Edgar Cayce -The Sleeping Prophet

1. Edgar Cayce -The Sleeping Prophet

Edgar Cayce -The Sleeping Prophet

Jess Stearn

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THE SIXTH GRADE DROPOUTWHO ASTOUNDED THE SCIENTIFICEXPERTS OF THE WORLD!

Edgar Cayce was a grade school dropout, yet doctorsand therapists throughout the country are now success-fully treating arthritis, psoriasis, abdominal disordersand innumerable other complaints, by following the ad-vice he prescribed in thousands of clairvoyant readings.

His deathless legacy of medical reading?—containingclues to the control and cure of such diseases as can-cer and rheumatism—are being studied by knowledge-able scientists today.

Here is the startling biography of America's greatestmystic, written by Jess Stearn, the only trained re-searcher and reporter to gain complete access to theprophet's previously unavailable case histories and medi-cal readings. Journalist Stearn employed a geologistfrom Harvard, experts in medicine, and scientists inmany diverse fields to examine the technical materialleft by Edgar Cayce. Mr. Stearn personally interviewedmany of the people for whom Cayce had done readingsand effected cures. The result of his incisive researchadds much to the growing legend of Cayce's amazingabilities. Here is the whole fascinating story of thehumble and, perhaps, most fantastically gifted prophetof all time!

Bantam Books by Jess Stearn

Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed

EDGAR CAYCE—THE SLEEPING PROPHET

THE SEARCH FOR THE GIRL WITH THE BLUE EYES

YOGA. YOUTH. AND REINCARNATION

Edgar Cayce —The Sleeping Prophet

JESS STEARN

*f» yo*'

This low-priced Bantam Bookhas been completely reset tn a type lacedesigned for easy reading, and was printedfrom new plates. It contains the completetext of the original hard-cover edition,NOT ONE WOED HAS BEEN OMITTED.

EDGAR CAYCB—TUB SLEEPIKO PROPHET

A Bantam Book / published by arrangement withDoubleday A Company, Inc.

PRINTING HISTORYDoubleday edition published January 1967

2nd printing January 1967 Sth printing March 1967

3rd printing February 1967 6th printing April 1967

4th printing March 1967 7th printing June 1967

Mystic Arts Book Society edition published July 1967Bantam edition published January 19682nd printing January 1968 7lh printing August 1968

3rd printing January 1968 8th printing .. September 1968

4th printing February 1968 9th printing .. December 1968

Sth printing March 1968 10th printing March 1969

6th printing June 1968 11th printing .. November 1969

12th printing June 1971

13th printing

14th printing

15th printing

16th printing

17th printing

All rights reserved.Copyright C 1967 by Jess Steam.This book may not be reproduced In whole or In part, bymimeograph or any other means, without permission.For inlormatlon address: Doubleday A Company, Inc.,277 Park Avenue, New York. N.Y. 10017.

Published simultaneously In the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books. Inc.. a NationalGeneral company. Its trade-mark, consisting ol the words "BantamBooks" and the portrayal ol a bantam. Is registered In the UnitedSlates Patent Office and In other countries. Marca Reglstrada.Bantam Books. Inc.. 666 Filth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019.

PRINTED IN THE U N1TB D STATES OP AMERICA

WITH THANKS TO BOB AND ISABEL ADRIANCE,WHO HELPED MORE THAN THEY KNEW.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help introuble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earthbe removed, and though the mountains be carried intothe midst of the sea.

Psalm 46

Contents

Chapter One

THE SLEEPING WONDER

1

Chapter Two

CAYCE THE MAN

16

Chapter Three

CAYCE'S TIME CLOCK

33

Chapter Four

CHECKING HIM OUT

47

Chapter Five

CALIFORNIA—EARTHQUAKES

64

Chapter Six

WORLD PROPHECIES

81

Chapter Seven

THE DOCTORS AND CAYCE

99

Chapter Eight

TWENTY YEARS LATER

120

Chapter T^ine

THE DOCTORS CATCH ON

140

Chapter Ten

THE INCURABLE DISEASES

159

Chapter Eleven

CAYCE'S HOME REMEDIES

181

Chapter Twelve

THE DREAM WORLD

200

Chapter Thirteen

AT LAST, ATLANTIS

224

Chapter Fourteen

REINCARNATION

242

Chapter Fifteen

THE CAYCE BABIES

262

Chapter Sixteen

THE RECKONING

276

Chapter One

THE SLEEPIHG WONDER

It was like any other day for Edgar Cayce. He went to sleep,by merely lying down and closing his eyes, and then hestarted to talk in his sleep. But when he awakened a half-hour or so later, he realized from the faces of those aroundhim that he must have said something very extraordinary.And he had. In trance, on that hot, sultry day of August1941, in the same voice that he would have prescribed an in-nocent herb for somebody with the sniffles, he had predictedthe destruction of most of Los Angeles, San Francisco, andNew York.

The greatest mystic America had ever known reacted phil-osophically to his Cassandra-like prophecy. In the past, hehad foreseen great wars and holocausts, and they had cometo pass. From his own "readings," which had helped thou-sands, he had come to believe in an endless cycle of life, andthough he could consciously grieve for those who knew sor-row or pain in this lifetime, he felt it was all part of God'splan. And so it was with a shake of the head and a shrug thathe dismissed the forecast. "What do you make of that?" hesaid, scratching his head, "I hope it's wrong, but it's neverbeen wrong before." "It" was the subconscious information,apparently the product of a Universal Mind, which had beenstreaming through him for forty years, and which were ratherincongruously known as readings.

1

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Cayce's forecast had come quite inadvertently, out of thesame blue that produced his amazingly accurate diagnoses ofailing people whom he had never seen, and their consequentcures. As with other Cayce predictions, many of them al-ready startlingly confirmed, the forecast was in response to aquestion that had little or nothing to do with the original re-quest for the reading. A New York businessman, concernednot only by the continuing strain of big city life, but thethreat of wartime bombing, had said to Cayce, "I have formany months felt that I should move out of New York."

"This Ls well, as indicated," the slumbering Cayce ob-served. "There is too much unrest; there will continue to bothe character of vibrations that to the body will be disturbing,and eventually those destructive forces, though these will bein the next generation."

The businessman asked: "Will Los Angeles be safe?"

The answer came clearly, directly, without equivocation,"Los Angeles, San Francisco, most all of these will be amongthose that will be destroyed before New York even."

The mechanics of this destruction was neither asked, norgiven. However, in keeping with other prognostications ofCayce's, it would appear that the destruction—if itcomes—will be through the agency of Nature, and not theBomb, unless, of course, it would be the Bomb that touchedoff a natural catastrophe.

The predicted destruction in this country, part of the gen-eral Cayce forecast of sweeping upheavals around the world,has been tabbed for the period beginning in 1958, and ex-tending to the end of the century, when a new millennium willhopefully begin. Some of these preliminary changes, in theMediterranean and the South Pacific, and in Alaska, have ap-parently already taken place, with Connecticut, New Eng-land, Alabama, Georgia, Japan, and northern Europe, amongothers still to be sharply affected. But it may be a comfort tomany, as more than one geologist has noted, that the manycataclysmic events predicted by Cayce are out of harmonywith the standard geological concept of uniformitarianism orgradual change. On the other hand, at least one leading ge-ologist, erstwhile head of a college geology department, haschecked out the Cayce readings, and sees as eminently possi-ble the drastic earth changes merging out of Cayce's statedcause—the tilting of the earth's rotational axis, beginning farbelow the crust of the earth in 1936.

THE SLEEPING WONDER

3

Cayce had a flair for prophecy and some even interpret areading in 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War Uin Europe, as foreshadowing the current war in Vietnam."Before that we find the entity [the complex of body, souland spirit] was in the land now known as or called Indochina.. . . There we find the entity was one in authority, one inpower, in that city that must be unfolded to the minds, ifthere is not the greater war over same." It was a disjointedexcerpt from a past life reading, a Cayce specialty, and couldbe applied, if the French-Indochina war, which took theFrench out of Vietnam, was the lesser war. But one usuallydidn't have to look this hard for signs of Cayce predictionscome true. He had foreseen, correctly, virtually every majorworld crisis, from before World War I, through the uneasyyears of the League of Nations, and beyond through WorldWar II, whose end he had predicted for 1945, the year of hisown death. In the intervals, casually, while reading psychi-cally for individuals, he picked off earthquakes, storms, vol-canic eruptions. He not only saw far afield, but close athome, where his predictions making Norfolk-Newport Newsa preeminent port, greater even than New York, have ratherremarkably materialized, along with his pinpointing of a localrealty boom to the very year, nearly fifteen years after hisown death.

Through the clear channel of his subconscious he peereddown the corridors of time into the troubled internationalscene, describing the future of Russia, China, Japan, Eng-land, the United States. He foresaw England losing India,when nobody else did; he saw a free India unloved, becauseit was unloving, and he tied in the end of Communism withanother and more astonishing prediction of a free God-fearing Russia. What he saw for China, eventual democrati-zation, is certainly not being predicted, logically, anywhereelse, and for an America, unconquerable, except through in-ternal strife, he saw eventual world leadership, shared withanother power, as the center of civilization gradually gravi-tated westward.

To me, Cayce was no new phenomenon. I had "discov-ered" him originally, five years before, in preparing my book,The Door to the Future. I had become familiar with many ofhis prophecies, his remarkable way of apparently traveling intime and space to treat the ill; his concept of reincarnation,with its concept of many lives for the same soul spirit Cayce

4

seemed gifted with a Universal Mind, which seemingly drewon a subconscious register of everything that had ever hap-pened or was going to happen. It seemed an incredible qual-ity, but as one studied Cayce, as he would any other individ-ual, work or phenomenon, checking as he could with the evi-dence on hand, it became apparent that Cayce somehow,some way, was able to look inside of everything that fell intothe realm of his unconscious—the human body and soul, theearth, the Universe itself. He was the man with the X-rayeyes.

In my current research, I soon became aware that theCayce influence was stronger now than in his lifetime. It wasalmost as though a self-limiting world, softened up by flightsto the moon, laser rays and television, was catching up post-humously to the sage who had sleep-talked of a forgottencivilization, technologically comparable with our own—theLost Continent of Atlantis, a visionary experience sharedwith that great figure of antiquity, the philosopher Plato.

Twenty years after his death, the mystic's life work wasthriving, slowly and painfully collected from thousands ofreadings and left as his legacy in the files of the Associationfor Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach. Scorned,generally, by the medical profession while alive, the deadCayce, and his readings on disease, was now a magnet for theinquiring minds of distinguished medical researchers."Cayce," one medical authority reported, "was one hundredyears ahead of his time, medically, and one day we may re-write the textbooks on physiology and anatomy to conformwith his concept of health flowing out of a perfect harmonyof blood, lymph, glands and nerves." Years before psychoso-matic medicine, Cayce stressed that tensions and strains wereresponsible for stomach ulcers. In a benign Nature, he sawthe remedy for any health deviation or illness man was heirto, though, at the same time, he realized that not everyonecould be helped when their time was at hand. Thirty yearsbefore the revelation of a rabbit serum "cure" for cancer bla-zoned across the country's front pages in 1966, Cayce hadprescribed such a serum for cancer cases, and described howit should be prepared. However, as he recommended it inonly five cases of the seventy-eight he diagnosed as cancer, inhis schemata it was obviously only helpful for certain can-cers.

In the years since his death, five hundred healers of every

THE SLEEPING WONDER 5

description—MDs, osteopaths, chiropractors, physiothera-pists—have familiarized themselves with his methods, and insuch diverse areas as Virginia, New York, Michigan, Ari-zona, Connecticut, and California, people who could get nohelp elsewhere are being successfully treated out of his read-ings. One woman was cured of a vaginal tumor by a therapistwho had studied his Cayce well; again, dramatically, Ilearned of a man cured of incurable psoriasis, by a voicefrom the dead, so to speak. I sat and marveled, watching adistinguished American composer, a semi-invalid only a shorttime before, rolling around on the floor, doing the Cayce-inspired exercises that had magically loosened the arthriticjoints of his shoulders, arms, and fingers. He was a new man,he told me gratefully, thanks to the dead Cayce.

There was little question of Cayce's healing force, for Iwas able to check this out with the hopelessly ill who hadbeen helped. I spoke to therapists, principally osteopaths,whom he did not consciously know, to whom in his lifetimehe directed patients. He had told one Staten Island mother,with an ailing child, "Find Dobbins," and her steps finallytook her to a young osteopath. Dr. Frank Dobbins, so newlyarrived to Staten Island that his name was not yet in the NewYork City telephone directory. And just as Cayce had notconsciously known of him, so Dobbins had never heard ofCayce. The prescriptions he recommended were often as in-comprehensible. Some had a dozen different ingredients,many of which the average pharmacist had never heard of,and yet Cayce himself was completely unschooled, never hav-ing gone beyond the sixth grade in his native Hopkinsville,Kentucky. Often the preparations were completely unknown.Once, for instance, he had recommended clary water for aman troubled with rheumatism No druggist had heard of itSo the subject took an advertisement in a trade paper, askinghow it might be obtained or compounded. From Paris, seeingthe ad, a man wrote that his father had developed the prod-uct, but that production had been discontinued nearly fiftyyears before. He enclosed a copy of the original prescription."You may have it duplicated if you wish." Meanwhile, Caycehad made a check reading, asking himself in trance howclary water could be made. His new information tallied ex-actly with the prescription from Paris.

How did he do it? Dr. Wesley H Ketchum, an MD withan orthodox background, but an eclectic approach, used

6

Cayce as an adjunct to his practice for several years, stylinghim a Psychic Diagnostician, and he told an intrigued medi-cal audience how Cayce functioned, according to Cayce's owndescription of his powers.

"Edgar Cayce's mind," Ketchum told a skeptical Bostonmedical group, "is amenable to suggestion, as are all othersubconscious minds, but in addition it has the power to inter-pret what it acquires from the subconscious mind of other in-dividuals. The subconscious mind forgets nothing. The con-scious mind receives the impression from without and trans-fers all thoughts to the subconscious, where it remains eventhough the conscious be destroyed." Long before the human-ist Jung advanced his concept of the collective unconscious,Cayce was apparently practicing what Jung only postulated."Cayce's subconscious," Ketchum elaborated, "is in directcommunication with all other subconscious minds, and is ca-pable of interpreting through his objective mind and impart-ing impressions received to other objective minds, gatheringin this way all knowledge possessed by endless millions ofother subconscious minds."

Ketchum, who is still alive, and living in California, wasparticularly impressed because Cayce correctly told him hedidn't have appendicitis, when seven doctors insisted he did,advising surgery. Cayce attributed the attacks to a wrenchedspine, which had caused nerve impingements and peripheralpains, and recommended osteopathic adjustments. WithCayce's treatment, the condition cleared, and Ketchum wasnever troubled with "appendicitis" again. He had no quarrelwith the doctors, for he had diagnosed his own casesimilarly—appendicitis.

As one examined his work, Cayce appeared to be not onlyhealer but counselor and philosopher. Much before his time,he was aware that most bodily illness was born of the mind,of emotional frustrations, resentments, anger. He advised onewoman to cleanse herself physically and mentally. "Keep themental in the attitude of constructive forces. See in every in-dividual that which is hopeful, helpful. Do not look for oth-ers' faults, but rather for their virtues, and the virtues in selfwill become magnified. For what we think upon, that we be-come." He told another woman bothered with chronic colds:"Instead of resentments, love; instead of snuffing, blow." Itworked. She didn't have another cold for years, and her dis-

THE SLEEPING WONDER

7

position today is sunny, her complexion the schoolgirl pink ofa teen-ager, though she is in her sixties.

He applied the same philosophy to nations, stressing thatas the body warred on itself, so did countries, feeding on jeal-ousy, malice, hate. Once asked what could be done by theAmerican people to bring about a lasting peace, he replied:"We haven't the American people [here at the reading]. Thething is to start with yourself. Unless you can bring aboutwithin yourself that which you would have in the nation or inany particular land, don't offer it to others."

As sound as he may have been medically, this was evi-dence of but one phase of his powers. There were those whothought that if Cayce was subconsciously infallible in this onerespect, he was right in all respects, since the source was nec-essarily the same. "Why," said a grizzled old sea captain,whom Cayce had correctly diagnosed at a distance of a thou-sand miles, "why should he be so right about the cure for myaching back, and be wrong about anything else?" It was aquestion that I had to ask myself many times, as I lookedinto many of the other marvels he talked about in sleep: histruly earth-shaking prophecies and forecasts of world affairs,Atlantis, reincarnation, his detailed description of past geo-logical changes that had caused entire continents to disappear.There was another intriguing point. Why, too, if he had un-limited powers of divination, had he not made himselfwealthy, exploring for oil or gold, playing the races or themarket, instead of being wretchedly poor most of his life?

Ironically, others did make fortunes out of his stock mar-ket readings; others did find oil, where he said it would be,and others, reportedly, won on the horses. But Cayce himselfhad never profited. Perhaps the answer lay in his own read-ings, which stressed repeatedly, that they were not to be usedfor material gain. In the end nobody gained, it seemed, whenmotivated only by gain. A stockbroker lost his fortune,achieved through Cayce, when he persisted in playing themarket, contrary to Cayce's advice; a man who had won onthe horses, misusing the Cayce gift, wound up in an asylum.Yet Cayce was uncannily accurate, predicting the 1929 stockmarket crash almost to the month, and saying there was oilin Dade County, Florida, when all anybody was thinking ofwas oranges and grapefruits, and pinpointing the end of theDepression. As he considered his own performance, Cayce

8

felt that the stress on materiality was a negative force, defeat-ing what he thought a God-given purpose. Whenever he readsubconsciously for gain, his own or somebody else's, hesuffered severe headaches, or in extreme cases, lapsed intoaphonia, loss of voice. There was a notable instance of this.After the turn of the century, he had given a test demonstra-tion, describing to doctors in Bowling Green, Kentucky, theprecise movements of a real estate operator in New York, ashe climbed up to his office, smoking a cigar and whistling"Annie Laurie." Since the report tallied precisely with his ac-tual movements, the realtor immediately saw the possibilities.He took the next train for Bowling Green. His propositionwas a simple one. "I'll take you back with me," he said, "andwe'll make a fortune on Wall Street."

The newly married Cayce discussed it with his wife, Ger-trude, a moving force in his life, and she felt it would be anabuse of his power, for which he would suffer. "Once you getaway from helping people," she said significantly, "it alwaysmakes you ill."

When Cayce refused him, the New Yorker asked for a testreading. As the man had traveled a considerable distance,Cayce agreed. He fell into a trance, and when he awakened,the man had already left, with an armful of notes. Thatnight, Cayce tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His headached horribly. Later, that week, the explanation material-ized. The real estate operator, taking advantage of Cayce'sunconsciousness, had picked his subconscious mind. On in-formation from the unsuspecting Cayce, he gleefully con-fided to friends, he had cleaned up twenty thousand dollarson the market in one quick coup.

After another demonstration, in which experimenting doc-tors thrust needles in him to test whether he was actually intrance, Cayce decided he would never give another reading,without somebody present whom he could implicitly trustThat person was his wife, Gertrude, who supervised thou-sands of readings thereafter.

With all his vaunted powers, Cayce was a humble man, re-ligious, God-fearing, who read the Bible every day of his life.He would see anybody, at any time, if left to his own devices,though it was a strain to do more than two readings a day.He was twice arrested, once for practicing medicine withouta license, another time for fortune-telling. Yet, he never gavea health reading, without an express request, nor did he turn

THE SLEEPING WONDER

9

anybody away because they couldn't pay. When he was mosthard-pressed for money, during the Depression, with unpaidbills piling up, his sponsoring group, the Cayce Foundation,felt that clients who could afford it were chiseling in not con-tributing to the A R. E. treasury, a usual requirement for areading. This contribution was normally twenty dollars. So abeleaguered finance committee, wishing to cut off the chisel-ers, put a leading question to the sleeping Cayce: "To thosewho cannot pay, free help shall be given. To those who maywell afford to pay and refuse to donate anything, either inservices or money, shall further aid be denied? In this policyshall we be following the correct path?"

The answer must have been rather a disappointment to hischancellors of the vanishing exchequer, but it was typical ofCayce: "The rain falls on the just and unjust alike. Do notmake such [denial to anyone, for any reason] an ironcladrule."

Awake or sleeping, Cayce was no ordinary man. He had away of putting people at their ease immediately, and stran-gers, otherwise shy and retiring, would walk up to this slim,stoop-shouldered man, with the kindly gaze, and shake hishand. Frequently, they would talk to him across his desk, dis-cussing the most intimate problems, or they would write fromevery corner of the globe, and he would always write back, ina precise hand, which showed a clarity of thought, even whenthe spelling wasn't He had a lively humor, enjoying a jokeon himself. "Would you like to talk things over?" he onceasked a woman visitor. "Yes," she answered, "but I want tohear what you say when asleep, Mr. Cayce, not when you'reawake."

The shyest children approached him, and Cayce thoughtnothing of their friendliest overtures. It could very well be,he told himself with a smile, that he had known them before.One day, for instance, as he dropped into a Virginia Beachbarber shop, a small boy casually climbed onto his lap. Thefather looked up from his haircut "You mustn't bother thatman," he said. "He isn't anybody you know."

The boy's arm tightened around Cayce's neck. "But I doknow him," he said. "We were hungry together at the river."

This gave even Cayce a start For in a reading, that onlyhis family knew about, he had seen himself in a previous lifeon a raft on the Ohio River, fleeing from a band of maraud-ing Indians. The Indians finally caught up to their quarry and

10

massacred them, which was probably just as well, for theywere slowly starving to death anyway.

In the year 1923, Cayce's direction took a startlingly newturn. Until then he had only given the physical or healthreadings. But in that year, prodded by the sharp questioningof Arthur Lammers, a Dayton, Ohio, printer interested in re-ligious philosophy, Cayce began the life readings whichtraced man's experience in past lives. This was Cayce's intro-duction to reincarnation, the soul's return to earth in a differ-ent body—a concept, ironically, he was not yet ready to ac-cept Lammers, preoccupied with man's purpose in the uni-verse, had thrown all sorts of questions at the psychic with anapparently endless fund of knowledge. Lammers asked whatevery sensitive man had been asking since the beginning oftime:

"What is the human soul?

"Where does it come from, and where does it go?

"Is man but another of Nature's creatures, put on earth fora brief cycle, then turned to dust like the fallen trees?"

At these questions, the conscious Cayce could only shrug."Try the Bible," he said, "the answer for everything liesthere."

Lammers grimaced. "I've read the Bible, and I'm still ask-ing you."

It had never occurred to Cayce to delve into the areas oflife after death, and as a fundamentalist born, he balked at aphilosophy not accepted by orthodox Christianity.

"Reincarnation." Lammers argued, "is simply a belief thatthe soul is eternal, at intervals appearing again in otherphysical bodies, so that it can continue as an instrument of itsown development." He pointed out several Biblical referencesthat apparently showed acceptance of reincarnation. "Thoselews who didn't recognize Jesus as the Christ" Lammers ob-served, "asked if he were Elias, here to herald the coming ofthe Messiah and He replied that Elias had already come andthey knew him not." He quoted from the Bible: " 'Then thedisciples understood that He spake unto them of John theBaptist'"

Cayce was not convinced, but under the gentle prodding ofLammers and his friends, his subconscious began invokingpast life experiences. These took the subjects back to not onlysuch exotic known lands as ancient India, China, Persia, andEgypt but to such legendary places as Lost Atlantis and

THE SLEEPING WONDER

II

sunken Lemuria in the Pacific. As these life readings pro-gressed, they became at times more interpretative than narra-tive. Cayce outlined how past life experience had influencedthe present, and what the individual must overcome to fulfillthis life. Unlike many reincarnationists, indulging in flights offancy about glamorous former incarnations, Cayce insistedthat only one life could be lived at a time. "Life," he saidmany times, "is for the doing today."

As he got deeper into life readings, he frequently spokealien languages in trance, chiefly the familiar Romancetongues. But once asked to speak Greek, by a Greek scholar,he broke into Homeric Greek, as though living in that period.Atlantis, of course, was born of his flights into reincarnation,since so many had "lived" there once before. In his dis-courses on Atlantis, describing its progress and collapse, hesaid the last surviving islands had disappeared in the area ofthe Caribbean about ten thousand years ago. He predictedthat land would rise again one day soon in this area. How-ever, the rise would be gradual, and freshly emerging landmight not evidence itself for a while. The Atlantis story wasesoteric but fascinating. With the age-old Atlantean breakup,Cayce had seen a dispersal of its superior culture to the Medi-terranean, Central and South America, and even some partsof the United States. Archaeologists, digging behind Cayce,are now turning up records of "homegrown" civilizations inPeru, Mexico, New Mexico, where man had a culture goingback some ten to twelve thousand years ago—dispersal timein crumbling Atlantis.

In time, examining his own readings, believing in The In-formation, Cayce came to believe in reincarnation—and At-lantis. The first appeared to put rhyme and reason in a funda-mentally orderly universe, even in its seeming disorder, andthe last was plausible, considering the catastrophes foreseenin the past and visualized for the future. Besides, there wasthe Bible. Had not Joshua, in the name of the Lord God, saidto the people of Israel: "Your fathers dwelt on the other sideof the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham,and the father of Nachor, and they served other Gods. And Itook your father Abraham from the other side of the flood,and led him throughout all the land of Canaan."

As a doubter, it was rather intriguing at times to see howCayce subconsciously applied the past experience of a subjectto an understanding of very tangible problems in this experi-

12

ence. Consulted by a twenty-five-year-old woman, with a kar-ma—or debit—of letting down others, Cayce advised, "Thatsown must one day be reaped. Ye disappointed others. Todayfrom thine own disappointments ye may learn patience, themost beautiful of all virtues and the least understood."

Impatiently, the woman asked how she could marry theman she wanted. "What may I do to help the problem?"

"As the experience indicates," the sleeping Cayce said, "donot do too much. Rather be in that position to be the helperwhen needed. Do not push or advise, but listen."

"S and I quarrel and are unhappy with each other

much of the time . . ."

(Cayce interrupting) "Would it not be expected, consider-ing the positions?"

"Are we mated? Should we continue our relationship aslovers with the purpose of marrying, or would it be better tobreak off our relationship?"

