Читать книгу Edgar Cayce on Soul Mates - Kevin J. Todeschi - Страница 8

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things . . . So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:4-7, 13

It was 1926 and she was a Broadway star. Only twenty-four, she already had been the female lead in a major production. Her role as the young duchess opposite Otis Skinner in Sancho Panza had resulted in critics and fans alike calling her “alluring.” Her life as an actress appeared on a fast track. Her name was Rose,² and now that the production was coming to a close, she couldn’t help but wonder what came next.

Even though she hadn’t started out to be an actress, acting came easy to her. Because of her love of music, she originally had planned to be a violinist and had studied at the Chicago Musical College. But her drive to play music soon faded, and she decided to take drama lessons instead. Becoming an actress was easier to accomplish than she might have imagined. Rose seemed born to the stage. A producer saw her in her first college play and offered her the ingénue role in his touring stock company. New York followed the touring company, and she was immediately cast in a major production. Doors opened for her. To many, she seemed destined for superstardom. She should have been content, but she was not. After her role in Sancho Panza, none of the new parts seemed right for her. She wondered whether she should continue to devote her energies to the theatre or had the time come for her to marry? She was in love and the appeal of home and marriage sometimes seemed greater than her desire to be on stage.

It might have been unthinkable for some to imagine, but within a year Rose would forsake her career as an actress, settle down with a husband, and devote her life to him and raising a family. Her drive to be an actress had lessened at the same time that her desire to be with him had grown. Rose had found her soul mate and their coming together would forever change her life’s direction.

Although she was young, already she had come to believe that there were no accidents. Life had a way of bringing situations and experiences together—call it a divine script that provided her with potential entrances and exits. Most often, her role was simply to watch and listen for her cues. A part in a Broadway production of Laugh Clown Laugh two years earlier than her role in Sancho Panza had led her to the current crossroads in her life. While in the play, she had met two individuals who would become important in her life’s direction: one a drama critic and the other a thirty-two-year-old businessman.

During a break from rehearsals, she found herself waiting at the pier for a relative’s ocean liner to dock. Attractive, outgoing, and friendly, Rose soon engaged in conversation with the tall, distinguished-looking gentleman waiting next to her. A discussion of pleasantries soon led to Rose’s discovery that the man was interested in theater. She mentioned her small part in the production of Laugh Clown Laugh, starring Lionel Barrymore. The gentleman promised to see her performance. As it turned out, he was John Corbin, chief drama critic for the New York Times.

After one of the play’s performances, Rose received a note backstage from another man named Bryant Goodman. Mutual friends had asked that he look her up. She found him engaging and invited him to join her and her sister for dinner. Although Bryant had seemed normal enough back at the theatre, during their dinner conversation he started talking about mysticism, past lives, and a psychic friend of his back in Dayton, Ohio, named Edgar Cayce. Although she loved discussions of religion and philosophy, up until that night Rose had never even heard of reincarnation and she wondered to herself, “What in the world have I picked up here?” Still, she and her sister found Bryant fascinating, even though she couldn’t possibly believe every word he said.

Time passed, and after Laugh Clown Laugh closed, a complimentary letter about her performance from John Corbin opened the next set of doors and she was cast as the female lead in Sancho Panza. She continued to see Bryant. She felt drawn to him. He was interesting, a talented businessman, and fun to be around. However, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe all that he talked about. Much of his conversation included wild tales of this Edgar Cayce who reportedly could diagnose illnesses while asleep as well as provide insightful business advice (which Bryant claimed he relied heavily upon). Bryant also believed that Cayce could somehow see how the events and relationships of former lives had an ongoing influence upon the present. For Rose, none of these tales were stories she relished discussing with her family when she talked about the man she was seeing.

Eventually, the Sancho Panza company went on the road and one of the cities on tour happened to be Dayton. At Bryant’s insistence, Rose invited Edgar Cayce and his wife, Gertrude, to see the play so that she could meet them. As it turned out, the Cayces loved the play, and Rose asked if she could watch Cayce’s own work with his psychic readings. The next day Rose witnessed her first reading, given for a five-year-old child who was having difficulties keeping any food down; for some reason the child began to regurgitate after every meal. The little girl was slowly starving to death. The doctors had tried everything they knew without success, so the parents had finally turned to Edgar Cayce for help.

