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Edgar Cayce’s Story: How the Father of American Holistic Medicine Envisioned Atlantis

Conditions, thoughts, activities of men in every clime are things; as thoughts are things. They make their impressions upon the skein of time and space … They become as records that may be read by those in accord or attuned to such a condition.

Edgar Cayce explaining the Akashic Record (1936) Reading 3976-16

Cayce’s story of Atlantis has entranced countless people, starting in the 1920s, when the first of his psychic readings on Atlantis took place. His story of Atlantis is quite different from the material of other psychics as well as from Atlantis theorists. For example, Cayce was quite specific about one area: where a portion of Atlantis would be found and even when it would be found—the Bahamas, in 1968 or 1969. As we shall see in a later chapter, that prediction may well have been realized. Another important reason Cayce’s story is so different is the nature of his psychic readings wherein the Atlantis material was detailed. Most of the Atlantis readings were not about Atlantis per se. They concerned the past lives of specific people who came to Cayce for help in understanding their present lives.

There is one other fundamental difference between Cayce and the many others who have speculated about Atlantis. Cayce was, of course, a psychic. But he was unlike all the other psychics who have lived, and he was quite different from the other psychics who had visions of Atlantis, in this important way: Virtually everything Cayce said during his psychic readings was written down. Cayce’s complete readings have been made available for researchers on a searchable CD-ROM and are also available on the Internet for members of the A.R.E. Thus all of Cayce’s psychic statements are amenable to validation. What other psychics—or skeptics—can make the same claim?

Cayce’s Life

Edgar Cayce (pronounced, KAY-see) was born on a farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on March 18, 1877. As a child, he displayed unusual powers of perception. At the age of six, he told his parents that he could see and talk with “visions,” sometimes of relatives who had recently died, and even angels. He could also sleep with his head on his schoolbooks and awake with a photographic recall of their contents, even visualizing the pages of books. However, after completing the seventh grade, he left school—which was not unusual for boys at that time. But because of his unusual abilities, the young Cayce became well-known in the Hopkinsville area.

Edgar Cayce. Source—Edgar Cayce Foundation.

When Edgar was twenty-one years old, he developed a paralysis of the throat muscles, which caused him to lose his voice. He was a clerk in a small bookstore in Hopkinsville at the time, and the problem threatened his job. Doctors were unable to find a physical cause or a remedy for Cayce’s condition, and one night he found himself at a demonstration by a stage hypnotist performing in Hopkinsville. The hypnotist asked for volunteers and, because he was a local celebrity, the young Cayce was urged by the crowd to go to the stage. Under hypnosis, Edgar could speak, but after he emerged from the trance, the paralysis returned.

After hearing from friends that he had talked during the trance, Edgar turned to Al Layne, a Hopkinsville hypnotist and osteopath. Cayce asked Layne to hypnotize him and then, during the trance, suggest to Cayce that he could diagnose the problem and perhaps even suggest a remedy. Layne complied with Edgar’s request. The entranced Cayce detailed a circulation problem in his throat area and asked Layne to suggest that the blood flow to Edgar’s throat area be increased. When the suggestion was given, Cayce’s throat quickly turned bright red. Then, while still under hypnosis, Cayce recommended specific medication and manipulative therapy, which eventually aided in restoring his voice completely.

Layne was astonished by the results. Realizing the potential of Edgar’s ability, Layne suggested that Edgar try the same hypnotic method to help others. Layne’s own stomach problems were the focus of Edgar’s first health reading for others. Following the suggestions outlined in this reading, Layne’s decade-long stomach problems disappeared. Doctors around Hopkinsville and Bowling Green, Kentucky, quickly took notice of Cayce and began testing him by having the entranced Cayce diagnose their own patients. They soon discovered that all Cayce needed was the name and address of a patient to “tune in” telepathically to that individual’s mind and body. The patient didn’t have to be near Cayce, he could tune-in to them wherever they were. The physicians were stunned to find that Cayce’s ability to accurately diagnose physical problems and recommend a treatment was remarkably effective.

When one of the young doctors working with Cayce submitted a report on his strange abilities to a clinical research society in Boston, the reactions were amazing. On October 9, 1910, The New York Times carried two pages of headlines and pictures. From then on, people from all over the country sought out the “Sleeping Prophet,” as he was to become known.