Again, after counseling patience, Cayce delivered a pieceof advice, apparently paraphrased from Frances Anne Kem-ble's Faith. "It is better to trust one heart, and that deceiving,than doubt one heart which if believing, would bless thy lifewith true understanding."

The young woman persisted. "Is it indicated that I shouldmarry during this incarnation? If so, when and where will Imeet the person?"

"Not until near the thirtieth birthday." She had five yearsto wait

Undaunted, she adopted another tack: "What is my pur-pose and am I living a Godlike life so that I may reflect Godand bring happiness to everyone?"

The answer hardly required a mystic. "Read what we havegiven. There has been much accomplished, and there is muchto be accomplished. Be not hasty in thy choices, but know thatit is not by might, but by the trusting wholly in Him."

It was plain, solid advice, and in keeping with the man-Nobody would have taken Cayce for a mystic at sight. As hegrew older, his brown hair thinned out in the middle years. Hehad a sharp, quizzical face, a receding chin, and twinklingblue-gray eyes behind rimless glasses. He could have been ateacher, a country doctor, a store clerk, anything but an eso-teric or occultist. When people came to see him for theirreadings, instead of sitting in their own parlors as he "found"their bodies, he greeted them humbly, and promised only that

THE 8LEEPING WONDER 13

he would do his best. Sometimes The Information wouldn'tcome. "It isn't anything I can control," he would say apolo-getically.

He observed a regular ritual. Avoiding strictures of circula-tion, he would remove his jacket and tie, open his collar andloosen his cuffs, unlace his shoes. Then he would lie back onthe couch in his study, placing his hands on his forehead.Often as not, he would smile pleasantly, before responding tothe suggestion that he put himself to sleep. As a signal, Ger-trude would lean over and touch his cheek. He would closehis eyes, fold his hands over his chest, and begin to breathedeeply. Mrs. Cayce, and Cayce's secretary and trusted aide,Gladys Davis, would close their own eyes in prayer. AsCayce sighed, breathing evenly, as anyone would in a nap,Gertrude would speak softly, making the suggestion that in-duced the reading. "You have the body of M. L. before you,who is in Chicago [street and address were given]. You willgo over this body carefully, examine it thoroughly, and tellme the conditions you find at the present time, giving thecause of the existing conditions, also the treatment for thecure and relief of this body. You will speak distinctly at anormal rate of speech, answering the questions as I askthem."

Cayce apparently not only visualized the health of the sub-ject, wherever he was, but his surroundings as well. His sub-conscious would sometimes pick out streets as he gropedabout, naming them even when they weren't marked by streetsigns. Occasionally, he would hesitate, saying the subject hadleft the house. Once he broke off a reading completely, andthe next day, it was learned the patient had died at that pre-cise moment. Another time, tested by a medical committeeheaded by Dr. John Blackburn of Bowling Green, he de-scribed the distant room in which his subject lay. He picturedwallpaper, decorations, furnishings, even to a corner nighttable; described the bed and bedding, naming the manufac-turer. The next day, it all checked out On still another occa-sion, an ailing sea captain, forgetting his appointment, had lefthis ship at the time of the readings, but Cayce caught up tohim anyway. "You see," the skipper explained, "Cayce hadread for me before, and knew my habits."

Healthwise, Cayce had a virtually infallible record, whenhis recommendations were followed. Nevertheless, his advicewas often disregarded, either because the treatment required

EDGAR CAYCE THE SLEEPING PROPHET

14

so much time or effort, or the patient could find no therapistto implement the instructions. At times, impatience turnedeven Cayce's dearest admirers to therapy promising faster re-lief. Cayce's friend and biographer, Thomas Sugrue, tryingCayce's tedious cure of an apparent arthritic condition, beganto bridle at his slow recovery. Cayce, stressing improvementwould be slow, had recommended a cumbersome wet cell ap-pliance with a gold chloride solution. Instead, Sugrue impetu-ously turned to the miracle drugs, which adversely affectedhis system, and a few months later he was dead, following anoperation.

There was scarcely any activity, terrestrial or celestial,that Cayce's universal consciousness didn't explore. Longev-ity, or the absence of it, intrigued the sleeping Cayce. He syn-chronized long life with selflessness, pointing out that in timethe age span would increase most in those nations practicingthe greatest altruism. "Look to the nation where the span oflife has been extended from sixty to eighty-four years, andyou will judge who is serving God." In Russia, surprisingly,after his predicted fall of Communism, he saw a sharp ageincrease. As it is, Russia's life expectancy, reputedly secondonly to England's, stands at sixty-eight, provided only naturaldeath is considered, not sudden demises brought about bypolitical factors.

Cayce often intruded in the areas of science. Once he pro-vocatively spoke of a death ray the Atlanteans had devised toeliminate deadly beasts. In the reading, given in 1933, hepredicted a similar ray would be discovered here by 1958, ashe described how it once worked, "And this [method of han-dling the environment] was administered in much the sameway or manner as sending out from various central plantsthat which is at present termed the death ray—or the supercosmic ray—that which many are seeking, which will givetheir lives much, from the stratosphere—or cosmic rays—that will be found in the next twenty-five years."

What hogwash this must have seemed at the time, andwhat hogwash it would still appear, if not for passing pressreports, such as this, out of Denver in December of 1961:"Scientists are developing a death ray weapon designed toturn anything it is focused on into a wisp of gaseous vapor.Dr. Carl L. Kober of the Martin Company plant disclosedthe weapon would be partially nuclear-powered. It would ac-complish its destructive work by throwing a fantastically hot

TUB SLEEPING WONDER

11

beam on the subject . . . the disintegration ray, sounding likesomething from science fiction, would be designed for use interrestrial warfare."

As science refines its methods of exploring the pre-historicpast, new opportunities will constantly present themselves totest Cayce's unconscious. With the United States and Russiaengaged in a little publicized race in "inner space," Americanocean survey ships, a virtually unknown Little Navy, arecoursing the globe, trying to explore the mysterious two-thirds of the world covered by the seas. Already, in a vastcorridor between Hawaii and Alaska, they have discovered athousand-mile-long mountain range, with peaks some sixthousand feet from the ocean floor—and still two miles belowthe surface. Other oceanographers have turned up a river inthe Pacific, flowing some thirty-five hundred miles along theEquator. Perhaps, as Cayce's unconscious insisted, great con-tinents did crowd the North Atlantic and South Pacific at onetime, eventually swallowed up by cataclysms, as other landmasses may be one day if Cayce's a proper prophet. Nev-ertheless, despite all this foreshadowing of death and destruc-tion, Cayce's message was fundamentally one of hope andfaith: "Know and realize that the earth is the Lord's, with allits turmoils and strifes, with all its hates and jealousies, withall its political and economic disturbances. And His ways arenot past finding out. By living them in the little things, day byday, may that surety in self, that sureness in Him be thine.For His promises have been and are sure. 'Let not your heartbe troubled; ye believe in God.* Believe also in the Christ,who gave, 'If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments,and I and the Father will come and abide with thee day byday.' "

Chapter Two

CATCE THE MAN.

Although he many times warned of World War II, predictingits beginning and end, Edgar Cayce was as stunned as any-body else when the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor. Hebrooded over the war, not only for the two sons called to theservice, nor the young men fighting and dying on the sevenseas, but for the passionate feeling he had that man had notlearned to live with himself or his God. Ten days after Amer-ica's entry into the war, he wrote a sister he loved dearly: "Ido hope I won't bore you with all the burdens of my heartjust now, but this war business about has the best of me.Have felt of course that it was coming about, but hopedagainst hope that it would not. But we are reminded contin-uously that 'God is not mocked, and whatsoever a man sows,that must he reap.' "

With customary candor, he acknowledged that he had noinkling, psychically, of the sneak attack. "Yes, we have muchdata that we are seeing coming about, but nothing was evergiven as to what happened on the 7th." At the same time heexpressed his concern for the Navy personnel, who hadshipped out from the neighboring naval base at Norfolk."Had, and hope have yet, some very good friends in Hawaii,haven't heard from them since, though had letters mailed just

16

CAYCE THE MAN

11

day or two before it happened. Some of them are in theNavy, but not on any of the ships reported lost, boys whoseem to have gotten much from their contact with the Work;address me as Dad, even as my own boys—and have told meI was the sort of a father they would like to have had. So youmay know about how anxious I am at this time."

Though surrounded by people who loved him, he was alonely man. Like Lincoln and Lee, whom he admired, he car-ried his cause close to his heart, a cause even more universalthan theirs, man's understanding of God's purpose for him onearth. Everything he said or did in his mature years was sub-sidiary to this. In his own work, he felt that he was fulfillingthis purpose. It was the only thing that made endurable theyears of doubt, of ignominy, of privation for the ones heloved most. "If I thought for one minute it wasn't helping, I'dgive it up this instant."

At one of the low points of his life, after his arrest as afortune-teller in New York City, he returned in black despairto his home in Virginia Beach, wondering why, if his workwas worthwhile, he and his family should suffer one reversalafter another. In his depression the lesson of the long-suffering Job appeared lost on this fervid student of the Bible.And so he gave himself a reading, his wife, Gertrude, askingwhy his power, if he had any, had not warned of the trap setby police. The answer was not what he was looking for. Onhis awakening, his wife, and his aide, Gladys Davis, told himwhat his message was: "A certain amount of scouring was es-sential for the better development of the soul." The muchtried psychic shook his head and sighed heavily. "I seem tobe able to help everybody but myself."

It had been that way with the search for oil, with invest-ments, with simple real estate transactions, until Cayce gotthe feeling that he and materiality were never meant to joinhands. At the same time, Cayce seldom fretted about money.His attitude toward it was almost child-like. Like an earliermystic, Bronson Alcott, the Concord transcendentalist, he feltthe Lord would provide. And he appeared to be right, thoughit was not unusual for his children to have patches in theirclothes and Cayce to have holes in his shoes. One harsh win-ter, the family was without fuel. The children, huddled intheir overcoats, looked up from a meager meal, to hear theirfather calmly asking the good Lord for firewood.

A couple of hours later, there was a knock at the door. It

was a road foreman for the power and light company. Hiscrew was ready to cut down an old light pole in front of thehouse, and for the necessary permission they were willing tosaw the pole into firewood and stack it on the lawn. On an-other occasion, a local grocery store had cut the Cayce fam-ily off the credit list—until a bill for $87.50 was paid. Theharried Mrs. Cayce fretfully asked her husband to think ofraising the money somehow. "Don't worry about it. Mother,"he said calmly, "the money will turn up." And he calmlywent fishing.

That morning, the postman arrived with a letter. Inside,was a check just large enough to cover the bill. Mrs. Cayceheaved a grateful sigh. "Now take it over to the grocerystore, Edgar," she enjoined.

"All right, Mother," he said good-naturedly.

An hour later he was back with a new fishing pole and anarmful of tackle. Mrs. Cayce looked at him with despair inher heart "Edgar," she said, "you couldn't... ?"

"Don't worry about it. Mother," he said imperturbably."The money will turn up somehow."

At one time, without money to buy family necessities orpay his secretary, he was asked to explain why he wasn'tdoing better. The question was put by his wife. "In considera-tion of the fact that Edgar Cayce is devoting his entire timeto the Work, give the reason for his not being able to obtainsufficient financial support for his and his family's materialsustenance, and how may he, Edgar Cayce, correct this con-dition?"

Mrs. Cayce looked up expectantly as Edgar's lips began tomove: "Live closer to Him, who giveth all good and perfectgifts, and ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall beopened unto you. Give and it shall be returned fourfold.There has never been the lack of necessities, neither willthere be, so long as adhering to the Lord's way is kept firstand foremost"

The seer's family would have been less than human hadthey not thrown up their arms. But, as the future was toshow, Cayce was again prophetic In every low spot, a dooropened and the Lord provided.

Contrary to prevailing impression, Cayce was psychic,waking, as well as sleeping. He constantly saw fields of lightsaround people's heads—auras telling him about the state of

CAYCE THE MAN 19

their emotions and health. Once, a woman, fresh from aquarrel with a neighbor, came marching into his study. Helooked up mildly from his Bible. "I see a red aura all aroundyou. Come back next week when you're not angry anymore."

Again he was concerned about a woman, who had no aura.Two days later, she was dead.

Since he was so acutely sensitive to everything about him,it was difficult to relax like the ordinary person. He had tomake a continuous effort to close himself off. There were fewways he could detach himself. He liked to play cards, butonce, without even glancing at the deck, he correctly read offfifty-two cards in succession to demonstrate that bridge wouldbe a bore. Aside from the Bible, his only relaxers were fishingand gardening. He loved to sit for hours on the pier back ofhis house, casting into a fresh-water lake. Children wouldcome and talk to him as he fished, and he would tell themstories, remembered from his own fanciful childhood. Hefished when it rained, and when it blowed or snowed, forhere he found refuge from himself.

On the gloomiest days he would work in his garden, talk-ing soothingly to the plants. He could make flowers growwhere they had never grown before, caressing them tenderly,as though they were people. He was keenly aware of everyaspect of the outdoors, observing all life with an appreciativeeye. On a particularly exhilarating spring morning he noted:"Lovely day—new bird songs today—appears to be an unu-sual number of birds, or am I just aware of their presence?The early morning song of the tomtit, the bluebird, lark, catbird, robin, the mockingbird, and the new ones sound likecanaries, but are red, with brown, and the female yellow andblack, but lovely bird—used to call them weaver bird, buthaven't seen any before in years and years. Oh, let's not forgetthe redwing, he is lovely."

There was an artless boyishness about Cayce that beliedthe mystic. As a young man, it kept bartenders from servinghim, and poolroom operators from renting him their tables.

Looking for a job once, ho walked into a shoe store, andbegan waiting on a customer. The manager, seeing him atwork, absentmindedly sent the young stranger to the bank forchange, and Cayce worked on for the rest of the day. Thatnight, the puzzled manager asked how it all happened.

20

"Somebody asked me for something and I just gave it tothem," Cayce replied simply. He stayed on for eighteenmonths.

He was constantly described as an illiterate by writers henever saw, but this was clearly a misnomer. For as the yearswent by, the sixth-grade dropout learned much from the out-side world. Statesmen, financiers, professors, and scientistsdiscussed their problems with him. He visited their homes,rubbing elbows with the great and near-great, and they visitedhim, drawn by curiosity and need. He read the newspapers,but rarely opened a book, except the Bible, which he readthrough each year, constantly finding it a new source of in-spiration. As it did Lincoln, it influenced his conscious writ-ing, making it precise and pointed, though his unconsciousspeech always remained florid and involved. He had been afailure in school, leaving at fifteen, because he could not har-ness his mind, already showing signs of subconscious develop-ment, to a relatively primitive learning process, patently ab-surd in the face of his own pipeline to the Universal Mind.Later in life, he scanned his own readings carefully, dispas-sionately regarding them as The Information, and he imbibedmuch from them, in such varied areas as health, homosexu-ality, astrology, and politics.

The universality of his faith crossed all religious lines. Hewas equally at home with Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Hindu,Buddhist All reacted equally to the interest he felt in every-body. He had frequent soul-searching conversations with Fa-ther Brennan, the pastor of the Catholic Star of the SeaChurch, across the way. The good Father never ventured up-stairs in the Cayce home, but paid his ecumenical respects inother ways. One day when Cayce was out of town, a hurri-cane ripped through Virginia Beach, flooding streets andhomes. Returning the next day, Cayce went down into hiscellar to investigate. There, he saw the Catholic priest and aPresbyterian minister from down the street, ankle-deep inwater, bailing out the basement as though their souls de-pended upon it

For many with far more education and worldly distinction,he was an authority figure. Some respectfully called himJudge, others Captain, many called him "Doctor." His firstbiographer, Sugrue, knew him simply as Boss.

Like the mystic Lincoln, Cayce made friends easily, and hadthe same homespun way of spinning out a story. But again

CAYCE THE MAN

21

like Lincoln, because of the hypersensitive side of his nature,there were corners of his mind he could share with nobody.Everybody became an outsider when terrible visions floodedin on him, as they often did. One bright sunny day in Juneof 1936, for instance, he was hoeing in his garden, when heheard a noise like a swarming of bees. He looked up, startled,and there in the sky saw a chariot drawn by four whitehorses. He tried to persuade himself that it was pure imagina-tion, when he heard a voice saying, "Look behind you." Heturned and beheld a man, with a shield and helmet, knee-guards and a cape, but no weapon of any kind. His counte-nance was like the light his armor of burnished silver. Heraised his hand in salute, and said, "The chariot of the Lordand thy horsemen thereof." Then he disappeared.

Shaken by this daytime nightmare, Cayce dropped his hoeand rushed into the house. He brushed past his son, HughLynn, and locked himself in his study. When he finallyemerged hours later, he explained that he had seen the ap-proach of World War II, with its millions of dead. It hadbeen a jolt to bis conscious mind.

In forming some friendships at sight Cayce believed hehad known the friend before. His belief in reincarnation,with its corollary of a karmic past made him more tolerantof others, and devoid of vanity. Still, he had a rising regardfor his own mission, and with reason. Once he was surprisedin his study by a minister, who had come to question his pow-ers. As the minister walked in unnoticed, Cayce was murmur-ing under his breath, "Thank you, thank you, oh Lord, foranother life." Only a few moments before a grateful motherhad phoned to thank him for saving her baby.

He tried to find time for everybody with a problem.Though his own readings said that he should read but twice aday, or risk disintegration, he stretched this to seven or eightreadings a day during World War II because of demands notonly from the ill, but from parents like himself concerned bysons away at war. However he pushed himself, the mail piledup. His own clairvoyance was some help. Once, as his aideshelplessly eyed a huge sack of mail, not knowing where tostart, he said, 'Take the telegram, there is the greater needthere." Down near the bottom of the bag, a telegramed re-quest for a reading had been mistakenly placed.

Cayce had the ordinary instincts. He liked the companion-ship of pretty ladies, as he did that of intelligent men. He

22

took a drink occasionally, making his own wine. He consid-ered the grape a food. Ironically, he was a chain smoker.When admirers wondered about this, he would laugh geniallyand point to the heavens, "Where I am going there are nocigarettes."

He rarely fretted about his own health. At the dinner tableone day an admirer noted with dismay that Cayce, tabooingpork in his readings, was consuming it with evident satisfac-tion. "But Mister Cayce," she said, "pork is bad for you."

The mystic smiled brightly. "If I couldn't raise the vibra-tion of this poor little hunk of meat, I sure wouldn't amountto much." He was like the doctor who prescribed for every-body but himself.

His was a volatile temperament; he could be easily hurt ordisturbed, but then his sense of balance would assert itself. Al-though he relied implicitly on the ubiquitous Gladys Davis, hewould sometimes get annoyed, feeling she had assumed toomuch in interpreting a reading. He fired her a dozen times inwaves of mercurial wrath. An hour or two later, he wouldlook her up, smile and give her a friendly pat on the back.They were in business again—till the next time.

Gertrude was the partner who kept him on the track inmoments of wavering, Gladys Davis the outlet for the pettyfrustrations that plagued his day. As a man has no secretsfrom his valet, Cayce had none from his secretary. She wentto work for him at eighteen, lived in the house, and tookdown almost every reading from September 1923 until hisdeath in January 1945. Despite close contact, under mundanecircumstances, he always remained a hero to her. The Work,as they called it, dominated her life, and she never marrieduntil after his death, knowing that she couldn't serve two mas-ters. Yet, she never considered it a sacrifice, sublimating herown maternal instinct to his family and that of her relatives.Cayce allowed her to keep her small nephew in the house,treating both as family. Typically, he kept an eye out for thenephew even when his own eyes were closed. One day, dur-ing a reading, Gladys looked out the study window, and sawthe boy teetering precariously at the edge of the lake. Know-ing he couldn't swim, she still couldn't bring herself to leavethe reading uncovered. Cayce was on the couch, talking intrance, but he suddenly broke off, without batting an eye, tosay peremptorily, "Go out and get the child." In a flash,Gladys dropped her stenographer's pad and raced out to the

' CAYCE THE MAN

23

water, returning with the chastened boy. The reading contin-ued, as though there was no interruption.

Cayce was not unlike the old family doctor with an anx-ious patient "He had the ability," Gladys Davis recalled,"to make you feel that you were the most important personin the world. He gave his full attention to you, whatever elsemay have been on his mind before."

Early in their relationship, Gladys had a dramatic revela-tion of Cayce's remarkable gift It changed her whole attitudetoward her job. Before, it had been a pleasant chore workingfor an unusually kindly man. After that, it became a life-time's devotion. She had been with Cayce for about twomonths, and was hampered by dull headaches off and on.While she wore glasses for close work, they didn't seem torelieve the strain. Desperate, she asked for a reading one day.The reading attributed the headaches to eyestrain resultingfrom deflected circulation due to bad posture. Simple neckexercises were recommended—stretching the neck up anddown, sidewise three or four times, then rolling the headslowly in each direction a few times. This was a traditionalYoga exercise, though Cayce was not aware of this. He alsoadvised a hand-machine violet ray three times weekly, andtold her to discard her glasses. The effect was instantaneous."Thirty years later I finally went back to glasses," she re-called, "when I couldn't find a number in the telephone book.But I never had another moment's eyestrain or headache."

Cayce was literally a dreamer, and he felt people couldlearn about themselves and the world about them by studyingtheir own dreams. "Consciousness is sought by map for hisown diversion. In sleep, the soul seeks the real diversion orthe real activity of self." If he didn't understand a dream, hewould lie down and interpret it in trance. In one dream, hesaw himself climbing to a heavenly chapel to pray. A celestialcustodian showed him a large room crammed with packages,beautifully wrapped and addressed to different people. Theyhad not been delivered, and the custodian sorrowfully ex-plained why. "These are gifts for which people have beenpraying, but they lost their faith just before the date of deliv-ery." These gifts were latent talents and abilities, so seldomdrawn upon by the owners. Was this a message for Cayce toget on with his work? He took it as such.

There was a period in Cayce's life when nothing appearedto work out Through Morton Blumenthal, a New York

stockbroker whom he had helped market-wise, he had beenable to finally realize two lifelong dreams, the Cayce Hospi-tal, and Atlantic University, both launched at Virginia Beach.The college, chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia,was to stress research into parapsychology and the occult,while providing a general education and a Bachelor of Artsdegree. The hospital, headed by an MD, Thomas B. House, aremote relative, was to treat patients from the readings. How-ever, the collapsing stock market, which Cayce had ticked offfor 1929, broke Blumenthal, who had inexplicably ignoredCayce's advice. Deprived of Blumenthal's backing, the hospi-tal was subsequently closed. The college never really gotstarted. On February 28, 1931, the last patients were movedout of the hospital, and Cayce sadly handed over the keys tothe sheriff. Soon thereafter he lost his house, but the worstblow was in the offing. A few months later, in New York,looking for help to reinstate his hospital, Cayce gave a fewreadings for New Yorkers who had requested them, includinga Mrs. Bertha Gorman.

When he came out of the Gorman reading his subject waswatching him grimly. Mrs. Cayce and Gladys were sobbingsoftly. Cayce sat up abruptly. "Did I say anything to upsetyou, Mrs. Gorman?" he asked.

She flipped out a shield, with a number on it. "My name isConwell, Bertha Conwell. I'm a policewoman and you're allunder arrest."

The tabloids had a field day, with snide innuendos aboutthe fifty-four-year-old Cayce and his twenty-six-year-oldblonde secretary. One newspaper ran a photograph of Cayceand his "blonde secretary," artfully snipping Mrs. Cayce'slikeness from the original photo. Some reports were as mis-leading as the picture. One reporter said Cayce had demandedseventy dollars for his reading, pa'd in marked bills. Caycewas exonerated, but Arthur Brisbane, the leading columnistof his day, lashed out at him anyway: "There is magic inwords, much in a name, despite Shakespeare's saying aboutthe rose. Edgar Cayce, his wife Gertrude, and their secretary,arrested for fortune-telling, were told, 'You must not pretendto tell fortunes, because you can't' Things looked dark, butEdgar Cayce, who knows language, told the court, 'I'm nofortune-teller; I'm a psychic diagnostician.' Instantly, he, hiswife Gertrude, and their secretary were set free to diagnosepsychically to their hearts' content. When a lady asked, 'Is

CAYCE THE MAN

this the right time to make certain investments,' the psychicgave her the psychic answer. The law couldn't object to that.

It didn't happen that way at all. The Judge had heard ofCayce and his work through friends. In court, substantial citi-zens vouched for what Cayce had done for them. And Caycehad done no fortune-telling. The Judge listened intently to thesimple recital of his work by a simple man, who candidly ac-knowledged that he wasn't himself sure how he functioned orhow much good he did. And the Judge, like Brisbane, alsorecalled a line from Shakespeare, "There are more things inheaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your phi-losophy." There was no case, the charge was dismissed. Butthe proceedings left their scars, Cayce wondering againwhether he had been punished for readings motivated bymaterial gain. Originally, he had rationalized that his stockmarket forecasts were purely motivated because they meanthe would get his school and his hospital. Now both weregone. His name had been dragged through the mud, and hefelt tired and discouraged. Perhaps he was on the wrongroad? Maybe he should go back to work like everybody else?

Several times before, doubting the high purpose of his gift,he had given up the readings and turned to photographicwork. But Gertrude, believing in him, had encouraged his re-turn to the work she felt he was intended for. Again she com-forted him, pointing out that the readings had saved both herand their son, Hugh Lynn. She had been suffering from lunghemorrhages, and the doctors had said that she could not sur-vive another spasm. "If there's anything in this monkey busi-ness," one doctor suggested, "you'd better try it on yourwife." It was the first reading for his own family. In trance,he prescribed a preparation to stop the hemorrhaging. A spe-cialist, who sat in at the reading, was impressed but pessimis-tic. "Most wonderful discourse I've ever heard on tubercu-losis, but I don't see how she can be helped." The druggistswondered whether the prescription would even compound. Itdid, and Gertrude showed immediate improvement. Therewas no more hemorrhaging. As she was convalescing, he hadher inhale from an empty cask of apple brandy, which addi-tionally soothed and relieved her. She was months mending,but her lungs never bothered her again. The story was almostthe same with his son, Hugh Lynn. As a child, while he wasplaying with his father's flashlight kit, some of the powderflared up into his eyes. The doctors despaired of his sight.

26

counseling surgery. The child, overhearing the consultation,propped himself on an elbow, and cried, "Don't take out myeyes. Doctor. My Daddy, when he's asleep, is the best doctorin the world. He'll tell you what to do."