Just as had been described to her, Cayce put himself to sleep on the couch. His wife gave him the suggestion that he would be able to examine the child while in his trance state. Told to “find” the little girl who was in the house (although not in the same room with the adults), it was not long before he began talking, opening with “Yes, we have the body.” As soon as he began speaking, Edgar Cayce’s secretary started writing down everything he said.

Rose watched the process with a great deal of skepticism. She couldn’t believe that an individual could somehow tune in to another person’s physical problem (let alone see something as far-fetched as a past life). Still, the Cayces took their work very seriously and the little girl’s parents seemed to take his every word as gospel. Edgar Cayce discussed what was wrong with the child and recommended such things as a complete change of diet, consisting chiefly of very ripe bananas, and some physical therapies. Although Rose had often heard about this man’s work, seeing it firsthand made her feel a little ridiculous.

The longer she listened, the more irritated Rose became. This man wasn’t a doctor; by all accounts he had never finished high school. He had made no physical examination of the child, nor did he plan to. Gertrude had stated that her husband had no medical background or training. At the very least, Rose felt that this man was practicing medicine without a license. What if he recommended something that would kill the child? The thought both alarmed and outraged her. Still, the group watched and listened to the sleeping Cayce without question.

When the reading was over, Rose left the house as courteously as she could. After all, she was an actress. However, she was mad at the Cayces and disgusted with Bryant for believing in the whole business. To her relief, a few weeks later she heard from the child’s parents and was surprised to discover that their daughter had completely recovered. The little girl was finally able to keep down normal food; Cayce’s reading had apparently been successful. It was for that reason that Rose began to wonder if Bryant had been right about Cayce after all.

By the spring of 1926, the cast of Sancho Panza was back in New York. Although a success, the tour was finished and the play was over. Rose was having a hard time finding her next role. Nothing seemed just right. She began to question what she wanted to do with acting. At the same time, Bryant had begun asking her to marry him. She loved him and was unmistakably drawn to him, but did she really want to forsake the theater for home and cooking and babies? Because of the demands of each possibility, it didn’t appear to her that she could pursue both successfully. Sometimes the idea of marriage was appealing, but on other occasions nothing could have interested her less. At other times, the spotlight of the theatre was wonderful, and yet the satisfaction of it wasn’t totally fulfilling or lasting. For the first time ever, Rose found that she didn’t know what to do with her life.

In part, to help her with her direction, Bryant suggested a life reading from Edgar Cayce. By this time, supported with the backing of some very influential New York business people, the Cayces had moved to Virginia Beach to establish a hospital for his work. Having heard even more success stories of what this man was somehow able to accomplish, Rose agreed to the reading.

To make the business of the readings seem even more incredulous, Rose learned that her reading would be done while the Cayces were in Virginia Beach and she and Bryant remained in New York. Apparently, Edgar Cayce didn’t even need to be in the same city with Rose in order to tune in to her.

When the reading finally came, she was amazed by its accuracy. Any remaining doubts she had about the man or his abilities quickly disappeared. She wrote the Cayces to tell them that the information was more than just helpful and interesting. Without knowing her life story or her current dilemma, somehow the sleeping Cayce had perfectly analyzed her character, feelings, and talents. Rose was very impressed. Immediately, she requested readings on behalf of other members of her family.

Rose’s reading told her that she could make a success of herself in music, literature, art, the stage, or the home. Edgar Cayce briefly discussed lives she had lived in early America, England, Germany, the Holy Land, and Greece. She had developed her appreciation for music in Germany, where she had been a singer and close to a renowned composer. There, she had shared her love of music with many others. Her talent of acting had been best expressed during her lifetime in Greece when she had been of beautiful stature and had given the people much enjoyment in her various roles. Her love of philosophy was traced to Chaldea where she had once worked in the temples. From the same period, she had also developed an innate love for home and family. Repeatedly, Cayce explained how present-day talents and feelings could be traced to her former appearances in the earth.

Cayce told her that if she remained an actress, within the year she would again have a great new role that satisfied her outlet for expression. In fact, he assured her that her career would reach even greater heights somewhere between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty. He told her that she could also make a success of the home; however, at this point in her life, she could not excel in both directions. She needed to choose. He did not advise her on which direction to take, only that the choice needed to be made. Her attraction to Bryant was because of various connections they had experienced in the past. They had known each other in different roles in early America, England, and the Holy Land.

