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Biography
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—
Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) was known in the press by the titles "The Sleeping Prophet" and "America's Greatest Mystic".
Edgar Cayce is known as one of America's most famous psychics, although he himself would probably have preferred to be viewed as a healer, rather than a psychic. He worked in what appeared to be a trance or sleeping state, and would answer questions of various kinds usually related to a particular individual. The information thus given came to be called "readings". At first these readings dealt primarily with the physical health of the individual ("physical readings"); later readings on "past lives", "business advice", "dream interpretation", and "mental or spiritual health" were also given. The Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) currently houses all of his readings and follow-ups to the readings. His work has been very influential in New Age theories.
The name "Cayce" is pronounced Casey but is commonly mispronounced as Case.
Life History Edgar Cayce was born into a farming family on March 18,1877 near Beverly, seven miles south of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. From the age of 10 he would read the Bible from cover to cover once each year and his stated ambition was to be a preacher and healer.
In December 1893 the family moved to Hopkinsville and occupied 705 West Seventh, on the south-east corner of Seventh and Young Street. Edgar’s first jobs 1894 – 1898 were at Richard’s Dry Goods Store, then in Hopper's Bookstore both located on Main Street. During this time he became engaged to Gertrude Evans, whom he married in 1903.
In 1900 he formed a business partnership with his father to sell Woodmen of the World Insurance but was struck by severe laryngitis in March that resulted in a complete loss of voice on April 18. Unable to work, he lived at home with his parents for almost a year. He then decided to take up photography as he hoped this work would make little demand on his voice. He began an apprenticeship in the photography studio of W. R. Bowles at the corner of Ninth and Virginia streets in Hopkinsville.
A travelling stage hypnotist and entertainer called "Hart-The Laugh Man," was performing at the Hopkinsville Opera House in 1901. He heard about Cayce’s condition and offered to attempt a cure. Cayce accepted and the experiment took place on stage in front of an audience. Cayce’s voice returned while in a hypnotic trance but disappeared on awakening. Hart tried a post-hypnotic suggestion that the voice would continue to function after the trance but this proved unsuccessful.
Hart moved out town but another hypnotist, Al Layne offered to continue to work with Cayce to restore his voice. Layne suggested that Cayce describe the nature of his condition and cure while in a hypnotic trance. Cayce described his own ailment from a first person plural point of view — 'we' — instead of the singular "I." In subsequent readings he would generally start off with "We have the body." According to the reading, his voice loss was due to psychological paralysis and could be corrected by increasing the blood flow to the voice box. Layne suggested that the blood flow be increased and Cayce's face became flushed with blood and his chest area turned bright red. After 20 minutes Cayce, still in trance, declared the treatment over. On awakening his voice remained normal. Relapses occurred but were corrected by Layne in the same way and eventually the cure was permanent.
Layne had read of similar hypnotic cures effected by De Puysegur, a follower of Franz Mesmer, and was keen to explore the limits of the healing knowledge of the trance voice. He asked Cayce to describe Layne’s own ailments and suggest cures, and reportedly found the results both accurate and effective. Layne suggested that Cayce offer his trance healing to the public but Cayce was reluctant. He finally agreed on the condition that readings would be free. He began with Layne’s help to offer free treatments to the townspeople. Reportedly he had great success and his fame spread. Reports of Cayce's work appeared in the newspapers, inspiring many postal inquiries. Supposedly, Cayce was able to work just as effectively using a letter from the individual as with having the person present. This began Cayce’s correspondence with people all over the world.
Cayce’s work grew in volume as his fame grew. He reluctantly asked for voluntary donations to support himself and his family so that he could practice full time. He continued to work in an apparent trance state with a hypnotist all his life. His wife and eldest son later replaced Layne in this role. A secretary, Gladys Davis, took notes. According to some accounts, Cayce had an affair with Ms. Davis later in life.
The trance reading produced a visible strain on Cayce’s health, and he attributed the occasional failure to working under too great a pressure to give a clear reading. He was scrupulous in giving refunds to unsatisfied clients.
He was persuaded to give readings on philosophical subjects in 1923 by Arthur Lammers, a wealthy printer. Reincarnation was a popular subject of the day, but was not an accepted part of Christian doctrine. While in his supposed trance state, Cayce spoke unequivocally of past lives. Reincarnation was a popular subject of the day, but was not an accepted part of Christian doctrine. Cayce reported that his conscience bothered him severely over this conflict. Lammers reassured and argued with Cayce. His "trance voice", the "we" of the readings, also supposedly dialogued with Cayce and finally persuaded him to continue with these kinds of readings. In 1925 Cayce reported his "voice" had instructed him to move to Virginia Beach, Virginia.
In 1929 the Cayce hospital was established in Virginia Beach sponsored by a wealthy beneficiary of the trance readings, Morton Blumenthal.
Cayce gained national prominence in 1943 through a high profile article in Coronet. He increased the frequency of his readings to 8 per day to try to keep up with the level of interest but this took a strain on his health.
Edgar Cayce died on January 3, 1945.
...(more on Wikipedia)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Edgar Cayce".
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