Читать книгу Edgar Cayce on the Reincarnation of Biblical People - Kevin J. Todeschi - Страница 7

BIBLICAL CHARACTERS MENTIONED

Abatha

Exodus 2:1-10Case 5373

According to the Book of Exodus, while the children of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt there came a time when Pharaoh feared that the number of Hebrew men and boys had grown too vast. Fearing a possible slave uprising, Pharaoh ordered that all male children born to the Hebrews were to be killed. One Hebrew woman managed to hide her son for three months before deciding to set him adrift on the river in a cask made of bulrushes, in the hopes that he might find safety. The boy’s sister, Miriam, watched the floating cask to see what would happen to him. (See also “Miriam.”) Once adrift, the daughter of Pharaoh spotted the small craft while she was bathing. She sent her maid to fetch the basket and when they saw that the basket contained a child, Pharaoh’s daughter decided to call the child “Moses” because he had been drawn from the river. Although not named specifically in the Bible, Edgar Cayce stated that the young maid who had pulled the baby Moses from the river was called Abatha.

In 1944, a forty-eight-year-old woman seeking vocational advice was told that she possessed the talents of both a confidant and a counselor. Apparently, people were drawn to her and felt at ease telling her their problems. Her reading informed her that she could excel in research, in the gathering of data or statistics, as a teacher or even as a secretary.

Her most notable past lives included a trek in the Old West, where she had acquired her love for nature; living in the Holy Land, where she had been one of the children whom Jesus blessed; and a life in Egypt as a maid to Pharaoh’s daughter:

Before that we find the entity was in the Egyptian land when there were those beginnings of the preparation for the coming of the lawgiver. The entity was among those of the maids to the princess of Egypt, and the individual who waded into the river to bring the little ark or bassinet ashore with the babe in same … The name then was Abatha.

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Her reading went on to promise her some vocational and relationship changes within a year. Although Edgar Cayce’s secretary, Gladys Davis, asked the woman for an update in 1947, no follow-up reports are on file until 1950 when it was learned that [5373] was operated on for a brain tumor. The woman died within a couple of years of the operation.

Abimelech

Genesis 20, 21, 26Case 699

When Abraham journeyed into Gerar with his wife, Sarah, he was afraid that other men would want to possess her and would slay him in order to have his wife. As a result, he told the people that Sarah was his sister. Upon seeing Sarah, Abimelech, the king, wanted her and decided to take her into his harem. However, God warned the king in a dream that she was already married to Abraham. Fearful of retribution, Abimelech immediately returned Sarah to her rightful husband. The two men eventually exchanged gifts and made a covenant of friendship. Years later, Abimelech would again be faced with an almost identical situation when Isaac, Abraham’s son, tried to pass off his own wife, Rebekah, as his sister. This time, however, Abimelech quickly saw through the ruse.

Immediately after coming in contact with the Cayce work, a thirty-four-year-old physicist reported that he had finally found that for which he had always been seeking. He obtained a physical reading for a friend, procured his own life reading, and was present for a number of readings, including one in which he asked about the possibility of helping to manage the Cayce work.

In his reading, Cayce told [699] that he possessed broad vision and the capacity to acquire position, power, responsibility, and money. However, Cayce also stated that [699] was not likely to follow through on his true potential unless he held to his goals. Quick to act in all things, he also maintained a deep interest in spirituality and the mysteries of life. Because of his experiences in a number of previous lives, he possessed an innate fear regarding what others might say about his activities. In his most recent past life he had served as an assistant to Robert Fulton in the development of a steam engine. Previously, in England, he had served as a captain in the Crusades but had gained a deep respect for the Islamic faith as well as a tolerance for other people. It was in Palestine that he eventually befriended Abraham:

The entity then gained, even through those experiences and associations. Yet from those very activities there were brought those desires on the part of the entity, Abimelech, to bring to the knowledge of those who were as servants—or those whom the entity served in the capacity of the king of that land—that, “He that would be the greatest among all would be the servant of all.” While the entity had much in its experience and through that sojourn, that in the material and the moral life in the present would be questioned, yet the purposes, the aims, the desires, the activities were rather as the growth throughout that sojourn.

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In an earlier incarnation in Egypt, he had served as a doctor, utilizing the forces of nature in his healing modalities.

In the present, [699] was encouraged to apply himself in the field of electrical therapeutics. If he did so, the reading stated, he would eventually work wonders and discover how to help restore health through physical regeneration.

According to the notations on file, [699] eventually referred a number of individuals to Edgar Cayce for readings. He also wrote the Cayce Association a number times during the 1950s describing his thankfulness for having been exposed to the Cayce information. However, no follow-up vocational reports are on file. The final notation is from 1968 when [699] wrote Edgar’s son, Hugh Lynn, and stated, “I am especially grateful for my life reading and the many visits I had with him [Edgar Cayce] in Washington.”

Abner

I Samuel 14, 17, 20, 26; II Samuel 2-4; I Kings 2; I Chronicles 26, 27Case 1815

Saul was the first king of Israel. His cousin and the valiant captain of his army was Abner. A number of battles against the Philistines began to mobilize the people of Israel and strengthen Saul’s rule. However, Saul soon befriended a young musician, David, who rose in popularity with the people. As a result, Saul became increasingly jealous of the fact that the people liked someone more than himself, and he swore to have David killed. It was Abner who was forced to follow through on many of Saul’s insane demands to track down David. David was successful in always eluding Saul’s armies. After Saul eventually committed suicide, David and Abner befriended one another, and Abner swore his own allegiance to David, the new king of Israel. Unfortunately, Joab, a ruthless soldier in David’s army, had Abner ambushed and killed in revenge for an earlier battle between the two. The death brought much sadness and regret to King David.