Later, Bryant obtained his own reading from Edgar Cayce. He asked what would be the result of a marriage between himself and Rose. Cayce replied, “What they make it!” To be more specific, Bryant asked: “Is this girl the type and quality of womanhood best suited to this man for a successful life?” The answer came: “May be made so in each. No one is suited exactly in the beginning, unless it has been fore-ordained through the ages of the mating of each.” Again, Bryant tried to obtain the response he was looking for. He asked: “Will they be perfectly happy always . . . ?” Cayce stated:

No, they will not always be happy, but these may be always made content. Contentment and happiness are different elements, but both are of the mind—yet, physical conditions must exist between each that these may be made compatible, or that the mind may be brought to that position wherein each may be content. 257-15

Finally, Bryant asked directly, “Is this the right girl he should choose?” He was told that she was. Because of their feelings for one another, as well as because of the confirmation in the readings, Rose and Bryant married on April 17, 1927.

On most occasions, Edgar Cayce would not specify whether or not a certain individual was the appropriate marriage partner. As was often the case, when a twenty-five-year-old woman asked whether or not her boyfriend was the man she was supposed to marry, Cayce replied, “He would be one man to marry!” (3834-1). Another woman asked, “Have I met the man I should marry?” She was told, “You have met several you can marry!” (3180-2). Apparently, we all have more than one soul mate—an individual with whom we have been together previously and could create a positive relationship in the present. Later, Rose and Bryant learned that they had been married to various other individuals in the past as well; their relationship with one another in the present was simply one possibility. However, it was a possibility that gave each the opportunity to be a helpmate to the other and provide for the better development of both individuals.

When a woman asked about the possibility of marriage and meeting her soul mate, Cayce told her, “It is not necessarily true that any special individual may be called a mate, as there have been many . . .” (2487-2). On another occasion, in 1942, a young woman wanted to know if there was a person other than her fiancé whom she might marry instead and be “as happy, or happier.” She was told, “. . . we might find twenty-five or thirty such, if you chose to make it so! It is what you make it!” (1981-2). He went on to tell her that there were definitely some things from the past that needed to be “worked out” between herself and her husband-to-be and they might best be worked out in the structure provided by marriage. Sooner or later she would have to face these issues. Cayce advised her that she might as well face them now, rather than putting them off for some future time period.

A thirty-two-year-old sheet metal worker and his wife were having problems on and off again. During the course of their marriage, they had even discussed divorce and custody issues related to their child. In an effort to improve their relationship, the husband obtained a reading. The information made it clear that they had been together before, had failed, and were being given the opportunity to help one another succeed in the present. The man inquired, “What can I do to make our marriage happier and harmonious?” He was told:

Act toward the wife, or thine own activities, as ye would like her or others to act toward thee. Ask no more than ye give. Demand no more than ye allowed, or allow, to be demanded of thee. Marriage, such an association, is a oneness of purpose. Unless there is the oneness of purpose, there can be no harmony. This can be accomplished, not of self alone—for remember, you made a mighty mess in the experience before this—ye suffered for it! Better make it up now or it’ll be ten times worse the next time! 5001-1

From Cayce’s perspective, the purpose of soul mates, marriage, or any lifelong commitment to another person is primarily to enable each individual to grow, to evolve, and to assist one another in spiritual development. To be sure, people are drawn together because of their joint experiences in the past, but what individuals do about those past-life experiences, an influence which Cayce equated to “karmic memory,” is entirely dependent upon the activities and choices of the present. The readings suggest that each individual has multiple soul mates with whom she or he can make a successful relationship in the present. Obviously, each choice leads to different potentials and a lifetime of experiences, and some choices are ultimately better than others.

In 1940, in another example from the Cayce files (2205-3), a woman was acquainted with four different men, all of whom had expressed interest in being with her. A math teacher by profession, she wanted to know which of the four would make the best marriage candidate. She was told that it was incorrect to think that there was only ONE individual who would make her ideal mate. In fact, Cayce refused to tell her to keep away from this one or to be joined together with that one. Instead, he confirmed that in different periods in the earth she had previously been with all four of her suitors, “some as helpers, some as hinderers.” He suggested that she needed to watch her dreams for they had provided her with “warnings” about some of the men. As to which choice to make in the present, she needed to decide for herself which one would better enable her to become a better person, to express a spiritual ideal, and to live a life of service.

