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A Helpful Unconscious

“SON, THE DOCTORS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO OPERATE ON YOUR EYES.” It was Dad’s voice breaking through dark, aching layers of bandages on my head and face. For a seemingly endless number of pain-filled days I had been lying in bed suffering from burns, shock, and the blinding flash from a partially-filled box of flashlight powder into which I had dropped a lighted match. As a six-year-old boy, I was undergoing my first experience with real physical pain.

The silence seemed to press down. Someone coughed nervously.

“Dad, you’re a good doctor when you’re asleep,” I answered; “Why don’t you tell them what to do?”

A story I had heard told many times by members of my family came back to me. My mother had contracted tuberculosis. She had suffered terrible pains in her chest and had begun to grow frail and weak. Her brother had died of this disease, and the doctors had expected her to die, as well. Dad, who had no medical training, had given “a reading” which included directions for inhaling brandy fumes. The inroads of the disease on the lung had been stopped. A special diet had helped restore her health. The story always ended, “Edgar told the doctors what to do in a reading. There has never been any trouble with the TB since then.”

I knew about readings. My father would lie on a bed or couch and seem to go to sleep. Gertrude, my mother, would sit near him, and when he began to breathe slowly and regularly, as a sleeping person does, she would give him the name of someone who had asked for help. The individual might be there in the room or off in a far part of the country or even abroad. It was important, though, for the individual to be in the place agreed upon at the time the reading was being given. Gertrude would ask my father to look over the individual and report the physical condition, making suggestions for curing whatever might be wrong. This he would immediately do, describing any deviation from health. A stenographer would write down exactly what my father said so that a transcript could be given to the individual or to his doctor. These reports were called readings. Ever since I could remember, all kinds of people had been coming to Dad seeking help.

My father gave a reading on the condition of my eyes. Medicine to be taken internally, a special diet, and new solutions for the external bandages were recommended. From the time the dressings were changed, I began to feel better. When the bandages were removed several weeks later, I could see. That personal experience with Edgar Cayce’s psychic power has remained my most vivid impression of “a reading.”

When this incident occurred in Selma, Alabama, in 1913, Edgar Cayce was already famous as a man who spoke like a doctor when he was in a self-imposed, hypnotic-like sleep. Several thousand people had already sought his help. The reading on the injury to my eyes was only one of a series of family readings which influenced him in trying to use his gift to help others when they asked. On another occasion, my mother, Gertrude Cayce, had what appeared to be appendicitis. Dr. Gay, the family physician, recommended an operation. A reading from the sleeping husband advised a combination of drugs in three capsules. The operation would not be required, it was stated. Dr. Gay followed the directions. It was not necessary to operate. On the other hand, when Edgar Cayce himself suffered with intestinal pains in the general area of the appendix, the doctor did not advise an operation. A reading described an appendix wrapped around the intestine and about to burst. An immediate operation was urged with the warning that my father might die. Dr. Gay operated and found the appendix in exactly the condition described.

For me the scope of the medical clairvoyant power grew more and more impressive through the years. For a woman in Washington, D.C., a reading described the cause of a serious physical condition as arising from poisoning from a hair removal product she had used. The treatments which were outlined restored her health. The correspondence requesting the reading made no reference to the depilatory cream. Nevertheless, it proved to be the source of the trouble. As early as 1910 an Edgar Cayce reading described for a man, hundreds of miles away, an ulcerous condition of his stomach. The treatments suggested were not unusual, but in the reading a final succinct sentence was added: “This will relieve the condition but know that this distress will return unless this entity changes his attitude toward his wife.” Psychosomatic studies, the mental and emotional influences on body conditions, were not so well known then as they are today. Edgar Cayce apparently knew not only how the man felt toward his wife but also what this was doing to his body.

The clairvoyance at times seemed to reach beyond the individual who requested help. In an Eastern city a woman complained that an inhalant prescribed for her in a reading had irritated her throat and nose rather than producing a soothing effect. A subsequent reading explained that the druggist who filled the prescription had substituted another ingredient for one recommended. When confronted with the question, the druggist admitted the change. He explained that since it was not a doctor’s prescription and was not to be taken internally, he substituted what he believed was a better ingredient for one he did not have in stock. When compounded according to the directions in the reading, the inhalant proved very helpful. Here is distant perception of a compound and/or the mind of the druggist.

A great many “emergency” readings were given which brought immediate help, such as the following cases. For a girl in a Midwestern city suffering from a serious intestinal infection, a reading suggested poultices of crushed grapes and castor oil packs as part of the treatment, which produced almost immediate results. A telephone call to Edgar Cayce asked for an emergency reading. A man was suffering severe gallstone pains. A reading given the same night included an outline of treatments which provided relief and made an operation unnecessary.

Distance from the subject of the reading did not appear to be a barrier. A man in London was given a detailed, checkable analysis of his physical condition. The suggestions were followed with excellent results. The same reading contained a brief reference to what the man was doing as the reading was being given thousands of miles away.

Here is a fair example of a complete reading, which shows accuracy in diagnosis. The suggested treatments brought good results without involving overdramatic circumstances.

On May 30, 1934, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the following information was given by Edgar Cayce, in an unconscious state, for a woman forty-eight years old, several hundred miles away in Raleigh, North Carolina. The woman’s sister and a friend were present at the reading. Neither of them talked with Edgar Cayce prior to the time the information was given:

Now, as we find, while there are many physical conditions in this body that are very good, there are those conditions that with the correction would make a much better body physically and mentally for the activities in the mental, spiritual, and material body. The disturbances, as we find, have to do with some minor conditions respecting functionings of organs, and little or no organic disorder. While many portions of the system are involved at one time or another, the conditions are such that they may be easily corrected in the present.

These are the conditions as we find them with this body.

First, in the blood supply: here we find the form of an anemia, or the lack of a proper balance in the numbers of the red blood cells and the white blood cells. This condition exists now. Later we may find an alteration in just the opposite direction. This arises from nervous conditions that disturb the circulation, and the assimilation of what is taken as food values for the body. The nerve disturbance arises, as we shall see, from two—yea, three—distinct causes, making a combination of disorders contributory—as will be seen—one to another. Hence there is not only the variation in the red and white blood supply, or the form of anemia, but the character of the disturbance in other portions of the body, as we shall see.

As to the characterization of the blood itself—that is, the hemoglobin, the urea, the activity in its coagulation and in the blood count—this varies, not so much as to cause what may be termed an unbalanced metabolism but the very character of the nervous condition makes low blood pressure and at times disturbances to the heart’s activity and its pulsation. Dizziness arises at times from distinct causes, during the periods of the menstrual activity, in elimination and during the periods when there is overexhaustion by excitement to the nerve forces of the body, or at other times we may find it arising purely from gases that form from nervous indigestion. These changes and alterations in the pressure cause changes in the character of the blood itself, though the body may not be said to have a blood disturbance—but the functioning of the organs themselves and their activity upon the system through the nerve supply makes the disturbance, though the character of the blood so far as carrying poisons or any character of bacilli in same is lacking; for it is very good in these directions.

