FEATURE - June 2015 - Santa Fe

The Far-Reaching Influence of America’s “Sleeping Prophet” Edgar Cayce

By Elissa Heyman

 

Any time we try something new or take our lives in a new direction, our intuition speaks up. From the mundane task of choosing a restaurant in a foreign place, to choosing a fulfilling career, we trust our intuition to identify what will truly be worth the effort and serve our unique life. 

 

The person that put intuition on the map in America is the great American psychic Edgar Cayce, 1882-1945.  He did this by displaying such phenomenal talent that millions of people paid attention, becoming aware of human potential through the abilities he displayed. 

 

Although his “differences” emerged as a pre-teen, a baseball head injury at the age of 15 may have increased his abilities. The mythic story about him I heard as a kid, that “there was a guy who could put his schoolbook underneath his pillow at night and recite the whole book in the morning”, was the unique way young Edgar could learn things before the baseball accident. Also, Edgar’s grandfather had unusual abilities that people 

talked about in hushed tones; these striking talents were in his family. 

 

There are debates about whether Cayce was a psychic or a medium. He appeared to be both because he gave most readings in full trance with no memory afterwards, and that phenomenon is considered mediumship. 

 

What set Cayce’s source of information apart from other mediums is the amount of detail, range of knowledge, and degree of accurate information he produced.  Unlike many spirits that work through mediums and give people guidance, “the Cayce source” never gave a name. 

 

Although his insights were on myriad topics, most people asked Edgar Cayce about their pressing health issues. He could diagnose someone’s illness, prescribe original healing methods still in use today, and even tell the client on what shelf and in what store they would find a particular medicine. 

 

The range of Edgar Cayce's gifts was astonishing whether awake or asleep. One time, Cayce needed the help of a banker for a pet project. Edgar had a psychic flash and called to a stranger walking by, addressing him by his full name. The banker was so astonished that he took Cayce to lunch. At the restaurant, the banker gave him another test to see if Cayce really had psychic powers: "Write down the combination to my bank's safety vault on this napkin", he required. And Edgar Cayce could do that!  Convinced, the banker became a supporter and life-long friend.  

 

Growing up to be an extraordinary source of information for others was a responsibility Cayce took seriously.  He was uncommonly committed to his Christian principles and the work ethic of sacrificing for others, and pent hours a day in trance and in prayer. One day, his own wise source of information told him to stop doing so many readings or it would kill him.  But Cayce felt the weight of the daily letters for his help that arrived by the truckload, literally.  He kept on extending his working hours until they were six times what his own spiritual guides suggested. This soon put him in the ironic position of correctly predicting the date of his own death. 

 

An admirable trait of Cayce’s is that even though he could see into the future, and see his own failure up ahead, it didn’t stop him from trying to live his dreams. His big dream was to found and run an alternative-health hospital based on the health principles revealed to him by his intuition. Early on, Cayce had a complete vision of the beginning, middle, and end of his beloved hospital, and went ahead with the project anyway.  He

built it and had it for as long as it could last, until its donors were wiped out by the Great Depression. It brought up many unexpected challenges and disappointments, but he understood the greater value in the doing of something and not necessarily succeeding.  

A legend in his own time, Cayce was always humble and willing to answer questions about whatever people wanted to know about.  However, he noticed the correlation between the level of consciousness of his clients, revealed by their questions, and the level of his readings: in the presence of amazing people, he produced amazing and helpful insights about their health, past lives, career developments, etc.  

 

Recently I came across a very old article from a beauty magazine, featuring beauty tips culled from the many recorded Cayce readings: clients at various times had asked him how to repair their ageing faces and sagging skin. The most important aid to maintaining beauty, Cayce proclaimed, was “The Mind!”, and having a positive 

outlook. He also recommended a simple headroll exercise that when performed each day, “…will stimulate the circulation to the entire face, head and neck: keep the throat and jaw line firm; and prevent the formation of double or multiple chins.” (The catalogue of 14,000 plus readings is available at the Association for Research and Enlightenment, www.edgarcayce.org)  I tried this exercise myself and noticed a difference in about a week. Here’s how it goes, and the key is to do it gently.

 

To begin, your eyes are looking straight ahead, your head is level with your mouth closed. You very slowly stretch your neck up with your eyes looking back at the ceiling; then you bring your head level  again and look straight, then bend your neck forward so your chin touches your chest, and very slowly, roll the head over to the right shoulder, then roll it slowly to the back; then continue and roll it to the left shoulder, then down to your chest, and slowly bring it up to level. Repeat by stretch your neck again so you’re looking at the ceiling.  

 

You do one roll in one direction, and then switch and roll in the other direction. Alternating, you do about ten of them or more. If you smile as you stretch your neck up, it’s good for jowl-tightening. 

 

When I do them, I feel their alternating left and right motion also serves to balance my energy. I also imagine that I’m releasing whatever energy has accumulated from the day’s circumstances, as I let my head gently roll as far as my neck will allow. (This exercise must be done slowly.) I also imagine that this releasing movement makes me receptive to new thoughts and spiritual guidance. 

 

Of all the insights about psychic work gained from reading about the life of Edgar Cayce, what impresses me the most was not his talent, but his strength of character.  Working in an era when his gifts weren’t accepted, he still followed his own path, made a name for The Sixth Sense, and brought it to the attention of millions of others.  Because Edgar Cayce did not limit himself and did his best to fulfill his own creative potential, as a country and beyond, we learned more about intuition and our own greater selves.