The readings state that individuals are drawn to one another for a purposeful experience. Essentially, that purpose is both to resolve issues and challenges that were created in the past as well as to continue any positive interactions that were begun with one another. Good or bad, our relationships pick up exactly where we left them off. There is a continuity of former patterns, purposes, and ideals. The pull we may feel toward certain individuals in our lives occurs at the level of the soul and, according to Cayce, whether those former past-life experiences were for “weal or woe” does not prevent the present-day attraction. Ultimately, whether or not it is best for two individuals to elevate their attraction to a lifelong relationship should be based upon something greater than physical attraction and desire.

On numerous occasions, the Cayce readings advised an individual against getting married to a specific person. In spite of the attraction a couple might feel for one another, if marriage was discouraged, invariably the reason was because the union would not be best for the spiritual development of either or both individuals. In other instances, marriage was advised against because of timing issues. In one case in 1937, parents of a fourteen-year-old girl were told that their daughter would have the inclination to marry very early in life because she had been an old maid in her previous experience. The girl was encouraged not to follow through on her innate desire because it would become a disaster (1406-1). On other occasions, individuals were told not to marry until they had made a clearer choice about their life’s direction. Apparently, each direction contained various possibilities of potential spouses.

A twenty-year-old woman asked whether or not she should marry her present boyfriend, and the response was “never” (1754-1). Cayce predicted that the relationship would inevitably lead to separation and divorce. He stated that she had known him in her most recent lifetime, during the American Revolution. At the time, around the area of Williamsburg, Virginia, the two had begun a relationship that had been both disappointing and happy at times. In the present, because there were some unresolved issues from the past, the woman felt an emotional desire to become even closer to him. The reading advised against it. Cayce warned, “It would be best never to marry him—thy ideals will be destroyed!” She was encouraged to maintain their friendship and to learn what they could from the other, but not to marry.

Since desire, attraction, and love might all originate at the level of the soul, how can individuals distinguish between a potential long-term relationship and one in which there is simply an attraction in order to work through something from the past? Cayce suggested that true love was ultimately best expressed as “giving in action,” where one was not concerned with what was received in return. Whereas desire is a feeling or a condition in which an individual wants to draw someone or something to him- or herself, true love is an expression of emotion, energy, or activity that goes out to others without thought of what self receives in return. Ultimately, the purpose of all relationships is spiritual development. For that reason, individuals wishing to discern between a karmic relationship or a purposeful present-day union might ask themselves, “Does this relationship make me a better person? Does it challenge and stretch me? Does it encourage me to become a more balanced, giving person? Does this relationship bring out the very best within me?”

In 1937, a twenty-nine-year-old man asked Edgar Cayce to describe the best motives for marriage (1173-11). The reading stated that there was a vast difference between physical desire and mental/spiritual cooperation and companionship. If a marriage was based primarily upon desire and physical gratification, it could not succeed. Instead, a successful relationship had to contain a joint spiritual prompting that united the couple in service to one another as well as to God. Cayce believed that a healthy relationship included physical love, but it was much more; spiritual ideals and mental goals and aspirations were equally important.

Too often, individuals may believe there is one perfect soul mate that exists just for them. That is not the case. The condition of soul mates is also not limited to male-female relationships; soul mate relationships are just as likely to occur in same-sex relationships. More important, each of us has many different types of soul mate relationships. Some of those relationships might manifest in the present with various members of our family, friends with whom there is a deep bond and connection, and even work relationships in which individuals are brought together to achieve some greater goal. A soul mate is an individual to whom we are drawn in the present because we have been together in the past. It is a relationship in which each individual has the opportunity to be of invaluable assistance in terms of the other’s personal growth.

Unfortunately, some individuals have mistakenly assumed that a soul mate relationship is a perfect relationship in which there are never any difficulties or challenges. They may then become frustrated because they haven’t been able to find or create such a relationship in their own lives. The Cayce readings suggest that a soul mate will offer you problems and obstacles just as you will offer the same things in return. A soul mate is someone with whom you can work through life’s challenges and difficulties, even when that individual may appear to be the source of them. In other words, a soul mate is an individual who often reflects or lets us encounter our own strengths and weaknesses.