In the nerve forces of the body we find much that is a cause, and much that is an effect. So, it is not altogether nerves; though the body is nervous naturally from those conditions that have existed and do exist in the body, but under stress or strain no one would call the body a nervous person; for she would be very quiet and very determined and very set in what she would do, and she would do it!

In the cerebrospinal system we find there has been a relaxation in the third and fourth dorsal area that has tended to make for a relaxing in the position of the stomach itself, or the organs or the nerve tendons and muscular forces through the hypogastric and pneumogastric plexus, as to allow the stomach itself to tilt to the lower side, or the pyloric end up and the hypogastric or the cardiac end lower than normal, you see. This makes for a tendency of easy fermentation in same, and is a natural strain on the nerve system. The muscular reactions cause the condition, but the effect is in the nerve system. And as those plexuses in the upper dorsal are in close connection or association with the sympathetic and sensory nerve reactions through the ganglia near the first, second, and third dorsal area, this makes for a slowing of the circulation to the head, you see, sympathetically. Hence organs of the sensory system sympathetically become involved, as at times there is the tendency for a quick drying of the throat—and the body feels as if it would spit cotton often! At other times we have a thumping or drumming in the ear. At others there are the tendencies for the conditions to produce irritations and burnings in the eyes, especially if there has been an eyestrain either by being in the wind, poor light or strong light; any of these will produce an irritation through the necessary energies used and the lack of supply of nerve energy from the depletion in the area as indicated.

From this sympathetic condition, both as to the nerve supplies to the organs of digestion and as to the activities in the eliminations of the body during the periods that should be natural or normal, the reactions also produce an irritation again which causes the secretions from the vagina in such measures or manners as to make irritations so that the body is irritable in manner; and until the flow has begun there are pains produced in top of head, dizziness, lack of appetite, and an excess activity of the kidneys or bladder. These are purely reflex and are sympathetic conditions, as we have indicated, from a subluxation in the third and fourth plexus area.

As to the activities of the organs themselves?

In the brain forces the reactions and activities are near normal.

The organs of the sensory system, as indicated, are disturbed through reflex conditions arising from the upper dorsal and reflexly through the cervical area.

Lungs, bronchi, larynx: only at periods when there are irritations to the hypogastric area is there any disorder of a nature which is not normal, but this will be corrected when the corrections are made throughout the system.

The digestive system, as indicated, shows disturbances; not only as to the position of the stomach itself but as related to the digestive activities and reflexly to the heart’s activity through poor circulation impoverished by the inactivity of that assimilated being properly directed in the system, and sympathetically also for the organs of the pelvis in their activity.

The liver, spleen, pancreas, as we find, would function near normal when there is a normalcy from the position or the activities of the body. When there are those changes that may be brought about by the addition of those properties necessary for creating a balance in the system, these will make for proper activity throughout the body.

Then in making the corrections for this body we are speaking of:

First we would begin with making the proper adjustments osteopathically, especially—or specifically—in the upper dorsal area, coordinating the rest of the ganglia and the activity of the organs with same as these corrections are made. As we find, this would not require more than sixteen such adjustments and treatments.

Begin immediately, when the body rests, with having the feet very much higher than the head; and after much rest there should be the holding of the abdomen better in position by the use of bandage or belt about the body. Not so tight as to cause discomfort, but as the manipulations and adjustments are made let these be of sufficient activity as to hold the position of the stomach, that the activities through same may be kept in their proper relationship with the rest of the system.

For those disturbances that have been produced by the nerve reaction to the other organs of the system, so as to make that incentive for the corrections being made to coordinate with the activities of the glands and functioning of the organs, we would take a compound put together in this manner, adding the ingredients in the order named:

To 16 ounces of distilled water, we would add, stirring in, beating fine or powdering each ingredient:

Dried Wild Ginseng Root (rolled together or beaten very fine) … 1 ounce,

Indian Turnip … ½ dram,

Wild Ginger (now this isn’t wild ginseng, but ginger, which is a different root entirely) 1 dram.

Boil slowly until it, when strained, will amount to 12 ounces. Then add to the solution 2 ounces pure grain alcohol and 1 ounce Syrup or Essence of Wild Cherry. See? The dose would be H tea-spoonful twice each day, morning on arising before the meal and when ready to retire. And continue taking until the whole quantity has been taken, you see.

Keep the manipulations about twice each week, making corrections specifically in the upper dorsal area and the general conditions throughout the body made to coordinate with same.

This would be an outline for the diet, though it may be altered as the seasons change, you see:

Mornings—citrus fruit or dry cereals with fruit or berries and milk, but do not use the citrus fruits and the cereals at the same meal, or quantities of milk with the citrus fruit. Very crisp bacon with browned bread, coddled egg or the like may be taken at the same meal. These may be altered at times to fresh fruits or stewed fruits, stewed rhubarb or the like, which are well, but change them from time to time.

Noons–either a liquid diet or a green fresh-vegetable diet; such as juices of vegetables, juices of meats, but do not combine the green vegetables and the soups, or the liquid diet with the green or fresh vegetables. Include all the vegetables that may be eaten in a salad. And if there is to be taken any pastry, pie, cake, cream or the like, eat it at the noon meal, not in the evening or morning meals.

Evenings—preferably well-cooked vegetables, with at least one period each day (either morning or evening—and well that it be altered) of beef juices; not the meats but the beef juices made fresh every few days, not large quantities, but that we may change the activities in the system as to the correction in the blood supply. The meats should be rather those of fowl, liver, tripe, pigs’ feet, or the like. Any of these should be included as to meats, but the greater portion should be of vegetables—with meats such as these taken at least three times each week.

Do these and, as we find, in thirty-six to forty days we will have a body quite a bit changed and near normal.

Ready for questions.

(Q) What causes pains and weakness around heart?

(A) As indicated, the straining on the system, the tendency of the dropping or falling of the stomach itself, and the gases that form which make pressures through the alimentary canal and in the stomach itself, you see. Reflex; not an organic condition.

(Q) Do I have astigmatism?

(A) More in one eye than in the other. Everyone has it in some form or another. This will be much corrected, or very much changed, with the correction in the upper dorsal as indicated, and through the cervical region.

(Q) Are the pills I am taking harmful?

(A) They are!

(Q) Can she get the proper osteopathic treatments in Raleigh; if so, whom would you suggest to give them?

(A) C— or C—, one or the other.

(Q) Would a belt manufactured for the purpose of holding the stomach in position be suitable?

(A) As we find, this may be best fitted or adjusted; but a belt may be made by using the heavy cloth that is of the nature that would hold the stomach in better position, you see, and much easier, and not cost so much either!

(Q) In what minerals am I deficient, and how may they be supplied?

(A) Not so much deficient in minerals as in the blood supply, as we have indicated, being deficient in the ability of the system, in its present condition and nervous state, to assimilate that taken. With the corrections osteopathically, and following the diet outlined, or in that direction, we will supply the proper minerals.

(Q) To what colors do I vibrate?

(A) Shades of red.

(Q) Please give mental and spiritual advice.

(A) When individuals have been under such nerve strain as has existed with this body for some time, spiritual advice is often rather aggravating than satisfying; though at times the body has sought such in its activities. With a change in the physical conditions, the outlook of the mental body will be entirely different.