In 1939, a woman requested a reading for herself for a physical problem and a life reading for her fifteen-year-old son in order to help him with his education and development. Trained in musical composition, the boy liked the piano and wondered about being a music teacher. His mother, however, was concerned about his material success and felt that music would not help him to be as “self-supporting” as she desired him to be.

In tracing the boy’s past lives, Cayce stated that [1815]’s love for music was due, in part, to a time during the Crusades when he was associated with those in command and often led the troops in the song of battle, inspiring them to work together for victory. That ability in the present would enable him to bring large groups of people together. Previously, at the time of the birth of Jesus, the boy had been one of the shepherds upon the hillsides of Bethlehem who had been stunned to hear the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest—peace on earth and good will to all.” During that same incarnation he had developed his musical abilities, specifically on the harp and reed instruments. Innately, [1815] possessed the ability to use music to move people into a closer relationship with their Creator. The boy’s life as Abner had brought growth as well as retrogression:

Before that we find the entity was among those who were close to the king who was proclaimed after Saul—or a friend of, a companion of David; and raised to one in power—yet the experience became both an advancement as well as a retardment.

For the entity allowed self, and the power of self, to become as the greater influence.

The name then was Abner.

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Cayce stated that the boy’s love for music was also traceable to a prior incarnation in Egypt when he had directed song and dance in the various temples.

During the course of the reading, the boy’s mother was told that her son had a natural inclination for leadership and possessed the ability to sway great numbers of people. Wherever his life took him, he would not remain in the background but would be in the forefront. He was a natural leader and politician. The reading also stated that he was very susceptible to the opposite sex, could excel in a musical career or politics, and was extremely intuitive. Because his incarnations gave quite a variety of possible outlets in the present, Cayce stated that [1815] would be drawn to both material things and music, but that music could give him the greatest outlet for his talents.

After the reading, his mother wrote several times to thank Cayce for the information. The boy also wrote an article about his personal philosophy that was printed by the Association a short time later. It was in 1979, however, that Mr. [1815], who had become a nationally known stock market analyst (sometimes labeled a “soothsayer” for his accuracy), submitted a complete follow-up report:

I always knew who I was and where I was going from the very earliest age. Richly endowed by parents of opposite backgrounds, I got my great physical strength from my father and my artistic temperament from my mother. My father had little education, came from poverty and had to work very hard from an early age for everything he got. He gave me my drive, ambition, and the credo to always keep going and never give up. My mother gave me my great love of life, its total freedom, my deep love for music and books. Some of my earliest memories consisted of the two of us sitting out under the stars at night, my asking her at the age of four as to people living on other planets. She taught me to play piano when I was three. We had a very extensive library and I always had my nose in a book. As for the piano, I had a great talent for improvisation. It has never left me. That talent was extended to describe everything I do. I have always been the maverick, the iconoclast, the breaker of accepted images. Everything I touched led to new contributions of thought, new theories—always the pioneer.

In 1941, at the age of seventeen, [1815] published his first book. While attending Duke University he developed a keen interest in chemistry and economics. Although he married briefly in 1944, before being called to serve in World War II, the marriage was annulled after the war. During the war he also wrote a book on predicting the price of the stock market; the book went through a number of editions and became a big success. He also wrote other volumes on the market and investments and created a self-published newsletter in 1950 because of his knack for predicting market fluctuations. That newsletter would eventually include subscribers throughout the country.

His talents were in many directions: writing, public speaking, acting, music, mathematics, and statistical analysis. His success with the market and his investment strategies caused him to become so well known that Mike Wallace once interviewed him in an hourlong CBS television special. In a copy of his market letter in 1980, [1815] wrote about his early experience with Edgar Cayce and stated: “Everything in that life reading has been dramatically fulfilled.”

Achlar

Matthew 2Case 1908

According to the New Testament, Wise Men journeyed from the East following a star which they believed heralded the birth of the Christ child. King Herod had heard of them and summoned them to his court, requesting that once the child was discovered they tell him where the infant might be found. The Wise Men continued their journey to Bethlehem, found the babe, and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Afterward, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod; therefore, they traveled back to their country by another route. Although they were not specifically named in the Bible, Edgar Cayce gave two individuals life readings and stated that each had been one of the Wise Men: Achlar and Ashtueil. (See also “Ashtueil.”)

A forty-nine-year-old science editor was told that his critical mind had become a fault as often as it was a virtue. He was encouraged to formulate and then live in accord with a spiritual ideal, being more loving in his interactions with others. Interested in things of a mystical nature, he was informed that he had been an astrologer, a counselor, and a sage during the time of Jesus:

In those periods that preceded the advent of the Prince of Peace in the earth, we find the entity was among those of the land that would now be called the Persian—as a wise man, a counselor, a sage, that counseled with those peoples; using the mathematical activities of the ages old, as well as the teachings of the Persians from the days of Zend and Og and Uhjltd, bringing for those peoples a better interpretation of the astrological as well as the natural laws.

Hence we find the entity was associated oft with those who looked for the day, the hour when that great purpose, that event, was to be in the earth a literal experience.

Then we find the entity was among those of the fabled as well as real experience, seeking with the Wise Men that came from the East during those periods.

In the present experience of the entity, then, we find that those oft told tales are accepted deep within because of the conviction and purpose such have produced and do produce in the hearts and the minds of individuals.