By all accounts, Bryant and Rose had a very successful soul mate relationship, one that lasted over forty years—until Bryant’s death in 1968. However, they also had their share of problems, arguments, and difficulties. Together, they experienced the normal ups and downs of any marriage. From the very beginning, they were burdened with the knowledge that Bryant’s mother didn’t like Rose as his choice for a spouse—the readings eventually traced the animosity to a past-life jealously and rivalry.

Within a few years of their marriage, Rose and Bryant would have two sons and obtain readings for each. They were told that the older boy had innate talents as a physician and the younger as a politician. When Bryant asked Cayce for advice in the boys’ rearing and upbringing, it was stated that the most important thing wasn’t power or might or even rules, but for him and Rose to live as an example to their children. The entire family had been brought together for a purposeful reason. Together, they could assist one another in fulfilling the purpose for which each had been born. In addition to the connections among the four of them in the past, they had the opportunity to become better people for having the experience of being brought together.

In spite of the fact that the readings had encouraged them to marry, throughout their life together, there would be challenges. Although financially successful, Bryant once told some friends that he had lost out on $500,000 by not following some of Cayce’s business advice in the readings. World War II brought with it a series of shortages and difficulties, not to mention the fact that Rose, Bryant, and their children were Jewish at a time when prejudice was often common. Each of the children also had a series of problems, in addition to the normal events of childhood such as teething, colds, and sibling rivalry. The younger boy had scarlet fever, measles, anemia, and an accident in which he stuck himself in the right eye with a scissors and split the cornea. A series of readings and doctors saved his sight. The older boy had broken bones, chicken pox, measles, tonsillitis, pneumonia, and skin boils.

One of the couple’s biggest challenges came when Rose began to miss the acting spotlight just as Bryant had become too focused on his business affairs. Understandably, Rose wanted more out of life than simply the roles of wife and mother. Because of her husband’s financial status and business affairs, she often found herself an active part of society, which gave her some satisfaction. However, he was often out of town on business and rather than missing out on social functions, Rose allowed herself to be escorted by male friends. She saw nothing wrong with it. Bryant was quick to disagree. Arguments between the two could not be resolved. Finally, they obtained a reading.

Interestingly enough, years earlier Cayce had previously told the couple that as long as they worked together, they would each be able to bring out the best in the other and “gain for selves those developments that bring peace, joy, and happiness in a life worth being lived . . .” (903-3). They had been advised to always show their love for the other and to keep foremost in their minds their joint companionship. Rose’s love of the spotlight would have to come second to their marriage, just as Bryant’s focus on business matters and concerns could not be his first priority. Their home was to be their first and most important work. The two had been encouraged to keep their love alive, to find joy and peace in the other’s company, to honor and to serve God, and to never make the same mistake with each other twice.

With the new reading, Cayce advised them that their most important activity was the raising of their children, especially during the boys’ “formative years.” They were reminded that their home was supposed to be their primary focus, and each was encouraged to renew within themselves that very attitude with which they had first established their lives together. Apparently, both Rose and Bryant had allowed themselves to forget the priority of their marriage. Rather than telling them specifically what to do, each was advised to again make their marriage come first. By working with one another, the problem was resolved.

In time, Rose became more interested in parapsychology and eventually sponsored lectures and programs that brought together leading scientists, scholars, and parapsychologists. In fact, for more than twenty years she put together a very successful lecture series in New York and acted as a catalyst for the study of metaphysics, yoga, and the Cayce work. She found in these efforts the limelight she had missed and helped many people by pulling the programs together. Bryant became even more successful in business and furniture manufacturing. For years, he also supported Temple Emanuel, the nation’s largest synagogue, as well as the Cayce work. He and Rose had frequent opportunities to work together outside of their home, and many individuals saw their relationship as ideal. Their eldest son would become a leading psychiatrist and their youngest a successful attorney.

Rose lived to be in her nineties. A few years before her death, in reflecting back upon her family and the Cayce information, she said, “You notice not only the patterns and purposes of your own life, you become aware of how you are put into positions to assist others to carry out their activities.” Soul mate relationships create an opportunity for personal growth, personal fulfillment, and service to one another.