Each soul should gain this as its basis for activity:

The mental is the builder. Hence the mental attitude has much to do with the physical conditions of the body, but it does not set broken bones, neither does it strengthen ligaments that have been stretched through activities that have gradually drawn on a body.

But the attitude of mind, if it is from the spiritual forces and desires, will bring that which will build a life and an experience of peace, harmony, and happiness. (Edgar Cayce reading 565–1²)

There are at least fourteen checkable points given in this reading—anemia; low blood pressure; dizziness at times brought on by the menstrual period, and overexhaustion; nervous indigestion; characteristics of determination, set opinions; third and fourth dorsal condition; position of stomach, which was checked by X-ray; drying of throat; thumping and drumming of ears; irritations produced by excessive burning in eyes; secretion from vagina; lack of appetite; excessive kidney activity; and the heart’s reactions which were described as a sympathetic activity. The treatments were specific and could be administered by a local physician.

The woman was so impressed that she decided to follow the suggestions in the reading. She went to a prominent doctor in Raleigh. He wisely refused to follow the suggestions until he had checked to confirm the conditions described. She was given a thorough examination including a series of X-rays. The reading was corroborated.

The doctor stated in writing his amazement in being able to confirm details of the information which had been given by Edgar Cayce without his ever having seen the woman. She made excellent progress and returned to normal health.

This is just one of literally thousands of such psychic readings given by Edgar Cayce between 1901 and 1944. It is one of the 14,306 readings for over 5,000 different people of which there are copies in the archives of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach. Thousands of request letters, reports, and other documents are filed with these readings. Of this number 9,604 deal with problems of the mind and the physical body. There are also 1,919 readings dealing with vocational, psychological, and human-relations problems. These have been called “life readings.” In addition there are 956 miscellaneous readings. Copies of the earliest readings were lost. The oldest copy on file is dated 1902. Two-thirds of the readings were typed single space, and they averaged three-and-one-half pages to a reading. The actual readings themselves consist of 14.9 million words! And the Edgar Cayce database (the readings, background information and reports) equates to more than 24 million words, making Edgar Cayce the most documented psychic of all time! There was never an indication that Edgar Cayce was conscious of a single word he uttered while in the self-imposed unconscious state. All of this material seemed to come through or out of his unconscious mind.

At this point it might be well for me to acknowledge my prejudice in favor of the conceivable accuracy and possible helpfulness of information coming from an unconscious mind. Living with Edgar Cayce conditioned me. Try to put yourself in my place as you follow this story. Perhaps, along with several thousand other people, I was fooled. Maybe this man wasn’t unconscious when he gave these readings. Then, as I see it, the story is even more remarkable. For, it seems impossible to me that the conscious self I knew as a father, a Sunday school teacher, and a friend could have so split itself and kept up a masquerade before family, friends, and several thousand people for over forty years. It seems much more reasonable to postulate a trance, an unconscious state, as separate from the conscious self.

It should also be mentioned here that through the years, in observing what seemed to be accurate, checkable telepathy and clairvoyance, I have become more critical—perhaps too critical and careful at times—in expecting and continuing to search for the same kind of objectivity and exactness in dealing with other people who claim to possess psychic powers. This has not been a happy position to maintain. On one hand I find myself sympathetic to the many difficulties which any psychic person must face, and on the other I look for every possible explanation of any so-called psychic incident.

Before examining any additional data from these readings, it might be well to consider the circumstances under which they were given. Someone would request a reading by letter, telegram, phone, or in person. An appointment would be set for 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. on a specified day. The applicant did not have to be present with my father. It was necessary that Edgar Cayce be given the real name and address where the person would be at the specified time. He could be anywhere in the world. Anyone could give the instructions and ask the questions. My mother was the “conductor” for most of them.

At the appointed time Edgar Cayce would come in from his garden or from fishing, or from working in his office. He would loosen his tie, shoelaces, cuffs, and belt and lie down on a couch. His hands, palms up over his forehead, were later crossed over his abdomen. He would breathe deeply a few times. When his eyelids began to flutter, it was necessary to read to him a suggestion formula which had been secured in a reading in answer to the request, “Give the proper suggestion to be given Edgar Cayce to secure a physical reading.” It was necessary to watch the eyelids carefully. If they were allowed to flicker too long before the suggestion was read, my father would not respond. He might then sleep for a couple of hours or more and awaken refreshed without knowing he hadn’t given a reading. Here is the opening suggestion:

Now the body is assuming its normal forces and will give such information as is desired of it at the present time. The body-physical will be perfectly normal and will give that information now. You will have before you the body of [name and address]. You will go over this body carefully, examine it thoroughly, telling us the conditions you find at the present time; giving the cause of the existing conditions, also suggestions for help and relief for this body. You will speak distinctly at a normal rate of speech, and you will answer the questions which I will ask.

When the reading was concluded and Edgar Cayce would say, “We are through for the present,” the conductor would say this:

Now the body will be so equalized as to overcome all those things that might hinder or prevent from being and giving its best mental, spiritual, and physical self.

The body physical will create within the system those properties necessary to cause the eliminations to be increased as to bring the best normal physical conditions for the body.

The mental will so give that impression to the system as to build the best moral, mental, and physical forces for this body. The circulation will be so equalized as to remove strain from all centers of the nervous system, as to allow the organs of the system to assimilate and secrete properly those conditions necessary for normal conditions of this body.

The nerve supplies of the whole body will assume their normal forces; the vitality will be stored in them, through the application of the physical being, as well as of the spiritual elements in the physical forces of the body.

Now, perfectly normal, and perfectly balanced, you will wake up.

Instantly he was awake.

Who was the man Edgar Cayce?

In June, 1954, a child’s color comic book, House of Mystery, described Edgar Cayce as “America’s Most Mysterious Man.” During this same year the University of Chicago accepted a Ph.D. thesis based on a study of his psychic readings. In this thesis he was called, among other things, a “religious seer.”

Here is his story as recounted in newspapers and magazines from 1901 to 1959:

Voice RestoredEdgar Cayce Suddenly Relieved of a Terrible AfflictionVocal Organs Paralyzed a Year Ago Made Well As Ever

On the night of April 18, 1900, young Edgar Cayce, a photographer in W.R. Bowles’ gallery, suddenly lost his voice and for nearly ten months was unable to speak above a whisper.

Sunday night he recovered his voice as suddenly as he lost it. When he awoke Monday morning there was a feeling of relief about his throat and when he attempted to speak he saw he could speak as distinctly as ever.

Overjoyed, the young man hastily dressed and rushed into his mother’s room to break the good news. All day yesterday he was on the streets talking to his friends and receiving congratulations.

Mr. Cayce is a son of Mr. L. B. Cayce, and is a very worthy and deserving young man. When he became afflicted he was a salesman in a Main Street store but had to give up this business and then secured a position with W.R. Bowles. His general health has continued good and he has worked regularly at his business.