We find this entity was the one who brought the incense to the child Jesus—in the name then Achlar. In the experience the entity gained, the entity manifested its love for its fellow man through those periods of activity in the search for the helpful influences, mentally, spiritually, materially; though the entity then lost sight oft of materiality.

Thus the entity, in its application of and search for scientific purposes and reasons, should lean the more heavily upon the mental and spiritual phases of man’s experience in the present.

And, as in those days, give the more oft hope where that of dread as to the material things is overshadowing man in his search for God.

1908-1

Mr. [1908] had also had an incarnation in Ireland as a man of great physical prowess and strength. At that time, he had frequently had the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities. He had lived in Atlantis and had been one of those who had looked for safety lands to which the people could migrate, gaining a knowledge of the Yucatan, the Pyrenees, and Egypt. In the present, he was told to keep the same faith that had enabled him to find the child in Bethlehem. He could become of greatest service to humankind through his writing abilities.

File reports indicate that Mr. [1908] remained firmly committed to the Cayce work until his death in August 1953.

Achsah

Joshua 15:16-19; Judges 1:12-15; I Chronicles 2:49 Case 1294

Caleb was a scout to Moses and one of only two individuals from the original tribe allowed to enter the Promised Land. Caleb promised his daughter, Achsah, in marriage to whoever could conquer the city of Debir. Othniel defeated the city and claimed Achsah as his wife. Acshah also asked for and received from her father a dowry of land that included some springs of water, enabling her and her husband to begin a new life together.

A thirty-one-year-old Jewish woman was told that she had been associated with both her present husband and son in her life as Achsah. At the time, her husband had been a companion and her son, [1292], had been her father, Caleb. (See also “Caleb.”)

Before that we find the entity’s experience that becomes the greater of its activities; when there were those journeyings from the land of Egypt to the land of promise.

The entity then was the daughter of a leader, Caleb, that brought such a report of the land to all those travellers, those peoples of promise, those chosen that were to give to the world the basic principles for their moral and spiritual life.

The entity was born in the wilderness, and was given in marriage when there was the conquering and the activity of the father’s people in the taking and settling of the lands about the Holy City.

Then in the name Achsah …

1294-1

Her reading informed her that she was both sensitive and practical and possessed a deep desire to live a spiritual life. Tolerant to the ideas of others, she was a true humanitarian. Extremely intelligent and skilled in creating a home life, [1294] was told that she would have the opportunity to influence both national and international activities, especially in the latter part of her life.

In addition to her incarnation as Achsah, she had lived during the early settling of western Pennsylvania, where she had learned love and tolerance and being of service to those who were in need. During a lifetime in France, she had learned to love life for its everyday experiences and for its relationships and associations with others. She had served as an emissary to other lands during an Egyptian incarnation and had learned to use her intuition to work with others. Throughout her incarnations she had excelled in tolerance and open-mindedness. Her reading also told her that she possessed skill as a writer that would show itself in her latter years.

According to the reports on file, [1294]’s husband died six months later because he had not followed advice he had been given in a physical reading. In 1952, she requested and received a copy of her son’s life reading to which she responded: “Thank you so much for the copy of [1292]’s life reading. It is most interesting to me since he is now a young man and he also will enjoy following his life’s reading as the years go by.”

No additional reports are on file.

Ahijah

I Kings 11, 12, 14, 15; II Chronicles 9:29, 10:15Case 4087

Ahijah was a prophet who lived during the time of Solomon and Jeroboam. Ahijah prophesied to Jeroboam that because Solomon had rejected God and instead turned to his love of power and taxes, the tribes of Israel would be divided. To illustrate his prophecy, Ahijah tore his coat into twelve pieces and gave ten to Jeroboam. Later, at Solomon’s death, Jeroboam became the first king of the ten northern tribes.

Parents of a six-year-old boy came to Edgar Cayce for a reading in 1944 in part to discover why their son had undergone such “unusual psychical experiences” in his life. They sought advice on his religious and educational training.

Cayce told the parents that their child had been endowed with great possibilities as well as great problems that he needed to meet. On more than one occasion, the boy had been gifted with “second sight” and could see “visions of things to come, of things that are happening.” In one incarnation the boy had been alive at the time of Jesus, when he had known Peter. The only other incarnation mentioned was when their son had been the prophet who had warned Jereboam of the division of the tribes of Israel. The parents were advised to read about that experience in Scripture.

His training was to focus on the things of the spirit, the things of the divine, rather than upon those things for the gratifying or satisfying of self. The boy’s intuitive gifts could be used to help many, but only after a firm spiritual foundation had been established. Cayce promised that [4087] could be of great help to many. In terms of the boy’s psychic experiences, the parents were also told, “Do not discourage, do not encourage the visions—until the first lessons are learned”:

Here the parents have a real, real obligation. They have a real, real opportunity. So live in self that thine own lives may be an example to this entity through its formative years. So teach, not let it be given to someone else—so teach, for it is thy responsibility, not the priest’s, not a teacher’s, not a minister’s responsibility, but thine. Don’t put it off. Don’t neglect, or else ye will meet self again.

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Throughout the reading, Cayce reminded the parents of their important obligation in their son’s upbringing and also encouraged them to give their child a love of spirituality and recommending specific biblical passages that would be useful in his training.

The only note on file states that [4087]’s parents went through a period of marital difficulties. No additional follow-up reports are available.