In another example from 1940, a thirty-nine-year-old housewife, mother, and bookkeeper was told that she and her husband were making great strides in “meeting” and overcoming those shadows of patterns that had been created between them in the past. By working together, each was growing spiritually, each was developing, and their soul mate relationship was becoming even more positive. They were encouraged to continue as they were, for “each may be as a help, as a prop one for the other” (1857-2). Cayce told another couple that it would take them at least ten years to create an ideal relationship (cases 4159 and 459), but it could be theirs if they worked together.

A young couple contemplating marriage in 1942 was told that, as man and wife, they had the opportunity to be very helpful to one another. Apparently, they had been together many times previously in various relationship roles. During a lifetime in Persia, there had been conflict because the two had come together under false pretenses. In ancient Egypt, they had been raised with opposing belief systems, although they had learned to work together. As a result, in the present, Cayce told them, “They each, then, have that weakness of being able to be overpowered by the personality of the other.” He advised them to cooperate with each other for the benefit of both, “Then if there is the agreement, if there is the coordination of ideals and purposes, and making same work—it can be made a beautiful companionship!” They were reminded, “It also can be made to be the belittling of one or the other” (1981-2).

A young New York lawyer obtained a reading about his pending marriage with his fiancée. He sought spiritual guidance, matrimonial happiness, and advice, which would enable the two of them to live successful lives. Cayce told the couple that as long as they kept their present feelings uppermost in their minds, they would be successful, “For their minds, their bodies, their desires, are in the present in accord.” They were encouraged to remember that unison of purpose whenever dissension and strife arose in their marriage because compatibility and happiness needed to be created. It did not simply exist. They were told to become a complement one to the other. Cayce warned the couple that they would become divided in purpose if either became self-centered or gave in to selfish motives rather than remembering the importance of their relationship. From that day forward, they needed to learn to be able to depend upon the other. When the young man asked, “Do they genuinely love each other?” Cayce replied:

In the present. Remember each, love is giving; it is a growth. It may be cultivated or it may be seared. That of selflessness on the part of each is necessary. Remember, the union of body, mind and spirit in such as marriage should ever be not for the desire of self but as one. Love grows; love endures; love forgiveth; love understands; love keeps those things rather as opportunities that to others would become hardships.

Then, do not sit still and expect the other to do all the giving, nor all the forgiving; but make it rather as the unison and the purpose of each to be that which is a complement one to the other, ever. 939-1

Even as a young boy, Edgar Cayce had a recurring dream which seemed to suggest the importance of this “unison of purpose” in his own eventual marriage. In the dream, Edgar was walking through a glade with a woman standing next to him, holding his arm. The woman was wearing a veil so that he could not see her face, but they seemed very much in love. While walking, they arrived at a little stream filled with clear, sparkling water. They stepped over the stream and began walking up a hill where a man stopped to meet them. Dressed only in a loincloth, he was the color of bronze; on the man’s feet and shoulders there were wings. He appeared to be Mercury, the messenger.

Mercury told the couple to join their hands, which they did. Across their united hands, the man placed a long piece of golden cloth and stated, “Together all can be accomplished, alone nothing may be accomplished.” Suddenly, Mercury disappeared and Edgar and the woman continued walking. Eventually, they came to a road that was very muddy and the two wondered how they would be able to cross it. In the midst of their confusion, Mercury appeared again and told them to join hands and to use the golden cloth. They joined hands, waved the cloth over the road, and immediately the mud dried and the road became passable so that they could continue on their journey. Next, Edgar Cayce and the woman came to an enormous cliff that towered over them. Using a knife, Edgar started cutting crevices in the cliff for their feet and the two began to climb. Edgar started up the cliff first, but he pulled the woman up after him. Hand-in-hand they ascended the rock. The dream ended.

The first time the dream occurred was years before Edgar met Gertrude, whom he married. At the time, Edgar Cayce’s mother apparently told her son that the dream meant he would achieve a great deal when eventually united with his wife. Although he was married in 1903, the dream continued to occur. Finally, in 1926, when Cayce had the dream again, a reading was obtained as to its meaning. The reading (294-62) stated that the dream was apt to occur whenever challenges or significant changes occurred in his life. The dream was simply to remind him that he could face any challenge in life or overcome any problem as long as he and Gertrude were united, for “together all can be accomplished.”