The specialists shook their heads. "One eye is so damagedthat it must be removed at once to save his life."

Cayce said grimly, "You will do nothing until I've taken areading."

Gertrude supervised as Cayce spoke in his sleep. "Keep theboy in a completely darkened room for fifteen days, keepdressings soaked in strong tannic acid solutions on his eyes,frequently changing same. Thus will the sight be saved andrestored."

Though the doctors considered the sight gone in one eye,and the other removable, they protested that the solutionwould irreparably damage the delicate tissues of the eye.

"Which eye," Cayce demanded, "the eye beyond hope, orthe one you want to take out?"

There was an awkward silence, and then one of the doctorsset about preparing the prescribed application. Twelve dayslater, the final dressings came off. The boy's eyes were clearand bright. "I can see," he announced gleefully.

As he looked now at his wife, and his son, Cayce knewthat there had to be something to his gift These two, dearerthan any, were dramatic testimonials of his work. He felt thathe must go on until the day of the long sleep.

There was little in Cayce's heritage to justify his strangegift. It was almost as though he had been plucked out of ob-scurity to manifest the unlimited possibilities of man andCreation. The Cayces were an old conservative Kentuckyfamily. Edgar was born on March 18, 1877, on a farm nearHopkinsville, in Christian County. His father, Leslie, a justiceof the peace, was known locally as the Squire. His grandfa-ther, a farmer, may have been psychic. He reputedly couldtake two forks of a witch hazel tree, and dowse successfullyfor water. Despite his conventional background, Cayce wasobviously different from other boys. He was interested in theBible, enjoyed going to the Christian Church, an offshoot ofthe Presbyterian, and didn't care much for games. He was lit-tle more than seven or eight, when he reported a clairvoyantexperience which was to eventually shape the direction of hislife. Off by himself, in a secluded outdoor nook, he had beenreading in the Bible of the vision of Manoah, for he loved

•CAYCE THE MAN

27

dearly the story of Samson. Suddenly, there was a hummingsound, and a bright light filled the glade where he usually hidto read the wonderful stories. As he looked up, he saw afigure in white, bright as the noonday light, and heard avoice:

"Your prayers have been heard. What would you ask ofme, that I may give it to you?"

The boy was not startled. Even then it seemed natural tosee visions. "Just that I may be helpful to others," he replied,"especially to children who are ill, and that I may love myfellow man."

It almost seemed as if somebody besides himself werespeaking.

The figure silently disappeared.

Edgar was not a scholar. The next day, thinking of the vi-sion, he bungled his classwork, and had to remain afterschool to write the word "cabin" five hundred times on theblackboard, as punishment for misspelling it

That night, even more than usual, he seemed unable toconcentrate on his lessons. There was an invisible barrier be-tween him and his book. But his father had told him he wouldhave to stay up until he had his lesson. At eleven o'clock, longpast his bedtime, as his head nodded drowsily, he heard avoice within himself, as in a dream. It was the voice of theprevious afternoon. It kept repeating, "Sleep, and we mayhelp you."

He fell asleep for a few minutes. And when he awakened,as absurd as it may seem, he knew every word by rote in thatparticular spelling book. He had slept on it. This was Cayce'sown story of how Universal Consciousness came to him. Itwas strange, hard to believe, but no stranger, no more incred-ible than the feats he was to perform in the years to come.

The incredible beginnings of an incredible career continue.Shortly thereafter, accidentally hurt by a thrown baseball, hetold his parents to prepare a special poultice and put it at thebase of his brain. Seeing him in a semi-stupor, they compliedwonderingly, and in the morning he was well. It was his firsthealth reading. As time went on, he gave others spontaneouslyfor friends. They all seemed to work. But at this timehe didn't know what he had or what to do with it After leav-ing school, he worked on a farm, then in a shoe store, andlater a bookstore. He fell in love with the neighboringGertrude Evans. She had a knack of putting him at ease, en-

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couraged his Bible work, and his teaching Sunday school. Hewanted to be a minister, but had neither the money nor apti-tude for higher education. When he confided his ambition tothe touring Dwight Moody, the great evangelist observed,"You can serve God wherever you are, and with whateveryou have." He always remembered Moody's advice.

Like Edgar's mother, who had a tender regard for the sonwho was different, Gertrude felt that he should use his bur-geoning powers to help others. Even before their marriage,she discovered that when he concentrated on making money,instead of using his gift, something would always go wrong:either a blinding headache, an upset stomach, or loss ofvoice. Able to talk only in whispers, he had to give up a jobas a salesman, taking one in the darkroom of a photographicstudio where it didn't matter much whether he could talk ornot. Because of his condition, he became an early causeceiebre. Professional hypnotists and doctors lined up to curehis baffling aphonia with hypnosis. But nobody could helpuntil Al Layne came along. Layne was a frustrated healer. Hehad wanted to be a doctor, but instead circumstances hadcompelled a mail-order course in osteopathy and hypnosis.Layne varied the traditional hypnotic method. He put Cayceto sleep, as the others had, then allowed him to make the hyp-notic suggestion to himself, instead of the hypnotist making itdirectly. "Your unconscious mind is looking into your body,"he said. "It is looking at your throat. It will tell us what it seeswrong with your throat, and what can be done to cure theproblem."

At the added suggestion that he tell himself to speak nor-mally, Cayce's voice came in crystal clear. "Yes, we can seethe body. The trouble we now see is a partial paralysis of thevocal chords, due to nerve strain. To remove the condition itis necessary only to suggest that the body increase circulationto the affected area for a short time."

Layne leaned forward, "Tell the circulation to increase tothe affected area and to remove the condition."

As young Cayce's parents looked on incredulously, then-son's throat began to turn a deep crimson. The blood wasrushing to the trouble spot in response to Cayce's hypnoticsuggestion. It was a truly amazing feat of self-hypnosis.

Now Cayce took over completely. In the same clear voice,he instructed Layne, "Now suggest that the circulation returnto normal and the body awaken." This was done, and Cayce

CAYCE THE MAN

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sat up in a few moments, rubbing his eyes. He started to askwhat had happened, and then realized that he was talkingnormally. He was overjoyed. Layne, equally jubilant, wasstruck by the knowledgeable way in which Cayce had dis-cussed his own ailment.

He turned to the smiling Cayce.

"When you were in trance," he said, "you talked like aphysician looking down a patient's throat. Perhaps you coulddo the same with somebody else's body, just as you lookedinto those closed books your father told me about"

Cayce regarded him curiously. Was this what the vision inwhite had brought him? But he knew nothing about medi-cine, nothing about hypnosis, he was, in the last analysis, asixth-grade dropout.

"What would be the purpose of it all, even if I could tellwhat was inside somebody's body?" Cayce asked.

"Perhaps," said Layne, "you could locate ailments, injuries,sources of infections that regular medical examinations mightnot turn up." He frowned a moment. "I have been sick foryears," he said, "and yet the doctors don't know what'swrong with me. Maybe you could help people like me."

He took the young man's hand. "It might not work, Edgar,but if it did, what a wonderful opportunity to heal the sick."

Cayce came to a quick decision. "All right, I'm willing."

The next day the great experiment started. After puttingCayce to sleep, Layne planted the additional suggestion:"You have in this room the body of Al Layne. You will goover this body carefully, noting its condition and especiallyany parts that are ailing. You will give the cause of such ail-ments and suggest treatments to bring about a cure."

Cayce seemed to ponder in his sleep. And then suddenly hespoke out. "Yes, we have the body. We have gone over itcarefully. Now, here are the conditions of that body as wefind them . . ."

Layne's pencil flew across the pages of white paper.

Finally, Cayce opened his eyes. "Did I get anything?" heasked.

Layne laughed. "Did you get anything? You described mysymptoms better than I could myself, and you told me whatto eat and what medicines to take." He pointed to the pageswhich had fluttered to the floor. "It's all there."

Cayce blinked at the scrawled pages, and the unfamiliarterms. His jaw dropped a little. "How could that have come

10

out of me?" He repeated some of the medical words, mis-pronouncing them. "I never saw these words before, not tomention knowing what they mean."

But the mail-order osteopathic student knew enough medi-cine to know that Cayce was on the track. "The drugs andherbs you recommended are well known. There's not a harm-ful ingredient in any of them."

Cayce sat silently, thinking, half-frightened at the prospectof getting into something over his head. He was twenty-fournow, and all he really wanted of life was to marry Gertrude,and make enough money to bring up a family. He was acomparatively normal young man.

As usual, he talked things over with Gertrude. "Whyshould God pick out somebody like me, and give him thisstrange power?" he asked.

Gertrude smiled. "Jesus was a carpenter, and the apostleswere ignorant, obscure fishermen and tillers of the soil."

Cayce wasn't convinced. Though Layne's general conditionimproved noticeably after a week, he avoided Layne, asthough he actually had the plague. But his mother and Ger-trude continued to encourage him. His mother reminded himof the childhood vision, and Gertrude allayed fears that hemight inadvertently harm someone. "I don't think God wouldgrant such a gift, and permit its misuse."

But the responsibility of delving into what he didn't under-stand, of controlling the lives and health of others, was toomuch for young Cayce. Despite his mother, Gertrude, andLayne, he decided against working with Layne at this time.

But as fate would have it, as he was telling the disap-pointed Layne of his decision, his voice faded into a thinreedy whisper.

He still wasn't convinced. "If God wanted me to be ahealer, as you say," he whispered to Gertrude, "then whydidn't he permit me to continue my education and become adoctor?"

Gertrude picked out one flaw in this reasoning. "If youwere a physician, limited by the limitations of known medicalpractice, you would be in no better position to help than thebrilliant doctors who have already failed with so many ailingpeople because of these limitations."

This was a rather plausible argument. And Cayce's lastmisgivings were dispelled when Layne stressed that he knewenough medicine to know whether the readings were consist-

CAYCE THE MAN

31

ent with established medical practice, and whether the reme-dies would at least be innocuous. Besides, didn't Edgar everwant to get his full voice back? This was the clincher.

Cayce preferred at first not to see the first few subjectswho wanted his help, nor did he want to know who theywere. This way, it was an impersonal problem, and he didnot become emotionally involved. Originally he gave tworeadings a day, at 10 a.m., and again at 2 p.m. There was nocharge for the readings. He awakened each time feeling re-freshed, and hungry. Apparently, he was burning up lots ofenergy without depleting himself.

But while subjects were reporting improvements, generally,Cayce still doubted himself after weeks of readings. Then oneday, a woman burst into Layne's office, a man staggeringafter her with a small girl in his arms. The girl was appar-ently choking to death. She was coughing spasmodically andcouldn't catch her breath. Cayce got a quick rundown on hercondition. The doctors thought there was an obstruction. ButX-rays had shown no blockage in the windpipe. For the firstand perhaps only time, Edgar Cayce raced to his couch. Hequickly went into trance, at Layne's suggestion, and when heawakened, the couple and their child were already gone. Butthe father was back within the hour. Tears pouring down hischeeks, he gratefully wrung Cayce's hand.

The little girl had swallowed a celluloid collar button,and Cayce had specified exactly where it would be found inher windpipe. "It was just where you said it would be," thefather said. He thrust his hand into his pocket, but at thisstage, Cayce was adamant about not accepting fees of anykind. "If God has given me a special gift, it is so that I couldhelp others, not profit by it myself," he insisted.

Cayce's first health reading occurred in 1901. Meanwhile,Cayce had gone back to work in Bowling Green, doing read-ings only occasionally, when he heard from Layne. In thesummer of 1902, however, he received a phone call, whichwas to eventually change his life. Over the phone, C. H. Die-trich, the Hopkinsville school superintendent, pleaded withhim to help his five-year-old daughter, Aime. She was appar-ently retarded from a siege of illness three years before.Cayce did not yet realize he could perform a physical readingat a distance. He returned to Hopkinsville on a weekend, andwent directiy to the Dietrich home. Layne was waiting. Caycesoon fell asleep. "The trouble is in the spine," he said. "A few

32

days before her illness, the child slipped getting out of a car-riage and struck the base of her spine on the carriage step.This injury weakened the area, and led to the mental condi-tion."

Dietrich's eyes widened. He didn't know whether Cayce'sdiagnosis was correct, but he did know that Cayce had pickedout an all but forgotten incident, the fall from the carriage,which had seemed of no consequence at the time.

Some spinal vertebrae were out of alignment, causing pres-sures on nerves. Layne adjusted the vertebrae specified byCayce. There were three adjustments, and within five days,the child had improved noticeably. In three months, she wasin school with other girls her age. The cure was complete. Thegrateful Dietrich could never do enough for Cayce, and itwas through his testimonial that Dr. Wesley H. Ketchum wasto later use Cayce as a psychic diagnostician, turning him toa career, professionally, that continued until death.

All through life, nonetheless, the modest mystic was tohave self-doubts and misgivings and it was Gertrude's job toresolve these qualms. Knowing her husband's mind, she fre-quently suggested introspective readings, which they couldstudy together. For Cayce had more respect for The Informa-tion, subconsciously given, than for his own fallible con-scious. As she had, since he shied away from experimenters,Gertrude put the key question to her husband. "Is this infor-mation always correct?" she asked.

"Insofar," he replied, "as the suggestion is in the properchannel or in accord with the action of subconscious or soulmatter."

The solicitous wife inserted a question of her own: "Willthis work hurt the body?"

"This body," Cayce began, "is controlled in its workthrough the psychical, or the mystical or spiritual. It is gov-erned by the life that is led by the person who is guiding thesubconscious when in this state. As the ideas given the sub-conscious to obtain its information are good, the body be-comes better." The reverse was true, if the motivation wasbase or mean. "The body should keep in close touch with thespiritual side of life if he is to be successful mentally, physi-cally, psychically, and financially."

As he read back what he had said, Cayce could only sigh.That was always the problem, how to remain spiritual whiletrying to cope with a world of materiality.

Chapter Three

CAYCE'S TIME CLOCK

When Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959, it set thestage for the materialization of one of Cayce's early earthchanges, slated to occur between 1958 and 1998. "The earlyportion," Cayce had said, "will see a change in the physicalaspect of the west coast of America"—and that certainly hap-pened in 1964, with the continent's worst quake ever. Reper-cussions of that quake are still being felt, for as Current Sci-ence, a weekly science report, pointed out, the quake shiftedmountains an average of five feet, lifted the sea floor as muchas fifty feet, and raised the entire continent of North Americaa half an inch. Its shock impact was even greater perhapsthan Cayce had considered. 'Tides surged eight feet higherthan usual along coasts three thousand miles away. In Iran,the solid land rose and fell like a wave when earthquakewaves passed through."

Actually, the Alaskan quake was only the most dramatic ina series of drastic earth changes presaging far more sweepingdestruction visualized for later this century. Cayce also sawdramatic risings and sinkings in the Mediterranean, as a prel-ude to catastrophe elsewhere, and the eastern basin of MareNostrum has briefly subsided, while the sea floor off Moroccospectacularly shot up 3300 feet

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34

Already, new land has materialized in both the Atlanticand the Pacific, as Cayce foresaw more than twenty yearsago, and the most specific forecast on his time clock—a dra-matic land rise where Atlantis once supposedly stood—maybe just around the corner, if the Cayce time clock is onschedule. Psychics traditionally have foggy notions abouttime, even in otherwise precise predictions, but Cayce defi-nitely fixed 1968 or 1969, for new land to appear in the Car-ibbean.

Clockwise, great interest centers on the predicted destruc-tion in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York withCayce intimating this would begin in the latter portion of the'58—'98 period. While he put the California cataclysm beforethe devastation of Manhattan and coastal areas of Connecti-cut and New England, he made no distinction between LosAngeles and its sister city to the north, ruined by a quake sixtyyears ago.

In the Pacific, the tempo of subterranean rumblings ap-pears to be stepping up along the Ring of Fire, in a wide arcfrom the Orient to the Western Hemisphere, just as Caycesaid it would before the greater destruction. And in the Medi-terranean area again, as a forerunner of havoc elsewhere,Etna has come dramatically alive.

In this dynamic forty years, Cayce also visualized parts ofJapan sliding into the sea and cataclysmic changes in North-ern Europe, both possible if present geological trends were toaccelerate. As for Japan going into the sea, a crack geologistreported that, "one volcanic area in Honshu has experienced87,000 recordable quakes in a six-month period in 1965-66,with eight thousand of these strong enough to be felt" Andthe Japanese geologist, Nobichiko Obara, reports that theJapanese archipelago has been steadily sinking into the sea.

Cayce predicted, too, that the Great Lakes would one dayempty into the Gulf of Mexico, rather than the St. Lawrence,and the same expert geologist, studying Cayce, tied in dis-turbances to the Middle West with predicted inundations inthe Carolinas and Georgia. There had been a sharp crustalbreak once before in the Midwest, in Missouri, in 1811, pos-sibly repeating in the 1970s or so, together with an upliftnorth of the Great Lakes. "This area is tilting slowly, any-way," the Geologist noted, "and need only accelerate to shiftthe flow from the St Lawrence to the Mississippi by way ofthe Chicago River."

CATCH'S TIME CLOCK

3 5

Oddly, Cayce saw not 1958, nor even *78 or '98, as themost critical date on his calendar. He singled out 1936 as thekey year in the world-wide power struggle, and as the year inwhich great changes would begin unnoticed within the earth'score with the shifting of the polar axis. Asked in February of1932, to "forecast the principal events for the next fifty yearsaffecting the welfare of the human race," he had replied:"This had best be cast after the great catastrophe that's com-ing to the world in '36 [1936] in the form of breaking up ofmany powers that now exist as factors in world affairs."

There was more about international affairs. "Will Italyadopt a more liberal form of government in the near future?"he was asked.

"Italy, too," he replied, "will be broken by what now is aninsignificant or smaller power between those of the larger orthose of the moment that are larger. These will not come,however, before the catastrophe of outside forces to the earthin 1936, from the shifting of the equilibrium of the earth it-self in space, with those consequential effects on various por-tions of the world."

"What will be the type and extent of the upheaval in1936?" Cayce was asked.

"The wars, the upheavals in the interior of the earth, andthe shifting of the earth by the change in the axis as respect-ing the portions from the polaris center."

Looking back, 1936 was indeed a critical year—theLeague of Nations and collective security shattered, civil warin Spain, a dress rehearsal for a still bloodier engagement;Italy dyspeptic over Abyssinia; Hitler marching ominouslyinto the Rhineland.

But the Cayce reference to a physical change within theearth itself far overshadowed any other forecast Was this tobe the agency of destruction foreseen for the predictedupheaval—the destruction of nearly all of New York, LosAngeles, San Francisco, the disappearance of hunks of Japan,and of northern Europe in the twinkling of an eye? As itmight happen again, it may have all happened before in aplanet undergoing cataclysmic changes for millions of years.The Frenchman, Georges Cuvier, father of modern paleontol-ogy, theorized that the dinosaurs of the distant past had dis-appeared because of spontaneous catastrophes, since almostperfectly preserved bodies of woolly mammoths have beenfound quick-frozen with their last meals still in their mouths.

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CAYCB'8 time clock

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Cayce and Cuvier were dramatically alike. "According toCuvier," the Geologist said, "one major source of catastroph-ism was the tilting of the earth, its drastic upheavals creatingoceans where there was once dry land, and dry land wherethere was sea." In this concept, as opposed to the theory ofslow change, the first breakups would come where the earthcrust was weakest, the so-called Ring of Fire which forms anarc of volcanoes ringing the Pacific in New Zealand, the Phil-ippines, Japan, the Aleutians, Mexico, Chile. It had happenedbefore, the scientists say. "In the deepest ocean trenches,water is forced down into the crust through earthquakefaults, creating pressure changes resulting in violent erup-tions. Man has obviously lived through such upheavals, withresulting climatic changes, but not since he was able to makea written record of the event" As time went on, the axis tiltwould impart a slight wobble to the spinning earth, the Geolo-gist noted, and the shifting momentum would cause the globeto alter its shape as it adjusted to a newly angled course.

And where would the earth give first? Obviously, if Caycewas correct, in the hot, plastic mantle of the earth, which wascapable of movement hundreds of miles under the crust ofthe earth.

The Geologist's map showed different levels for crust,mantle, and the intensely hot inner core. "Even a small shiftin the axis would have serious consequences to the crust," hesaid gravely. "Consider what would happen if the Atlanticseaboard were lowered only thirty feet—a relative trifle if adownward current affected the plastic mantle. Most easternseaports would be flooded and large sections of the Carolinas,Georgia and Florida would come under water."

If the earth's axis shifted in 1936, why hadn't catastrophicchanges reflected themselves thirty years later?

The Geologist smiled wryly. "Some may have begun withinthe core of the earth. Essentially, there is a natural lag inthe effect of the earth's disequilibrium. Upheavals in themantle would begin slowly, but gradually build up until theycaused an actual shifting of the poles."

Exactly how earthshaking were Cayce's earth-shakingprophecies? They were certainly more credible than ihe H. G.Wells' stories a generation ago of death rays, atomic warfare,and men in space, certainly no stranger than stories passingfor news in the press of the world.

Curiously, one of the most provocative headlines was from

a press report of May 1958, Cayce's year for the onset ofworldwide catastrophe: OCEANS MAY GULP NEWYORK, LONDON. The story, by David Dietz, a science edi-tor, reported: "New York, London, Paris and some othergreat cities may eventually disappear from the face of theearth, even though the nations succeed in avoiding WorldWar III. It is possible that one day they will be submergedbeneath the oceans of the world."

The writer attributed his rather startling report, not tosome sleeping clairvoyant, but to hardheaded InternationalGeophysical Year scientists working together to trace theworld's physical past and future. An axis tilt, reversing theglobal seasons, could do it "The level of the oceans wouldrise sufficiently to inundate many coastal cities and manylarge areas whose altitudes are not great, if the ice caps ofAntarctica, Greenland and Iceland melted. Such meltingwould result in time from a rise in the world's climate. Thequestion, therefore, is whether or not the world's climate ischanging."

Although the earth's inner core may have been churningsince 1936, not until 1958 were there to be signs of drasticchange. One of the first Cayce prophecies, pointing up thisperiod, came in January 1934 and embraced several conti-nents:

"As to the changes physical again: The earth will be bro-ken up in the western portion of America.

"The greater portion of Japan must go into the sea.

"The upper portion of Europe will be changed as in thetwinkling of an eye.

"Land will appear off the east coast of America."

Cayce spoke of upheavals in the Arctic and Antarctic, andvolcanic eruptions in the Torrid areas as a prelude to a polarshift with a striking reversal of global climates.

Already, the Geologist noted a sharp increase in volcanicactivity in the Torrid area. "It has been gathering momentumin the Hawaiians since 1958. There was a violent eruption onBali in 1963, a new volcano is being built over the shatteredremains of Krakatoa [blown apart in 1883], and the MountIrazu volcano near San Jose, Costa Rico, has been eruptingcontinuously for more than a year."

With Cayce's prognosticated time clock of forty years camea prediction that some have loosely interpreted as foreshadow-ing a Second Coming. "And these [changes] will begin in

is

those periods in '58 to '98, when these will be proclaimed asperiod when His Light will be seen again in the clouds."

Meanwhile, a literal reading of Cayce, always advisable,doesn't put the end of the predicted changes in this forty-yearperiod—only the beginning! But, as noted, already there hasbeen a beginning of the beginning. The earth has been bro-ken up in western America, government geologists referring tothe Alaska quake on Good Friday, 1964, as the greatest everin North America, with a seismograph rating of 8.4, againstthe 8.2 that wrecked San Francisco sixty years ago. Fortu-nately, scores of tremors hit broad uninhabited expanses ofland Even so, many villages were wiped off the map, parts ofAnchorage were destroyed, great hunks of land sunk and oth-ers rose. Even streams and lakes were affected. The CopperRiver got twisted around, and started running backwards, up-stream. Uninhabited Montague Island in Prince WilliamSound, fifty miles long and fifteen wide, was thrust upwardsthirty-three feet, along with other land masses from the Alas-kan mainland near Cordova to Middleton Island and the con-tinental shelf southeast of Kodiak Island. On Montague Is-land, a government geological team could walk where twen-ty-foot depths of seawater normally flowed even at low tides.Far from the center of the quake, thirty thousand squaremiles of land sank up to six feet, against some fifty thousandsquare miles involved in a more spectacular rise of thirty tofifty feet.

Since Cayce's death, there has been striking support for hispicture of an earth turned upside down by the shifting poles.Every million years or so, some scientists report, the earth'smagnetic field, triggered by its fluid, metallic core, reverses it-self during a brief geologic interlude of ten thousand years.And we may be at this moment of history right now, theGeologist points out In 1963, a U. S. Geological Surveyteam estimated that the last such reversal had been concludedsome 980,000 years ago. "By studying lava formations, whosemagnetized iron-bearing minerals duplicate the earth's mag-netic field, they were able," the Geologist noted, "to deter-mine where the north magnetic pole was at that time, testingrock formations from the prehistoric lava flows of MountEtna and Hawaii."

The Geologist had done pretty much the same thing. Stud-ying Cayce, it became apparent to the Geologist that therewas a pattern to the foreseen changes. Cayce frequently men-

CAYCE's TIME CLOCK

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tioned quakes, volcanic eruptions, floods. Though he neverreferred to nuclear destruction, he did say that man could de-stroy himself as he had in Atlantis. Man could touch it offand Nature do the rest.

Cayce was often asked to specify when the various break-ups would occur, but he rarely gave more than hints, exceptto refer occasionally to 1958-98 as the key period when theaxis tilt would make itself felt around the world Instead ofdates, he gave clues, when asked, as in 1932: "How soon willthe changes in the earth's activity begin to be apparent?"

"When there is the first breaking up of some conditions inthe South Sea [that's South Pacific, to be sure] and those asapparent in the sinking or rising of that that's almost oppositesame, or in the Mediterranean, and the Etna area, then wemay know it has begun."

"How long before this will begin?" the questioner pursued.

"The indications are that some of these have alreadybegun, yet others would say these are only temporary. Wewould say they have begun."

And so devotees of Cayce looked with mixed feelings forsigns of activity in the Mediterranean area, particularly Etna,after 1958. They found it. In July of 1960, the AssociatedPress reported a new resurgence within the volcano peak."Villagers at the foot of the volcano said the force of theblast was unprecedented in their memory, and persons twen-ty-five miles away said it had the force of an atom bomb.'*And Etna keeps erupting with increasing violence. In Febru-ary of 1964, the press again reported, "The most violenteruption of Mount Etna in years sent a river of lava stream-ing down its seaward slope."