It is supposed that his loss of speech was due to paralysis of the inferior muscles of the vocal organs. At times there was stifling sensation about his throat and occasionally a little soreness. The feeling was akin to that felt by persons suffering from asthma and it was the absence of this feeling that first brought the realization of the good fortune that came to him while he slept.

Mr. Cayce during the last ten months had been under the treatment of specialists in this city, Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati all without benefit. Many other doctors had also looked into his case. It had been a month since he took any sort of medicine and his power of speech was restored as suddenly and unexpectedly as it was lost.

This newspaper clipping from a Hopkinsville, Kentucky, paper appeared around the early part of 1901. It was this throat paralysis which led Edgar Cayce to try hypnosis. After putting himself into a sleeplike state, Edgar gave suggestions for relieving his own throat paralysis. A friend, Al Layne, who was simultaneously studying osteopathy and hypnosis, tried asking the sleeping man about some of his most difficult cases. Edgar talked intelligently about them also. A strange partnership developed. When his voice failed, Edgar asked Layne to give him suggestions while he slept, which restored his voice; and when Layne needed help on a case, he sought advice from Edgar.

In 1902 my father took a job in a bookstore in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He became active in church work and for a group of young people invented a party game called “Pit.” This event was noted in the local paper:

New Parlor GameEdgar Cayce, of Bowling Green,Sells Invention to Mfg. Co.

Mr. Edgar Cayce, head clerk in the bookstore of L.D. Potter & Co., on State Street, is the author of a parlor game which will net him considerable money and bring him much fame. The name of the game is “The Pit,” and is to be played with a deck of thirty-four cards. It is on the order of the famous game of “Bourse” but those who have played both games say that the one of which Mr. Cayce is the author is far superior to the other. The cards represent the various cereals, railroad, mining stock, etc., which are sold by the New York exchange. They are first dealt to the players and the object is to corner the market, on certain things. The one doing this is the winner. To play the game successfully requires considerable science, and luck of course plays no small part. Mr. Cayce has sold his game outright to the Parker Manufacturing Co., of Salem, Mass. He received a good price for it and is naturally quite elated over its success. The game will be placed on the market as soon as a copyright can be secured.—Bowling Green News.

On June 17, 1903, Gertrude Evans and Edgar Cayce were married in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The following day the Bowling Green paper carried the story:

Pretty Wedding at Hopkinsville

Yesterday afternoon at Hopkinsville a very pretty home wedding was celebrated in which a number of Bowling Green people took part. The bride was Miss Gertrude Evans, the lovely daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Evans, an old and prominent family of that city. The groom was Mr. Edgar Cayce, the popular salesman in L.D. Potter’s book store, this city …

On the Sunday following the wedding Al Layne evidently needed Edgar’s help and visited him and his new bride in Bowling Green. The Cayce’s must have had strange feelings when they read the Bowling Green paper on June 22:

In a Trance Bowling Green Man IsAble to Diagnose Human Ills.Has No Recollection of It When He Awakes, andDoes Not Pretend to Understand His Wonderful Power

Dr. A.C. Layne, osteopath and magnetic healer, was in the city Sunday from Hopkinsville to have Edgar Cayce, the well-known salesman at L.D. Potter & Co., diagnose a case for him.

This sounds peculiar in view of the fact that Mr. Cayce is not a physician and knows nothing in the world about medicine or surgery. Since Mr. Cayce has been living in this city he lost his voice and was unable to speak a word. He returned to his former home at Hopkinsville and was there treated by Dr. Layne and had his voice restored. At this time it was discovered that Mr. Cayce possessed unusual mediumistic powers and since then he has discovered that by lying down, thoroughly relaxing himself and taking a deep breath he can fall into a trance, during which, though he is to all appearances asleep, his faculties are alert. Some time ago Dr. Layne had him go into a trance and diagnose a difficult case at Hopkinsville.

The diagnosis proved to be correct in every particular and it was not long until the patient had recovered.

The physicians had been unable to diagnose the case. Yesterday he came here to have Mr. Cayce diagnose another case and it was done in the presence of several people at Mr. Cayce’s home on State Street.

The patient is not here, but is ill at his home in Hopkinsville. Cayce went into his trance and then the doctor told him that the patient’s body would appear before him and he wanted him to thoroughly examine it from head to foot and tell him where the diseased parts were located.

In a moment more the doctor commenced at the head and asked Cayce minutely about every part of the body. He answered, telling of the location of blood clots, that one lung was sloughing off and detailed other evidences he saw of disease. It was as if the body was immediately before him and he could see through it and discern plainly every ligament, bone and nerve in it.

Dr. Layne was thoroughly satisfied with the diagnosis and when it was completed had Mr. Cayce diagnose several other cases of less importance, and then left for his home and will base the treatment of each case on the diagnosis as given by Cayce.

Mr. Cayce does not know what he is saying while in the trance, nor when it is over has he any recollection of what he said. He does not pretend to understand it and is not a spiritualist in any sense of the word, but is an active member of the Christian church.—Bowling Green Times Journal.

During the following year several doctors in Bowling Green and Hopkinsville became interested in Cayce and Layne. There may have been other publicity, but on March 29, 1904, the following story appeared in a Nashville, Tennessee, paper:

X-Ray Not in It with This Bowling Green Man

Edgar Cayce Startles Medical Men with His Trances

He Diagnoses Diseases in Persons Far Distant and Tells What Treatment to Give Them

Bowling Green, Ky., March 29.—(Special.)—Edgar Cayce, salesman in a book store here, has developed a wonderful power that is greatly puzzling physicians and scientific men. He is a quiet young man of the strictest integrity of character and thoroughly reliable in every way, and would not knowingly be a party to a deception. He some time ago discovered that he could relax himself and go into a trance and while in this condition could tell what people whom he did not know were doing miles away. This test was made some time ago when he told just what certain members of a family were doing at a certain time of the day. The physicians have been using his power to help them diagnose their cases. Several evenings ago one of the most prominent here, in company with one of the college professors of the city, tested Cayce’s powers and are surprised and mystified at the result. Cayce lay down on the operating table and relaxed himself and in a few minutes appeared to be in a deep sleep. The physician told him that he was treating a little boy of this city, calling him by name, who at the time was on a sick bed in another part of the city and whom Cayce did not know and that he (the doctor) wanted him (Cayce) to describe to him the physical condition of the boy. At once Cayce began to talk and said that he saw that the boy’s right lung was in very bad condition and that no air was going into it from below; that the left lung had also been involved but was nearly all right again. He also reported something wrong at the pit of the stomach. This, the physician says, was a perfect description of the boy’s condition. He also described the condition of the professor’s wife, telling of trouble with her eyes, which fact could not have previously been known to Cayce. He also told of the functions of the spleen and talked of the vertebrae and used medical terms in describing different parts of the body, whereas he knows nothing whatever of physiology or anatomy. In some cases he told the physician what particular medicine or treatment to use for certain derangements he found the bodies he examined in his mysterious way, but for others he gave no remedy, saying he saw no label for the medicine for that particular derangement. Where treatment was suggested it was what the physician says should be used.

In short, while in these trances, and while the patient is not in his presence, Cayce seems to look the body through and through and describe the anatomy to the minutest particular, and if there is any derangement, or any diseased or abnormal condition, he can point it out.