Cayce established a set routine for entering his hypnotic state. He would first loosen his tie and collar and then untie his shoes. Next, he would recline on his back on his couch and fold his hands on his solar plexus. After a few moments of deep breathing, his eyelids would flutter and his breathing would become deep and rhythmical. This was a signal to the conductor of the session (usually his wife, Gertrude) to make contact with his subconscious by giving a suggestion. Unless this procedure was timed to synchronize with his breathing, Cayce would move beyond the trance state and simply fall asleep. However, once the suggestion was made, Cayce would proceed to describe the patient as though he or she was sitting right next to him.

Cayce usually began by locating the individual, stating, “Yes, we have the body.” Then he would scan the patient’s body, similar to an x-ray scanner, seeing into every organ. He verbally described the results of this scan emphasizing the problems that were seen. When he was finished, he would say, “Ready for questions.” However, in many cases his mind anticipated the patient’s questions, answering them during the main session. Eventually, he would say, “We are through for the present,” whereupon the conductor would give the suggestion to return to normal consciousness.

If this procedure were in any way violated, Cayce would be in serious personal danger. On one occasion, he remained in a trance state for three days and had actually been given up for dead by the attending doctors. In addition, Cayce had no recollection of what had transpired during the hypnotic session after he wakened. This fact necessitated that everything he stated during the trance state be written down. At each session, a stenographer (usually Gladys Davis Turner, his personal secretary) would record—word for word—everything Cayce said. Oddly, during a trance session, Cayce would even occasionally correct the stenographer’s spelling. It was as though his mind were in touch with everything around him and beyond.

All individuals who had a reading were identified with a number to keep their names private. For example, the hypnotic material for Edgar Cayce himself is filed under the number 294. His first “reading,” as they were called, would be numbered 294-1, and each subsequent reading would increase the dash number (294-2, 294-3, and so on). Some numbers refer to groups of people, such as the Study Group, 262; and some numbers refer to specific research or guidance readings, such as the 254 series, containing the Work readings dealing with the overall work of the organization that grew up around him. Because of the great interest in Cayce’s story of Atlantis, a series of special readings were conducted on the topic. These were assigned the numbers 364 and 996.

Cayce gave health readings to literally thousands of individuals, from famous people to ordinary citizens, even including President Woodrow Wilson. Cayce was secretly taken to the White House for this reading not too long before Wilson’s death, and it has only been in recent years that Wilson’s library released that fact.

When he died on January 3, 1945, in Virginia Beach, Cayce left 14,306 documented stenographic records of the telepathic-clairvoyant readings he had given for more than 6,000 different people over a period of forty-three years. The readings consist of 49,135 typewritten pages. The readings constitute one of the largest and most impressive records of psychic perception ever compiled. Together with their relevant records, correspondence and reports, they have been cross-indexed under thousands of subject headings and placed at the disposal of doctors, psychologists, students, writers, and investigators who still come to the A.R.E. to examine them. Of course, they are also available to the general public in books or complete volumes of the readings, as well as on CDROM.

While many people believe that Cayce’s income came from the readings, the truth is that Edgar was a professional photographer for the majority of his adult life. He won several national awards for his photographic work and never charged for a reading. His hobbies reflected the things he most loved in life. He was an avid gardener, loved to fish with family members, and enjoyed carpentry. He also taught Sunday school throughout his life.

Accuracy of Cayce’s Health Readings

Edgar Cayce is widely acknowledged as the “father of the holistic health movement,” because of the accuracy of his health readings and the effectiveness of the remedies he suggested. As such, Cayce’s health suggestions are given a great deal of credibility by medical science, and this recognition has actually been increasing in recent years. For example in 2005, a popular physician who writes a syndicated daily newspaper column, Dr. Peter Gott, began recommending the use of castor oil for arthritis in the manner Cayce outlined.

Substantial anecdotal reports and follow-up letters from individuals given health readings by Cayce have indicated that the majority of those receiving health readings endorsed his accuracy. In a biography of Cayce, Sidney Kirkpatrick reviewed research that assessed Cayce’s health advice. Kirkpatrick reported that 14 of the 15 physicians who had treated patients who received readings (as surveyed by journalist Sherwood Eddy) gave Cayce a near perfect score. Even the one physician who was cautious had to acknowledge that the psychic’s powers were “extraordinary.” A 1971 study of Cayce’s health readings published by Hugh Lynn Cayce and Edgar Evans Cayce found an overall 86 percent accuracy rate.