Sinkings in the Mediterranean were first spotted in 1959,with drops of several feet around Greece. In 1960 there wasa truly momentous "sinking and rising" in the Mediterranean,as a devastating quake razed most of Agadir, Morocco'ssouthernmost port, killing twelve thousand people. A gianttidal wave poured in and the sea floor rose an amazing thir-ty-three-hundred feet in places. The geologist Tillosson notedthe drastic changes in the water depths. "In one case," he re-ported, "the depth was found to be forty-five feet, where pre-viously charted at forty-five hundred feet" There were otherupsets in the Mediterranean basin. Lesser quakes rockedsouthern Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey. The city of Skopje inYugoslavia was laid in ruins. Meanwhile, on the other side of

■id

the globe, quakes shook Japan, Hawaii, the Philippines, andthe Aleutian trench. Things seemed to be building up. As forthe risings, there was a supplementary note in the New YorkTimes: "Soviet Academy of Sciences reported research whichindicates Italian scientists discovered that Mount Etna istwenty-five feet higher since its last eruption."

When Vesuvius stirred mildly recently, some felt the criti-cal period of the Cayce earth changes had really arrived. "Ifthere are greater activities in the Vesuvius or Pelee," Caycesaid, "then the southern coast of California—and the areasbetween Salt Lake and the southern portions of Ne-vada—may expect within the three months following samean inundation by the earthquakes. But these are to be morein the southern than the northern hemisphere."

With an air of brooding expectation, Cayce cultists waited.But had they read Cayce closely, they would have realizedtheir forebodings were in vain. For in the "greater activity,"Cayce had indicated rather clearly, as researchers noted atthe time, that there would have to be other, greater Vesuviuseruptions, before the stage was set for the rest of the proph-ecy to unfold.

"Cayce saw things in a pattern," the Geologist explained."Vesuvius in the last analysis will have to blow off big in thepresent period—'58 on—to relate to the predicted activity.And Mount Pelee in Martinique hasn't been heard from since1902."

In some respects, Cayce appears to be strangely conserva-tive. For, as geologists have pointed out even more freelythan Cayce, one of his most provocative forecasts can occurat any moment: namely, great destruction in California—SanFrancisco, Los Angeles and beyond. On television one day re-cently, a member of the U. S. Geodetic Survey, discussingearthquakes in California, described the prominent San An-dreas earth fault, and the communities built up around itsprecarious length. California's next devastating quake, hesaid, could come in twenty, fifty or a hundred years, or evenas he was making his telecast It could be a giant-size holo-caust For his part, Cayce saw the California disaster in the"latter portion" of the '58-'98 span, presumably not before1978 or '80. Only time would tell.

The Geologist, trained in California, was alert to Califor-nia's cumulatively building up stresses internally. His famil-iarity with studies by geologists at the California Institute of

cayce's time clock

41

Technology bolstered his faith in geology—and Cayce. "Mostgeologists," reported expert Clarence R. Allen in 1961,"would not be surprised at a great earthquake along thefault's central or southern portion within the next twenty-fiveyears. Certainly, the segment of the fault near Hollister andSan Bernardino now appears far more dangerous than thesegment of the fault near San Francisco which broke in1906."

Earthquakes seemed indigenous to California, three majortremblors within a generation rocking Long Beach, Arvin, andEl Centro. It was more difficult to credit the Cayce predic-tions of destruction elsewhere. For instance: "The greaterchange, as we will find in America, will be the North Atlanticseaboard. Watch New York, Connecticut and the like."

"When will this be?" Cayce was asked.

"In this period ['58 to '98]. As to just when . . ." Cayce'avoice trailed off.

While quakes in this area seemed rather unlikely, the Geol-ogist said they were quite possible, geologically. "It isn't gen-erally known but there is an earth fault running down fromMaine through the Boston area to New York and Philadel-phia, Even so, quakes can occur where there are no knownfaults." He picked up a Life magazine report on the Alaskanearthquake, and read solemnly: "Earthquakes are not re-stricted to recognized earthquake zones. They can happen any-where. Seismologist L. Don Leet of Harvard is particularlyconcerned about the seismic future of eastern North Amer-ica. There has been increased seismic activity in eastern Can-ada, New England, and New York in recent years. Thoughthis does not worry most seismologists, in Leet's view a bigquake may very well bit at some unpredictable spot beforethe century is over."

By coincidence perhaps, the year 1958 seemed to touch offa chain of unusual events within the earth. An earthquakewhere there had never before been earthquakes was detected in1959, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey reported, in thenorthern Magellan Strait near the southernmost tip of SouthAmerica. In 1960, the southern part of Chile was shaken bya series of massive quakes, others rocked the continent all theway north to Colombia and Peru. Two hundred earth trem-ors a month have been recorded in the Peruvian Andes re-cently. The Chile quake was particularly ominous, the Geolo-gist pointed out There were four severe shocks on the first

day, then a shock of great magnitude—8.5—surpassing eventhe Alaska tremblor of 8.4. According to a report by theEarthquake Engineering Research Institute, "the sequence ofshocks in Chile was more than equivalent to all the destruc-tive earthquakes in California during the past sixty years."The tidal effects were noted throughout the Pacific Ocean,and life lost as far away as Japan from resulting inundations.

Some changes have been taking place in the Greenlandarea, amid reports that the climate is actually getting balmyfor that part of the world. "Recent measurements of crustalupwarping in the Canadian Arctic, Spitzenberg, and Green-land," the Geologist observed, "show relatively rapid rates ofuplift due to unloading by recently vanished ice masses. Inthe last six thousand years, because of these meltings, theoceans have risen roughly twenty feet, according to FrancisShepard of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Itwouldn't take much acceleration of this thawing process toflood low points in southeastern coastal areas of the UnitedStates; it has already brought about land rises in the Atlantic,as parts of Scandinavia, Labrador, and Newfoundland, onceheld down by glaciers, are bobbing up like a life-preserver re-leased by a strong hand."

Except for the hint Cayce himself gave, there seems littleclue to the timing of the prophesied destruction in Californiaand New York. If Cayce is right about Los Angeles and Cali-fornia, New Yorkers can then govern themselves accordingly,particularly if they dwell on Manhattan.

Cayce indicated the changes were to build up gradually,though there is obviously nothing gradual about upper Eu-rope being changed "as in the twinkling of an eye." As henoted more than once, "Many portions of the East Coast willbe disturbed, as well as many portions of the West Coast, andthe central portions of the United States." But it would nothappen all at once. "In the next few years," he said in 1941,"lands will appear in the Atlantic as well as in the Pacific.And what is the coast line now of many a land will be thebed of the ocean. Even many of the battlefields of the presentwill be ocean, will be the seas, the bays, the lands over whichthe new order will carry on their trade as one with another.Portions of the now east coast of New York, or New YorkCity itself, will in the main disappear. This will be anothergeneration, though, while the southern portions of Carolina,Georgia, these will disappear. This will be much sooner."

cayce's time clock 43

One Cayce forecast wasn't long in fulfillment. In the Gala-pagos Islands in the Pacific, due west of Ecuador, in 1944, afour-mile stretch of seabed suddenly heaved up forming anew land rise. In 1957, a volcanic island thrust itself up nearthe Azores before sinking again as Atlantis presumably did,and an Atlantic island rising off Iceland in 1963 is a reminderthat a minor Cayce prophecy has materialized. In 1960, newland rose again in the Pacific. "An island more than a milelong, one hundred yards wide and 125 feet high at somepoints has emerged from the Pacific off Ecuador," the NewYork Times reported. "Two witnesses to the island's birthsaid it was heralded by trembling of the earth and under-ground noises."

Cayce picked out some points of safety, including the placewhere he chose, psychically, to live with his family. "Thenthe area where the entity [the subject] is now located in Vir-ginia Beach will be among the safety lands as will be portionsof what is now Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and much of thesouthern portion of Canada, and the eastern portion of Can-ada; while the western land, much of that is to be disturbedas of course, much in other lands."

Obviously, great earth changes were nothing new. As theGeologist pointed out, mountains rose and fell with the greatglaciers, and even in recorded history there have been drasticchanges in the earth's crust. Cayce several times referred todestruction on both coasts, almost as though he was issuing awarning. In September 1942 a New York businessman, wor-ried about enemy bombings, had asked in what must cer-tainly be the epitome of self-engrossment, "Is the present lo-cation of business safe until expiration of the lease [in Janu-ary 1943]?"

Cayce saw no immediate upheaval. "After that period,change to other environs, these on the mainland, not onManhattan Island." His suggestion might have been inter-preted as merely advice to free one of big-city tension, exceptfor the cryptic reference to the mainland.

"Should the danger of bombing or other upheaval be givenany consideration in making this decision?" the careful mer-chant asked.

"Not for the present," Cayce replied.

The mechanism for destruction was again not even hintedat. The New York metropolitan area's only noticeable quakehad occurred on Long Island back in 1884, causing some

44

damage, but nothing on the scale visualized by the sleepingprophet.

His prediction of Atlantis rising will of course be his firstmajor test, but he promised further Atlantean revelations."Yet, as time draws nigh when changes are to come about,there may be the opening of those three places where the rec-ords are one, to those that are initiates in the knowledge ofthe one God. The temple [on Atlantis] will rise again; alsothere will be the opening of the temple of records in Egypt,and those records that were put in the heart of the Atlanteanland may also be found there. The records are one."

For the Geologist there was nothing inconsistent aboutCayce's prospective land rises. "Presumably such uplift in theAtlantic," he observed, "would be compensated for by sink-ing of adjacent land areas Dike the portions of Carolina andGeorgia]." The Geodetic Survey has shown a land subsidenceof four inches in the Savannah, Georgia, area, chiefly since1933, insignificant in itself, without acceleration.

In the Pacific's so-called Ring of Fire, where the earthcrust is most sensitive, sub-surface activity seems to be reach-ing an ominous crescendo. In the Kermadec Island group, sixhundred miles northeast of New Zealand, Sunday Island hada bizarre geological experience after being hit by a series oftremors in November 1964. When a crater erupted, steam,rocks, and mud were flung 2500 feet into the sky. The waterlevel in a fresh lake rose fifty feet, and its temperature soaredfrom a normal forty degrees to over two hundred. The waterlevel in surrounding Denham Bay rose a hundred feet, as gasbubbles frothed to the surface.

Cayce's earth-shaking predictions often came during read-ings for people concerned only with their own immediateproblems. Usually, he gauged his predictions to the individu-al's lifetime, but even so it was difficult to pinpoint the chro-nology he had in mind. Reading for a twenty-seven-year-oldwoman early in 1944, he said, "Changes are due in the earththrough the period of the entity's sojourn." Again, for awoman, fifty-one, in 1943, he put the approaching breakupsin the next generation, comparing them in destructive inten-sity to the havoc in Atlantis. "Before that, the entity was inAtlantis when there were the periods of the first upheavalsand the destructions that came to the land, as must in thenext generation come to other lands." In still another reading,

CAYCE S TIME CLOCK

4>

in August, 1936, Cayce indicated that by the year 2000 anew cycle would be in full swing.

Apparently concerned that the '58 to '98 cycle would de-stroy civilization, as we know it, a millennium-minded indi-vidual had asked, "What great change or the beginning ofwhat change, if any, is to take place in the earth in the year2000 to 2001 a.d.?"

With Cayce's axis change in effect for some sixty years bythen, the seer saw at this time a resulting shifting of thepoles, "When there is a shifting of the poles, or a new cyclebegins." That was for the year 2000 a.d.

Postulating that the Cayce predictions were accurate, theGeologist weaved together a prophetic pattern of his own.Twice at least Cayce had warned about lean days ahead."Anyone," he said once, "who can buy a farm is fortunate,and buy it if you don't want to grow hungry in days to come."Again, in 1943: "The hardships for this country have not yetbegun, so far as the supply and demand for foods is con-cerned."

As these forecasts, still unfulfilled, had no time tag, theGeologist projected these predictions to others that mightaffect them. "If the southern portions of the Carolinas andGeorgia sink beneath the sea," the Geologist theorized, "thiswould cut off rail and truck traffic to Florida; meanwhile,breakups in California, which accounts for 30 percent of thefresh-vegetable production, would interrupt food transport tothe rest of the United States. The two states, together, controlthe citrus market, and Florida, additionally, is second inbeef."

As an inveterate Bible reader, Cayce drew on the Book asa source of prophetic inspiration, but his Scripture-like fore-casts were as cryptic as those in Daniel and Revelation:"These changes on earth will come to pass, for the time andtimes and a half times are at an end, and there begin thoseperiods for the readjustments. For how hath He given? "Therighteous [the meek] shall inherit the earth.* Hast thou, mybrethren, a heritage in the earth?"

Frequently, he was asked, "How should we regard thosechanges that do come about?" His answer again smacked ofScripture. "What is needed most in the earth today? That thesons of man be warned that the day of the Lord is near athand, and that those who are unfaithful must meet them-

selves in those things which come to pass in their experi-ence."

And what boded "the day of the Lord is near at hand?"

"That as has been promised through the prophets and thesages of old, the time and half-time, has been and is beingfulfilled in this day and generation, and that soon there willagain appear in the earth that One through whom many willbe called to meet those preparing the way for His day in theearth." And when would this implied Second Coming mate-rialize?

"When those that are His have made the way clear forHim. Don't think there will not be trouble, but those who puttheir trust wholly in the Lord will not come up missing, butwill find conditions, someway and somehow, much to bethankful for."

To be in harmony with Cayce—and his time clock—onemust obviously be as optimistic as he. It certainly would beincongruous to move about, as some may, to avoid the longarm of destiny. And if Cayce is right, and the Bible—as weprofess to believe—life is of the spirit, anyway. There is littledoubt about Cayce's optimism. In 1943, he heralded thedawn of a new age—Atomic, Space, or Spiritual—beginningwith the Axis defeat. "When those that have gradually forgot-ten God entirely have been eliminated, and there has come,and will come at the close of this next year, the period whenthere will be no part of the globe where man has not had theopportunity to hear, 'The Lord, He is God,' and when thisperiod has been accomplished [when God's word is supreme],the new era, the new age, is to begin."

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the world is either at theend of the beginning or the beginning of the end. Accordingto Cayce, the choice is its own-

Chapter Four

CHECKING HIM OUT

'It's absurd," the Geologist said, "the way some geologists in-sist that nothing happened in the past, unless it was part of aprocess that we can directly observe." He made a face. "Inother words, since we do not at the moment observe a conti-nent sinking rapidly into the sea, then we cannot assume thatany did in the past." He looked at me rather grimly. "Whatrubbish."

He had been brought up, geologically speaking, in theworld of uniformitarianism, which apparently overlooked thefact that there may have been a pattern of catastrophe in thepre-historical past As the head of geology in a major univer-sity, he had himself believed and taught uniformitarianism,until he began to check into the earth changes of the mysticCayce, and they showed every sign of checking out. Thedeeper he delved into Cayce, the more he rebelled at a conceptthat didn't look beyond its geological nose. And so he quietlywithdrew from his university post, no longer able to teachwhat didn't seem to tally with the new evidence that he wasaccumulating. Other geologists, knowing nothing aboutCayce, were beginning to share similar views of the world'scatastrophic past, and a possibly catastrophic future, butsince he was now oriented in Cayce, he clung to his anonym-

47

ity, thinking his professional status—and influence—wouldbe jeopardized by open conversion to Cayce-ism.

What intrigued him about Cayce was his universality, hisconcept of the universe as a place of infinite possibilities,rather than a meaningless system of flying masses of matter.Even in predicting catastrophe, Cayce was not a catastrophist"In his visualized destruction of Atlantis, he said very clearlythat man's misuse of natural forces was the cause of the firstcatastrophe and that man's going against Divine Law had aneffect on natural processes. Actually, this was a message ofhope, since it countered a purely materialistic interpretation ofthe Universe."

It had helped the Geologist in his own approach to life."Cayce tied everything in together, the spiritual and material,and this was especially meaningful because seven years ofcollege and graduate school had almost brainwashed me tothe point of believing in the mechanistic interpretation oflife—that is, we come from matter, live a while, and thendie, disintegrating completely in death."

Originally, he had been attracted to the Cayce readings,learning that Cayce had attributed history's Great Flood tothe sinking of the last great remnants of Atlantis, and notalone to the melting icecaps of the frozen north. He had al-ready considered this possibility from more tangible evidenceof ancient ocean sediments. Therefore, Cayce's Atlantis read-ings found him only slightly incredulous.

But even as he looked into Atlantis, the scientist in himrealized he would have to check out Cayce on something tan-gibly at hand. He happened on two readings capable of veri-fication from old records. Irnminent earthquakes had beenforeseen in each reading, while one additionally described un-usual storms a few months hence. Though it was now manyyears later, the Geologist shot down to Washington, to theSeismology Division of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,to prove or disprove what Cayce had forecast. The first read-ing had been for a man concerned about the prospects ofearthquakes in his home town. "Will San Francisco sufferfrom such a catastrophe this year? If so, give date, time, andinformation for the guidance of this body, who has personalproperty, records, and a wife, for all of which it wishessafety." Here was motivation indeed.

This question had been asked on January 21, 1936, threeyears after a quake had been felt generally through the San

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Francisco Bay area. The Geologist duly noted Cayce'sanswer: "We do not find that this particular district [SanFrancisco] in the present year will suffer the great materialdamages that have been experienced heretofore. While por-tions of the country will be affected, we find that these will befarther east than San Francisco, or those south, where therehas not been heretofore the greater activity."

The young man in the Seismology office was helpful. Heproduced a booklet entitled, Stronger Earthquakes of Califor-nia and Western Nevada. Eagerly, the Geologist thumbed itspages, finding only one quake for 1936, and that on May 10,at Bishop, California. The quake was felt in east-central Cali-fornia and Nevada. "Bishop," the Geologist recognized witha tiny thrill, "was cast of San Francisco, and somewhat southof it"

Encouraged by this check-out, the Geologist moved on tothe U. S. Weather Bureau to see if a more complicated read-ing would hold up. Could Cayce foresee windstorms as wellas earthquakes? In August of 1926, a man interested in grainfutures had asked about weather conditions in the ensuingmonths. Cayce's reply was highly suggestive as to planetaryinfluences on storms and quakes. "Jupiter and Uranus in-fluence in the affairs of the world appear the strongest on orabout October 15 or 20," Cayce said, "when there may beexpected violent wind storms—two earthquakes, one in Cali-fornia, another in Japan—tidal waves following, one to thesouthern portion on the isles near Japan."

Now shooting over to the Weather Bureau library in Suit-land, Maryland, the Geologist checked the Monthly WeatherReview for October 1926. He quickly came to what he waslooking for: "October was an exceptionally stormy month. Inthe vicinity of the Kuril Islands [near Japan], the westerlywinds increased to hurricane force on October 14 and 15." Heturned back to his seismological records. "On October 22,California was shaken by three tremblors, quakes hit Japan onOctober 19 and 20." Cayce couldn't have been more right

The Geologist was hooked. Reading on in Cayce, he wastantalized by a reference to the early habitation of the earthby souls in human-like bodies. Cayce put this over ten millionyears ago, a figure ten times too high, in view of prevailingscientific opinion. However, the Geologist stumbled acrossProfessor de Terra's erudite study of fossil fragments in Tus-cany, Italy, which concluded that human-like creatures [horn-

inids] had lived there as early as 'the lower Pliocene or Mio-cene' period, ten to eleven million years ago. Cayce was againin good company.

The study of polar shift, as a factor in drastic earthchanges in the past, was gaining support in geological circles,twenty years after Cayce's forecast of a gradual change in theaxis. The Cayce statement that "the polar regions were onceturned to where they occupied more of the tropical andsemi-tropical regions" touched off the Geologist's own studiesof the 'magnetic grain' in ancient rocks, revealing to his satis-faction that uniformitarianism "could be what you want tomake of it, catastrophic or gradual change."

Atlantis was of special interest to the Geologist, since it ap-parently straddled past, present and future. Land on the con-tinental shelf of the Eastern United States had been rising foryears, and an additional twenty to thirty foot thrust, the Geol-ogist pointed out, would produce hundreds of square milesof new land in the Caribbean alone. "With the exception ofparts of the Bahamas," he noted, "the readings placed thesubmerged empire seaward of the continental slopes, thoseprecipitous features of the earth's morphology that representthe boundary between continents and ocean basins." Howcould science dismiss Atlantis because the ocean floor re-vealed little of a lost culture, when it was patently impossiblefor significant artifacts to have survived the slime and corro-sion of centuries? "Certainly, if Atlantis foundered 17,000and again 10,000 years ago, as the Cayce readings suggested,the resulting upheaval would have covered the ancient landsurface with reworked sediment and debris. The relativelyshort coring tools used by marine geologists could hardlypenetrate to recognizable remains of the Lost Continent Asfor Atlantean mountain peaks in the region of theBahamas—Cayce's 'highest portion left above the waves of aonce great continent'—these would have been completelycovered with coral sediments laid down during ten thousandyears of rising sea levels, brought about by the continuallymelting glaciers."

In his own way, the Geologist tried to check out the size ofAtlantis, given in the readings as equal to "that of Europe,including Asia in Europe—not Asia, but Asia in Europe." Hemapped out an area similar to that described by Cayce, andjigsawed it into the North Atlantic basin. The eastern part fitsnugly over the Azores, and the northwest boundary was at

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the edge of the Grand Banks, and the southwesterly roughlyparallel to the Atlantic slope. Bermuda fell within the pro-jected mass. This was a puzzler because there was evidence,geologically, that Bermuda was a rather ancient formation.But the first breakup 17,000 years ago was of such cataclys-mic proportions that it would be reasonable, he surmised, toexpect a volcanic mountain or two to be thrust up at thetime. This could have been Bermuda. There was one "leadingscientific interpretation suggesting that the ancient soils ofBermuda could have been formed within the Atlanteanbreakup period." Atlantis posed a number of problems. To ac-cept Atlantis, he would have to accept the whole fabric of theCayce story, of a race technically superior that graduallybrought on its own destruction through greed, and immoral-ity.

I found the Geologist's interest in a mythical continentrather surprising. "Just because Cayce was right in his healthreadings, doesn't mean he was right about Atlantis," I pointedout. "In order to motivate him successfully, somebody with aneed had to request a reading, or he seemed to have troublefunctioning."

"That was only in the beginning," the Geologist rejoined,"before Cayce realized his own potentiality. However, I cer-tainly wouldn't have accepted Cayce if Atlantis was all therewas to go on." He found some reassurance in the findings ofthe International Geophysical Year, as the seismologists, me-teorologists, geologists, and other scholars of the IGY gotaround to presenting their picture of an earth in constantchange. With acute professional interest he examined an arti-cle in Life magazine, in November 1960, entitled "The NewPortrait of Our Planet" For a Cayce fan, it was an old story.But still, as a scientist, the Geologist was always seeking con-firmation of what he already felt was true. With some inter-est, he noted the heading in Life: "Science charts the struc-ture of not-so-solid earth." Then: "Well-known places, appar-ently rooted with comfortable firmness, now seem to face un-certain futures. California, for example, may be graduallysplitting away from the rest of the continental U.S. as part ofa great shifting of the Pacific floor. The Hawaiian Islands,surrounded by a deep moat seem to be slowly sinking intothe ocean. Scientists observed Hawaii in the throes of massivepalpitations, moving up and down four inches a day underthe moon's gravitational pull. New land appears to be rising

52

in the Red Sea, in the Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Califor-nia.**

As he scanned the report, the Geologist realized he hadread something like it before, and he knew exactly where. Heturned to a reading given by Cayce back in 1934. It discussedcertain changes that the late mystic foresaw for the periodfrom 1958 to 1998. A scientific report couldn't have beenmore explicit: "The earth will be broken up in many places.The early portion [of the forty-year period] will see a changein the physical aspect of the west coast of America. Therewill appear open waters in the northern portions of Green-land. There will be seen new lands off the Caribbean Sea, anddry land wDl appear . . . South America will be shaken fromthe uppermost portion to the end; and in the Antarctic offTierra del Fuego will be land, and a strait with rushing wa-ters."

Already, there were signs, the Geologist pointed out, ofearth tremors of the type that, turn up new land rises, stirringup underwater volcanic upsurges of sufficient strength toform islands. From his file, the Geologist took out a seismc-logical report from Science Service, dealing with develop-ments in the southern tip of South America. "An earthquake,where there have never before been earthquakes, has beendetected," I read. "A large quake took place recently [1959]in the northern Magellan Strait." The U. S. Coast and Geo-detic survey reported that twelve stations recorded the quake.It was a deep one and quite strong, running well over 7 onthe seismograph scale, a significant quake considering that an8.2 tremor virtually destroyed San Francisco in 1906.

The Life report was studded with parallels to the Caycereadings of many years before. For instance, in the captionsfor the Life map of the North Pacific ocean basin, the Geolo-gist noted with satisfaction: "A feature akin to the mid-Atiantic [submarine] ridge is the newly charted East Pacificrise which extends along the west coast of the Americas andmay underlie California." The Geologist saw here strikingconfirmation of the Cayce readings which pertain to the LostContinent of Lemuria, a sort of Pacific version of Atlantis,which Cayce readings put in the southern and eastern-centralPacific. The Cayce reading, in 1934, was quite specific. "Andwhen there came hearsay, in which it was told those portionsof the land were discovered from what was left of Lemuria,in what is now lower California and portions of the valleys of

CHECKING HIM OUT

death [Death Valley], the entity journeyed there to see and to

know." j A.i

The Geologist saw more evidence of Lemuna, and Atlan-tis, too, in a descriptive report of the floor of the South Pa-cific ocean, though the scientists themselves were not as imag-inative: "In the South Pacific, the 3000-mile-wide East Pa-cific Rise loops from South America around Australia towardthe Indian Ocean to join the mid-Atlantic Ridge, making up a40 000-mile-long, world-circling submarine range. Summitsof'the rise lie 10,000 feet below sea level except where theyrear up into the Galapagos and Easter Island. IGY found theamount of heat radiating from the crust of the rise nearEaster Island is seven times greater than heat flow elsewhereon the earth's surface, leading to a surmise that the nse iswelling up with molten rock from the planet's depths andmay some day be dry land."