Cayce remembers nothing he has said when he comes out of the trance, and it is all a perfect blank to him. He does not pretend to account for his extraordinary power, does not understand it in the least, and is not using it to make money. Further tests will be made by our physicians who are deeply puzzled over Cayce’s strange powers. Mr. Cayce formerly lived at Hopkinsville but has been here for several years.

During the ensuing years my father left the bookstore, became a photographer and opened his own studio. Interest in the readings increased. Edgar and the doctors avoided publicity. Two disastrous fires destroyed the photographic business. Edgar and Gertrude returned to Hopkinsville in 1909 with me, their two-year-old son.

One of the doctors who had visited Edgar in Bowling Green was Wesley H. Ketchum. On September 30, 1910, the following story was reported from Boston:

Marvel Doctor DiscoveredIlliterate Youth in Hypnotic ConditionDoes Wonders, Says Physician[Special to the Record-Herald]

Boston, Sept. 29.—A remarkable story of an illiterate young man living near Hopkinsville, Ky., who, while in a self-imposed hypnotic condition, is a physician of great power, was told in a paper prepared by Dr. Wesley H. Ketchum of Hopkinsville, which was read at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Research here today.

According to Dr. Ketchum the “illiterate,” whose name is not divulged, while in a state of autohypnosis drops into medical phraseology with the familiarity of a skilled medical man.

Dr. Ketchum says he has taken several patients to the young man, who diagnosed their cases correctly. He says he took to him the daughter of a prominent Cincinnati man whose case had been pronounced by several physicians as hopeless. The “illiterate” went into a trance, prescribed a course of treatment, and in three months, according to Dr. Ketchum, she was entirely well.

The Association was so impressed with Dr. Ketchum’s statements that a committee probably will be chosen to investigate the “marvel.”

Selections from The New York Times story of October 9, 1910, follow:

Illiterate Man Becomes a Doctor When Hypnotized

Strange Power Shown by Edgar Cayce Puzzles Physicians

The medical fraternity of the country is taking a lively interest in the strange power said to be possessed by Edgar Cayce of Hopkinsville, Ky., to diagnose difficult diseases while in a semiconscious state, though he has not the slightest knowledge of medicine when not in this condition.

During a visit to California last summer Dr. W.H. Ketchum, who was attending a meeting of the National Society of Homeopathic Physicians, had occasion to mention the young man’s case and was invited to discuss it at a banquet attended by about thirty-five of the doctors of the Greek letter fraternity given at Pasadena.

Dr. Ketchum made a speech of considerable length, giving an explanation of the strange psychic powers manifested by Cayce during the last four years, during which time he has been more or less under his observation. He had stimulated such interest among those present at the National Society’s meeting that one of the leading Boston medical men who heard his speech invited Dr. Ketchum to prepare a paper as a part of the program of the September meeting of the American Society of Clinical Research. Dr. Ketchum sent the paper, but did not go to Boston. The paper was read by Henry E. Harrower, M.D., of Chicago, a contributor to the Journal of the American Medical Association, published in Chicago. Its presentation created a sensation, and almost before Dr. Ketchum knew that the paper had been given to the press he was deluged with letters and telegrams inquiring about the strange case.

It is well enough to add that Dr. Wesley H. Ketchum is a reputable physician of high standing and successful practice in the homeopathic school of medicine. He possesses a classical education, is by nature of a scientific turn, and is a graduate of one of the leading medical institutions of the country. He is vouched for by orthodox physicians in both Kentucky and Ohio, in both of which states he is well known. In Hopkinsville, where his home is, no physician of any school stands higher, though he is still a young man on the shady side of Dr. Osler’s deadline of 40.

Dr. Ketchum wishes it distinctly understood that his presentation of the subject is purely ethical, and that he attempts no explanation of what must be classed as mysterious mental phenomena.

Dr. Ketchum is not the only physician who has had opportunity to observe the workings of Mr. Cayce’s subconscious mind. For nearly ten years his strange power has been known to local physicians of all the recognized schools. An explanation of the case is best understood from Dr. Ketchum’s description in his paper read in Boston a few days ago, which follows:

“About four years ago I made the acquaintance of a young man 28 years old, who had the reputation of being a ‘freak.’ They said he told wonderful truths while he was asleep. I, being interested, immediately began to investigate, and as I was ‘from Missouri,’ had to be shown.

“And truly, when it comes to anything psychical, every layman is a disbeliever from the start, and most of our chosen profession will not accept anything of a psychic nature, hypnotism, mesmerism, or whatnot, unless vouched for by some M.D. away up in the profession and one whose orthodox standing is unquestioned.

“My subject simply lies down and folds his arms, and by autosuggestion goes to sleep. While in this sleep, which to all intents and purposes is a natural sleep, his objective mind is completely inactive and only his subjective is working.

“By suggestion he becomes unconscious to pain of any sort, and, strange to say, his best work is done when he is seemingly ‘dead to the world.’

“I next give him the name of my subject and the exact location of same, and in a few minutes he begins to talk as clearly and distinctly as anyone. He usually goes into minute detail in diagnosing a case, and especially if it be a very serious case.

“His language is usually of the best, and his psychologic terms and description of the nervous anatomy would do credit to any professor of nervous anatomy, and there is no faltering in his speech and all his statements are clear and concise. He handles the most complex ‘jaw breakers’ with as much ease as any Boston physician, which to me is quite wonderful, in view of the fact that while in his normal state he is an illiterate man, especially along the line of medicine, surgery, or pharmacy, of which he knows nothing.

“After going into a diagnosis and giving name, address, etiology, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of a case, he is awakened by the suggestion that he will see this person no more, and in a few minutes he will awake. Upon questioning him, he knows absolutely nothing that he said, or whose case he was talking about. I have used him in about 100 cases, and to date have never known of any errors in diagnosis, except in two cases where he described a child in each case by the same name and who resided in the same house as the one wanted. He simply described the wrong person.

“Now this description, although rather short, is no myth, but a firm reality. The regular profession scoff at anything reliable coming from this source, because the majority of them are in a rut and have never taken to anything not strictly orthodox.

“The cases I have used him in have, in the main, been the rounds before coming to my attention, and in six important cases which had been diagnosed as strictly surgical he stated that no such condition existed, and outlined treatment which was followed with gratifying results in every case.

“One case, a little girl, daughter of a gentleman prominent in the American Book Company of Cincinnati, had been diagnosed by the best men in the Central States as incurable. One diagnosis from my man completely changed the situation, and within three months she was restored to perfect health, and is to this day.

“Now, in closing, you may ask why has a man with such powers not been before the public and received the endorsement of the profession, one and all, without fear or favor? I can truly answer by saying they are not ready to receive such as yet. Even Christ Himself was rejected, for ‘unless they see signs and wonders they will not believe.’

“I would appreciate the advice and suggestions of my co-workers in this broad field as to the best method of putting my man in the way of helping suffering humanity, and would be glad to have you send me the name and address of your most complex case and I will try to prove what I have endeavored to describe.”