1923—The Atlantis Material Unexpectedly Emerges

It could be rightfully argued that the emergence of Atlantis in the Cayce readings came as a complete surprise. In 1923, a wealthy businessman in Dayton, Ohio, Arthur Lammers, convinced Cayce to come to Dayton to conduct readings. Cayce gave numerous readings in a Dayton hotel with most of them health readings for several individuals. Lammers was deeply interested in psychic phenomena and he reportedly had discussions with Cayce on a host of psychic topics between the health readings. On October 8, 1923, Lammers decided to ask the sleeping Cayce a list of questions regarding the source of his information as well as on psychic phenomena in general (reading 3744-2). This was the first time that anyone thought to pose questions to Cayce in areas outside of health issues. The first definite reference to reincarnation in the Cayce readings emerged on October 11, 1923 (5717-1). The first reference to Atlantis came on November 20, 1923 (288-1). In that reading, Cayce related that a particular female had a past incarnation “in that fair country of Alta, or Poseidia proper …”

The emergence of reincarnation in the readings shocked and challenged Cayce and his family. They were deeply religious people, doing this work to help others because that’s what their Christian faith taught. As a child, Cayce began to read the Bible from front to back, and did so for every year of his life. Reincarnation was not part of the Cayce family’s reality. After deeply reflecting on the issue, the family came to a decision. It was very clear that many people had been helped by the health readings. While the “new” information emerging in the readings was unusual, it also appeared to be helpful to individuals. So they decided to continue the readings until and unless anyone reported that they were hurt by them. This never happened, so Cayce continued to perform readings until his death in 1945.

Ultimately, the Cayces began to accept the new ideas, though not as “reincarnation,” per se. Edgar Cayce preferred to call it, “The Continuity of Life.” He felt that the Bible did contain much evidence that life, the true life in the Spirit, is continual. Many readings explained why there were repeated incarnations as well as how Cayce was able to access information from the past. The readings explained that everything that has ever happened, all that was done, and even things that were thought about were recorded on the Akashic Record. Many readings explained that the Akashic recording process was similar to a film of time and space. Some of these readings describe what can be interpreted as electromagnetic waves forming the record. In Cayce’s trance state, his consciousness was able to access these records and interpret them.

Eventually, Edgar Cayce, following advice from his own readings, moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, and set up a hospital where he continued to conduct his “Physical Readings” for the health of others. But he also continued this new line of readings, which were called “Life Readings.” From 1925 through 1944, he conducted some 2,500 of these Life Readings, describing the past lives of individuals as casually as if everyone understood reincarnation was a reality. Such subjects as deep-seated fears, mental blocks, vocational talents, innate urges and abilities, marriage difficulties, child training, etc., were examined in the light of what the readings called the “karmic patterns” resulting from previous lives experienced by the individual’s soul on the earth plane. The bulk of Cayce’s story of Atlantis is derived by piecing together pieces of information from these Life Readings as well as two series of readings conducted to specifically address the Atlantis story.

Problems Interpreting the Cayce Readings

Edgar Cayce’s readings present some difficulties in interpretation and understanding—especially when an individual initially tries to read them. First, they are somewhat difficult to read, mostly due to their syntax and the presence of archaic or biblical terms and style. They are written records of a verbal presentation, a process that occasionally does not carry the full intent that was expressed, and punctuation can significantly change the meaning or intent of the voiced statement. Also, most of the readings were given to specific people with uniquely personal perspectives and prejudices on the topics being discussed. Therefore, the responses in the readings were often slanted to fit the seeker’s perspective and needs. For example, in a reading for one person, Cayce recommends one marriage for life, to another he recommends never getting married, and to a third he encourages him to marry at least twice. In the few cases where a reading was purposefully done for a broader presentation to many people the “sleeping” Cayce was still somewhat at the mercy and wisdom of those directing the session and asking the questions. Nevertheless, Cayce and his wife Gertrude and their assistant Gladys were very conscientious people, always seeking to be exact and true to the original intent of the reading. As mentioned earlier, the “sleeping” Cayce would occasionally stop his direct discourse to give an aside to Gladys about the way she was recording the material, correcting spelling or giving a clarifying explanation of something he had just said. Finally, because some of Cayce’s readings cover so many points or issues within the text, it can be difficult to determine which one he is referring to when the paragraphs are so complex. Despite all of this, with practice, one can become familiar enough with the syntax, archaic terms (“thys,” “thees,” and “thous”); a repetitive use of the word “that,” and the complex thought pattern, that one can eventually learn to read and understand the Cayce readings fairly easily.