It was more than surmise to a Geologist oriented to Cayce,and it almost seemed that the expert on Cayce earth changeswelcomed validating signs of a coming crackup, though cer-tainly not unmindful of the lives, including his own, thatmight be lost For his face became solemn as he turned againto Life's report on IGY prospects: "These shiftings, crack-ings upwellings, and volcanic explosions are nearly alwaysaccompanied by gigantic heavings of the crust that createmountains. During most of its history, the earth has beenfairly quiescent. But on about a dozen relatively brief occa-sions, violent mountain building has taken place. The wholeof man's time on earth has been spent within such a period,which is still going on. According to some recent opinions,this restless activity is now stepping up."

As part of the restless step up that he saw, Cayce, in 1934,had foretold crustal upheavals near the two polar points, as awarning of greater upheavals in the critical 1958-98 period:"There will be upheavals in the Arctic and in the Antarcticthat will make for the eruption of volcanoes in the Torridarea; and there will be then the shifting of the poles, so thatwhere there has been a frigid or semi-tropical climate therewill be a more tropical one, and moss and fern will grow."

The Geologist thumbed through his files, pulling out,finally, an article from the good, gray New York Times. Itwas dated January 3, 1961, and headed: Antarctic Hears of aSecond Volcano. The dispatch was from the other side of theglobe, Christchurch, New Zealand, and could very well be,

u

the Geologist considered, a precursor of much bigger things.He read from the clipping with gusto. "It appears that Ant-arctica has two active volcanoes, not just one, according to ashortwave radio report received here. Plumes of steam weresaid to be seen issuing from a crater atop 10,148-foot MtTerror, thirty air miles from the U.S. main Antarctic base atMcMurdo Sound. Previously the only active volcano knownon the Antarctic Continent was Mt. Erebus, also on Ross Is-land, about eighteen miles from Mt Terror." And in the Arc-tic, in 1963, a volcanic island abruptly appeared off Iceland,in the Westerman group.

As part of the geological speedup, the sleeping Cayce fore-saw certain symptomatic activity in not only the South Pa-cific but the Mediterranean area—risings, sinkings, volcaniceruptions, quakes. Now, even more than the South Pacific,the Mediterranean has come strangely alive, almost as thoughtrying to attract notice as a harbinger of Cayce forecasts forother fronts. In June of 1959, the Geologist was intrigued bythe reports of unexplained sinkings in the Mediterranean.There was a glint in his eyes as he read from a clipping ofthe St. Louis Globe-Democrat. "The water level in Greekharbors has been dropping recently," the Geologist began,"but scientists have been unable to explain why." It was quitea drop off, exposing several shelves of the great inland sea,and noticeably affecting coastal shipping. "The drop, which inmany places exceeded three feet, first was noted after strongnortherly winds and a drop in temperature. At Nafplion Har-bor, in Southern Greece, small boats 'sat' on the sea bottomafter the level of the waters fell by three feet. This low levelwas constant for a week. At Tolos, near Nafplion, fishingboats have had difficulty in approaching the wharves. Thebottom of the old Venetian harbor, at Heraklion, Crete, hasappeared in many places. Similar phenomena were reportedfrom Rhodes Island in the Southeast [Mediterranean] andLefkas Island, off the western coast of Greece." The sinkingwas of such an unusual nature that hydrographic services or-dered sea level reports from all Mediterranean harbormasters.It was a curious phenomenon, the Geologist agreed. "Somescientists naturally attributed the drop to strong winds or anundersea quake. But the water remained low even when therewere no rough winds, and seismographs failed to record eventhe slightest tremor along the Greek coast" The Geologist

CHECKING HIM OUT

dismissed the sinkings as "only temporary," the precise termused by Cayce in describing them years before.

It was curious how Etna had become suddenly active. Ithad been strangely quiescent for years. But a year later, idlyspeculating about Cayce's references to stepped up subterra-nean activity in the Mediterranean area, the Geologist pickedup a current copy of the Bulletin of the Seismological Societyof America. On July 18 and 21, of 1960, he read, threeearthquakes rocked the Tend area, fifty miles north of Romeand 350 miles from Etna. Then: "The day before, MountEtna erupted with a violence unmatched in modern times."

Was this the Etna activity that Cayce had foreseen? Cer-tainly, too, there seemed indications that the weather waschanging. In New York City, for instance, in parts of Can-ada, the winters were becoming strangely mild. Was climatichistory repeating itself?

Apparently confirming the dim past IGY research boreout Cayce's subconscious recollections of climatic changesfrom polar slippage. "Paralleling Cayce." the Geologistpointed out, "the IGY revealed a relatively weak layer of theearth's crust at a four-hundred-and-thirty-mile depth. And atthis level, the 'more solid skin of the earth may slide over itsinner part, as though the skin of a grapefruit were to slideover its pulp.'"

And how did global slippage induce climatic changes?

The Geologist turned back to the article. " 'Some geo-physicists believe that the whole upper part of the earth hasdone this slide over from time to time in the past They findevidence that the lands and seas which are now at the northand south poles once were in quite different locations. DuringIGY, coal, which is the remains of temperate-climate plants,was found in the Antarctic. One cause of this might havebeen global slippage of the upper rock layers.' "

The Geologist looked up triumphandy. "Now listen toWhat Cayce had to say about these changes: 'The extremenorthern portions were then the southern portions, or thepolar regions were then turned to where they occupied moreof the tropical and semi-tropical regions. The Nile enteredinto the Atlantic Ocean. What is now the Sahara was an in-habited land and very fertile. What is now the central portionof this country or the Mississippi Basin was then all in theocean. Only the plateau existed, or the regions that are now

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portions of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona formed the greaterpart of what we know as the United States. That portionalong the Atlantic seaboard formed the outer portions, thenthe lowlands of Atlantis. The Andean or the Pacific Coast ofSouth America then occupied the extreme western portionsof Lemuria. The Urals and the northern regions of it wereturned into a tropical land. The desert in the Mongolian landwas then the fertile portion. The oceans were then turnedabout. They no longer bear their old names.* "

The Cayce concept of a shifting pole was in keeping withlatest scientific research, the Geologist stressed. "Studies ofthe direction toward which bits of magnetic minerals in rockspoint give clues as to the position of the magnetic north andsouth pole at the time the rocks were formed. Each magneticgrain is a little compass needle that faithfully points towardmagnetic north at the time it is hardened into rock. Scientistsare thus able to map the movement of the wandering northpole by measuring the 'magnetic fabric' of samples of rocksof different ages. If the magnetic north pole has always lamclose to the geographic north pole, as standard geologists be-lieve, then significant movements of the north magnetic poleshould be interpreted as great shifts of the geographic pole."

Since nobody knew why the poles shifted, how could theycategorically say when or how it might behave? "At the be-ginning of the Ice Age, possibly one million years ago," theGeologist said, "the north magnetic pole was in Antarctica.Some scientists have held that, for some unknown reason, theearth's entire magnetic field simply 'changed polarity' [did acomplete flip-flop] during that time."

Cayce, he pointed out, had seen the geographic pole shift-ing most recently between fifty and eighteen thousand yearsago. "This shift may have been rather slow but it seems tohave been responsible for the final destruction of Lemuria inthe Pacific and of most of the huge animals that roamed theearth then. These animals, Cayce said, were a cause for greatconcern in the communities of the time."

The Geologist had taken nothing of Cayce—orgeology—for granted. He had himself measured magnetictraces in Pleistocene sediments to check the Cayce polarshift It checked out, his measurements placing the northmagnetic pole in southern Canada during one of the lastgreat glaciations of the Pleistocene Age (approximately600,000 b.c. to 10,000 b.c). But the Geologist found that

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most colleagues didn't believe him any more than they didCayce. "They just refused to break with tradition, and accept,logically, that the geographic north pole, moving with themagnetic pole, had also traveled southward at this time."

There was other evidence for Cayce's allusion to the"Arctic or north Arctic regions being in that region of thetropics." In this presumed shifting of the poles, Alaska wouldhave been in the region of the tropics from at least 230,000B.C. to perhaps 50,000 B.C. Researcher J. W. Gidley foundremains of a camel, elephant, and other animals in Alaskaand believed these fossils added "proof in support of the sup-position that milder climatic conditions prevailed in Alaska"during most of the Pleistocene period.

Cayce had discussed an international conference on Atlan-tis to find ways and means of getting rid of the "enormousanimals which overran the earth" during a Pleistocene periodin which areas of Canada, Europe, northern United States,and northern Asia were sometimes covered by great icesheets. Now, C. O. Dunbar, a historical geologist, points out:"Throughout the Pleistocene epoch, North America and Eu-rope were both inhabited by great game animals, fully as var-ied and impressive as those of modern East Africa." Theseincluded giant elephants, tall, rangy imperial mammoths ofthe southern Great Plains, fourteen feet high at the shoulder.There were seven species of buffalo and one, the bison, was a"colossal beast with a horn-spread of fully six feet."

At times, the Geologist appeared to be stretching Cayce abit In the curious formation of weathered stones at Stone-henge in England, he saw evidences of an age-old transplant-ing of a Middle East culture, as described by Cayce. In Janu-ary 1944, Cayce had noted: "In the Holy Land when therewere those breakings-up in the period when the land wasbeing sacked by the Chaldeans and the Persians . . . amongthose groups who escaped in ships and settled in portions ofthe English land near what is now Salisbury; and therebuilded those altars that were to represent the dedication ofindividuals to the service of a living God."

In the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Geologist found sup-port for the Cayce picture of an exodus from the Mideastabout four thousand years ago. He picked out the ancientPhoenicians, a seagoing tribe of Semites who founded Car-thage and may also have ventured to England. "In the courseof the Twentieth Century BC," the Encyclopaedia reported.

"the towns still left in Transjordan after generations of no-madic incursions seem to have been destroyed. This phase ofdevastation coincides closely with the first successful wave ofnorth-west Semitic [includes Chaldean] conquest The incur-sions of desert nomads into Western Palestine also led to de-struction west of the Jordan. By 1900 BC, the population ofPalestine had probably reached one of the lowest levels in itshistory."

Stonehenge itself is very much a reality, though still a mys-tery, as the Encyclopaedia points out: "Stonehenge, a circularsetting of large standing stones surrounded by an earthwork,situated about eight miles north of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng-land . . . belonging to the late Neolithic period. This date isconfirmed by a radioactive carbon determination [1848 B.C.plus or minus 275 years]. The structures are unknown else-where in prehistoric Northern Europe and imply influencefrom the contemporary Mycenaean and Minoan architectureof the Mediterranean. The probability of such influence wasstartlingly confirmed in 1953 by the discovery of carvings ofBronze Age weapons on three of the sarsen stones."—a formof sandstone. One of these was a "carving of a hilted dagger,which with some confidence can be identified as a type usedat Mycenae between 1600 and 1500 B.C., but not found else-where in northwestern Europe."

The people who built Stonehenge were apparently highlyresourceful. Scientists have pointed out that the monumentalarray of stones at Salisbury, some weighing up to a hundredtons, were correlated, astronomically, with the key positionsof the sun and moon, providing an instrument of rare preci-sion for checking the changing seasons—helping with theplanting, harvesting, etc. By observing the lines drawnthrough the major stones, correlating them with a computer,Professor Gerald Hawkins of the Harvard-Smithsonian Ob-servatory, found that the ancient network of holes and linesserved as a natural computer, anticipating positions of thesun and moon, and their effects, three hundred years aheadof time. From the pattern that emerged, he observed, too,that eclipses of the sun and moon inevitably occurred whenthe midwinter moon rose over the heelstone, an upright stonejust outside the Stonehenge circle. Even the handling of thehuge stones reflected an advanced technology. The heavieststones were brought from quarries at Marlborough Downstwenty miles away, and some ferried from Wales, one hun-

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dred and fifty miles to the west. It seems impossible that twohundred thousand-pound stones could be moved without mod-ern machinery, but the same problem must have confrontedthe ancient Egyptians as they built their pyramids. The Geol-ogist had his own ideas about this. "Isn't it logical to assumea connection between the two stone-moving cultures, withperhaps a common cultural source, the Atlantean, pervadingthe Middle East and Egypt, as Plato indicated, after their is-land home went down?"

Cayce had thrown some light on the moving of the giantstones that formed the pyramids. According to Cayce, it wasno problem The Egyptians just happened to be ahead of us,mechanically. In July of 1932, the mystic was asked how theGreat Pyramid of Gizeh was built. He replied, "By the use ofthose forces in nature as make for iron to swim. Stone floatsin the air in the same manner. This will be discovered in•58."

The explanation was right down the Geologist's scientificalley, and he noted pedantically: "Weber reports on workdone in 1958 on the detection and generation of gravitationalwaves, stating, 'Methods are proposed [for the generation ofgravitational waves] which employ electrically inducedstresses in crystals.' Also, Furth reports on recent experimentswith magnetic pressure, which can move mountains of metalor plasma for the engineer, and atoms for the physicist"

It was impossible to be interested in Cayce, and not be in-terested in everything from vitamins or water on the knee tothe Einstein theory of relativity. "Long before Cayce camealong," the Geologist pointed out, "there had been theories inmedicine and bio-chemistry that the remedy or cure for everyhuman ailment existed somewhere in a benign nature. Thenostrum only had to be found and isolated." This, too, wasthe concept behind the Cayce readings, that in an orderly Na-ture was the counterbalance for every disorder.

"Syphilis and gonorrhea, for instance, were the scourge ofmankind, until the accidental stumbling onto a moldy fungusrevealed the wonders of penicillin. Penicillin was as startlingas some of Cayce's cures, but it had the backing of the medi-cal establishment while only a few hardy pioneers in medi-cine and osteopathy followed Cayce during his lifetime. How-ever, regularly, since his death, there have been reports con-firming treatments he advocated years before for specificcomplaints." Back fifty years ago Cayce prescribed gold chlo-

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ride for a multitude of ills. Asked once what gold chloridewould cure, if anything, he characteristically replied: "Chlo-ride of gold—any condition wherein there is any form of thecondition bordering on rheumatics, or of rejuvenating anyorgan of the system delinquent in action."

A report on the rejuvenating powers of gold, confirming alland more that Cayce held out for it, appeared in the Wash-ington Star, September 5, 1965. "Doctors here," it began,"are fashioning the fanciest bandages ever—out of gold leaf.'Nobody knows why,' one said, 'but damn it, it works. Itseems to relieve pain and stop the oozing from severe burnsand skin ulcers and sores. Best of all, it apparently speeds thewounds' healing.' Patients, who might ordinarily heal onlyafter weeks in a hospital, the doctors reported, make suchrapid progress that they were sometimes able to continuewith their jobs while the gold did hs repair work." The expe-riments were the work of Drs. John P. Gallagher and CharlesF. Geschickter, working together—and their report was origi-nally carried in the Journal of the American Medical Asso-ciation.

Gold was also used effectively in treating patients at theHebrew Home for the Aged in Washington. As the press re-ported: "Thin sheets of gold have given spectacular resultswhen applied to big, open wounds and sores. Dr. Naomi M.Kanof, a dermatologist, applied the gold to long-standing,deep and open skin ulcers resulting from injuries, diabeticand varicose conditions, and from the deterioration known bythe mild name of bedsores."

"In private practice here," the report continued, "the goldleaf has been used even on gangrenous ulcers and, in at leastone case, on an open wound from X-rays used in treating an-other condition."

Cayce had recommended "three almonds a day" as a guardagainst cancer. No reason was advanced, as nobody asked thesleeping seer why almonds were beneficial. But it was well-known that a substance, laetrile, was contained in almonds,and also in apricots and lima beans. Recently, a book was putout by a Glenn D. Kittler, titled Laetrile, Control for Cancer.A Mrs. Alice Howell of Ojai, California, sent a copy to theCayce Foundation, together with the report that a friend,dying of cancer, used laetrile, and her cancer was broughtunder control.

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Cayce's observations on health, generally, intrigued theGeologist. The mystic pointed out, surprisingly, that "overal-kalinity is much more harmful than a little tendency for acid-ity." In December 1962, the National Health FederationBulletin carried a report on research into this area by Dr.George A. Wilson. "Dr. Wilson has found, over a series oftests on hundreds of patients over a fourteen-year period, thatmost sick persons are too alkaline, not too acid, as has beenmore generally thought. More so is this true, he says, of thechronically sick persons, who are all, with very few excep-tions, highly alkaline."

Long before endocrinologists were astonishing their col-leagues with experiments demonstrating the importance ofthe ductiess glands, primarily the pituitary, Cayce had notedin his readings, "We find that which connects the pineal, thepituitary, may be truly called the silver cord, which is thecreative essence in physical, mental, and spiritual life; for thedestruction wholly of either will make for the disintegrationof the soul from its house of clay."

Years later, the Medical Center Memo, of the StanfordUniversity Medical Center News Bureau, reported the honor-ing of experimental anatomist. Dr. Philip E. Smith, for hispioneer research into the unique function of the pituitary.His findings were considered so important that he was electedto the National Academy of Sciences, made a Chevalier ofthe French Legion of Honor, and became the first Americanto win the Sir Henry Dale Medal for supreme medicalachievement And yet he only discovered what had been pro-claimed years before by the untutored Cayce. The medicalorgan reported: "Dr. Smith demonstrated conclusively thatthe gonads, the thyroid and adrenal glands cannot develop orfunction without the pituitary gland, which is located at thebase of the brain. Once the pituitary was removed [from testanimals] the three glands wasted away. By injecting the pitui-tary into these animals, he found that these glands could berestored to their normal functions."

Nobody upgraded the pituitary more than Cayce. "The pi-tuitary is the door," he said, "through which physically all ofthe reflex actions penetrate through the various forces of thenervous system. It is that to and through which the mental ac-tivities come that produce the influences in the imaginativesystem as well as the racial predominating influences, or the

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blood force itself. It gives judgment and understanding, toler-ance, and relationships to the determining factors of one'slife."

At one time, erroneously, some thought that because of thepeculiar way he behaved as a child that Edgar Cayce mightwell be epileptic. This would have explained his once climb-ing trees and wallowing in mud as a boy. But this phasepassed quickly, without the characteristic convulsive seizuresof epilepsy. Yet Cayce had a strong abiding interest in thedisorder, and read helpfully for people suffering from it. Hepointed out epilepsy was universal in nature, could affect al-most anybody, regardless of race or social background. Hestressed that its cure lay in balanced treatment, expanding theactivities of the individual, not restricting them. He recom-mended exercise in the open—walking, swimming, calisthen-ics, games, and sports.

One doctor, poring over the Cayce files on epilepsy, wasprofoundly impressed by the Cayce appraisal of the epilepticproblem. After his own research at the Cayce Foundation, hefound a report on the malady by an eminent physician whichcorresponded with Cayce's own observations. "Most personssuffering from convulsive disorder, with proper care, can liveessentially normal lives," the authority had observed- "The at-titude toward those suffering from convulsions has changedgready. We now recommend little or no curtailment of activi-ties because of a diagnosis of epilepsy."

When vitamins first became a fad, Cayce warned theycould not take the place of vitamins in food, nor would theybe helpful except for specific deficiencies. Continued use,even where they were at first efficacious, would minimizetheir effect: "Do not take the concentrated form of vitamins,but obtain these from foods. The circulation carries withinthe corpuscles such elements or vitamins as may be neededfor assimilation in each organ." He stressed: "All such prop-erties as vitamins that add to the system are more efficaciousif they are given for periods, left off for periods, and thenbegun again. For if the system comes to rely upon such in-fluences wholly, it ceases to produce the vitamins, eventhough the food values are kept normally balanced. It ismuch better for these vitamins to be produced in the bodyfrom the normal development than supplied mechanically,for nature is much better still than science."

Again, Cayce was way ahead of his time. Newsweek, in

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1960, the Geologist found, carried a warning by the Ameri-can Medical Association to vitamin-pill addicts: Don't munchtoo many. There is a widespread belief, said the Journal ofthe AMA, that to keep healthy people must consume multivi-tamin pills. "On the contrary, only in a deficiency state or inan anticipated deficiency state are vitamin supplements neces-sary." An overdose of vitamins, added the Journal, can causeloss of appetite, irritability, skin eruptions, liver enlargement

In his own experience, the Geologist could recall apesky itching consequent to a large dosage of high potencyB-complex. His doctor only wagged his head wisely. "It couldnever happen," he said, "not in a million years."

Cayce was a great believer in laboratory research, andforetold many of its strides. Discussing the blood as a barom-eter of the whole body, he asserted, "The day may yet arrivewhen one may take a drop of blood and diagnose the condi-tion of any physical body."

He was not far off. In February 1960 newspapers carriedreports of a new, revealing laboratory analysis of a singledrop of blood, or tiny patch of tissue. "Drs. R. L. Hunter andC L. Markest," the Washington Daily News reported, "withfinancial support from the American Cancer Society, hope byobserving and analyzing the enzymes to trace the changeswhich take place in the process of growth from the em-bryonic stage to old age." In this way, observers reported, itwas hoped to study the chemical changes that accompanyvarious diseases and "make possible the diagnosis of somediseases, perhaps cancer among them, before clinical symp-toms have appeared."

Cayce was still at bat

Chapter Five

CALIFORNIA—EARTHQUAKES

Cayce wasn't the only one making predictions about Califor-nia. The scientists were making them, too, and they were asforeboding as anything Cayce had gotten off. At CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, famous for its Nobel prizewinners inscience. Professor Hugo Benioff pointed out that Los An-geles, and its wonderful new high-rise buildings—a compara-tively recent innovation—could be devastated at any time bya severe quake. His fellow Cal Tech professor, D. E. Hudson,an expert in the mechanics of quakes, went him a little bet-ter, observing that everyone of the seventeen million peoplein California was living on or near a potential earthquake."More people are going to be killed in the future than havebeen killed in the past," Hudson predicted, "and more build-ings are going to be damaged and destroyed, simply becausethe earth is filling up with people and their buildings. A fewyears previously, the Good Friday earthquake in Alaskawould have done comparatively little damage and killed fewpeople. There was nothing there to damage and nobody thereto be killed."

The chief villain, of course, is the San Andreas fault,which runs down most of California, coming into the conti-nental shelf above San Francisco. It has help, too, from theHayward fault, recently discovered to have a tributary under

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CALIFORNIA—EARTHQUAKES 6J

San Francisco College. The San Andreas is lined with com-munities for hundreds of miles. It won't take an Alaskanquake to wreak havoc in thickly populated centers. "Smallquakes," the Geologist pointed out, "could do considerablymore damage in areas with numbers of thinly constructedbuildings." As an example of low-magnitude quakes whichdid a disproportionate amount of damage, Hudson cited theSanta Barbara jolter of 1924, the Long Beach quake of 1933,and the Tehachapi and Bakersfield quakes of 1952, in KernCounty. Actually, California has had only three high-magnitude quakes since the land was taken over from theSpaniards, one occurring in 1857, when the San Andreasfault was ruptured for hundreds of miles, as far out as SanBernardino. Another, in 1872, in Owens Valley, and the SanFrancisco quake in 1906, rupturing the fault for miles. Thequiescence is ominous rather than heartening, as it indicatestension mounting in the earth below since the last real rup-tures, sixty years ago in central California, and more than ahundred in Southern California. "This certainly suggests,"Professor Hudson observed, "that something exciting is beingprepared at the lower end of the fault."

The Geological Survey of the U. S. Department of the In-terior describes the San Andreas as the "master" fault in anintricate network cutting through the rocks of California'scoastal region. Besides the Hayward fault in west central Cal-ifornia, several in the southern area branch out from themain fault. These are the Garlock fault, the White Wolf, El-sinore, San Gabriel, San Jacinto, Death Valley. "The San An-dreas fault," the Survey reported, "forms a continuous breakfrom northern California southward to Cajon Pass. FromCajon Pass southeastward, the identity of the fault becomesconfused, because several branching faults such as the SanJacinto, Mission Creek, and Banning faults have similar char-acteristics. Nevertheless, the San Andreas type of faultingcontinues unabated southward to and under the Gulf ofLower California."

The Survey presents a vivid surface picture of the San An-dreas: "Over much of its length a linear trough reveals thepresence of the fault, and from an airplane the linear ar-rangement of the lakes, bays, and valleys appears striking.Undoubtedly, however, many people driving near CrystalSprings Reservoir, along Tomales Bay, through Cajon orTejon Passes, do not realize they are on the San Andreas

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fault zone. On the ground, the fault zone can be recognizedby long straight escarpments, narrow ridges, and small un-drained ponds, formed by the settling of small blocks withinthe fault zone."

The fault moves predictably. "Essentially, blocks on oppo-site sides of the San Andreas fault move horizontally, and ifone were to stand on one side of the fault and look across it,the block on the opposite side would appear to be moved tothe right Geologists refer to this as a right-lateral strike-slip,or wrench fault During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake,roads, fences, and rows of trees and bushes that crossed thefault were offset several feet, and the road across the head ofTomales Bay was offset twenty-one feet, the maximum re-corded. In each case the ground west of the fault moved rela-tively northward."

The Survey had no idea when the next quake would strike."But there is every reason to believe that the fault will con-tinue to be active as it has been for millions of years. An-other earthquake as strong as that of 1906 could happen atany time."

The Geologist had many times trudged along the fault, fas-cinated by the ragged terrain—and its implications. "Thefault is traceable, from its topographical expression alone, for530 miles southeastward from Point Arena north of SanFrancisco," he observed. "Throughout this distance, it ismarked by nearly straight valleys, generally at the foot ofequally straight mountain fronts. At many places the valleythat coincides with the fault has resulted from erosion alonga belt much broken up and weakened by multiple faulting.North of San Francisco, this depression helps form TomalesBay and Bolinas Lagoon, which partly cuts off the PointReyes peninsula from the mainland.

"A number of faults that trend parallel to the San Andreascut through San Francisco proper, but the San Andreas itselfcuts the earth some five miles south of the city limits. Aprominent stream valley, varying one-quarter to three-quartermiles in width, marks the fault where it parallels the westside of Route 35 [Skyline Drive]. About three miles south-west of San Bruno, [just south of San Francisco], a stream inthe great rift valley has been dammed to form San Andreaslake. Up and down the rift valley, from each end of the nar-row, two-mile-long lake, one sees the exploitation of onceforest-clad slopes by land developers. Here the trees are

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cleared and the steep slopes bulldozed into perches for indi-vidual homes as well as small clusters of houses. This activitycontinues, notwithstanding the fact that numerous landslidestook place during the 1906 quake, and its aftershocks a weeklater, on hill slopes more stable than those being formed by to-day's bulldozers."