Andrew

Matthew 4:18-22, 10:1-4; Mark 1:16-21, 29; 3:14-19, 13:3-37; Luke 6:13-16; John 1:39-51, 6:1-15, 12:21-32; Acts 1:12-14Case 341

Patron saint of Scotland, Andrew is best known for having been chosen as the first of Jesus’ twelve apostles. The brother of Simon Peter and the son of John of Bethsaida, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist from whom he first heard about Jesus. A fisherman by trade, he brought Jesus to the attention of his brother, Simon Peter, and the two were told, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Andrew was also the individual who brought the young boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus when the five thousand who had come to hear Jesus speak grew hungry. The loaves and the fishes provided the materials with which Jesus performed a miracle and fed the five thousand their fill. Tradition holds that Andrew was martyred in Greece.

In 1923, parents of a sixteen-year-old student obtained the first life reading for their son. They were told that their son had many talents and could excel as a writer, a historian, an orator, or one whose field of study would lie in the direction of things of a spiritual nature. Extremely intelligent, their son had past-life experiences as a monk, as a warrior during the Crusades, in ancient Egypt as a Pharaoh, and in Palestine as Andrew, one of the original disciples. Later readings would state that the lifetimes in Palestine and Egypt would hold the greatest influence in the boy’s present experience.

Several years after his first life reading, [341] requested an additional reading to provide further information on his incarnation as Andrew. That reading stated, in part:

This experience then, especially in that physical body known as Andrew, we find the entity then the second brother in a family of four, and in the early childhood one willful in many ways, taking up the physical vocation of the parents and brother, and in the days when John [the Baptist] began to teach in the wilderness, the entity, the body (physical), Andrew, became first an adherent and a disciple of that teacher, and remained close as an aide, from first conviction, until the appearance of Jesus to become the disciple of the entity’s master. When pointed out by John as the one that should be greater, and increase as he decreased, Andrew then followed the new leader into the wilderness, and was close with Him during the temptation, as is recorded by Matthew, and when the return to the seashore, sought out the brother [Peter], telling of those ideas, ideals, as were propounded by Him who had been pointed out, and became the close disciple then of the Teacher and Master, following close throughout the whole physical career of the Master; not as the chosen three, yet one as is given often the greater physical conditions to do and to carry out. One often spoken to for the reference to others, and this is particularly seen, especially, upon two occasions: In the feeding of the multitudes in the entrance to the city for the evening lodgement to keep the Passover. In the entering into the Garden on the last evening …

After the dispersing of the followers when persecutions came, the entity, Andrew, then went into Mesopotamia, and those countries where the entity felt that the learning of the Master was obtained, during the early education of the Master, and the travels of the Master, see?

Then, the entity remained true to that teaching, and brought many to the knowledge of God that is within every human physical being that seeks to know how same manifests through the individual.

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Literally hundreds of pages of follow-up reports and file notations make this one of the most extensive cases documented in the Cayce files. After attending Washington and Lee University and working as a librarian, [341] became manager of a psychical and spiritual research organization. Married in his thirties, he and his wife had a small son before he was called to serve in the military during World War II. After the war, he resumed his duties as manager of a research organization. Eventually, he and his wife had another son.

Because of his speaking abilities and his love for church work, he was made a church deacon in 1947 and would serve as a guest speaker in many churches throughout the rest of his life. In addition to his work as manager of the research organization, he did extensive lecture work throughout the country during the 1950s through the 1970s. At the same time, he was very active in his community, in his church, and as a leader in the Boy Scouts.

Because of his involvement with psychic ability, by the 1960s he had become a leading figure in the field of parapsychology. His lecture engagements expanded to become international in scope, and in 1964 his first book regarding parapsychology and the unconscious was published. That same year he was chosen as the leading citizen in his city. His work in lecturing, writing, speaking, and managing the research association continued until his death in 1982.

Anna

Luke 2:36-38Case 15211

Mentioned in the New Testament, Anna is regarded as a saintly woman who was married for only seven years before becoming a widow for the next seventy-seven years. Though elderly, she spent her time in the temple, praying and fasting and waiting for the coming of the Messiah. Known as a prophetess, when Mary and Joseph presented the baby Jesus at the temple, Anna announced publicly that Jesus was the Messiah and the fulfillment of all God’s promises. She thanked God that she had lived long enough to see that prophecy fulfilled.

In 1938, parents of a one-week-old baby girl were told that their daughter had been Anna. The reading stated that their child was extremely determined and would always have its own way. To their amazement, the parents were also told that in addition to Anna, their baby had lived two additional lives of notoriety: one as Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII after he divorced Catherine of Aragon and broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and the other as Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel. (See also “Hannah.”)

Before that we find the entity was in the land and period when there were those expectancies for the coming of the Lord, the Master, the promise of those influences in the experience of men!

The entity then was the prophetess Anna, that waited in the temple and held and blessed Him in the days when there was according to the law the presenting of, the purifying of the Mother by the material and the spiritual law of the people in that experience.

The entity gained throughout that experience, though suffering in body, suffering in many of those things that arise from those activities in a materialistic world of a spiritual-minded individual given to a purpose and a cause that is in the spiritual and mental sense to be the source of redemption for the great numbers rather than the few.

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In addition to her intuition, in her incarnation in Palestine she had acquired a personal awareness of the presence of God. In ancient Egypt she had been with her present father and had assisted him in a rebellion against those in power. The parents were encouraged to develop their daughter’s spiritual interests and were told that the child’s present direction would be entirely dependent upon the guidance and upbringing she received.

