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Preface

“God is reflected in our concept of space. In the vastness of space our self-conceit falters. We are humblest when gazing at the stars. We draw nearer to God in contemplation of the immensity of the universe.”

(A Search for God, Book II)

When I first heard about Edgar Cayce over forty years ago, I approached his psychic readings with skepticism, coming as I did from the standpoint of one trained in the physical sciences (mainly astronomy and physics). Even earlier than my encounter with the Cayce material was that with the momentous issues of UFOs and extraterrestrial life. As both an amateur and professional astronomer, I had no doubt about the existence of life elsewhere in this vast universe. But here, too, I harbored a degree of skepticism—particularly in the case of some of the UFO sightings. While scientific training demands critical thinking and rigorous proof of any new theories put forth or reports of unusual phenomena, I came to realize that such a formal background can also in many situations blind a person to the deeper realities lying behind nature. With further study of both the Cayce material and the UFO phenomenon, I soon lost all skepticism about either of them!

In the pages to follow, we’ll look briefly at the man Edgar Cayce and at the amazing Cayce psychic readings, which contain a truly vast storehouse of information about many subjects, including the universe itself.

Edgar Cayce, often called the Sleeping Prophet of Virginia Beach, was without question one of the greatest psychics the world has ever known. This simple soul was a devoted family man, a photographer, and an avid gardener. Deeply spiritual, he read the Bible daily and was a Sunday school teacher. From most appearances, he was just an ordinary person of his time.

Yet, for more than forty years of his adult life, he displayed the phenomenal ability to put himself into a trancelike sleep at will and give psychic discourses, called readings. By stretching out on a couch, folding his hands over his stomach, and closing his eyes, he would enter a relaxed state from which he was able to place his mind in contact with the “Akashic records” of the cosmos.¹ He would then answer questions, put to him by his wife or another close associate, from people all over the world, concerning their past lives, mission on planet Earth, medical conditions, and a host of other subjects about which Cayce in his conscious state could not possibly have known. Amazingly, when he did awaken from his trances, he remembered nothing about what he had said or what had transpired!

Edgar Cayce was born on a farm outside of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on March 18, 1877. He died in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on January 3, 1945, at the age of 67, leaving behind thousands of psychic readings, copies of which are preserved at the headquarters of the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), an organization that he founded in 1931.

Cayce Biographies

Even though it’s now been over six decades since Edgar Cayce passed on, the timeless value of his readings has brought ever-increasing numbers of seekers to the A.R.E. over the years to study the priceless treasure trove he gave the world. Countless articles and papers and hundreds of books have been written about him! Several television specials about his life and work have also aired nationally. Among the most popular of the biographies that have been published about Edgar Cayce are the following four titles:

• There Is a River, Thomas Sugrue (1942)

• Many Mansions, Gina Cerminara (1950)

• The Sleeping Prophet, Jess Stearn (1967)

• Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet, Sidney Kirkpatrick (2000)

The Amazing Cayce Readings

Upon Edgar Cayce’s death, Gladys Davis, Cayce’s long-time secretary, dedicated herself to preserving and organizing the readings, undertaking the enormous task of cataloging and indexing a total of more than 14,000 of them. She found that nearly every imaginable question on some 10,000 different subjects had been put to Cayce! Due to the sheer number of readings, plus follow-up reports and documentation, she did not complete the indexing project until 1971. Copies of the original readings are still preserved in the A.R.E. library for study, and they also have been available for some time now on a CD-ROM. They represent the largest collection of psychic information from a single source in the world today.

For more than a century, the Cayce readings have been explored by individuals from every possible background. They have been intently studied by professionals in the fields of medicine, nutrition, science, education, theology, psychology, and even history. Cayce’s pioneering emphasis on the importance of diet, mental attitude, emotions, exercise, and even prayer and spirituality in the treatment of illness earned him recognition by medical practitioners as “the father of holistic medicine.” Psychologists have compared him to Carl Jung and educators to Rudlolf Steiner. A famed religious scholar, author, and retired academician, Richard Drummond, Ph.D., referred to the Cayce readings as “the finest devotional material of the twentieth century.” Historical insights that the readings provided into early Christianity and Judaism were subsequently verified only long after Cayce’s time. And as will be seen in this book, the information contained in the readings on sciences like astronomy, cosmology, and physics is simply astounding! (This information is examined further in the section “An Astounding Revelation” in Appendix 3.)

Many have described the language used by Edgar Cayce in his readings as strange, odd, cryptic, rambling, redundant, and/or difficult to understand. This is perhaps not unexpected, given the source of the readings (as explained later). A wonderful article on the nature of this language by Dr. Gina Cerminara, one of his biographers, originally appeared in the A.R.E. Bulletin for December, 1945, and was later reprinted in the April 1966 issue of The A.R.E. Journal. It is given in full in Appendix 2.

And now, dear reader, together let’s embark upon our exciting cosmic journey—not only through the eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope and the latest discoveries in the physical sciences, but also through those of the most amazing psychic the world has ever known!

James Mullaney

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

U.S.A, Planet Earth

¹Perhaps the ultimate reference about these records is Kevin Todeschi’s superb Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records, available from the A.R.E. Press.