There already seems to be signs of increased activity. "Oneof the busiest seismic regions in California right now," theGeologist pointed out, "is Hollister, just at the end of the seg-ment of the fault torn by the 1906 quake. Who knows whenthe sleeping monster will wake with a jolt?" Cayce obviouslyknew of the San Andreas fault, because he was already"reading" when the destruction of San Francisco flared acrossthe front pages, but he never explored, subconsciously, themechanics of the destruction that formed his prediction somethirty-five years later, as he seldom asked for trouble withoutbeing asked about it first by others.

Actually, one didn't have to be a Cayce to see destructivequakes where they had been before. It was more how, why,and when. Constantly, inexorably—visibly almost inplaces—trouble is building up along the San Andreas, deep inthe core and mantle of the earth, where scientists can onlyspeculate about what is happening.

The fault itself is the best known earthquake source in theworld. A solid fracture in the earth's surface, it is some twothousand miles long and fifteen deep. On one side of the faultline, the crust is moving north two inches a year, on the othersouth. Below, great land blocks are jammed tightly together.There is no movement, no relief of pressure, until suddenly,easing the strain, two enormous land masses may slip offfrom each other with a rumble felt halfway around theworld.

Clearly seen in places from the highways, the fault is amorbid curiosity for the people most closely affected. "It is acase," the Geologist observed, "of the small fish hypnotizedby the shark about to gobble him up." Because of its verycohesiveness, the fault poses an added problem. "Little trem-ors along its length, or even major rumbles short of rupturestrength," the Geologist advised, "do not sufficiently ease thestrain along the entire fault. Eventually, accumulating tensionmust be released by a tremendous jolt that will again breakthe fault wide open."

Carefully, the Geologist considered the plausibility of

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Cayce's California forecast He had lived there for years him-self, studying geology at a San Francisco Bay school, over-looking the San Andreas area, and he was very much awarethat certain farsighted geologists had built themselves steel-reinforced homes against the day of reckoning. Like so manyother scientists, he felt that an enormous earthquake couldshake the land at any time. After college, he had moved outof California, not wanting to cope with the uncertainty of liv-ing on a perennial "land mine," even before he knew ofCayce. Since then, he had studied the revealing map issued in1958 by Cal Tech seismologist Charles F. Richter, giving ageneral picture of the earthquake intensities that might be ex-pected around the State on the basis of past shocks. Blackshaded areas showed quakes of maximum intensity. The faultline cut from above San Francisco down the Western part ofthe State, branching out near Los Angeles past San Bernar-dino, but continuing to El Centro at the Mexican border. Awhole plethora of cities, besides Los Angeles and San Fran-cisco, were perched on or near the active fault lines in theRichter map: Berkeley and Oakland, San Mateo, Palo Alto,San Jose, Santa Clara, Salinas, Santa Cruz, Pasadena, PalmSprings, Indio, Riverside. There were plenty of people andbuildings within the high magnitude quake zone now, wherethere had been little or nothing a century before.

The Geologist, for all of his scientific detachment, couldnot look upon the prospect serenely. "At any time, activityalong these faults, in response to movements beneath theearth's crust, could prove disastrous to many people." Caycehad mentioned inundation by earthquakes, and tsunamis, seawaves generated by submarine quakes, had in the pastwrecked whole cities. Some had occurred recently, in Chile,America's southern hemisphere, where Cayce had foretoldeventual breakups greater than anything to the north. "Thetsunamis that developed in response to the Chilean earth-quakes of May 1960 had great destructive power," the Geol-ogist observed. "At the height of this tidal wave, a11,000-ton cargo vessel actually floated over the town of Cor-ral before being carried back to sea again."

Just as there were warnings about the shaky ground inAlaska, before the great quake, there have been similar warn-ings about dangerous land foundations elsewhere—aroundBoston, in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, butCalifornia remains the critical area. "Wherever possible," the

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Geologist recalled, "my professors built houses on solidrock." However, big developments, braving the future, wererising on all sides of the faults in the Bay area, with theknowledge of almost everybody concerned, including thehouseholders. First glimmerings of the Californians'ostrich-headed attitude toward their earthquake potentialcame to him as he prepared a college term paper on theeffects of the great San Francisco quake. "I clearly rememberthat the bulky reports written a few years after the quake haddocumented the problem of shaky soils and faults in the SanFrancisco area. And yet as I branched out, I found that asmart residential district just below San Francisco's TelegraphHill had been built on filled land liable to slide away with thenext major quake. Other housing developments were mush-rooming on shoreline landfills, bulldozed hillsides, and otherunstable areas, posing great dangers for the future."

This was in the mid-1950s, in a State with the strictestbuilding codes. But under the pressures of a statewide popu-lation explosion and resulting real estate boom, apparentlyoverlooked were the original reasons for the stringent code.But the Geologist had another and greater shock waiting. Adecade or so later, now a fullfledged geology professor, he re-turned to California for a series of scientific meetings. Hewas flabbergasted by what now confronted him. "In the faceof a bigger and better building boom, ordinary prudenceseemed to have been tossed away. There was a wholesale dis-regard of the most elementary safety measures." On the SanAndreas fault zone, a few miles southwest of San Francisco,a real estate developer had brought in heavy equipment andfilled in part of the valley that marks the course of the fault"There he had built a large subdivision centered essentiallyover the great rift This subdivision could very well be demol-ished the next time the San Andreas breaks."

As he viewed the thousands of houses built around thegiant fault, the Geologist recalled how Cayce had attributedAtlantis' downfall to a flouting or perversion of the orderlyprocesses of Nature, with a consequent decline in morality."Having been exposed to Cayce's readings," he said, "Ithought of the greed and ignorance at work in California,and how this seemed to mirror reputed conditions in the lastdays of Atlantis." Wherever he turned, he encountered thesame frivolous contempt and disregard of nature. Just acrossSan Francisco Bay and to the east, construction was fanning

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out from the clearly outlined Hayward fault—an ominouszone of rocks slowly shearing past one another near the hillsbordering the east side of San Francisco Bay.

There was ample cause for alarm. "The fault zone, varyingin width from five hundred to ten thousand feet, can actuallybe traced by the creeping damage it is doing to houses, rail-roads, and pipes," the Geologist pointed out. "In 1966, a U.S.Geological Survey reported the cracking of a culvert pipeunder the University of California stadium, cracks in theClaremont water tunnel in Berkeley, and in Fremont, theshifting of railroad tracks, and the splitting of concrete ware-house walls."

The Geologist considered the Bay area more than ready."If Cayce was right in saying that gradual changes will be ac-celerated after 19S8, then such an area will be a prime sub-ject of acceleration. The San Francisco Bay area, with SanAndreas on the west and Hayward on the east is now at'ground zero.'"

The southern California problem was equally serious, com-plicated as it was by constant withdrawal of great under-ground reservoirs of oil, directly resulting in noticeable subsi-dence of the ground surface and some earth faulting. Itseemed incredible that oil operations would be allowed tocontinue in areas where they might induce destructivequakes. The Geologist smiled rather grimly. "In the 1930s,quakes were generated in the Long Beach area after billionsof barrels of oil had been pumped out, and they're stillpumping." He shrugged. "Indicating the delicate balance infault areas, a series of quakes were recently triggered in Col-orado, when wastes were forced down a deep well at theRocky Mountain Arsenal, near Denver." Penetrating into adeep-lying fracture zone, the waste waters lubricated thefaults enough to release tension and touch off the quakes.

Recent quakes in the Long Beach district have been minorand shallow, occurring as the ground mass subsided after oilwithdrawals from the Terminal Island area had createdempty earth pockets. "These tremors are continuing," theGeologist stressed, "and have sheared off oil wells from timeto time, though very little is said about it."

He laughed rather mirthlessly. "In December of 1963, thedam holding back millions of gallons of water in the BaldwinHills reservoir cracked, sending a disastrous torrent overhouses and roads located down valley. This was caused by a

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movement along a fault that passed under the reservoir anddam. The movement along the fault, in turn, was caused by adramatic sinking of the land surface in the nearby BaldwinHills oil field."

To the north, around Bakersfield, subsidence due to oilwithdrawals has caused gradual slippage along a fault in theBuena Vista hills, east of Taft "Late in 1949," the Geologistsaid, "a crack in the ground surface two miles long developedabout fourteen miles north of Bakersfield. Apparently, how-ever, there has been no directly resulting earthquake—yet"

In California, as in other earthquake zones, inhabitantshave as much to fear from the shallow aftershocks of a majorearthquake, as from the original shock itself. "For example, alocal aftershock of the 1952 Kern County earthquake, dis-tributed over a far wider range, caused far more damage inthe city of Bakersfield, twenty-four miles away, than did themain shock one month before."

Since faults don't go away, earthquakes have a habit ofcoming back. The Owens Valley quake, eighty-five miles eastof Fresno, is generally considered the biggest quake in Cali-fornia history. More recent big shakes were the disastrousLong Beach quake of 1933, the Imperial Valley quake in1940, the 1952 Kem County shaker, also known as the Ar-vin-Tehachapi.

In light of this history, it would be interesting to knowwhat had been done to minimize future quakes.

The Geologist smiled thinly. "There have been some effortsto zone building areas off from faults and decree certaintypes of reinforced housing, but not enough. There are alsoplans to study the way quakes strike, and try to anticipatethem. But it's a lot like trying to catch the wind." There hadbeen an Earthquake Hazards Conference in San Francisco, in1964, and he considered it a step in the right direction, butwasn't sure how much good had come out of it. At the con-ference, addressing some three hundred geologists, geophysi-cists, and engineers, Hugo Fisher, of the Resources Agencyof California, stressed that while nobody knew when the nextquake would come, they felt it would be capable of greatdamage to life and property. Cal Tech's Clarence Allen com-mented wryly on the building boom, "Far too many peopleare buying and living in houses on soil conditions where mostgeologists would never raise their own families." Very fewrecommendations about regulating construction came out of

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the conference. "With nearly everyone in the Golden Stateworking and making good money," a California colleague ofthe Geologist's observed sardonically, "who would be so boldas to put limitations on the boom?"

The Geologist saw some bright spots. "Los Angeles hadsufficient vision to pass a city ordinance in 1964 requiring allmajor new buildings to install strong-motion seismographs tostudy the movement of buildings under tremors and to gatherdata for improving future design. However, much remains tobe done about the building of earlhquakeproof structures, be-yond providing the lateral bracing and reinforced walls pre-scribed in most quake areas. Buildings should not be built tooclose together, if architects want to minimize the risk of hori-zontal damage, as was apparent in the Alaska quake."

He brooded for a moment "Not all damage can beavoided, whatever you do. It can be mmimized by not crowd-ing into obvious danger zones, protecting against the kind ofbuilding collapse that would cause death or injuries." A fara-way look came into his eyes. "You know, if Cayce was right,Los Angeles should have plenty of data for its strong-motionseismographs. It should be an interesting study."

Cayce seemed to understand earthquakes. Asked abouttheir causes, back in 1936, he replied somewhat like a Greekoracle: "The causes of these, of course, are movement withinthe earth, and the cosmic activity of other planetary forcesand stars. Their relationships produce or bring about the ac-tivities of the elementals of the earth—the Earth, the Air, theFire, the Water—and those combinations make for the re-placements in the various activities."

The Geologist was rather impressed by this summation, ashe had recently come to suspect that just as the moonaffected the tides and man, other planets did influencechanges in the earth. "What Cayce had said was preciselyright: the interplay of rocks, gases, heat, and fluid, influencedby gravitational and magnetic forces in the solar system resultin subterranean movements that in turn produce earth-quakes."

Quakes, the Geologist stressed, keep recurring where theearth's crust is weakest. "In this geological age, the crust isweakest around the margins of the Pacific Ocean, the greathalf-circle from New Zealand in the southwest to Cape Hornin the southeast, extending north to Japan and Alaska. In thegreat area enclosed by this Ring of Fire, in the deepest ocean

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trenches, the water is forced deep into the crust throughearthquake faults, into regions of intense subsurface heat,leading to eruptions." This was the earthquake belt and it in-cluded California. "The earthquakes occurring in this zoneaccount for eighty percent of the earthquake energy releasedthroughout the world, and the area is full of deep fracturesindicating giant upheavals in the past. There were threeknown major fractures of the ocean floor between Hawaiiand the Aleutians—the Molokai, Murray, and Mendoci-no—and now they have turned up an eight hundred milecrack to the north, fifteen miles wide in places, so new that ithasn't been named yet."

These giant troughs may have been formed in massive un-dersea upheavals that displaced great land masses. "Accord-ing to Cayce," the Geologist observed, "there was once alarge continent in the South Pacific called Lemuria. This sup-posedly sank beneath the sea as the earth's north pole turnedto its present position [from one in South Africa]. As Caycedescribed it, one side of Lemuria had included part of theAndes and the west coast of South America. The crust brokealong the length of what is now the Chile-Peru trench andthe scar along this coast of South America is still active.Earthquakes in this trench periodically set off giant tidalwaves and volcanic eruptions, and quakes from Ecuador tothe southern tip of South America regularly wreak havoc onthe inhabitants."

And what of Lemuria?

The Geologist shrugged. "It could very easily be identifiedwith the South Pacific rise."

Quakes were one of the hard facts of life. There were amillion a year, one hundred thousand strong enough to befelt by humans, and perhaps a hundred powerful enough todamage buildings. "Actually," the Geologist noted, "there areonly about a dozen quakes of any magnitude each year. Butof course we notice them more now, since our communitiesare spreading out over once barren land. If the Alaskan orChilean quakes—both stronger than the San Franciscojolts—had occurred in the San Francisco or Los Angelesareas instead, Cayce's prediction of a California holocaustmight already have come true."

The Alaskan quake had shaken a land area of five hundredthousand square miles. A report by the U. S. Coast and Geo-detic Survey presented an eye-opening picture of raw nature

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at work. "In places as distant as Illinois, New Jersey, andFlorida," a review of the report noted, "water-well levels pre-cipitously dropped two to ten feet In the main shock area,centered about seventy-five miles east of Anchorage, afour-hundred mile long subterranean rock formation extend-ing down the coastline and out to the southern tip of KodiakIsland was rent asunder. On one side of this enormous frac-ture, the land—including part of a mountain range—droppedas much as eight to ten feet; on the other side, thecoast—and one off-shore island—rose as much as thirty tofifty feet Later measurements showed that the fracture hadpermanently displaced the earth's crust as far west as Ha-waii."

These were the most dramatic far-reaching effects, reveal-ing not only the magnitude of the quake but the cohesion ofthe earth.

The Geologist was intrigued with the report. "Now justlook, briefly, at what the quake did locally in a veritable wil-derness, and translate this in terms of a similar tremblor hit-ting the heart of Los Angeles or San Francisco. In the mainshock area, huge avalanches, landslides, crevasses, and mudspouts knocked out all utilities, roads, transportation, andcommunication. A giant, thirty-foot seismic sea wave or tsu-nami, generated by the main shock, and many shorter-rangebut taller waves, dashed upon the coast, wiping out Alaska'sfishing and canning industry, and spreading havoc as farsouth as California. Small coastal towns, such as Chenegaand Valdez, all but disappeared. Seward lost its entire water-front, and Anchorage sustained the greatest amount of totaldamage to schools, offices and homes. There, two small boysplaying in their yard, suddenly disappeared down a yawningcrevasse. In one night of primordial terror some 115 liveswere lost and over $350,000,000 in damage was sustained."

All it had taken was two or three minutes.

Obviously, the impact on any great metropolitan centercould be calamitous. "Yes," the Geologist agreed, "it cer-tainly would be bad for business, particularly the real estatebusiness."

He was familiar with history's deadliest quakes, and didn'tfeel any were greater, seismically, than the Chilean or Alas-kan quake—or the one now potentially building up some-where. Casualties in the past had been formidable. "Over140,000 people perished in the Tokyo and Yokohama quakes

CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKES fj

in 1923. In Lisbon, in 1755, 60,000; in Martinique, Cayce'sPelee, some 40,000 died in 1902." The greater the populationcenter, the greater the risk of life. "The worst quake evershook China way back in 1556, killing some 830,000 peo-ple."

It was difficult to see how they could have counted thebodies in such a disaster.

The Geologist observed with scientific detachment, "Well,they knew what they had in their towns, and when the townswere wiped out, I suppose they just added the losses up fromthe census figures."

There were areas in the United States that on their recordappeared safe from tremors—Louisiana, Michigan, andMinnesota. But one of the country's great quakes had oncerocked relatively secure Missouri, near New Madrid, with re-percussions as far north as Canada and to the Gulf Coast tothe south. Four hundred miles away in Cincinnati, chimneyswere toppled from rooftops. However, the Geologist's majorconcern was California, not only because of Cayce and thegiant fault, but the extension of a restless crest of the EastPacific rise under the West Coast "The Gulf of California,cut from Lower California," he said, "is a notable example ofprevious breaking up of the western continent The north-ward extension of the axis of the Gulf is marked by a line ofgeologically youthful, but presently extinct volcanic craters,indicating subterranean activity all along this route at onetime."

In a recent work of the distinguished European geologistR. W. Van Bemmelen, the Geologist saw striking confirma-tion of Cayce's portrait of the earth in change. "Van Bemme-len saw one section of an enormous current in the lowermantle of the earth rising beneath the North Atlantic basin,from the equator to Iceland. A slight upward push in the vi-cinity of the Bahamas and the Azores, in accordance with theVan Bemmelen concept, would produce thousands of milesof new land. Because of these currents, Van Bemmelen saysthat the North America mass is drifting westward, causinghuge faults and trenches, and an inevitable crumpling of theearth's crust in western North America, against the South Pa-cific rise which extends below the west coast"

Van Bemmelen and Cayce appeared to share a basic view,the Geologist felt. "Now, if as Cayce says, these upheavals inthe earth's interior are accelerated, beginning in 1936, then

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we can expect renewed uplift in the North Atlantic basin [At-lantis rising], breakups in western North America, and moredowndropping of the blocks of the earth's crust along theU.S. East Coast, from New England down to the Carohnasand Georgia. So actually Van Bemmelen and Cayce are veryclose, only Cayce speeds everything up and gives us thesource of all of the energy for the 'commotion in theocean'—the axis tilt."

Once asked the extent of the 1936 change, Cayce had re-plied, "The war, the upheavals in the interior of the earth,and the shifting of same by the differentiation in the axis asrespecting the positions from the Polaris center." As he indi-cated many times, the changes would be world-wide, andmight awaken people to the universality of the deity. "Ye saythat these are of the sea. Yes, for there will be a breaking up,until the time when there are people in every land who willsay this or that shows the hand of divine interference—orthat nature is taking a hand—or that this or that is the na-tural consequence of good judgments. In all of these times,let each declare whom ye will serve: a nation, a man, state,or thy God."

As he saw illness and infirmity from inside the humanbody, so did the X-ray eye of Cayce apparently perceive thechanging earth clear through its 1800-mile mantle to the deepinner core. What he saw might not show on the surface formany years, just as disease builds up inside an organism for aperiod before it manifests itself externally. In this connection,there was an interesting Cayce colloquy in 1932, dealing withpredicted changes in Alabama's topography.

"Are there to be physical changes in the earth's surface inAlabama?" an interested southerner inquired of Cayce.

"Not for some period yet," the mystic replied.

"When will the changes begin?"

•Thirty-six to thirty-eight."

"What part of the state will be affected?"

"The northwestern part and the extreme southwesternpart."

"Are the changes to be gradual or sudden?""Gradual."

"What form will they take?"

Cayce, after dealing with his favorite theme of man's be-havior reflecting itself in his environment, foresaw that partsof Alabama would sink under water. "As understood, or

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should be, by the entity," he said, "there are those conditionsthat in the activity of individuals, in line of thought and en-deavor, often keep many a city and many a land intact,through their application of the spiritual laws in their associa-ion with individuals." But apparently Alabama wasn't think-ing right. "This will take more of the form here in thechange, as we find, through the sinking of portions, with thefollowing-up of the inundations by this overflow."

Two years later, in 1934, he made his sweeping forecast ofearth changes, including the breakups in western U.S., andthe sliding of most of Japan into the sea. Already, as theGeologist saw it, there has been a blow forming for Japan.As a prelude to a perhaps bigger show, the town of Matsu-shiro, some 125 miles north of Tokyo, has been shaken, be-ginning in 1965, by more than five hundred tremors a day.Most of the jolts have been minor, hardly felt, but one day, inthe spring of 1966, as the quakes accelerated, local earth-quake headquarters received one hundred reports of damage.One shock tore a 130-foot gap in a street, pushed over a bull-dozer, cut power lines and water mains; others altered thehabits of an apprehensive populace. Instead of living in build-ings that might crash down on them, many in the communityof 22,000 people took to spending their nights in tents, andwearing protective helmets. More recently, the affected areaappears to have spread to the neighboring city of Nagano,population 170,000. But fortunately, none of the tremors—sofar—have been of any magnitude. Japanese authorities at firstattributed the quake town's "rock around the clock" to under-ground volcanic activity, but later ascribed the tremors to adistortion inside the earth, apparently coinciding with Cayce'sshifting axis.

At best, the Geologist saw Japan sitting on a rather flimsyfoundation, especially vulnerable to the deep quakes whichhave been recurring more regularly of late. The highly con-centrated population was no help. "The four main is-lands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—togetherwith numerous smaller islands are so aligned as to form aslightly bent arc off the eastern fringe of the Asiatic conti-nent," the Geologist pointed out. "Relatively high mountainsare located in the center of the islands, with narrow coastalplains supporting the swarming millions. The Japanese econ-omy has leaned heavily on agriculture and fisheries, which re-quire great reclamations of land around the bays and estuar-

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ies, all shaky. If Japan were severely shaken by a series ofgreat tremors, many of the reclaimed areas would conceiva-bly slide into the sea. As it is, Japan is disaster-ridden, plaguedby the typhoons of the western Pacific, and by seismic seawaves generated off Chile, Alaska or Japan itself. The landseems to be constantly shifting. After a tremor destroyedmuch of Yokohama and Tokyo, soundings in Sagani Bay be-fore and after the quake showed depth changes of a thousandfeet due to submarine landslides. Vast blocks of the earth'scrust moved downward twenty feet and laterally thirteen feetAlong a ninety-mile stretch of the northeast coast of Honshu,the crust is sinking; if it speeds up devastating earthquakeswill then occur, with cataclysmic tsunamis, as Japan reacts tothe wobbling of the earth from the continuing shift of itsaxis."

And so there would be great earthquakes, as before, in theSouth Pacific, South America, California, and Japan. Yet itseemed hardly likely that the same agency of destruction—could affect "New York, Connecticut and the like."

To New Yorkers, Cayce's quakes seemed rather remote."Too bad," my editor commented calmly, "that Cayce didn'tsay how all these places would be destroyed. Of course, I canvisualize California, a series of earthquakes and then the tidalwaves." He looked up with a puzzled frown. "But what couldhappen to New York City—Manhattan, as I understand?" He6hook his head doubtfully.

I agreed. "An H-bomb would certainly knock out morethan Manhattan—Staten Island, New Jersey, Bronx, andBrooklyn, too."

With the problem undisposed, I hurried off to an appoint-ment with a retired executive of New York's giant utility,Consolidated Edison, to learn about the recent power black-out

Engineer David Williams, Con Ed's authority on under-ground power cables, while explaining the great Northeastpower blackout of November 9, 1965, had a lively interest inthe earth-shaking prophecies of Edgar Cayce.

"Maybe Cayce had something," Williams said, lookingover at me quizzically. "You know, of course, about theFourteenth Street fault?"

"If you're talking about Manhattan," I said, "I thought itwas planted solidly on bedrock, making all those great sky-scrapers possible."

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He rejoined matter-of-factly, "In the event of a majorearthquake in this area, all of Manhattan from FourteenthStreet south could very easily drop into the bay."

In many years as a reporter, I had never heard a whisperof such a fault, though I had known vaguely of an earth frac-ture passing under the East River, parallel to the island ofManhattan.

But it was no wonder, for the Fourteenth Street fault was aclosely kept secret. It was re-discovered, quite inadvertently,in 1962 when Con Ed planned to build the world's largestgenerating plant next to its existing facilities in Manhattan, atFourteenth Street and the East River. To test the foundationstrength, heavy drills explored the ground below for sometwo hundred feet until they hit apparent bedrock. Bids werethen taken for the steel pilings that would have to be driveninto the ground before construction could begin. Some engi-neers, remembering the fault under the river, suggested drill-ing as a further safeguard with still heavier equipment. Theresult was startling. "At two hundred feet or so," Williams re-called, "the heavy drills plunged through into a vast under-ground chasm. It ran diagonally from Fourteenth Streetnorthwest, branching out from the river, until Fifteenth orSixteenth Streets, where Con Ed's property lines ended." Thefault of course, kept going.

Very quietly, plans to build the huge generator at Four-teenth Street were abandoned. Instead, it was put up acrossthe river on Long Island and the company made a play-ground out of the original site, as a goodwill gesture towardits customers, the people of the city of New York. 'The ar-ticulate adversaries of air pollution, who had opposed theproject from the beginning," Williams noted drily, "felt theyhad scored a memorable victory."

In a way, perhaps they had.

As usual, where it concerned quakes, the Geologist had thelast word. He brought out a map, in a volume titled Geomor-phology by Professor A. K. Lobeck of Columbia, which es-tablished that the Fourteenth Street fault was really old-hat,and merely cut into Manhattan at Fourteenth, crossing overfrom the Brooklyn Navy Yard under the East River, andslanting northwesterly under the island to the Hudson River atabout Eighty-sixth Street. There were other faults in thenorthern end of the island. "The northernmost," Professor Lo-beck reported, "is followed by the western end of the Harlem

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River. The second one determines the Dyckman Street valley.A third one is at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, whereit causes the Manhattanville depression over which the sub-way and Riverside Drive are carried on viaducts."New York City had something to think about, too.

Chapter Six

WORLD PROPHECIES

In addition to all the destruction he saw, Cayce also saw thepassage of world events. He saw wars and peace, depressions,racial strife, labor wars, even the Great Society, which hesaw doomed to failure. He saw things for individuals, as wellas for nations, predicting that they would marry, divorce,have children, become lawyers, doctors, architects, sailors,and marines. Most of his prophetic impressions came duringhis sleep-readings, but he was spontaneously psychic in hiswaking state, and fled from a room full of young people oncebecause he saw instantly that all would go to war, and threewould not come back.

