psychology, parapsychology, philosophy, religious studies, health sciences, and the arts. Although it offers an on-site resident program at its Virginia Beach campus, the majority of its students participate off-site by utilizing computer-based learning, which effectively makes its offerings available worldwide.