Although raised in a Catholic home, her father, a writer of some reputation, had a great deal of frustration with many aspects of his religion. [1521]’s parents later obtained physical readings for their daughter on a variety of childhood ailments, including an unusual amount of hair that grew across the back of the child’s neck and shoulders. As she grew to adulthood, [1521] maintained an interest in spirituality and would study both Catholicism and Judaism (her husband’s religion).

At one point, [1521] became a very successful newspaper reporter. One of the last reports on file states that she and her husband had two sons and that she had just been accepted to law school.

Apsafar

Luke 2:7Case 1196

Although not named in the Bible, Edgar Cayce stated that the owner of the inn to whom Joseph and the expectant mother had come for shelter was named Apsafar. (He was also given the name Abel-Tean, which may be accounted for by the fact that during this time rich with Roman, Hebrew, and Arabic customs many individuals possessed more than one name.) Rather than being cruel and turning the couple aside because there were no more rooms, as is related in the Bible, Cayce stated that Apsafar was actually an Essene who had been advised by the Essene leaders that Joseph and Mary would arrive. In order to protect the couple (and keep them from “the rabble” who had already taken up residence in the inn), Apsafar directed them to the very place of safety that had already been prepared for them.

In 1936, a fifty-eight-year-old railway commercial agent contacted Edgar Cayce about a health condition. In all, he would receive more than a dozen physical readings about his stiff joints, his problems with eliminations, and the pains in his abdomen. The condition would later be diagnosed as cholecystitis. When he obtained a life reading, he was told that he possessed high mental abilities and was swayed by both duty and sentiment. An emotionally passionate individual, he could be quick to anger but was just as quick to forgive. His life reading provided a number of past-life experiences.

During the time of the American Revolution, [1196] had served as a quartermaster for stores and supplies. Extremely helpful to his fellow soldiers, at the time he had also shown kindness and fellowship to any enemy that had been captured and held. He was encouraged to continue this manner of dealing with people which was best phrased as, “As ye do it unto these, the least of thy brethren, ye do it unto me.” Previously, in France, he had assisted individuals in his capacity as one who planned routes, roads, and excursions into surrounding territories, often bringing “greater convenience” to isolated places. In an earlier life, he had been a leader of caravans involved with exchanging goods between Egyptian and Persian lands. In another incarnation in Egypt, he had also served in the capacity of counselor.

His previous lives had caused him to love travel, to desire to open up lines of communications among peoples, and to provide individuals with greater conveniences and material things in their home. He was told that he had been the innkeeper to whom Joseph and Mary had come when she was about to give birth:

Much of that as has been recorded as we find is not so well, nor in keeping with that the entity did then—as Apsafar; who was of the Essenes, though of a Jewish descent, though a combination of the Jewish and the Grecian.

For the entity then made a study of those peoples, knew of those things that had been foretold by the teachers of the Essenes, and made all preparations as near in keeping with what had been foretold as possible.

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During that same incarnation, Apsafar had often served as a counselor to those who sought advice regarding how to best deal with the various groups and political influences of the time. In that experience, his present wife had also been his daughter and she had been among the first to see the baby Jesus. Finally, [1196] was told that his talents in the present lay in communications or commerce and trade. He could excel in the line of imports and have a tremendous influence in the lives of many people.

After the reading, Mr. [1196] reported, “It is very, very interesting. Strange to say, often I have thought that I had at some time, at some place, known my present wife.” Both he and his wife were thrilled with the information.

Follow-up reports indicate that in 1948 he visited A.R.E. and in 1952 wrote to inquire about information in the readings for a sinus problem he was experiencing. The last file notation is from 1959 when he submitted a change of address. No additional information is on file.

Ashtueil

Matthew 2Case 256

According to the New Testament, Wise Men journeyed from the East following a star which they believed heralded the birth of the Christ child. King Herod had heard of them and summoned them to his court, requesting that once the child was discovered they tell him where the infant might be found. The Wise Men continued their journey to Bethlehem, found the babe, and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Afterward, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod; therefore, they traveled back to their country by another route. Although they were not specifically named in the Bible, Edgar Cayce gave two individuals life readings and stated that each had been one of the Wise Men: Ashtueil and Achlar. (See also “Achlar.”)

An accounting teacher was told that he had exceptional abilities that could be applied in the present. He could use his talent with mathematics to excel in boat building, architecture, or aeronautics. Innately, he also possessed an aptitude for numerology, astrology, and astronomy that could be used to assist others. His past incarnations included an English monk during the Crusades. From that lifetime he had also possessed a talent with numbers and stars. In ancient Egypt he had been a mathematical genius who had studied the skies and was told, because of that incarnation, he was one of the few individuals alive who could understand Einstein’s theory of relativity. He was also informed that he had been the Wise Man who had offered the gift of frankincense to the baby Jesus:

In the one before this we find the entity was among those who were of the Wise Men coming into Jerusalem and to Bethlehem when the Master came into the earth. The entity then in the name Ashtueil, coming in from the mountains of what is now known as Arabia and India. The entity gained through this period in pointing out that through the various forces as were added in the experiences of man with that creation of forces necessary to keep the balance in the universal forces, the earth must bring forth that that would make man’s balance of force with the Creative Energy as one, and the Son of Man appeared. The entity brought the frankincense and gave same to the Master at that period.

256-1

His talents lay in numbers, astrology, and in facilitating the mental abilities of others. Mr. [256] was encouraged to become the astrologer for Cayce’s Association, providing progressive charts for the Association’s membership. Over the years, he obtained a number of readings and became active in the Search for God® study group program. He requested readings for members of his family and married in 1937 at the age of thirty-nine. Unfortunately, three years later, Mr. [256], who had apparently been working on his car, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. His sister remained convinced that the death was not completely accidental and that someone had killed him. She wrote Mr. Cayce in 1941 to tell him that her dead brother had communicated with her, stating that he was doing fine and wished her to express his love and blessings to those he had known in life.

