Edgar Cayce - Healer and Pschic

Early Life and Healing | Cayce's Readings

Cayce's Early Life

Edgar Cayce was born into a farming family in Kentucky on March 18, 1877.

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. Cayce's earliest jobs were at a local dry goods store and bookstore before forming a partnership with his father to sell insurance.

In 1900 Cayce suffered a severe case of laryngitis that left him with a complete loss of voice. A travelling stage hypnotist, "Hart - the laugh man", heard about Cayce's plight and offered to attempot a cure on stage. Cayce's voice returned under trance but disappeared again upon his waking.

Another hypnotist, Al Layne, continued working with Cayce. Layne suggested that Cayce describe his condition and cure while under trance, which Cayce did - using the plural "we" instead of "I". 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.

Cayce’s Healing

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.

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. While in his supposed trance state, Cayce spoke unequivocally of past lives.

In 1931 Edgar Cayce founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc. (A.R.E.) headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Today there are Edgar Cayce Centers in 18 other countries throughout the world.

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.

Next: Cayce's Readings

Further information

Recommended reading

Edgar Cayce on Prophecy; Edgar Cayce on Religion and Psychic Experience; Edgar Cayce on Mysteries of the Mind; Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation Four provocative volumes from the notorious clairvoyant: On Prophecy reveals predictions on domestic, international, psychological and scientific matters; On religion suggests how religious faith can fully develop latent psychic abilities; Mysteries of the Mind explores the varieties of human consciousness; On Reincarnation provides psychic accounts of people who have lived more than once.

The Essential Edgar Cayce Mark Thurston. A complete guide to the work of the remarkable twentieth-century seer, featuring Cayce's most intriguing and influential readings, and a biographical introduction to his life.

Edgar Cayce on Healing Foods for Body, Mind, and Spirit William A., Md McGarey, Edgar Cayce. A useful and practical source of information regarding what constructive eating is all about. It is written especially for those who are interested in seeking out their life purpose, in maintaining health, and in overcoming illnesses. Learn the importance of stress, attitudes, emotions, beliefs, habits, prayer, and meditation, and how they affect the use of food by the body and the ultimate effect it has on general health.

Dreams: Your Magic Mirror: With Interpretations of Edgar Cayce Elsie Sechrist, Edgar Cayce. Based on more than twenty years of dream research, Dreams: Your Magic Mirror provides compelling evidence of the importance of dreams and symbols in everyone's life. This book will help you learn to: preview future events from your dreams, interpret dream communications with departed loved ones, and receive messages that will be helpful in your life's most important decisions.

More books by, or about, Edgar Cayce

On the Web

Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) The A.R.E is the international headquarters for the work of Edgar Cayce, who is considered the best documented psychic of the twentieth century. Founded in 1931, the A.R.E. consists of a community of people from all walks of life and spiritual traditions who have found meaningful and life-transformative insights from the readings of Edgar Cayce. The mission of A.R.E. is to help individuals change their lives for the better by exploring concepts and ideas found in the Cayce work.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Edgar Cayce".