In further explanation, Dr. Ketchum give this statement as obtained from the young man himself while asleep, when asked to describe his own powers and the source of his mystifying knowledge:

“Our subject, while under autohypnosis, on one occasion, explained as follows:

“When asked to give the source of his knowledge, he being at this time in the subconscious state, he stated: ‘Edgar Cayce’s mind is amenable to suggestion, the same as all other subconscious minds, but in addition thereto it has the power to interpret to the objective mind of others what it acquires from the subconscious mind of other individuals of the same kind. The subconscious mind forgets nothing. The conscious mind receives the impression from without and transfers all thought to the subconscious where it remains even though the conscious be destroyed.’ He described himself in the third person, saying further that the subconscious mind is in direct communication with all other subconscious minds, and is capable of interpreting through his objective mind and imparting impressions received to other objective minds, gathering in this way all knowledge possessed by millions of other subconscious minds.

“In all young Cayce has given more than 1,000 readings, but has never turned his wonderful powers to his pecuniary advantage, although many people have been restored to health by following out the course of treatment prescribed in his readings while in a state of hypnosis.”

Newspapers from one side of the country to the other reported this story:

—Chicago Examiner

Psychist Diagnoses and Cures PatientsIgnorant of Medicine, Turns Healer in Trance

Kentuckian New Puzzle for Physicians

Admits He Can Remember NothingThat Occurs in Hypnotic Sleep

Solves Murder Mystery

Remarkable and Successful Treatments AreSworn To in Affidavits by Roswell Field

—Cincinnati Times-Star

Man’s Strange Power Puzzling Physician

While in Hypnotic Sleep Edgar Cayce, KentuckyPhotographer, Diagnoses Complicated Diseases Accurately

—Kansas City Post

Youth in Trance Diagnoses Disease

—The Oregon Sunday Journal (Portland, Ore.)

Kentucky Farmer Effects Cures While in Trance

In 1912 Edgar attempted to stop giving psychic readings. He moved with his family to Selma, Alabama, and opened a photographic studio. In 1914 he went to Lexington, Kentucky, to give a reading for a Mrs. DeLaney, who was paralyzed with what may have been a type of arthritis. She recovered.

While in Lexington Edgar met some neighbors of the DeLaneys, Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Kahn and their eight children. This family, especially the mother, Fanny Kahn, and the oldest son, David, became lifelong friends and in many ways played an important part in Edgar’s life and psychic pursuits. Mrs. Fanny Kahn recognized something of the significance of the phenomena which she witnessed. It was her interest, perhaps, which focused the interest of her eighteen-year-old son, David. Through the years he brought Edgar Cayce and his work to the attention of a remarkably diversified cross section of the American public, under circumstances which provided some of the best evidential clairvoyance in the history of psychical research.

David E. Kahn’s interest was fired by the DeLaney case and early readings for members of his own family. Later while in the army his questions ranged into troop movements in which he was involved. According to him, the accuracy of the precognition of these readings enabled him to astound his superior officers on many occasions. He got the reputation of knowing more than his general about the division’s movements.

When World War I ended David Kahn turned to an Edgar Cayce reading for advice. The reading which recommended that he leave his family grocery business and go into “wood and metal products” was only one of many personal readings which contained evidence of Edgar Cayce’s strange insight into a business world completely unfamiliar to his conscious mind. The fact that radios were just being developed and were soon to be put into wooden cabinets in millions of American homes may have been coincidence. It may have been just hard work and coincidence that David Kahn for several years manufactured and sold more radio cabinets than any other man in America; but Mr. Kahn was and is more than willing to attest to the fact that the Edgar Cayce readings were important factors in his choice of vocation as a manufacturer of radio cabinets.

The files of readings given by my father contain the names of businessmen and their families all over America who were introduced to readings by David Kahn. From New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, anywhere that David traveled, would come telephone calls and telegrams with names and addresses of business associates and their families who needed assistance. David Kahn wanted to help people. He also wanted to prove his friend’s power. He was used to laughter and skepticism. Telegrams contained no leading questions, and telephone conversations in the presence of the man who was to secure the reading gave no opportunities to look up information. The results were a series of startlingly accurate and helpful psychic readings given frequently for critical, unrelated people scattered all over the United States.

One of David’s most treasured pieces of correspondence is a letter from a physician in a Southern hospital admitting that his diagnosis of the physical ailment suffered by a superintendent of one of David Kahn’s factories was not so accurate as Edgar Cayce’s.

It is one thing to give psychic information on a man’s health after talking with him or his family and quite another to work from a name and address hundreds of miles away. David Kahn knew this very well. He made effective and dramatic use of Edgar’s gift. Yet, back of every request was the desire to help another human being. Perhaps it was this basic concern to serve others that enabled Edgar Cayce and David Kahn to use my father’s power effectively.

In 1920 Edgar gave a reading for men in Texas who were drilling an oil well. The information was thought to be so accurate that they urged him to join them. For many years my father hoped to build a hospital someday where readings could be checked and the treatments outlined in them carried out exactly as given. Moved by visions of the money needed to build his “dream” hospital and the excitement engendered by the activity in the oil fields, Edgar began a Ulysses-like search for fortune and adventure. David E. Kahn returned from France and joined him in Texas. For three years Edgar and David followed readings that were frequently proved to be right but never brought lasting success.

The following heading appeared on an article in the Birmingham Age-Herald October 10, 1922. Edgar Cayce was in Birmingham at the time giving a series of readings.

“Peculiar Gift Has Been Mine Since Youth,” says Edgar Cayce

Mysticism, Psychism, or What You Will,Envelops Man Whose Power in Healing Has CreatedTremendous Interest Among All Conditions of Men

He stayed on in Birmingham for several weeks, during which time he spoke for various groups, including these:

Edgar Cayce to Speak to Psychologists Here

The regular meeting of the Birmingham Club of Applied Psychology, which meets at the courthouse every Tuesday night, Judge Smith’s room, will be favored with an address by Edgar Cayce, psychologist and healer, now stopping here. He delivered an interesting address before the club at the last meeting and has kindly consented to speak again Tuesday night, at 8 o’clock. This meeting will be open to the general public and everybody is cordially invited to attend. At the close of the regular address, Mr. Cayce will be pleased to answer questions.

On returning to Selma for a short stay, Dad was interviewed regarding his plans.

Cayce Leaves to Promote Hospital

Great Million-Dollar Institution to Be Built by Selmian andHis Partner—Will Develop Psychic Diagnosis of Baffling Cases

Edgar Cayce, on the eve of his departure for Nashville and New York this afternoon, spoke with confidence of the work which lies before him, in raising large funds with which he and his associate, David E. Kahn of Cleburne, Texas, and Lexington, Ky., propose to build a great hospital or sanitarium where the invalids of the nation, rich or poor, whose cases have baffled science, may receive treatment.

In this humanitarian work, Mr. Cayce will associate himself with a corps of able surgeons and physicians, who have complete charge of administering the hospital. His work is to consist exclusively of diagnosing the troubles of those who have sought long and hopelessly for relief.