His batting average on predictions was incredibly high,close to one hundred percent. He may have missed once ortwice, on Hitler's motivations, which he thought essentiallygood in the beginning, or on the eventual democratization ofChina, but so much of what he said has come so miracu-lously true, that even here there are some who give him thebenefit of the doubt—and time.

He not only foresaw the two World Wars, but picked outthe years they would start and end. He saw not only the greatworldwide Depression of 1929, outlining the stockmarketcrash with uncanny detail, but forecast when that Depressionwould begin to lift, in 1933.

One of his most celebrated predictions, yet to be realized,

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concerns Soviet Russia. It was almost one of his last majorpredictions, made a few months before his death. He notonly saw the end of Communism in Russia, but saw thatcountry emerging as the hope of the world: "Through Russiacomes the hope of the world. Not in respect to what is some-times termed Communism or Bolshevism. No. But freedom,freedoml That each man will live for his fellow man. Theprinciple has been born there. It will take years for it to becrystallized. Yet out of Russia comes again the hope of theworld."

As many have begun to suggest plausibly, in view of thegrowing peril to the West from China, he saw Russia eventu-ally merging in friendship with the United States. "By whatwill it [Russia] be guided? By friendship with that nationwhich hath even placed on its monetary unit In God WeTrust"

Cayce was perhaps the first to visualize the approachingracial strife in the land, sounding his original warning back inthe 1920s. He also predicted, in 1939, the deaths of two Pres-idents in office, tying these deaths in, time-wise, with an addi-tional prediction of racial and labor strife and mob rioting.

It certainly had all come to pass between the time FranklinD. Roosevelt died in April 1945 and John F. Kennedy wasassassinated in November 1963. Riots in Little Rock, Bir-mingham, Chicago, New York, had shown only too well howright Cayce was. And his prophecies, which live in the files ofthe A. R. E., where they can be checked and rechecked, carrya foreboding picture of the days ahead: "Then shall thy ownland see the blood flow, as in those periods when brotherfought against brother."

Cayce was not a prophet in the conventional sense. Hedidn't enjoy making predictions, or drawing attention to him-self. Often he restrained himself from telling people what hesaw, as he did not want to influence their free choice. In thechoices that the individual made for himself, Cayce recog-nized his opportunity for growth, even though the resultmight be destined.

Perhaps because gain was not a clear motivation, Caycewas never good at making money for himself. But he didmake fortunes for others out of fiscal predictions, and evenafter his death, people have been making thousands anticipat-ing the real-estate boom he foresaw for the Norfolk-NewportNews area

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Those honoring the prophet in his home town, were ableto make money with him twice again, beginning forty yearsago when he predicted that property values in Virginia Beachwould move north, and in 1966, when he said this trendwould end, and the south beach build up, as was happeningbefore my eyes.

Some who made money with Cayce lost it when theystopped following him. Some six months before the 1929crash, Cayce warned Wall Street friends to sell every share ofstock they owned. But they had been doing so well for solong on a rising market, they attributed some of the successto their own judgment. They wouldn't listen, and went broke.

Other predictions only appeared clear in retrospect. In1925, in a life reading, Cayce said of a young man, "In thepresent sphere [life], he will have a great amount of moneysto care for. In the adverse forces that will come then in 1929,care should be taken lest this money, without the more dis-cretion in small things, be taken from the entity."

Just as he forecast the Depression, so in 1931 did Caycesee the precise upturn. "In the spring of '33 will be the realdefinite improvements." As most battle-scarred veterans ofthe Depression can recall, Franklin Roosevelt, inaugurated onMarch 4, 1933, sent confidence—and business—surgingthrough the nation with the cry that "all we have to fear isfear itself."

Speculators did well with Cayce. Asked what portions ofthe country would first respond economically, he mentionedPennsylvania, Ohio, and the Midwest, attributing the inclineto "adjustments in the relative valuations in stocks and bondsfrom the automotive and steel interest"—not to mention therailroads.

As a prophet Cayce was unique. Nearly all psychics areloathe to time their predictions, explaining there is no suchthing as time. Cayce was a slumbering calendar, dates reeledout of him, full of portent, crying for verification. Long be-fore World War II, he picked out the year, 1936, as the criti-cal turn away from peace, and he could hardly have picked agreater year of decision had he written the history book him-self. For not only did Hitler declare his intentions that year,marching into the Rhineland, but Italy mopped up in Ethio-pia, the major powers chose sides in the Spanish Civil War,and the League of Nations collapsed, bringing an end to thepost-World War I dream of collective security.

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Nobody was more prophetic about the major events of histime. Before the Foreign Offices of the world even began tosuspect, he foresaw, in 1935, the juncture of Austria andGermany, with later on "the Japanese joining this influence."At this time, the Japanese were professing their love for theUnited States.

Frequently, in reading for individuals, he caught the over-tones of great events affecting millions. For instance, in Au-gust 1941, four months before Pearl Harbor, a y iung man,debating whether he should enter the Army or Navy, wantedto know how long he would have to serve. "How many yearsare these conditions [wartime] likely to last?""Until at least forty-five ['45]," Cayce advised.Cayce also caught the turning point of the war, before wewere even in it, for in November 1939 he noted, again im-plying our entry, "A sad experience will be for this landthrough forty-two and forty-three [*42 and '43]."

Through the affairs of still another subject, Cayce againcorrectly foresaw the end of the war, before its beginning. InAugust of 1941, a business executive asked about business,and Cayce saw his civilian affairs blocked for the duration,but picking up thereafter. "For through the efforts of the en-tity much may be accomplished when in '45 to '46 peaceagain rules the earth." Peace came halfway through 1945.

America's entry into the war was revealed through a read-ing in July 1939 for a retired naval commander, who hadasked, "Am I likely to be recalled to active service within twoor three years?"

Cayce saw the conflict, but hopefully looked for a way out"The only likelihood will be in '41. This, too, if the peoplepray, and live as they pray, will pass."

Did he mean the likelihood, or the war, would pass?Probably Cayce's most dramatic vision of World War IIwas the "horse dream." In vivid color, it foreshadowed thedeath of millions in the bloodiest of all wars. And coming atthe time of the apparentiy irresistible Nazi surge into Russiathat summer of 1941, surprisingly presaged the successfulcounterattack of the Red hordes of Communism against the"white knights" of Germany. The dream, as sometimes hap-pened, came to Cayce during a reading, which he remem-bered on waking. In its rich symbolism, the dream was rem-iniscent of the Book of Revelation: "I saw that the manwas Mr. R. [the subject of the reading]. Then I saw another

WORLD PROPHECIES

8T

horse coming, a very red horse. As it came closer I saw thatthe rider was Mr. R, but he had on a white and a bluearmor, and there were hordes of people following him. Thenas the two horses came together, it seemed that Mr. R. disap-peared and the two groups clashed. The followers of the firsthorse were well-armed, while the others were not. Yet, therewere such hordes following the red horse that they seemed tomarch right through the ranks of the well-armed group,though millions were slain while doing so."

Cayce seemed almost obsessed with the fate of Russia, asthough he suspected that world peace would eventually pivotabout this unpredictable Brown Bear. "On Russia's religiousdevelopment," he said at the height of the Stalin tyranny,"will come the greater hope of the world. Then that one, orgroup, that is the closer in its relationship [to Russia], mayfare better in gradual changes and final settlement of condi-tions as to the rule of the world."

A few years later, shortly before World War II, he still sawRussia emerging, but not until it knew freedom at home. "Anew understanding has and will come to a troubled people.Here because of the yoke of oppression [under the Tsars] hasrisen another extreme. Until there is freedom of speech, theright to worship according to the dictates of conscience, tur-moils will still be within."

Cayce frequently stressed how the spiritual life of individu-als reflected itself in the values of the community or nation."Each nation, each people," he said about the time of the ap-peasement at Munich, "have built by their very spirit a pur-poseful position in the affairs not only of the earth but of theuniverse. The peoples of France, then, have built a depend-ence and independence that makes for the enjoying of thebeautiful, a reverence for the sacredness of body." This was away of saying perhaps that the French put their national em-phasis on sensuous pleasure, a costly preoccupation with theNazis on their frontiers. Elsewhere, the whole was also thesum of its parts. "Just so is there the result in England, justso the conglomerate force in America. Just so are there thedomination forces in Japan, China. Just so in Russia is therethe new birth, out of which will come a new understanding.Italy—selling itself for a mess of pottage. Germany—a smearupon its forces for its dominance over its brother, a leechupon the universe for its own sustenance."

Cayce hadn't always seen Hitler's Germany in this unenvi-

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able light. Shortly after Hitler came to power in 1933, Caycewas asked about the Fiihrer by a group of German-Americans sympathetic to the Third Reich: "Will Hitler beable to take the control of German banking out of Jewishhands?"

"It is in all practical purposes in that position now."

"Will you give us any other information regarding Hitlerand his policies that will be of interest and help to us?"

"Study that which had been the impelling influence in theman, in the mind as it has acceded to power. For few doespower not destroy."

Had he stopped there, Cayce would have been clearlyahead. But he continued, "Yet this man unless there is mate-rial change will survive even that." Those believing Cayce in-fallible insist that Hitler must have changed.

However, Cayce was not long taking after Hitler and thedictators, prophetically. In June of 1938, while warning theFrench of softness, Cayce also foresaw the end of the Nazi,Fascist, and Communist regimes. These governments he sawoppressing their peoples, as likewise Spain, China, and Japan.The Russian social experiment could not survive. The attemptto rule "not only the economic, but the mental and spirituallife" of the ordinary Russian was not only iniquitous, but for-tunately ordained for failure. "This brings and works hard-ships where they should not be. And such is true in otherlands, whether under the Communist, Fascist, or Nazi re-gimes. When mass distinctions arise between groups, thenthere is only a class distinction and not 'Love thy neighboras thyself.' The Lord is not a respecter of persons (the dicta-tors] and these situations cannot long exist."

Before the war, Cayce's subconscious clearly saw the Nazisas the villainous breakers of the peace, and observed mount-ing resistance to Hitler. "Thus an unseen force, graduallygrowing, must result in almost direct opposition to the Nazior Aryan theme. This will gradually produce a growth of ani-mosities. And unless there is interference by supernaturalforces or influence, active in the affairs of men, the wholeworld will be set on fire by militaristic groups and peoplewho are for power and expansion."

For his own America, the man with twin portraits of Abra-ham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee over his door, counseled thebroad moderate middle-of-the-road. He predicted that regi-mentation would never work in this country, no matter the

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announced objective. "Such attunements are to be kept bywhich the country itself may define what freedom is, wherebyeach soul by its own activity is given an opportunity for ex-pression, for labor, for producing. All individuals are not tobe told where or what, but are to seek through their ownability, their own activity to give of themselves."

Even before World War II, in June of 1938, Cayce wasgiving the blueprint for the welfare state of the future, in-cluding our own Great Society. "A new order of conditions isto arise. There must be greater consideration of the individ-ual, so that each soul becomes his brother's keeper. Then cer-tain circumstances will come about in political, economic, andwhole [human] relationship, in which a leveling will occur, ora greater comprehension of the need for it. The time or perioddraws near for such changes. It behooves all who have anideal—individuals, groups, societies—to practice faithfully theapplication of this ideal." But he warned: "Unless they are upand doing, there must come a new order for their own rela-tionships and activities."

Cayce was sympathetic with the working man, but in 1939foresaw almost ceaseless strife between labor and capital,with first labor then capital making demands that would feedthe fires. He made an almost direct commentary on unionfeatherbedding: "There must be more and more a return totoil upon the land, and not so much make-work for labor inspecific fields. Unless this comes, there will come disruption,turmoil, and strife."

But capital was not blameless. "Unless there is more giveand take, consideration for those who produce, with betterdivision of the excess profits from the labor, there must begreater turmoil in the land."

As a Southerner, from a border state, Cayce had a livelyconsciousness of the approaching integration problem. Believ-ing in the brotherhood of man, be was aware that the comingconfrontation could only be solved by good will, but hissubconscious told him the situation was to be badly handled.He visualized the sectional strife that has risen in many areasof the land over the racial issue, in one of his most dramaticforecasts: "Ye are to have turmoils, ye are to have strife be-tween capital and labor. Ye are to have division in thy ownland, before ye have the second of the Presidents who willnot live through his office. A mob rule."

Even then, he anticipated the opportunism of politicians

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catering to bullet or bloc votes, rather than to ending the ine-quities which have brought about so much discord. Trueequality, Cayce pointed out, was not the indiscriminate lump-ing together of groups, not false, artificially contrived integra-tion, but of judging individuals by merit, regardless of skin.

"What should be our attitude toward the Negro?" he wasfrequently asked.

He replied, "Those who caused or brought servitude tohim, without thought or purpose, have created that whichmust be met within their own principles and selves. These[Negroes] should be held in an attitude of their own individualfitness, as in every other form of association."

Cayce constantly called the Negro "brother." And in hismost provocative forecast of racial strife, harking back to theCivil War for an analogy, he made a prediction which ob-viously has not yet been fulfilled. The prophecy has an al-most Biblical cadence in its solemn urgency: "When many ofthe isles of the sea and many of the lands have come underthe subjugation of those who fear neither man nor the devil;who rather join themselves with that force by which they mayproclaim might and power as right, as of a superman who isto be an ideal for a generation to be established, then shall thyown land see the blood flow, as in those periods when brotherfought against brother."

There was a distinct pattern to the Cayce predictions.Every word or phrase had some special meaning. Brotheragainst brother, meant just that, citizen against citizen, civilwar. At the time the forecast was made, during an A. R. E.conference in Norfolk in 1940, the conferees had no doubtof the meaning. The only misgivings were as to timing, iden-tifying to the evil power with which the prophecy was linked.It could be Russia, China, or X, the unknown, waiting to"proclaim might as right."

But the Negro must have his chance. Cayce himselfthought the interpretation clear. He was clairvoyant enough,waking, to visualize years of racial ferment. "Being my broth-er's keeper does not mean that I am to tell him what to do,or that he must do this or that, regardless. Rather, that all arefree before the law and before God."

There was no easy path to integration or racial harmony."More turmoils will be from within." Repeatedly, he attackedthe sincerity of some trying to resolve the racial problem.

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"There is lack of Godliness in the hearts of some who directthe affairs of groups."

In the midst of the world's greatest war, he was askedabout peace, and he warned that the losers—Germany andJapan—might soon rise again if their land was not occupiedand democratized.

"How," he was asked, "might we cooperate in setting upan international police force in such fashion that our recentenemies will not be antagonized?"

"They have expected it. And unless something like it iscreated, they will always feel that they have won the war—nomatter how much they declare their willingness to quit!"

"Can the re-education of the Geman people in the princi-ples of democracy be conducted in such a fashion that theirown cooperation will be enlisted?"

"Who can set a standard for democratic education of aGermany who considers itself already wiser than all the de-mocracies? Rather teach Germany God, how to search forand find Him, how to apply his laws in dealing with their fel-low man."

In the spring of 1966, from normal hindsight, this was arather striking commentary on an unrepentant Germany. Idlyperusing a newspaper one day, I came across an article de-scribing the increasing desecration of Jewish cemeteries infree Germany. Not having a living residue of Jews, the resur-gent Nazis were venting their frustrations and hate on the un-forgotten dead. Germany, as Cayce visualized, had much tolearn of God

But Cayce was not always macabre or gloomy, not evenwhen he was being asked to foresee disasters. In January of1942, for instance, a fretful, war-worried New Yorker in-quired, "Should I feel safe in New York City from bombingsand enemy attacks?"

Cayce replied drily, impersonally, "Why should he not, ifhe lives right?"

Often meanings were read into Cayce prophecies that hehadn't intended. As he said himself of the Bible once, incommenting on controversial reincarnation, with Lincolnes-que humor, "I read it in, and you read it out." So perhaps forthis reason, the sleeping prophet's prophecies didn't alwaysseem to stack up. In 1943, reading for a publisher bound forChina on an educational mission, he predicted that "in the

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next twenty-five years" China would lean toward the Chris-tian faith. This would hardly seem likely, witnessing the su-premacy of Communism in Red China today. However,Cayce threw in two modifying phrases. First, "it may appearto some at present that this is lacking"; secondly, "it will bemore in the last five years than in the first ten."

China still had to 1968 to turn democratic. Cayce stressedthat China would witness a consolidation of its various castesand sects, with "these united toward the democratic way.More and more," he added, "will those of the Christian faithcome to be in political positions, and this in China will meanthe greater rule in certain groups, according to how wellthese manifest. And these will progress. For civilizationmoves west." This was an old thesis of Cayce's, the westwardtrend of the dominant culture, with the mantle eventuallyfalling on the U.S., if it was spiritually up to it

On his return from China, the publisher advised Caycethat he had correctly anticipated his reception abroad. How-ever, on a global level, Cayce had apparently missed. Cer-tainly Mao and Chou En-lai were hardly the Christian lead-ers of a democratic people. But some Cayce students didn'tsee it this way. They somehow picked out a democratic trend.The great Chinese mainland was now unified, the Japanesehad been thrown out, and China had a "democratic" free peo-ples government, with a so-called parliament. "It may not bethe kind of democratic state we can live with," a devotee saidevenly, "but it is certainly more democratic than anythingthey had before. And there are reports of a simmering pro-Christian underground in both China and Russia. Who knowswhat a few years may bring?"

In Formosa, across the straits from China, the Reader'sDigest reported twelve million people enjoying a rebirth offreedom under Chiang Kai-shek. But the great Chinese masstraditionally could not be hurried. "The sin of China?" Caycepondered. "Yea, there lives the quietude which will not beturned aside, which saves itself by slow growth, like a streamthrough the land, throughout the ages, asking to be left alone,just to be satisfied with what is within itself." But had not thesacred queue come off with Christianity? "It awoke one dayand cut its hair off! Yea, there in China one day will be thecradle of Christianity, as applied in the lives of men. It is faroff, as man counts time, but only a day in the heart of God.For tomorrow China will awake."

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Cayce could be irritatingly wordy or as concise as theBible he loved. At the height of World War II, when Hitlerwas everywhere triumphant, he was asked, "What is Hitler'sdestiny?"

In one breath, he replied, "Death."

At times, Cayce declared absolute prophecy improbable,since it obviated free will and the power of prayer, both ofwhich he believed in consciously. Nothing, he stressed atthese times, was predestined, except as a possibility. Yet else-where, in the absoluteness of the predictions he made subcon-sciously, he recognized that the individual had little personaloption, as during a war or holocaust, except as he reacted,cheerfully or drearily, to the blows of destiny.

He seldom made waking predictions, as he felt the im-planted suggestion might over-influence the individual. How-ever, there were exceptions, as the time he warned a passingwoman not to ride in a car on that particular day; the carwas wrecked a few hours later. "His prophecies," an intimateobserved, "were given as hopeful possibilities or helpfulwarnings, not to alarm or impress anyone, or prove him aprophet" Still he thought enough of his own gift to be stag-gered when he saw a war that would kill three young friends.Not for a second did he take comfort in the recourse of freewill, nor doubt his moment of illumination.

From a practical standpoint, prophecies were meaninglessunless they could be counted on. and being misleading, couldeven hurt those putting their trust in the prophet. Back in the1920s, as pointed out, when Virginia Beach realty valueswere at a premium on the south beach, Cayce counseled buy-ing to the north, without knowing the first thing about realestate. His own headquarters was acquired accordingly, andthose believing in him, picked up what land they could in thisdirection. Some became wealthy. Even small lot owners pros-pered. "A north lot I paid $500 for twenty years ago," a Vir-ginia Beach housewife told me, "is now worth nearly$20,000."

Had Cayce been wrong, those nearest to him could havebeen painfully affected. Meanwhile, without any noticeabledisplay of free will, other Cayce faithful have profited fromhis long-range predictions of a Tidewater boom. In 1958,about the time of the stipulated boom, a Virginia Beach busi-nessman bought eighty acres of unwanted Cape Henry farmland for $125 an acre. In 1965, he was offered $1250 an acre,

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for a cool profit of $80,000 on a $10,000 investment "All Idid," he said modestly, "was follow Cayce."

In 1932, Cayce had been asked what, if any, changeswould take place in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area. Around1958, he said, there would be changes making the section"eventually more beneficial as a port." He forecast that Nor-folk with it environs—Newport News, Hampton—would be-come within thirty years "the chief port on the East Coast,not excepting Philadelphia or New York." U.S. census figuresshow that by 1964 the Norfolk complex had far surpassedany rival, its vast shipments of coal and grain and othercargo, exceeding sixty million tons, as against forty-eight mil-lion for New York and twenty-one million for Philadelphia.

It was curious to trace the developments that years latermade a killing for one Cayce believer. In 1957, about thetime fixed by Cayce, the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel wasopened, facilitating auto and truck traffic; construction of thetwo hundred million dollar Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel,the longest fixed-crossing in the world, was authorized. Thisartery, eliminating tedious ferry travel, consolidated the areaand started a building boom. The realty rise was consequentlyenormous. Another local entrepreneur, heeding Cayce, ac-quired sixteen acres near the Virginia Beach end of theBridge-Tunnel in 1960, even while the span was under con-struction. The cost: five thousand dollars. In 1965, with therunnel completed and the area expanding, he turned down$100,000 for his land.

The fortunate investors may not be long grateful to thedead seer, but they would have certainly been disillusioned ifthe land values had gone down instead of up. And no talk offree will would have consoled them. However, some maynow consider free will the big factor in their gain. "It was acombination of events," one lucky speculator told me, "thatmade me buy the land. Cayce's pinpointing the year 1958, to-gether with his forecast of rising values thirty years before,made me perk up when I saw plans for the new tunnels andbridges connecting the area. But I still had to consolidate theCayce information with what was actually going on, and thenfollow my hunch. That's free will."

But how much free will entered into what was going on?

That was a poser for a Cayce.

After many years, looking for a reason for his unique abil-ity, Cayce came to have a healthy respect for what he called

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"the Information." He didn't tamper with it himself, anddidn't want others bending it to their own inclinations. Hewrote clearly, consciously, with Lincoln-like precision,adapted from his own Bible readings, but would not edit orstreamline his own roundabout phrases delivered in the ap-parent infallibility of his subconscious. Consequently, manywere perplexed by the seer's involved sentence structure. Butthe answer was there if the interpreter was ready. Gropingwith Cayce's dangling participles, a subject once asked howthe readings could be presented to provide the fullest mean-ing.

"Better the understanding," Cayce replied drily.

Studying the readings, particularly the prophecies, I foundmyself gradually seeing a pattern not immediately discernible.Even so, some forecasts ostensibly didn't lend themselves toverification.

Browsing through the A R. E. library, I had stumbledacross a Cayce reading on World Affairs, June 20, 1943, atthe height of World War II. Unusual even for Cayce, it pin-pointed an event of a decisive nature within a few days.Cayce, speaking of peace, generally, suddenly particularized:"On Friday next, strange things will happen which will deter-mine how long, how many and what will be necessary."

Could it be a portent of the war? What else? But the war,as I recalled clearly, had lasted another two years.

Cayce was then asked: "Is there any indication of the timeat which hostilities will cease between this country and Italy,Germany, Japan?"

Again, he mentioned a period in late June, as a possibleturning point

"These are in thoughts and principles of men. They will beable to determine a great deal in respect to more than one ofthese countries by the 25th of June."

Cayce evidently was pointing to an action stemming out ofthoughts already established; and an interpretation obviouslyrequired some insight into these minds. I thumbed inquiringlythrough almanacs and encyclopedias, but found nothing ofsignificance for late June of 1943.

I worked late at the A. R. E. library, poring over theCayce files, and retired to my hotel after midnight Despitethe hour, I decided to relax over a copy of Barbarossa, anauthoritative account on the Russian-German conflict by theEnglishman Alan Clark. Barbarossa was the German code

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name for the Russian invasion, begun so optimistically byHitler on June 22, 1941.

I soon came to a chapter, "The Greatest Tank Battle inHistory," describing a titanic struggle, with masses of menand machines arrayed against each other on a broad frontaround Kursk. The pick of the German military, directed byHitler himself, was there: Keitel, von Kluge, Manstein,Model, Hoth, Guderian. By itself, "HouYs 4th Panzer armywas the strongest force ever put under a single commander inthe German Army." The Russians, too, had the cream oftheir military available: Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet hero,who had never lost a battle; Vasilievski, Sokolovski, Koniev,Popov. The German operation was so vast that it had its owncode name: Zitadelle. It seemed good reading to drowse offwith, and then my eye suddenly stopped. "Certainly, by anystandard other than that of the Soviet formations opposingthem," Clark wrote, "the German order of batde, as it finallytook shape in the last days of June, 1943, looked very formi-dable."

A tiny chill went up my spine, as I read on: "In the lastdays before the attack a strange feeling, not so much of con-fidence as of fatalism, pervaded the German tank forces—ifthis strength, this enormous agglomeration that surroundedthem on every side, could not break the Russians, then noth-ing would."

The author and Cayce, it struck me, had even used thesame word to describe the mood of the gathering action. Theword was "strange."

The action was critical enough to warrant a special mes-sage from the Fiihrer: "Soldiers of the Reich! This day youare to take part in an offensive of such importance that thewhole future of the war may depend on its outcome. Morethan anything else, your victory will show the whole worldthat resistance to the power of the German Army is hope-less."

The reverse was also true, and the Russians were morethan ready. Everywhere, the Germans were pushed back.Meanwhile, in another theater, "other thoughts and princi-ples" were to affect the fighting in Russia. The Allies hadmounted their invasion of Italy. The German action, alreadyin trouble, now faced diversion of its main striking force."Hitler," Clark related, "sent for Manstein and Kluge andtold them that the operation should be cancelled forthwith.

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The Allies had landed in Sicily and there was a danger of Ita-ly's being knocked out. Kluge agreed that it was impossible tocontinue."

Cayce had been asked about Italy, Germany and Japan,and he had said that more would be known "in respect tomore than one of these countries, by the twenty-fifth ofJune." The attack on Italy had been thought out, mounted,and a date fixed at that time, though the actual thrust was notmade from North Africa until early July.