Edgar Evans Cayce’s Analysis of the Atlantis Readings

Edgar Cayce’s youngest son, Edgar Evans, was an engineer by profession who decided to evaluate his father’s material on Atlantis. His best-selling books, Edgar Cayce on Atlantis (1968) and Mysteries of Atlantis Revisited (1988), with coauthors Gail Cayce Schwartzer and Douglas Richards, contained a numerical summary of the Atlantis readings. Of Cayce’s 14,306 documented readings, 700, or 4.9 percent, contained some reference to Atlantis. According to their analysis, 21 readings concerned events related to the “First Destruction” of Atlantis, which occurred around 50,000 B.C. A total of 52 readings were associated with the “Second Destruction,” which took place around 28,000 B.C. Another 352 readings detailed events related to the “Final Destruction,” which happened circa 10,000 B.C. Atlantis was mentioned in 275 other readings, but the dates of the events detailed in these readings are indeterminate.

In 1923 only two readings mentioned Atlantis. In 1924, only 7 readings mentioned Atlantis. The years 1939 and 1940 had the most Atlantis references: 66 in each year. Over the 21 years that some of Cayce’s readings mentioned Atlantis (1923-1944), the yearly average of readings mentioning Atlantis was 33. By contrast, during these same years, Cayce averaged a total of 332 readings per year. The implication of this is that even during the time period when Atlantis became a topic in the readings, the health readings remained the most important. Many Cayce readings emphasized that service to others and living life in a correct way were far more important than knowledge about the past.

Overview of Cayce’s Atlantis

In this book, we have attempted to be as accurate as possible in presenting Cayce’s story of Atlantis. But it has to be acknowledged that a few readings could be viewed as inconsistent or, at the least, open to alternative interpretations. These are discussed in subsequent chapters. In this section our goal is to provide a thumbnail sketch of Cayce’s Atlantis.

The readings actually introduce Atlantis by discussing the first appearance of human consciousness on earth. However, according to Cayce, these “people” were more like thought forms projected into primitive life than the human beings we know today. The readings indicate that a portion of southwest America was occupied over 10 million years ago, a time when the earth’s land surface differed greatly from that of today. The land of Lemuria, or Mu, was located to the west of the Americas long before the island of Atlantis was occupied. The destruction of Mu occurred sometime around 50,000 B.C. (Cayce’s information on Atlantis is far more detailed than that he provided on Mu.) But this 50,000 B. C. destruction was directly linked to what is called the first destruction of Atlantis.

Atlantis, located in the area of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from Gibraltar to the Gulf of Mexico, was first occupied by an advanced race of humans in 210,000 B.C. By 50,000 B.C., the country had developed an advanced culture with strange technology. Cayce’s Atlantis was a maritime culture throughout its entire existence, trading with nearly all of the other lands of the world. Plentiful natural resources existed on the temperate islands, and the Atlanteans used stone skillfully and were adept at various forms of metalworking. Temples were constructed in the cities, and numerous canals were used for irrigation and navigation.

Perhaps the most public fascination with Cayce’s Atlantis concerns a mysterious crystal, which has long been interpreted to imply a laserlike device. But the use of the crystal started rather simply and gradually became a focal point of a struggle between two factions in Atlantis. In the beginning, the Atlanteans were a spiritual people ruled by a peaceful group Cayce termed the Law of One. But gradually, the Belial (self-aggrandizement) influence began to manifest. An ongoing spiritual and material battle was waged between these two groups. The Sons of Belial worshiped self-aggrandizement, sought power over others, and practiced human sacrifice. Cayce stated that they had no standard of morality, no sense of right and wrong. In contrast, the Children of the Law of One worshiped one God, sought spiritual and physical attunement with the Creator, and espoused the ideal of treating others as oneself in their day-to-day lives.

But the Belial group consistently waged war and sought domination over others in their relentless pursuit of material wealth. While these actions appear to reflect Plato’s descriptions of the Atlantis Empire as warlike, there is something more implied in Cayce’s version of the story. In brief, according to Cayce, there was a more etheric or spiritual component in the Belial group’s conflicts, which led to ill-defined destructive forces entering the earth. These destructive forces were, in part, responsible for the series of catastrophic events that befell Atlantis.

Cayce’s story of how the destructive forces were unleashed is entwined with the mysterious crystal. The story begins with the “White Stone,” a stone “in the form of a six-sided figure”, which was also referred to as the “Tuaoi stone.” Initially, this stone was used for communication with the divine, in a way that appears similar to how Native American shaman utilize crystals. A priestess of the Law of One would gather together a group and concentrate on the stone, eventually entering an altered state of consciousness. From the stone would come a form of speech interpreted by the priestess. The speech came from what Cayce referred to as the “saint realm,” which imparted “understanding and knowledge” to the group.

