Why the Cayce readings?

[Blu]

That is a very good question. Why should we pay any attention to the Cayce readings and why is he more significant than other psychics? I can only respond form how this material has affected me personally. However I am impressed that the material has an organization behind it to research and apply the information given. I think that by itself is impressive.

When I first began to question my spiritual experiences I had no real interest in changing my spiritual life. I am and was a member of the Methodist church and was content with my religion. I am still fine with my church, which also happens to be the church that Walks In Spirit was raised in. I have strong family ties to the church and it will always be my home.

My desire to understand more about what one might call psychic experiences came from things that I felt were unexplained in my life. As I began to explore the occult I went to psychic fairs, joined a meditation group and began to read books on the subject. I was never particularly drawn to any Cayce material. But one person in my meditation group kept insisting I read about Cayce. Resistant at first I finally picked up my first Cayce book. It was actually a compilation of three books and involved dreams, reincarnation and healing remedies.

Reincarnation was a real stumbling block for me. I was very cautious to not accept anything that was not from God and I prayed diligently about this issue asking God to show me the truth. So I investigated the concept from a variety of perspectives, not just the spiritual. The very last thing I ever wanted to do was become involved in something that was not from God. However as I looked at it from an intellectual perspective, from psychologists and my own personal experiences reincarnation did make a lot of sense.

But as so often happens with the Cayce material it was not one fact alone that convinced me that this man, Edgar Cayce was the real deal. It was the Spirit of truth that lives with in me. When something rings true for you what I call the Holy Spirit will help you know it. For me it happened when I read one line in the book I had. Edgar referred to Jesus as the "Elder Brother." I don't know why but when I read that I knew Cayce was on the money. A whole new life opened up for me at that moment. It has not always been easy because I think when you accept the Cayce readings you swim against the tide socially. But in another way it was like coming home again. Before the Cayce material I always had the vague feeling that I was missing something about who I am and my place in the world. That is gone. I know who I am and I know God.

Pick up a book on Edgar Cayce. Read it, challenge it. Ask God what is this all about? Use all the resources you have available to you to see if this is true or false. You owe it to yourself. Truth is universal, and we are all a part of something huge. Get ready to take your true place in life.

[WalksInSpirit]

As Blu said in her post, I was also raised in the United Methodist Church. That was the first church I went to, and even now, all these years later, the teachings and beliefs of the United Methodist Church are still very dear to me and mean a great deal to me in my spiritual life. I will probably die an old Comanche Methodist.

I was also taught the Traditional beliefs of my Comanche People. One side of my family were strong Traditionals - sticking close to the Old Ways of The People, while the other side of my family were non-traditional (to a degree) and were Methodists. So, spiritually speaking, I found myself between two different religions, yet they were a lot alike. And the United Methodist Church does more missionary work for American Indians, and they are more accepting of our Traditional beliefs, than almost any other denomination. That, plus seeing how they demonstrated The Creator's love, helped me to see that The Creator my Grandmother talked about, and the God that the preacher talked about in church were actually the same.

As for Reincarnation... well, I guess I was too young when my Grandmother tried to tell me many things. She knew she wouldn't be around in this world when I got older and could understand, so she told me while I was still young. I think she knew I would remember her words, and one day figure out what she was telling me all those years ago. She used to tell me things like "You are an old soul," etc. dropping hints to me about reincarnation. The United Methodist Church doesn't teach Reincarnation, so it was years on down the road when I first began to think about it and wonder.

I was a junior in high school when the question of reincarnation came up for me. A girl I was dating believed in it. I was curious about it. Her mother had been involved in the metaphysical/New Age spiritual movement of the late 1970s-early 1980s, and the girl knew about Edgar Cayce. She talked a little about him. So, I went to a bookstore to get a book on him, but all they had was "Dreams: Your Magic Mirror" by Elsie Seachrist. I read it, and put it all away for many years.

It wasn't until I met Blu that I was re-introduced to Edgar Cayce and the whole Reincarnation concept again. Thanks to Blu, I know now who I am, and who The Creator truly is. I have even learned, in all these years since, that reincarnation is a traditional belief of My People. The influx of Christianity changed our whole world, in many ways. Some of the Old Ways were completely lost. But, just like with reincarnation, we are coming back!

Like Blu said... if you aren't familiar with Edgar Cayce, please pick up a book about him and read it. (We have several good ones listed on our Recommended Reading Page.) You'll never look at things the same way again.

[Blu]

"Edgar Cayce gave over 14,000 readings on more than 10,000 different topics to people all over the world. These readings continue to be researched and written about over half a century after his death and are available to students, writers, researchers, medical professionals, and A.R.E. members the world over."