Barak

Judges 4, 5; Hebrews 11:32-34Case 1710

Barak was a warrior who became the most important ally to Deborah, a prophetess and judge for Israel, in the struggle against the Canaanites. Barak was summoned by Deborah to bring ten thousand men to Mount Tabor in order to fight against the Canaanites. He agreed under the condition that she come with him. Deborah accompanied him and Barak’s forces proved superior.

A twenty-four-year-old man, whose family had received a number of readings, was told that he had been Barak, an incarnation in which he had excelled at being able to place his faith in God. In a lifetime just previous to the present, he had served at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, as a teacher to youth as well as a customs director. In Rome, he had served as a centurion and a director of those who collected customs. Finally, in Atlantis, he had served as an emissary to other lands.

In the present, [1710] was informed that the career best suited for his abilities lay in the fields of machinery, electronics, mechanics, and especially aeronautics as long as he remained on the ground. When the young man asked about marriage, he was told that the greatest influence would come from his incarnation in the Holy Land and that he shouldn’t contemplate marriage until he was twenty-eight or twenty-nine.

When [1710] was twenty-eight, he met and married a young woman who was told that she had been Deborah. (See also “Deborah.”) A few months after their marriage, they obtained a joint reading on their lifetime as Barak and Deborah, which stated:

As indicated there, they each had their definite activities; Deborah as the elder in the experience, and the prophetess—thus raised to a power or authority as a judge in Israel; to whom the people of the various groups, of that particular portion of Israel, went for the settling of their problems pertaining to their relationships one to another …

Then did the entity Deborah appoint or call Barak to become the leader in the armed forces against the powers of Sisera [captain of the Canaanites] …

As to the activities of Barak in those periods—there was something like some twelve years variation in the ages. Barak was also a family man, of the same tribe—though not of the same household as Deborah. Their activities, then, brought only the respect one for the other in their associations, their dealings and relationships with others.

1710-11

By working together, the reading assured the couple that they could again be helpful to others. In time, the couple would have four children.

Reports on file indicate that [1710] worked for the Martin Company and became trained on a variety of instruments involving aeronautics that were manufactured by Sperry. By 1957, he had started a successful contracting company, building roads, digging for underground utilities, and landscaping.

In 1967, [1710] died unexpectedly from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43Case 2124

Bartimaeus was a well-known blind man who spent his time begging along the highway at the entrance to Jericho. In spite of the crowd’s insistence that he remain silent when Jesus passed by, Bartimaeus repeatedly called out to be healed. It was because of his faith that he gained back his sight.

A fifty-four-year-old night watchman, who had previously obtained physical readings for himself and a life reading for his granddaughter, secured his own life reading in 1931. Not easily swayed by others, he was told that he had a mind of his own but managed to think first before speaking. He also had talent as a politician. His reading stated that just previous to the present lifetime, he had been an explorer and navigator from the Norse land. In ancient Egypt, he had been a builder and a politician. In Atlantis, he had also been a navigator. However, his most influential incarnation had been at the time of Jesus: “being in the name then of Bartimaeus, as walked by the way; being strong in body, yet lacking—through the activities of those with whom the body-entity then associated—in sight …” (2124-3)

Because of that lifetime, Cayce told [2124] that he maintained a deep interest in helping others with their own healing. That same year, he and his wife became a part of the first Search for God study group and the first prayer group. A year later, the couple withdrew from the Cayce work, deciding that they did not believe in reincarnation.

A file notation from 1940 states that the couple continued to speak very highly of Mr. Cayce, but still did not accept reincarnation. Mr. [2124] died in 1960 at the age of eighty-three.

Belshazzar

Daniel 5, 7:1, 8:1Case 4609

Belshazzar was the son of the mighty king, Nebuchadnezzar, and the last king of Babylon before it was overtaken by the Persians. During a banquet he was giving to a thousand members of his royal court, a mysterious hand appeared and began writing a message upon the wall. No one at the banquet could decipher the message. The prophet Daniel was summoned, who explained that because of the king’s misdeeds his reign was coming to an end and his kingdom would be divided. Belshazzar was slain by his enemies that very night.

In 1928, a thirty-nine-year-old crippled musician was told that his physical handicap was in response to his soul deciding to meet the misdeeds he had committed in his experience as Belshazzar.

In the one before this we find the entity that ruler, that king in power, when the handwriting was given that those would be measured in the balance and those found wanting would be called to reckoning. The entity then lost through that experience, and in those forces that deal with the physical application or physical result of application of abilities we find the entity meriting many of those hardships through which the present experience brings to the entity; yet with all that, the love of harmony, that of the ability to listen ever for that warning, brings much to the entity, and—applied in the present sphere—may bring the development of the entity far along the way of gaining the more perfect understanding of the unison of forces as applied in the spiritual and mental realm, and of its application to physical forces in a material plane.

4609-1

Cayce told [4609] that in spite of his handicap, he was still held in awe both physically and mentally by many others. He had much to offer. However, too often [4609] judged others and found them lacking in some degree. Rather than keeping himself aloof, he was encouraged to make many lasting friendships, one of his talents. He was also encouraged to use his creative abilities to be of service to others. In addition to his lifetime as Belshazzar, in ancient Egypt he had been the chief musician responsible for working with the vibratory forces of healing. He had also been incarnate during the earliest periods of Atlantis.