Record of Cases

Substantiating the claims of Mr. Cayce, as a discoverer of elusive and undreamed-of ailments, whose treatment alone is necessary to cure seemingly hopeless cases, are records and affidavits from many reputable men and women, who testify to the benefits received, when physicians followed Mr. Cayce’s diagnosis.

As has already been pointed out, the dream of raising money for the hospital through readings on oil failed.

When my father returned to Selma from Texas and began pulling together the pieces of his photographic business, his heart was not in it. Behind him was a twisted path of failure. The psychic information which he gave in the unconscious state seemed to be only partly accurate when dealing with the location of oil wells. He found that men who dealt in oil leases did not follow the rules laid down in Sunday school books. His friends had lost time and money backing him. For months on end he had been separated from his family. His photographic business was disintegrating.

On the positive side of the ledger was a conviction that people wanted readings—that people needed him. As he had traveled about the country attempting to raise money for the oil ventures, he gave hundreds of readings on health problems. The recipients and their doctors had been amazed at the accuracy of the analyses and the results obtained from the suggested treatments. People continued writing for help and began coming to Selma to hear readings. And the friendliness he found in Selma was no small encouragement. In both business and church circles the Cayce’s were welcomed back.

With an equivocal confidence in his readings and a necessity to earn a living, my father decided to resume his photographic business and at the same time offer whatever help he could to those who asked for readings. He set aside one room of his studio for the purpose and advertised for a secretary. The peculiar circumstances of taking dictation from a sleeping man and the speed with which the words were delivered so upset the average applicant that she couldn’t handle the job. One girl, when asked after a session to read her notes, could only gasp, “I forgot to write anything.”

One young woman, Gladys Davis, was more successful from the beginning than any of the others. Each day my mother read old readings to Miss Davis, who practiced recording them in shorthand and transcribing her notes. From September 10, 1923, all readings were recorded, transcribed, and filed along with the correspondence pertaining to them. Through the years Miss Davis continued as the recorder and then custodian of these files. At a later date letters were written to the person who had requested the reading, asking for a report on its success. Similar requests for reports went to the doctors who were consulted. All of the data were kept in the case file. The files assembled through the years are far from complete and certainly do not constitute scientifically controlled experiments. However, they do contain a remarkably complete day-by-day record of Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings, consistent reports of evidence of accurate, distant clairvoyance, and thousands of statements on the help received after following the suggestions given in the readings.

In the fall of 1923 Arthur Lammers, a wealthy printer from Dayton, Ohio, came to Selma and had readings. He urged Edgar to give up his photographic business and devote all his time to giving readings. Edgar visited Dayton to meet Lammers’ friends and discuss the matter further. Arthur offered to finance the family move to Dayton and open an office where readings could be given.

Mr. Lammers did not confine his questions to physical bodies. He was curious about philosophical questions. He secured the first of what were to become known as “life readings.” Numerous books have been written on these readings dealing with reincarnation, the first of which was Gina Cerminara’s Many Mansions.

The new sponsor became involved in business difficulties. He was unable to continue his financial help and interest in the work. A difficult period of a year and a half ensued. Thomas Brown, a Dayton manufacturer, and M.B. Wyrick, a Western Union official in Chicago, introduced Edgar to many of their business associates. David E. Kahn, now a New York businessman, introduced Morton and Edwin Blumenthal to the readings. The Cayce family moved from Dayton in 1925 to Virginia Beach, Virginia, a place designated in the psychic information many years before as the best location for the hospital.

David E. Kahn, working with the Blumenthals, was primarily responsible for organizing a nonprofit association chartered in Virginia to study Edgar’s work. In 1928 Edgar Cayce’s dream of a hospital where his readings could be checked and followed became a reality.

In July, 1928, the Virginia Beach News carried the following story:

Work Started on Hospital at Virginia Beach

Structure Overlooking Ocean to Cost$100,000 When All Units Are CompletedBeing Erected by National Association of Investigators

Psychic Research to Be Carried On

The National Association of Investigators has let a contract for the construction of a 30-bedroom hospital to be built at 105th Street [now 67th Street], Virginia Beach. The building, already under construction, is the first unit in the project and other additions will follow, and the whole will be known as the Cayce Hospital for Research and Enlightenment. The building is to be concrete and shingle construction and will contain besides the 30 bedrooms, a large lobby, and dining room, lecture hall, doctors’ and nurses’ quarters, and large spacious porches.

The total cost of the investment, including ground, building and equipment will be approximately $100,000. Plans for the structure were drawn by Rudolph, Cooke and Van Leeuween, and the contract has been awarded to the United Construction Company, of Norfolk.

The site of the hospital will be one of the most attractive features. Rising from a high sand dune, probably the highest between Virginia Beach and Cape Henry, it will command a view of all the territory around with an unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean. The first unit will be followed by others as the occasion demands.

The Association of National Investigators was incorporated May, 1927, in the State of Virginia. Although the immediate basis of its foundation was to further foster and encourage the physical, mental and spiritual benefit that thousands are deriving from Mr. Cayce’s endeavors in the psychic world, the larger and more embracing purpose of the organization was to engage in general psychic research, and also to provide for practical application of any knowledge obtained through the medium of psychic phenomena.

In the matter of specific application the association seeks to render aid to the sick and ailing through its hospital, and to disseminate and exploit for the good of humanity, knowledge obtained from its research work through the lecture halls, library and other educational channels.

The Association will furnish those who seek psychical readings and desire to secure treatments exactly as prescribed therein the opportunity to gain such treatment at the hands of competent and sympathetic physicians. The hospital is to be conducted along the most modern scientific and ethical lines. Every comfort and service for room, board and treatment will be given patients, and all money paid in, except for physicians’ fees, will go into the maintenance of the institution.

With many ups and downs, including the loss of the hospital during the Depression years of the thirties, Edgar worked on through 1944. In 1942 Thomas Sugrue, a friend and classmate of mine at Washington and Lee University, who had become a newspaper and magazine writer, wrote There Is a River, the first biography of Edgar Cayce.

The next year a Coronet magazine article entitled “Miracle Man of Virginia Beach” brought hundreds of letters daily to my father. Appointments for readings were set ahead for two years.

Work and pressure mounted during the war years. Following a stroke and several months’ illness, Edgar Cayce died January 3, 1945.

The Association which had been formed to study his psychic work and preserve his readings began a program of cross-indexing under subject headings the data in the 14,306 documents. Studies of the correlated data on specific subjects, such as historical and geological information, life after death, and reincarnation, as well as experiments based on ideas in the readings, were instituted. Lectures, discussion groups, publications, and other activities, comprising a general educational program in psychic studies, were continued in Virginia Beach and in many large cities throughout the United States.

In September, 1953, Pageant magazine carried an article on Edgar Cayce under the title “The Man Who Made Miracles.” In interviewing physicians who had looked at some of the readings, the author quoted one of them as saying that none of the treatments recommended could do any harm but they didn’t make any sense to him. Another M.D., a heart specialist, said that after studying the readings for a month, he believed the medical information in them was not only true, but also far ahead of its time.

In 1956 Dell Publishing Company brought out a fifty-cent pocket edition of There Is a River under the title The Edgar Cayce Story.