This page has a nifty graph and show the kinds of the readings and various kinds of data.

www.edgarcayce.org/ecf/readings/index.html

I am SMILING at you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Blu]

A Light That Never Dims


I was brought up to believe the only reality was what was experienced through the five senses. But in 1975, I read a book which I had rejected three years prior, and subsequently experienced a healing from a 20-year physical affliction. The Sleeping Prophet, by Jess Stearn, was a door that gave me a view of multifaceted realities, through the remarkable life of Edgar Cayce. His life story and experiences re-lit a fading light inside me, offering hope, lessons to live by, and new realities. It set in motion a spiritual awareness I never had. In 1972 I was between jobs, my nest emptied of my last child, and my husband absorbed in his job. Feeling alone and useless, my gut responded by accelerating a 20- year intestinal problem. Most days I dragged myself out of bed. It was then that a friend, whom I admired for her positive and cheerful approach to life, handed me a book about the life of Edgar Cayce, calling him a miracle worker. As I read the introduction, “The monumental story of the life and prophecies, and the astounding medical readings of America’s greatest mystic,” it brought to mind my mother’s warning about being fooled by charlatans. The book title, The Sleeping Prophet, by Jess Stearn, did not arouse my confidence. There was no way I was going to get involved with that nonsense. Prophets indeed, I thought. Besides, he was dead – how could he help? My friend did not insist, suggesting I look beyond appearances, and adding that when I was ready, the book would surface again. Three years passed. My intestinal attacks were now stressing me so, my life revolved around a bathroom. I was taking more tranquilizers and losing weight. Hopelessness was a monkey chattering away inside my head at the uselessness of it all. I was moving closer to becoming a statistic. I had read a variety of self-help books, learned deep breathing, meditated, and studied diets, in hopes of finding answers to help me cope. Nothing worked for long. Then one ordinary day, while I was browsing in a bookstore, a slim book – tucked tightly between two larger ones – caught my eye. I could not see the title or author, but an overwhelming feeling impelled me to pull it down. The Sleeping Prophet had entered my life again. A feeling of déjà vu came over me as I remembered my friend’s words, “when you are ready, the book will surface again.” Desperate for help and hungry for information, I tucked the book under my arm and took Edgar Cayce home with me. At home, embarrassed to be found reading such off-the-wall material, waited until I was alone, and cynically turned the first page. As each chapter unfolded, the amazing words challenged every belief system I knew, tossing me back and forth between hope and denial. I could not stop reading. Little by little I was drawn into the remarkable evidence supporting Edgar Cayce’s life, and my trips to the bathroom became less frequent. I finished on the fourth day, and as I laid the book down, I realized a sense of peace I had not felt in a long time. There were no monkeys scrambling inside my head, no snakes inside my intestines. Suddenly I became aware I had not had an intestinal attack the entire day. My intestinal syndrome has never returned in 28 years.

It took a remarkable man with a healing light, sharing his special gifts, to get past my narrow vision of life. It made me believe in the inherent possibilities in all of us. Though non-religious at the beginning – a skeptic of things unseen, prophets, or miracles – by believing in Cayce’s abilities and his approach to life, I began to have faith in my own possibilities. The last sentence in The Sleeping Prophet gave words to my healing: “All one needed was faith.” There lay my hope. It was that faith which helped me to develop a self-esteem program called “Possibilities,” where for 20 years I shared Edgar Cayce’s unshakable belief in human nature. The essence of this man was alive within the pages of The Sleeping Prophet, and it changed my life, with a light that has never dimmed.

Fran Lombardo Arroyo Grande, California

www.edgarcayce.org/venture_inward/11122003/changing_the_world.htm

[Blu]

The man who writes this article is a well known figure at the A.R.E.. He is one of my favorite authors and has a list of books as long as your arm. This article makes the point that the psychic abilities come from Love, the purest of intent. That may explain why it's not as easy to see in the world as we might think it should be! Fill the world with Love and watch the blessings flow!


Mysticism and Medicine



The story of Edgar Cayce’s life and work can largely be summarized by these two alliterative words. “Mysticism” speaks to the spiritual roots of Cayce’s message; and “medicine” identifies the focus of his work – especially as we remember how he was just as concerned about soul health and mental health as he was physical health.
But Cayce was prone to pick up tag lines that reflected the sensationalistic side of his work rather than its real depth and meaning. And so we are more likely to hear about him in the mainstream media as the “Sleeping Prophet” or the “Miracle Man of Virginia Beach,” whereas he was actually an intuitive healer and Christian mystic philosopher.

Mysticism is the direct experience of the oneness of all life. It’s not intellectual speculation or abstract theorizing. When Cayce gave a reading, it wasn't a lecture or sermon. Instead, he put into words what he was directly experiencing from a higher level of consciousness.

To understand Cayce’s mysticism and how it led to his medical clairvoyance, it’s important to note two complementary aspects. First there is a transcendent element. Mysticism involves disengagement from our ordinary way of seeing things. Cayce’s way of doing that was a prayer-induced, sleep-like state of consciousness which allowed him to leave the body – or, at least, to leave the familiar kind of consciousness that our bodies and physical sensations create for us.