With the exception of some correspondence between [4609] and Edgar Cayce the year of his reading, no additional follow-up reports are on file.

Benaiah

II Samuel 8:18, 20:23, 23:20, 22; I Kings 1-2, 4:4; I Chronicles 11:22-24, 18:17, 27:5-6Case 2316

Benaiah was a loyal follower of David who proved himself extremely capable in military affairs, eventually becoming supreme commander of the army. His bravery was legendary. Once he even descended into a pit to do battle with a lion. He served as David’s chief bodyguard and later assumed the same responsibilities under Solomon, never hesitating to put men of questionable loyalty to death.

In 1940, the parents of a sixteen-year-old boy requested a life reading for their son. Cayce told them that their child was an “unusual personality” and had various innate urges that would influence his life’s direction. In addition to being deeply interested in mystical or psychical information, the boy had a well-developed imagination and was a gifted storyteller and writer. On the negative side, the boy was convinced that his judgment was superior to others and he also had the tendency to want to spend more money than he possessed.

Inclined to be moody and cynical, he discovered through his reading that his past lives had been quite varied. During the colonial period, [2316] had been a record keeper and an administrator of the law in Williamsburg, Virginia. During a lifetime with the Crusades in France, he had argued against attempting to impose French beliefs onto people from other lands. In ancient Egypt, he had assisted individuals with vocational guidance. He was told that one of the greatest mental influences in his present experience came from his military career in the Holy Land:

The entity then was Benoni [Gladys Davis later noted that she believed she had erroneously written down the name and that because of the reference she felt the reading was actually referring to Benaiah], the leader or director of the army or the military forces of that great king; thus one whose judgments and activities were looked upon as being close to the king himself.

The entity gained, the entity lost; yet we may see much in the characteristics and personality of the present entity from the activities of the entity as Benoni, the keeper of the military forces of Solomon, the king—if there will be made a close study of those activities.

2316-1

Cayce encouraged the boy’s parents to give their son an education in the law and prepare him for a career in writing or in law and order. When they asked about their son’s future, Cayce stated, “Depends upon the use to which he puts his abilities.”

In 1943, according to the last notation on file, the boy’s father stated that [2316] had foregone his studies at Princeton University for a time because he was extremely interested in becoming a part of active service in the navy.

Benaiah, the Levite

II Chronicles 31:13Case 3528

This Benaiah lived during the time of King Hezekiah (known for his many reforms) and for a time was given the position of overseeing the offerings presented in the temple.

A thirty-six-year-old bakery salesman, who read about Edgar Cayce in There Is a River, in 1943 obtained a life reading and was told that his tendency to become headstrong was due to his lifetime as Benaiah. At that time, he had apparently been taken into captivity by order of the king for gratifying his own selfish interests and forgetting the ways of the Lord. Although Benaiah later regretted his misdeeds, his banishment enabled him to become educated. His reading stated, “From that experience the entity learned to write. For as Benaiah, the entity was educated in the schools of those lands where the entity was taken as hostage.” (3528-1) That ability to write remained with him in the present, and he was told that he could become “a writer of note” provided he overcome his propensity for sarcasm.

Additional past lives had occurred in colonial times when he had worked with the Native Americans to learn their customs as well as a lifetime during the time of the Mound Builders, when [3528] had acquired a respect for the soil and the preparation of foods. He was encouraged to focus his talents into composition and writing, even writing articles about food if he so desired.

His reading stated that it was due to his own sensitivity that he often appeared sarcastic and pessimistic. He was encouraged to be sincere, learning to control his temper and not say things that he really didn’t mean. He was also told to focus his energies into learning how to apply spiritual principles in everyday life, learning his true relationship to the Creative Forces. By so doing, he would have the opportunity to work with writing.

Later reports suggest that [3528] found the information on spirituality in the Cayce information very helpful to him. In 1952, he filled out a follow-up questionnaire and stated that the reading’s analysis of his abilities and tendencies had been “absolutely correct” and that he was “fundamentally in agreement with the reading—especially as to basic character traits.” At the same time, he admitted that his own “laziness” and “lack of will” had caused him to do nothing about pursuing writing. He still confessed to being sarcastic, hardheaded, and capable of “flying off the handle” easily.

No additional follow-up reports are on file.

Benaiah, the Pirathonite

II Samuel 23:30; I Chronicles 11:31, 27:14Case 3001

This Benaiah was considered one of the thirty valiant men of David. He served as a division commander for the army, going on active duty during the eleventh month of each year.

A fifty-two-year-old business owner, involved in the textile industry, was told that his love of “clothing, woolens, textiles of all natures, especially skins [and] furs” had originated in his most recent life as a British citizen who had settled in New York during the American Revolution. He had also been among the tribe of Levi in a lifetime in the Holy Land, where he had gained spiritually because of his attempt to apply spiritual principles in the face of external obstacles. His abilities as a leader and the lifetime of greatest influence, however, were due to his incarnation as Benaiah:

For, the entity then was Benaiah. Hence those inclinations or tendencies; for the individual entity would not be called a religious man, and yet there is the adherence to—or the desire of information, knowledge, or that in which the entity interests self—in comparative religions, comparative philosophy, comparative things having to do with the mental and spiritual influences in the lives of men. Yet it also makes the entity a hard taskmaster.

3001-1

Mr. [3001] was told that he also possessed abilities with “mechanical things, or those things prepared by mechanical things” and could write, if he chose to do so. As long as he overcame his own hardheadedness and treated others as he would choose to act toward his Creator, he would find joy in life and understand the purpose for which he had come into the earth. He was encouraged to begin learning how he could serve those around him.