As the Sons of Belial came to realize the unlimited power inherent in the stone, they began using it for selfish purposes. Gradually, the stone was set as a crystal, and the lights emanating from it were focused and utilized. The Atlanteans developed a system to collect and focus the rays of the sun, with the crystal housed in a domed building atop a multitiered structure. Cayce related that the focused energy was used to create heat to generate gases. These gases were employed in the turning of multi-geared wheels (to perform a variety of tasks) and also to fill what are described as hot air balloons and large, Zeppelin-like aircraft. In fact, when asked to describe aircraft at the height of Atlantean civilization, Cayce stated that the skins of elephants and other animals were sewn together to form the outer surface of these craft. He added that the gases were sometimes also used to propel these craft. Other readings refer to the Atlanteans using hot air balloons for transportation around the world. But the Atlanteans also had ships that could move under water.

The uses of this crystal were many and included a form of communication, which could be seen as similar to modern radio and television. But the Cayce readings on utilization of the crystal as a communication device can also be interpreted as meaning that the Atlanteans could project reflected beams of light into the air. This could be utilized for communication, but the exact meaning of these mysterious readings is not yet completely understood.

Whatever may be the correct interpretation of this aspect of Cayce’s readings, the first destruction appears to have resulted from volcanic activity, which was stimulated by utilizing the crystal’s energy as a weapon. According to Cayce, in 50,722 B.C., a meeting was held of the world’s leaders to discuss how to cope with large herds of huge animals that were overrunning entire regions. A plan was made to use the rays of the crystal to produce explosions that would destroy the animals. The focused rays of the crystal were turned toward the earth and caused huge gas pockets to be released in the area of the Sargasso Sea. These gases apparently exploded causing a domino-effect series of catastrophic events eventually breaking Atlantis into five major islands. Cayce related that the catastrophic events included a buildup of ice and a shift in the earth’s poles that resulted not only in the destruction of a large portion of Atlantis, but also in the destruction of most of the large islands. During this time period, many Atlanteans fled the disasters by migrating to other places around the world.

By 28,000 B. C. Atlantis had not only regained its technology but actually surpassed it. Machinery, electrical devices, and power transmission sources utilizing crystals are described. But the conflicts between the Sons of Belial and the Children of the Law of One not only resurfaced, they worsened. The continual feuds between the groups caused many Atlanteans to flee to the Americas, the Pyrenees Mountains, and Egypt. The Tuaoi Stone, once a conduit to God, had now become a “terrible crystal” or a “firestone”—an energy source that could be easily utilized as a powerful weapon. Cayce relates that Atlantis had several crystals set up into power stations located at various places. For unclear reasons, the crystals were accidentally tuned too high, causing a violent destruction. The eruptions left Atlantis with three large islands and several smaller ones. Most people accept 28,000 B. C. as the date for this event, but there is one reading that could point to the year 22,000 B.C. As occurred with the first destruction, Atlanteans migrated to various places following this event.

After the second destruction, Atlantis again faced rebuilding itself. But the much smaller islands apparently never saw a full return to the height of technology reached just before the second destruction in 28,000 B.C. During this final phase of Atlantis, the Sons of Belial seemed to have become the dominant political force oppressing all those who opposed them. Cayce does not discuss a war with the people living inside the Straits of Gibraltar, but this time period corresponds to the Atlantis described by Plato. Curiously, Cayce relates that an Atlantean priest became aware that an inevitable cataclysmic event was going to result in the near total destruction of all the remaining lands of Atlantis. This awareness came from contacts with a higher intelligence that could be interpreted as either extraterrestrial or psychic in nature and occurred sometime between 11,000 B.C. to 10,500 B.C. This source also revealed to the priest a plan to preserve records of Atlantis in three different locations. The priesthood of Atlantis subsequently made three identical sets of records and sent out groups to establish these identical “Halls of Records” at three locations. One of these was placed in the Bahamas, another at Giza near the Sphinx, and the third in the Yucatan peninsula. Shortly before the final destruction, more Atlanteans migrated to various places around the world. Cayce never gave an exact date for the final destruction of Atlantis. However, Cayce scholars generally agree that it was around 10,000 B.C. The cause of this destructive event is obscure, but Cayce related that the last destruction was ultimately brought about because of war between the Children of the Law of One and the Sons of Belial. As to the source of the destructive act, Cayce quoted scripture: “They that turn their face far from me, I will blot them out.” In so doing, Cayce may have given us a clue about the source of the final catastrophe—it may well have been caused by a heavenly body striking the earth, the same cause implied by Plato.