The other side of the coin is that Cayce’s mysticism is so immediate. It’s here-and-now, and it’s practical. He defines the purpose of life as the work “to make the infinite finite” – that is, to bring the transcendent into everyday life. Remember that two-thirds of his lifetime work as a clairvoyant focused on giving physical health readings. It’s a powerful statement about how much he honored the importance of the physical world. And so, with the dual nature of Cayce’s mysticism in mind, we can examine two principal themes that are at the heart of his “Mysticism and Medicine.”

Love and intuition. Cayce’s contribution to mystically inspired medicine is an outgrowth of love. A reading was essentially an act of love. He would virtually lay down his life for someone, and it was probably a lot more dangerous than we realize. But his love-inspired intuition was far more than the courage to go unconscious and trust that half an hour later he would be able to regain his normal mind. It was also a matter of how Cayce loved people. His ability to tune in intuitively to their bodies, minds, and souls was a byproduct of his profound caring.

It may well be that all parapsychological phenomena will someday be appreciated for their dependence upon love. Psychic perceptions are expressions of oneness; and love is all about oneness, unity, and connectedness. The science of parapsychology rarely seems interested in such a notion, but it was significant that on one occasion the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research published an article entitled “Parapsychology and Love,” which attempted to make this very point. Surely Edgar Cayce’s work is the very best example of this principle in action.

Images of the body. The mysticism and medicine of Cayce’s work can also be captured by a series of symbolic images that can be used for the human body. First is an automobile. For example, when we dream of a car, it’s often related to the condition of the physical body. But that’s still a pretty mechanical image for the body. It’s useful and may help us to interpret many a dream concerning practical health advice from the unconscious mind.

A deeper image is the body as a temple. In fact, Cayce was fond of using that biblical image, which connotes how the divine resides within the flesh. Just as God could be met face-to-face on special occasions by the High Priest within the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, so can we find the presence of God residing inside our own bodies.

And yet as beautiful and useful as the temple symbol may be, it still has the flavor of an “imprisoned splendor,” as the mystic scientist Raynor Johnson describes the divine element within us all. The “body as the temple” still doesn't quite capture the fullness of Cayce’s “mysticism and medicine.” An even more profound image – and true to the deepest teachings of Cayce about the human body – is a bridge. The body can serve as a connector between the material world and the spiritual world. It is through the body that we awaken to spirituality – not by discarding, ignoring, or escaping from the body, as some traditions would teach.
Keep in mind, then, how these two themes are relevant not only to Cayce’s own pioneering work. They are just as important for each one of us trying to be mystics in ordinary life and finding ways to do our own life’s work of practical spirituality.


Mark Thurston, Ph.D., is an Atlantic University faculty member and author whose further work on spirituality can be explored at www.soul-purpose.com/courage.

www.edgarcayce.org/oldventure_inward/07082003/practical_spirituality.htm

[Blu]

One of the things that appeals to me personally about the Cayce readings is the dry humor, you get a feel of the personality of them in this article. The topic is humor in this article written by Gina Cerminara, Ph. D., but I think it does more than tell about the humor, it shows just how absurd some of the things we say and do are! This is just a short excerpt from the article. Please click on the link below the qoute to read the whole article.


"Gina Cerminara, Ph.D. (1913-1984) was a psychologist and educator who arrived in Virginia Beach, Virginia shortly after Edgar Cayce’s death. She worked in the offices of A.R.E., studying the Cayce information on reincarnation that eventually resulted in the publication of her internationally known book, Many Mansions. The author of numerous books and articles, she was a popular speaker and also an advocate for the rights of animals. This article first appeared in the A.R.E. Bulletin (a membership publication at the time) in October 1946, and is being reprinted in commemoration of Venture Inward’s 20th Anniversary."


"It is very interesting to find in the Cayce readings repeated insistence on the value and importance of humor. Many times people of an over-serious cast of mind are told to cultivate a sense of humor – to read the comic page, to read and remember funny stories, to try to see the ridiculous in every situation. A person suffering from a “bad psycho-neurosis” asked in a reading how he could overcome his fear. He was told: “By seeing the ridiculous and yet the funny side of every experience. Knowing and believing in whom ye have trusted, in the Lord; for without that consciousness of the indwelling, little may ever be accomplished.” (5302-1) Here, as elsewhere, humor and spirituality are placed side by side – spoken of in the same paragraph, if not in the same breath.

Three persons who had a tendency to take life too seriously were given the same advice:

“Cultivate the ability to see the ridiculous, and to retain the ability to laugh. For, know – only in those that God hath favored is there the ability to laugh, even when clouds of doubt arise, or when every form of disturbance arises. For, remember, the Master smiled – and laughed oft – even on the way to Gethsemane.” (2984-1)

“The entity is always in that way of viewing the dark side ... It would be well for the entity to cultivate humor and wit, the ability to see even the ridiculous...” (1900-1)

“Hold, then, to that ability to be witty, to show proper wisdom. Quit being too serious. Laugh it off. He did, even [on] the Cross in Calvary.” (3685-1) "



www.edgarcayce.org/venture_inward/09102004/humor_the_forgotten_virtue.htm