The only report on file states that Mr. [3001] and his wife were planning to attend the A.R.E. membership Congress in 1943.

Benjamin

Genesis 35:15-29, 42-43, 45-46, 49; Exodus 1:1-7; Deuteronomy 33; I Chronicles 2:1-2, 7:1-7Case 221

Benjamin was the second son born to Jacob and Rachel, his father’s favorite wife who died shortly after Benjamin was born. After Joseph was sold into slavery, Benjamin became his father’s favorite. When there was famine in Canaan, Jacob reluctantly sent Benjamin and his brothers into Egypt to buy grain. When it was finally revealed that Joseph was not dead but had become prime minister of Egypt, Jacob and his sons all moved to Egypt. (See also “Reuben.”)

In 1940, in a reading given to the Glad Helpers Prayer Group, Cayce discussed the activity of the body’s endocrine system and the important influence parents played during conception in attracting a soul into the earth. In a brief side comment in this regard, Cayce stated that the soul that had been Saul had also incarnated as Benjamin, the second son of Jacob and Rachel. (See also “Saul” and “Seth.”)

Boaz

(also known as Booz)Ruth 2-4; I Kings 7:21; I Chronicles 2:11-12; Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32Case 2694

Boaz was a wealthy landowner who lived near Bethlehem. He took pity on a young woman named Ruth, who scoured fields that had already been picked looking for something to eat. His kindness eventually led to their marriage. (See also “Ruth” and “Naomi.”) Their son became King David’s grandfather.

In 1927, a thirty-one-year-old Realtor and businessman obtained a life reading. He was told that in addition to a developed intellect he also allowed himself to be governed by love and sentiment—even to his own undoing. A true diplomat in the handling of delicate situations, he often placed others’ needs before his own. Cayce told him that throughout his life he would have influence over the lives of many and be in control of substantial amounts of money. Since he honored truth above all things, his reading stated that he could have excelled as a lawyer.

In past lives, he had lived in France during the time of Richelieu, where he had been a member of the church aristocracy and was very disappointed by Richelieu’s activities. During the time of Nero, he had been a soldier in the court, yet managed to act and live for the good of others. In ancient Greece, he had worked on sailing ships. In ancient Egypt, he had been among those who had attempted to bring together a divided people. His lifetime as Boaz could be of the greatest help to him in the present:

In the one before this we find in one that was made known in the lands of the day when the entity rose to position, power, wealth, in the name Boaz, and the entity then brought much good to the peoples of that day, especially in the reclaiming of lands for those oppressed, or for those who had lost same, through the laws of redemption of lands that were taken for debt or for the reason of exile, giving especially to the peoples through that offspring that brought David in the land—and the entity gained through this experience, as there was much to the tenets followed, and the expressions of action by the entity through the experience. In the urge as is seen, is that especially toward real estate—for the entity wrote the first advertisement for sale of lands in this age.

2694-1

His talent with real estate and assisting many others came to fruition in subsequent years when he served in various executive posts for the FHA and, as his life reading had predicted, [2694] had control over vast sums of money. No additional reports are on file.

Caleb

Numbers 13:1-33; 14; 26:65; 32:10-13; 34:16-29; Deuteronomy 1:34-36; Joshua 14, 15, 21:12; Judges 1, 3:9; I Samuel 25:3, 30:14; I Chronicles 2, 4:15, 6:56Case 1292

Representing the tribe of Judah, Caleb was one of the twelve spies that Moses sent to scout the Promised Land of Canaan. Only Caleb and Joshua brought back a report encouraging the conquest of Canaan as had been decreed by God, while the rest of the Israelites were afraid to follow God’s command. Because only Joshua and Caleb had remained faithful, they were the only two among the original members of the twelve tribes sent into the wilderness who were allowed to enter the Promised Land. After the conquest of Canaan, Caleb was given Hebron and the area surrounding it. Later, he promised his daughter Achsah’s hand in marriage to whomever would assist him in conquering his lands.

Parents of a three-year-old boy obtained a life reading for their son on the same day that the boy’s father received a physical reading. Told that their boy was sensitive, stubborn, idealistic, expressive, and high-strung, they were encouraged to always reason with their child, frequently explaining to him the rationale behind things. Because he would be inclined to act and think quickly, the parents were encouraged to provide [1292] with basic spiritual principles in his upbringing.

In his most recent past life, the boy had been involved with law and order during the early settlement of California. From that same experience, he had also developed an interest in new fields of activity or study, such as science, innovations, and music. At the same time, however, the California experience had given him an innate fear of firearms and explosions. During a lifetime at the height of the Roman Empire, [1292] oversaw tax collections for portions of the empire in Greece, Turkey, and Palestine. Cayce said that the boy possessed abilities as an orator as well as in law and order, and would be given some measure of authority by the latter portion of his present life. In fact, the reading stated that it would even be possible for their son to be a United States Supreme Court judge.

The parents were told that their son had also served as a diplomat in ancient Egypt, whereas in Atlantis he had misused spiritual principles for material gain. The boy’s most influential life, however, had been as an Israelite who had left the bondage of Egypt to find the Promised Land:

Hence the entity was ever looked to as one to be counseled with, as one to be looked upon as a leader, as a sage in Israel; Caleb, then as the companion of Joshua, with the children of Judah that made for the cleansing of the land for that which became the Holy City; that has meant, did mean so much in the experience of the people as a people and of the world; that has had, does have so great a mental influence upon the world today, as it ever will.