Morey Bernstein, author of The Search for Bridey Murphy, a study of hypnosis and reincarnation which grew out of an interest in the Edgar Cayce readings, wrote an article for True Magazine in May, 1956, in which he described his own investigation of many of the reports in the Cayce files. In the same year a new pocketbook life of my father, entitled Edgar Cayce—Mystery Man of Miracles, by Joseph Millard was published by Fawcett Publications.

In 1959 American Mercury carried an article on Cayce, “In Slumber Deep,” by Lytle W. Robinson, and the American Weekly told its several million readers about him in the April 12, 1959, issue. The article titled “The Mystery of Edgar Cayce” by Maurice Zolotow was based on a New York physiotherapist’s (Harold Reilly) several years’ experience in following the Edgar Cayce readings.

NBC Monitor, a national weekend radio program, carried thirteen interviews with people who had had Edgar Cayce readings and with members of the Association staff on May 15, 16, and 17, 1959.

Since these early publications, literally hundreds of books have appeared about Edgar Cayce in dozens of languages around the world.

What kind of person was this who spent part of each day for more than forty years in an unconscious state?

As a child, my father was described as quiet and secretive, almost a recluse. He was a dreamer, a very imaginative boy. At an early age he planned to be a preacher. Though he was never formally ordained, his talks both in and out of the church had the quality of sermons. The language of the readings was biblical in phrase and illustration, though by no means confined to the Bible. The quietness of the boy changed; for, as a man, Edgar Cayce loved people. His studios in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Selma, Alabama, were meeting places for groups of young people.

Throughout his lifetime Edgar Cayce maintained active church interests: janitor at ten years of age in a little country church; teacher in Sunday school; leader of Christian Endeavor societies; deacon; and adult Bible class teacher. In Hopkinsville, Louisville, Bowling Green, and Selma, where Edgar was active in Sunday school classes, he was responsible for the members’ work with people in prisons. Entries in his journal describe his Sunday school class in Selma, which at one time was reported to be the largest in Alabama. He also mentions the Bibles provided for, and the visits to, those in prison. He refers back to similar work in Louisville when members of his class met a young man who was jailed for selling “moonshine” whiskey. He helped teach the young man to read. During those years he was a member of the Disciples of Christ Church. There was no church of this denomination in Virginia Beach, so there we joined the Presbyterian Church.

My father spent some part of each day reading his Bible, praying, and meditating.

Dad was a man who enjoyed catching perch in a Kentucky pond or sailfishing off the Florida coast. He liked games—checkers, bowling, croquet, golf. He enjoyed card games only if they did not require too much concentration as in the case of bridge. About such games, he said it was too easy to read the minds of the players.

He was a man with many skills. As a photographer he made pictures, developed, printed, mounted, and framed them. He sponsored exhibits of good photography. He used models for some of his best photographs but also took prizes with his picture of a cotton plant in full bloom. Parents brought children to him from all over Alabama as he gradually became known as an exceptional photographer of children.

He delighted in making preserves, jellies, and wines, provided he could handle them in quantity. After summer visits to Hopkinsville, my mother found every available shelf covered with jars of brandied peaches, jellies of all kinds, preserved figs, and vats of wine. During his lifetime he must have given away several thousand jars of jelly and preserves. Wherever we lived—Hopkinsville, Selma, Dayton, and Virginia Beach—there was a home workshop. Dad could mend anything. As soon as we were old enough, he taught my brother and me to work with tools (an accomplishment in itself). The family was always adding to or remodeling the house. Painting, concreting, plastering, etc., were frequently part of a day’s activity. My father’s early farm training was never completely forgotten. He was proud of his gardens, the variety of trees in our yard, and the cultivated berries on which he spent a great deal of time and work.

Money was the topic of considerable conversation in the Cayce household. There was either too little (long periods) or too much (short periods). My father spent money sometimes as if he had an inexhaustible supply. Then he worried over it. He would buy jars, fruit, and sugar for a big preserving spree, even if the family had to eat nothing but bread and preserves for several meals. If he happened to see a particularly attractive offer of a variety of trees for sale, the groceries might be light for a few days. He was generous with money, with his family, with people who worked for him, and with himself.

To say he was a sensitive person would be a gross understatement. I think he was constantly more aware of what went on in the minds and emotions of those around him than most people realized. This was actually painful to him and he tried to shut these impressions out of his mind. To some degree, this sensitivity may have been responsible for his temper—which he worked hard all his life to control. This sensitivity may also have been at least partly the cause of his extremes of emotional reaction—very happy or very depressed—very talkative or very silent—very optimistic or very pessimistic. Often he functioned at one end of the emotional scale or the other. He was sentimental and moody. When he laughed his world was light and joyful; when he frowned his world was a very dark place. He trusted everyone and frequently moved with those around him in wrong directions. He could easily forgive others. He was harder on himself.

My father radiated interest in, as well as concern and love for, people. These attitudes showed in small ways, as well as through his desire to help people through his readings. He was kind to children and they were drawn to him. He was thoughtful of servants. His patience with young people was an important factor in his success with groups throughout his life. When he traveled he was soon on friendly terms with anyone he met. I can never remember my father’s showing irritation with a waitress or waiter in a public place. People, all kinds of people, were drawn to Edgar Cayce.

This was the clairvoyant, the psychic, whose comments on the unknown powers of the mind have made the greatest impression on me. Whatever else his gift may have been, it was a window through which his mind could be seen functioning at an unconscious level.

In examining the content of this material there are a number of points to ponder. A respectable amount of the clairvoyance seemed to be accurate. Many people who tried suggestions in the readings reported they received practical help. Some insight was shown in areas of knowledge which later investigations proved to be correct. Of special interest are statements on endocrine gland functions, body currents, knowledge of prehistoric earth changes, archaeological discoveries, etc. It will be seen that a number of philosophical concepts about which Edgar Cayce had only vague conscious opinions were developed in some detail in his readings. Some of the most obvious of these are reincarnation and karma, the origin of the soul and its purpose in the earth, the causes of many specific diseases, life after death, and a world of thought forms. And though my father was a student of the Bible, his unconscious interpretations of many passages, as well as his comments on biblical history, were sometimes startling, to say the least. Accuracy in one area of his information did not require that any other statement be accepted without question. However, through the years, the evidence for extended perception in many directions accumulated rapidly. Preservation and thorough examination of his psychic readings seemed warranted.

Certainly in the life and work of this man we find an example of an attempt to use a psychic gift for the benefit of those who sought his help. The measure of his success has not been completed.

Of considerable importance, it seems to me, is the examination and testing of any statements made from this unconscious mind as to how psychic abilities may be developed. Where are the rooms of the unconscious which contain the radio and television sets of the mind that reach beyond the five senses—and how does one get to them?

Finally, it seems reasonable to say that a study of my father’s life and the mass of unconscious data of his readings might give us some insight into the nature of the unconscious—its activities and dimensions.

²The Edgar Cayce readings are numbered to maintain confidentiality. The first set of numbers (e.g., “565”) refers to the individual or group for whom the reading was given. The second set of numbers (e.g., “1”) refers to the number of the reading for that individual or group.