As soul mates, Edgar and Gertrude Cayce had been together on a number of occasions in the past. According to the readings, a primary purpose for their lives this time around was to focus their joint efforts into the psychic work that became Edgar Cayce’s life calling. In fact, it was suggested that the information obtained from his psychic readings was very similar in scope to information he had disseminated thousands of years previously during a lifetime in Egypt. While in Egypt, Edgar Cayce had been a high priest and Gertrude his wife and a priestess. At that time, Gertrude had acted as a spokes-person to the masses of people, even when her husband became too ill to perform his priestly duties. Apparently, the work they had begun together needed to continue.³

In this life, Edgar Cayce was also very dependent upon Gertrude. Before she took responsibility for conducting the readings, there had been occasions when he had been taken advantage of while in the psychic state. For example, individuals had done such things as stick a hat pin into his cheek to make certain he was really in a trance; others had requested health readings only to acquire betting tips for the horse races unbeknownst to Cayce while he was asleep. As long as his wife was present for a reading, Edgar Cayce felt confident that nothing could go wrong.

Both Cayce and his wife received frequent assistance in their own lives from the readings, as well. Gertrude was cured of tuberculosis and Edgar received relief from a digestion and elimination problem that affected him much of his life. Their lives together were dedicated to Cayce’s psychic work. It wasn’t easy because so much of the material seemed unusual. Although information on holistic health, reincarnation, dream interpretation, meditation, intuition, and the other subjects explored in the readings has gained acceptance and even validation today, at the time Cayce’s work was not always accepted.

On the night before he died, Gladys Davis, Cayce’s secretary, witnessed a final scene between the couple that so moved her, she made note of it in the Cayce archives (Case 294-8 Report File). Edgar Cayce was very weak and very ill. He was lying in his bed and his wife reached over to kiss him. What follows are Gladys’s observations as she recalled the dialogue between Gertrude and Edgar:

He said, “You know I love you, don’t you?” She nodded, and he asked, “HOW do you know?”

“Oh, I just know,” she said, with her dear little smile.

“I don’t see how you can tell—but I do love you.” Reflecting, he continued, “You know, when you love someone you sacrifice for ‘em, and what have I ever sacrificed because I love you?”

This bedside scene was so beautiful that it made Gladys cry . . . because she understood so well how Gertrude had stood by him and put his wishes always above her own when it came to the good of “the work.”

What is perhaps most interesting about Gertrude and Edgar Cayce’s commitment to one another is an experience that Cayce had in February 1941. Cayce’s primary source of information for his psychic readings was the Akashic records—a collection of data that might be equated with the universe’s supercomputer system. This collection of information, which Cayce also called “God’s Book of Remembrance,” keeps track of each individual’s soul history, past lives, present experiences, and unfolding futures. While giving a reading, he had a dream in which he was looking through the Akashic records and saw what would have happened to him and his wife had they not gotten married. According to what he saw, “she would have died in 1906 of T.B. [tuberculosis]. I would have died in 1914 from a stomach trouble” (Case 294-196 Report File).

Edgar Cayce believed that all of our relationships with one another have the opportunity to become a purposeful experience. In the language of the readings, “They are not chance, but a divine purpose being worked out” (1722-1). Ultimately, that purpose is for the soul growth of all concerned. In terms of meeting a significant person or relationship in our lives, there are no accidents or chance encounters. Individuals are drawn together in the present because they have been together in the past. Nothing we learn from one another is ever forgotten just as every error we make with one another needs to be resolved.

Each of us is given a lifetime of opportunities to become a better person for having had the experience of all of our relationships. Whether or not those opportunities are fulfilled remains a matter of free will, but the potential is ever present.

As counselor, mentor, philosopher, and spiritual advisor, Edgar Cayce provided thousands of individuals with unique answers to questions regarding the dynamics of human relationships. From that body of information, it becomes clear that individuals are seekers, each in search of personal wholeness. Everything we draw toward us is simply the inevitable outcome of previous choices, decisions, and lessons learned—all leading to this particular event and moment in time. The Cayce material on soul mate relationships provides an extraordinary account of the continuous process of relationships through time and space and our various experiences and lifetimes in the earth. However, what may be most astonishing about the information is what it suggests about the nature of the soul, our relationship to one another, and the undeniable certainty that we are connected to our Creator in ways that the human family has yet to fathom.

²For the most part, all names used within this volume have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

³A further discussion of Edgar Cayce’s past-life relationships with some of those closest to him is explored in the chapter “Twin Souls.”