How decisive was Zitadelle in the final outcome of thewar—all decisive, according to the most astute of the Nazis,Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler. "One member of the Nazihierarchy, at all events, was not deluded," Clark observed."Heinrich Himmler saw that the failure of the Zitadelleoffensive meant that the war was lost. The question whichnow exercised him was how to moderate defeat and save hisown skin."

Cayce had observed, "There is nothing new, nothingstrange." It was apparently all part of a universal order inwhich there was no such thing as chance, even to picking apaperback named Barbarossa off the rack of a Virginia Beachdrugstore.

Cayce was clearly prophetic in his health readings, for henot only made diagnoses, but prognoses, predicting whether asubject would get well, how, and when. He once told biogra-pher Tom Sugrue that he would recover from his cripplingarthritis only if he was patient, and warned against thehigh-fever cabinet therapy that eventually left the writer help-less. Subsequently, before Sugrue undertook the Cayce biogra-phy, the clairvoyant forecast that his mind would develop bril-liantly in a crippled body— "a mind only working through abody that is not active at all." When Sugrue, having disregard-ed the Cayce advice in his impatience to get well, did come toVirginia Beach in June 1939, a year after the reading, he wascompletely helpless, a stretcher case. He could not use hislegs, sit up, or control his arms. When he left Virginia Beachtwo years thereafter, having belatedly followed the readings,he had written two books, including There Is a River, coulduse his arms and hands to typewrite, and was practicing walk-ing on crutches. The readings said he could have full use ofhis limbs if he continued to follow treatments, but the Nauga-tuck Irishman was an impatient, impulsive free spirit, wholived and died in accordance with his own restless whims. Be-

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fore Sugrue's death, Cayce, loving him like a son, made manypredictions for him, including the memorable one, where hesuggested the title, Starling of the White House, for a bookcollaboration with the veteran head of the Secret Service,Colonel Starling, and then named the publisher, Simon andSchuster, and prophesied a national best-seller, which it was.

One of Cayce's most singular predictions developed in ahealth reading which came too late to help the person forwhom it was requested. The reading dates back to 1919, butliving proof of the Cayce power is very much in evidencetoday. In this instance, Cayce had given a reading for a preg-nant mother, who lay dying, and, contradicting the doctors,he said her baby would be born alive, though he agreed thatthe mother would die. "When Cayce was consulted," a sisterof the dying woman recalled recently, "all hope had beenabandoned for both mother and baby. Edgar Cayce was inSelma, Alabama, my sister was in Kentucky. He was toldnothing of the nature of the case."

Nevertheless, Cayce had gotten the situation immediatelyin trance. "There are two living to be considered. It is toolate to save the mother but she will live to give birth to thebaby. The baby will live, and let there be no fear for her.The condition under which the mother is living during preg-nancy will not affect this baby, and she can live a normalhappy life."

The prognosis was contrary to the unanimous verdict of atrio of eminent doctors. "The most famous surgeon in theSouth was called into consultation," the sister said, "and as-sisted by our local surgeon, performed two operations, toolate to benefit the patient It was predicted by the three doc-tors—Dr. Haggard of Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. GantGaither [later president of the Kentucky Medical Society],Dr. Ed Stone—all in attendance, that this baby could notlive."

It was mid-July, and the child was not expected until Au-gust The mother clearly could not last that long. Neverthe-less, the desperate family did as Cayce suggested in the wayof treatment, hoping to save the child somehow. "He hadprescribed an unheard of concoction comprised of simple in-gredients with a base made of a brew from the bark of a slip-pery elm," the sister said. "We went to the forest, obtainedthe bark of the slippery elm, prepared the formula, gave it tomy sister as directed." The dying woman became more com-

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fortable right away. A few days later, on July 18. al thestroke of midnight, the baby prematurely arrived. "My sisterdied easily after naming her chiid. The baby was patheticallyweak, so tiny the doctors advised us not to give her the namesuggested by the mother. They said we would be wasting afamily name."

The rest of the story is a happy one. The child somehowperked up and help was forthcoming. "A good Christianmother heard of our distress and offered to nurse the babywith her own child. After about six weeks, the baby was puton a formula and gained weight rapidly." She grew to wom-anhood, married, and gave birth to two daughters of herown. In 1961, at the age of forty-one, she became a memberof the A. R. E. Cayce had been right again.

Occasionally, particularly in time of stress, Cayce couldforsee things for himself, even if he had to dream them. Dur-ing the latter years, though penniless, he seldom worriedabout money, convinced from one of his own readings, thatthe Lord would always provide in extremity. However, othersin his family were not always as sublimely confident in theface of adversity. During the Depression, as Cayce's principalbackers went broke, and the hospital and the universityclosed, the Cayces had no place to live. Hugh Lynn suggesteda reading.

Subconsciously even, Cayce was unperturbed. "Why don'tyou do something about this?" he inquired.Hugh Lynn drily asked for suggestions."Why not buy a house?""And what will we use for money?"

"Buy the house across the lake; the money will be pro-vided."

On waking, checking over the reading, Cayce looked upthe house that he had said was for sale, and purchased it Heagreed to make the initial down payment in thirty days, andthe family moved in. On settlement day, there wasn't anyway of beginning to make the payment And then came anunexpected reprieve. The seller telephoned on a Friday to saythat he could not come out until the following Monday topick up the five hundred. He would be there at noon.

At ten that Monday morning, Cayce looked into the mail-box and took out an envelope. Inside was five hundred dol-lars—a check from somebody he had once read for.

A few years later, another crisis developed with mortgage

payments, and it looked like Cayce would lose his house.Again Cayce had nowhere to turn—except God. As hap-pened often during personal crisis, he had a dream, this moresingular than most because it visualized Jesus Christ, withwhom Cayce felt a lifelong communion. In this dream, re-corded in May 1937, when the world was avidly followingthe romance of the Duke of Windsor and the AmericanWally Simpson, Cayce had attended a concert After the per-formance, he noticed the Duke and Wally walking out infront of him. At that moment, a wraith-like figure ap-proached Cayce with a smile. The lineaments were those ofJesus. All four then adjourned to a sidewalk restaurant—inParis. The bill came to $13.75, but Cayce, searching hispockets, found only three cents. "I can't pay this bill," he saiddesperately. The Duke and Wally had disappeared.

"Never mind," the visioned Jesus said, "here is the $13.75.Don't worry. On the wedding day of the two who have justleft us, your troubles will be over."

On June 3, a woman came into Cayce's office and gavehim a sealed envelope. It had been entrusted to her in Paris,by a woman who had told her about being helped by a Caycereading. Cayce tore open the envelope. In it he found $1375,the precise amount he owed on the house.

That same day, the former King of England and WallySimpson were married.

Chapter Seven

THE DOCTORS AND CAYCE

The shingle said Wesley H. Ketchum, M.D. But it mightas well have said "Dr. Ketchum—and Cayce." WesleyKetchum, still hale and hearty, was the first of the accreditedphysicians with a medical degree to use Edgar Cayce as anadjunct to his professional career. He employed him quietly,not letting most patients know who was actually diagnosingand treating their cases, and then one day, before a group ofdoctors, he discussed his most unusual case—Cayce. Insteadof a degree of acceptance, he found only criticism. "Whyspend years studying medicine," an outraged doctor said, "ifsome illiterate lying on a couch with his eyes closed can diag-nose and prescribe better than any physician?"

Even when they viewed Cayce's wonders, and saw whatappeared to be miracles, conventionally oriented doctors ofmedicine blinked unbelievingly and turned their heads. Therewere exceptions, of course, and Ketchum was one, usingCayce in more than a hundred cases, to the consternationof his colleagues. Perhaps because of this general non-acceptance by the medical profession, in these early days, theslumbering Cayce turned subconsciously to osteopaths, phy-siotherapists, and chiropractors who had more open mindsabout bis treatments. Cayce was an empiricist, dealing with

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anything that worked, and in his waking state, soliloquixinabout his own cures, he often mentioned that in a providen-tial nature lay the cure for every disorder, including cancer,if treatment could be invoked in time.

With the youthful of any age, Cayce had a better chance ofa favorable reception, since the young, congenitally, weren'trooted m tradition. Shortly after the turn of the centurywhen he settled in Hopkinsville, Ketchum was in his mid-twenties, and eager to make his way. As a damyankee fromthe wrong side of the Ohio River, in a community still fight-ing the Civil War, he had little to lose with Cayce, since hewas an "out," anyway, in a place where one could only beborn "in."

He heard of Cayce through another Ohioan, the localschool superintendent, C. H. Dietrich, whose daughter Caycehad miraculously helped. Ketchum was impressed that a manof Dietrich's substance so implicitly accepted the unaccepta-ble. Even so, he did not look up Cayce for another year. Andthen it was an extreme case, a chance to crack the Hopkins-ville 'carnage trade," hitherto monopolized by the "ins." Thepatient was a college student, from a wealthy, aristocraticfamily. During a football scrimmage, he had suddenly keeledover, unconscious. When he came to, he seemed completelyout of his mind. He could only mumble a few inarticulatewords. His eyes wandered. He had violent seizures, and sat ina chair for hours, staring speechlessly in front of him. Thefamily consulted specialists all over the country. It was putdown as a hopeless case of dementia praecox. They had triedevery doctor in Hopkinsville, and Ketchum was all that wasMEL

Ketchum spent two hours examining the young man. Hewas normal physically, but was as responsive as a slab ofcheese. "He wasn't capable of answering the simplest ques-tions, Ketchum recalled. "If you looked at him, he wouldsay yes or no, mdiscriminately, and then clam up." He was inconstant custody of two attendants. But he usually sat aroundlike a vegetable, showing no interest in anything. Ketchumdidn't have the slightest idea what was wrong, but agreed totake the case if the family gave him a free hand for a year.Having no alternative, they complied. Money was no objectAt this point, Ketchum was still sticking to orthodox treat-ment He took his patient to New York and let the brain spe-cialists take a look at him. They put him in a hospital, lock-

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ing him up in a padded room for fourteen days, while theygave him tests and kept him under observation. In the end,they shook their heads sagely, and concurred with the pre-vailing diagnoses: "A hopeless case of dementia praecox."Next, a trip to Cleveland and a consultation with a top neu-rologist, one of Ketchum's former teachers. Again, dementiapraecox, but this time an added bit of advice, "Seat him infront of you on the train; he's a powerful young man." Onthat train back to Hopkinsville, the thought suddenly came toKetchum: "How about Dietrich's friend, the freak, EdgarCayce?"

Instead of phoning Cayce directly, Ketchum put in a callto another physician, Dr. T. B. House, whom he knew to bevaguely related to the Cayce family. House not only was notencouraging, but warned against calling in Cayce. "The lessyou have to do with him, the better for you. You've almostlived down being a damyankee, but if you get mixed up withCayce you'll be in trouble."

But Ketchum, remembering Dietrich, and thinking of thevegetable that was his patient, wasn't easily dissuaded. In theend, House agreed to introduce him to Cayce, and took himto Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Cayce had a photo-graphic studio. He introduced Ketchum as a friend of Die-trich's, and said Ketchum had a case for him. Cayceprompdy took off his stiff starched white collar, and lay downon a couch. Rather dubiously, Ketchum wrote down his pa-tient's name and address on a slip of paper, and handed it toHouse.

The impression of that first reading has remained withKetchum for sixty years, even with retirement, in southernCalifornia, where he is now verging on ninety years of age.As Cayce lay in shallow trance, breathing gently, House saidin a casual voice, "You have before you the body of M . . .of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Go over this body and tell uswhat you find."

Cayce lay there a while, and then said, as though juststumbling onto something, "Oh, yes, yes, we have him here."He hesitated a moment, and then, though not given any indi-cation of the patient's condition, raced on, "His brain is onfire. The convolutions in his brain are all red, as red as fire.His mind is distorted. In a very short time, unless somethingis done for him, he's going to be a raving maniac. It all dates'way back."

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Ketchum was impressed not only by the diagnosis, a men-tal disturbance, but the prognosis, rapid deterioration, whichwas what the specialists in Rochester, Minnesota; New York,and Cleveland had foretold.

House indicated that Ketchum could question the slumber-ing figure.

"What treatment do you suggest?" Ketchum asked.The answer came back clear and bold. "Specific treatment,put to the limit." He mentioned a little-known drug."Anything else?""That's enough."

And it was, for Ketchum knew exactly what the procedurewas.

Still, he watched fascinated, as House, with the readingover, put a waking suggestion to the reclining man, not onlyto get him out of trance but to disassociate him from theyouth he had just read for. "You will no longer see the sub-ject," House suggested. "You'll wake up feeling perfectly allright"

In a couple of minutes, Cayce was sitting up, rubbing hiseyes. Ketchum was bursting with questions. "You used somevery interesting language," he said, "now what do you knowabout convolutions?"

Cayce smiled ruefully, "Nothing at all."

Ketchum looked sharply at the slim figure with a slightstoop. "You're either the most interesting man in Kentuckyor the biggest liar," he said.

Cayce smiled good-naluredly. He had heard it all before.I make no claims," he said mildly.

The two men shook hands. "You'll hear from me oneway or the other," Ketchum said.

Ketchum had not mentioned his visit to Cayce to anybodythe youth's family included. And he didn't have to worryabout House telling anybody. Cayce was a medical man'spariah.

Directly from the train, Ketchum went to a Hopkinsvilledrugstore and got the recommended remedy. He started hispatient on it immediately. Ten drops in the morning, elevenat noon, twelve at night, with the dosage gradually increaseduntil it ranged up to twenty drops. He went through the firstbottle without any noticeable patient improvement

With the second bottle, he stepped up dosage to forty

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drops. Normally, heavy doses brought on cold symptoms,swelling the delicate membrane of eyes and nose. In this in-stance, the patient showed no reaction. Ketchum started buy-ing bigger bottles, tripling the amounts, beyond the ordinarilysafe level. He then dropped back to the original startingpoint and began all over again. Still no reaction, not even theslightest inflammation of the eyes. Three or four weeks hadnow elapsed, with the patient treated at home or in Ketch-urn's office. And then one morning the telephone rang. It wasthe boy's mother, a new urgency in her voice. Ketchum heldhis breath.

"Dr. Ketchum?"

"Yes."

And then her voice floated over the wire. "Good morning,miracle man," she said.

Just a few minutes before, her son had come down thestairs and spoken intelligibly for the first time in a year. Itwas as though a veil had been lifted from his mind. "Goodmorning, Mom, what are we having for breakfast?" That wasall he said, but that was all he had to say. He was back wherehe had been before his collapse on the football field.

Ketchum took all the credit since he didn't dare mentionCayce at the time, and of course, he did deserve credit fordaring to consult Cayce and persisting with his treatmentThereafter, when Ketchum couldn't diagnose a casepromptly, or it seemed out of the ordinary, he would contactCayce in Bowling Green and ask if he would "sleep" on it

One day a laborer named Homer Jenkins, shoveling in alocal brick works, tumbled over in a faint He was piled onsome straw in a road wagon and carted off to his home.Ketchum had no idea what was wrong. Cayce said it was asevere case of malnutrition. 'Too much hominy and grits."He suggested a well-balanced diet with plenty of greenvegetables.

It was the first case of pellagra Ketchum had ever seen,and it helped him diagnose and treat other cases which localdoctors had been wrestling with for a year without being ableto diagnose. "Prior to this," Ketchum recalled, "the only pel-lagra I had ever heard of was in Italy. But now they beganpicking up cases of pellagra from all over, where the peoplehad been eating nothing but hog and hominy."

Again Cayce didn't get credit One of the Hopkinsville

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doctors, whose patients had been helped, read & paper on hisdiagnosis of pellagra to the Kentucky Medical Society, but hedidn't mention Cayce, or Ketchum, for that matter.

Nevertheless, Cayce was quietly but surely enhancingKetchum's reputation. Five Southern doctors, all seasoned ve-terans, and the neophyte Ketchum were called in for consul-tation when wealthy contractor, George Dalton, shattered aleg in a fall. As the doctors wisely communed, Mrs. Daltoncame out of the sick room and announced, "Mr. Dalton iswilling to trust his case to the Yankee boy."

It was a heavy responsibility for Ketchum—and Cayce.There was no hospital, and patients were treated at home orin the doctor's office. And Ketchum had never treated a com-pound fracture before. There was a hurried consultation withCayce. And Cayce suggested rather radical treatment for thattime: boring a hole in the kneecap, nailing the bones to-gether, then putting the leg in traction.

Ketchum had some misgivings. He had never heard ofanything like this. "They used splints then," he recalled, "butmetal screws were still in the future. However, I went downto the nearest blacksmith, and he made up an iron nail like alarge roofing nail, with a big head on it." Then with anotherdoctor and two nurses helping, Ketchum bored a hole in thepatient's knee and nailed it, and then put the leg in traction,with a pulley at the foot of the bed.

As the story got around that the Yankee doctor was ham-mering nails into Dalton's leg, Ketchum became uncomfort-ably aware of spiteful side glances, and of wagging tonguessaying, "That damyankee. He'll kill old Dalton before he'sthrough." He went to Cayce for reassurance, and got itMeanwhile, he carried a double-barreled shotgun in his buggywith him. He realized that his survival, as a local doctor, any-way, hinged on Dalton's recovery. It took months, but he wasvindicated. The leg was as solid as ever, and the iron nailstayed in, Dalton taking it to the grave with him thirty yearslater.

Still nobody knew that he was using Cayce. And Ketchumhimself couldn't get used to the idea that this slumbering il-literate, who had not gone beyond the sixth grade, knewmore about medicine, anatomy, and chemistry than an honormedical graduate like himself, and any of his distinguishedcolleagues or professors. Even seeing it happen, it seemed in-credible. He kept testing. Once he asked the sleeping Cayce

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what the shortest muscle in the body was. Without hesitating,the unlettered youth replied. "Levator labii superioris alaequenasi—in the upper lip." He asked Cayce to name the longestmuscle, and with equal accuracy the sleeping phenomenon re-plied, "Sartorius"—the muscle flexing the hip and knee joints.Sometimes the words spilled out of Cayce, with all their intri-cate technical terminology, other times he seemed to be grop-ing, like a bloodhound off the scent, and then would quicklyrecover as though he had picked up a fresh trail. At suchtimes, Ketchum recalled, he appeared to be peering inside thesubject, and it all seemed very clear to him.

Cayce seldom recommended operations, indicating that hissubconscious considered surgery overworked. Any and everymethod that appeared favorable to the particular situationcame out of him clairvoyantly. "He was an advocate of thenew treatment of osteopathy that had just come in at thattime," Ketchum noted. "He recommended it for cases thatchiefly had to do with spinal adjustment or manipulation.Often we would ask if an operation was necessary, and he'dsay, 'No operation needed.' Instead, he'd refer the patient tothe nearest osteopathic doctor." There weren't many osteo-paths around in those days, and Cayce would sometimes sup-ply the therapist's name and address, and then describe thetreatment in detail.

Yet, he was as partial to drugs when they suited the pur-pose. Ketchum was an often startled witness to Cayce's singu-lar facility for picking out drugs that were not generallyknown, not yet on the market, or out of use. "One day,"Ketchum recalled, "there were a couple of doctors and drug-gists in Cayce's studio on a complicated case, for whichCayce prescribed balsam of sulphur. They began scratchingtheir heads. Nobody had ever heard of it. One of the drug-gists, an elderly man named Gaither, was convinced therewas no such thing. They pored over a copy of the dispensa-tory, listing all available therapeutic drugs. There was no bal-sam of sulphur. Then, in an attic, they stumbled across anold defunct catalog, put out fifty years before. They dustedit off, opened it, and there found balsam of sulphur."

Almost every aspect of the Cayce phenomenon was ob-served by Ketchum in their years together. But each newwonder left him as surprised as the last. After a while he wasconvinced that Cayce's mind traveled in space, settling in theimmediate vicinity of the person he was reading for. The

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clincher came one night when Cayce was reading in Hopkins-ville for a patient in Cleveland. Suddenly, in the middle ofthe reading, Cayce broke off. "He's gone," was all he couldsay. He seemed to be groping about aimlessly.Ketchum awakened him.

Later, Ketchum received a letter from a doctor friend inCleveland. His patient had died at 8:20 p.m., the very mo-ment that Cayce missed him.

Ketchum was a self-assured young man with a strong senseof balance. It stood him in good stead. Gradually, though hedidn't talk about it himself, at this time, word had gottenaround that he was associated with a clairvoyant possessingremarkable healing powers. Even so, people resorting toCayce had usually exhausted all other remedial sources.There were all kinds of phone calls, from the rich, poor,trusting, cynical. Ketchum felt a little like Sherlock Holmesof Baker Street, able to pick and choose the most interestingcases that came his way. One day the phone rang, and a manannounced that he'd like the services of Wonder Boy Cayce.He was a millionaire, living in a Midwestern city, and he wasready to pay handsomely, throwing in a princely bonus ifCayce was effective. It seemed the usual, last-ditch case, asKetchum mulled it over, but it was to reflect Cayce's appar-ent omniscience in such a way that even Ketchum was leftshaking his head weakly. As with Holmes' best cases, the be-ginning was rather ordinary. The patient, the wife, was ap-parently suffering from paralysis agitans, shaking palsy. Thedevoted husband had taken her to clinics, hospitals, baths allover the world, and had finally brought her home, hopingthat care and rest would at least make her comfortable.When he heard somehow of Cayce, he thought it worth achance. "All I ask," he said over the phone "is that you bringCayce to our city to give her a diagnosis."

Ketchum didn't give him an answer right off. "Give meyour wife's name and address," he said, "and 111 let youknow." As often as Cayce had been successful, Ketchum stillhad to reassure himself each time that the performance wasgenuine—and repeatable. So with the man's request, and thewife's whereabouts, he asked Cayce for a preliminary reading,presented to the mystic like any other request. As a stenogra-pher sat by, taking notes, Cayce raced on with a completehistory of the woman's problem, induced largely by nerves.Ketchum studied the report, then called the man to tell him

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he was on his way. He had decided against taking Cayce, ashe was still playing down the association publicly.

On his arrival, he checked into a hotel and phoned thehusband.

"Did you bring the boy with you?" the man asked."No," Ketchum said.

The man's voice fell. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I have with me a typewritten description of your case."He explained that it was from Cayce.

There was an awkward pause on the other end of the line."Very well," the man said finally. "As long as you're here,you may as well come over."

Hundreds of miles away, in trance, Cayce had describedthe unknown patient as being in a wheelchair and said of hercondition, "She is as rigid as a piece of marble. She can lookneither to the right nor the left. She had two trained nurseswith white caps." As used as he was to Cayce, Ketchum's jawdropped when he drew up to the patient's home. "There wasthe wife sitting on the front porch, at the top of the steps, ina wheelchair. On either side stood a trained nurse in a whitecap."

Because of the nature of the report in his pocket, Ketchumneeded the reassurance he had just received to proceed confi-dently. The party moved into the living room, the nurseswithdrew, and the husband eyed Ketchum darkly. "How canyou proceed without the Wonder Boy?" he asked.

Ketchum permitted himself a smile. "I have the WonderBoy right here with me," he said, taking out the typewrittenreport. He was not about to go into a description of howCayce functioned when he didn't understand it himself.

The woman sat stoically, hands trembling, eyes staringahead. Her husband was at her side, never lifting his gazefrom the visitor. Ketchum sat close to the woman, as he readfrom Cayce. The patient had a nervous disorder, but notwhat was diagnosed. As Ketchum read on, he appeared togrow embarrassed, rare for him. "As a young woman," hesaid, "the patient had a secret sin." She moved her head a bit,showing her first sign of interest. Ketchum forged ahead."This secret sin was masturbation."

The patient flushed from forehead to throat Her husbandlooked bored. He had never heard of anything so ridiculous.But Ketchum had caught the woman's startled look. He wenton bravely. Because of this sin, riddling her with guilt, thewoman had delayed marriage until she was thirty-nine. She

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had then married happily, it seemed, had two children, andthen fallen ill. The husband's interest perked up a little atthis, since Cayce had hit the broad outline of their life to-gether.

As Ketchum finished the Cayce report, the woman turnedto her husband. "Would you please go into the other room? Iwant to talk to the doctor alone."

As the door closed, she fixed her gaze on the youthful phy-sician. "Dr. Ketchum," she said, "what kind of man is thisCayce? I did have a secret sin, from the age of eighteen untilI was thirty-nine. But only I and my God have even knownof it. How in the name of God could this man have told youthis?"

They chatted for a while, Ketchum explaining that Caycewas a clairvoyant, who somehow tuned into the subconscious.Apparently he had hit upon the suppressed guilt which hadbuilt up inside the woman all these years, gradually reflectingitself in her physical condition. As Cayce had so often indi-cated, mind and body were unified, and the one could notsuffer without the other following suit

Cayce had recommended certain drugs to help with thecondition; talking it out seemed to do the rest. Recoveringgradually, the woman lived normally for several years. Thehusband, nevertheless, was not overly impressed. He couldn'tget out of his mind all that hogwash about a secret sin.

Ketchum never ceased marveling at Cayce's apparent uni-versal knowledge. It was an arsenal, which he frequentlydrew on for his own curiosity, as well as to help others. WithCayce in his corner, it was difficult for patients to keep se-crets from the doctor. At the same time, with his omniscientbackdrop, it gave the young physician a sense of authority,broadening his jurisdiction over patients, even when he knewthem only scantily. Whatever it was, he felt that Cayce knewbest. And so he counseled. One time, around the Christmasholidays, a mother had made an appointment for her daugh-ter, who had arrived home on college vacation in a state^ofdepression. The appointment was for nine the next morning.

That evening, Ketchum consulted Cayce, giving him thegirl's name and address. Cayce was very quiet for a few min-utes, as though trying in trance to appraise what he was re-ceiving, and then said with almost a sigh, "The trouble withthis body is right here, right here. There is a new life devel-oping here in this pelvis. As a result we have nausea, vomit-ing, otherwise known as morning sickness."

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Ketchum's face fell. "What a case," he thought wryly.

But since he was testing Cayce, he felt he might as well doa thorough job.

"What treatment do you suggest?" That question couldvery well be a poser, since the girl was certainly not married.

"No treatment at all," Cayce replied. "It's perfectly physic-logical. Nature takes care of those things."

Before waking Cayce, Ketchum washed the girl out of thesleeping mystic's conscious mind. "Very well," he said, "youwill not see her any more."

Mother and daughter arrived promptly at nine. The girlwas pale and wan but beautiful, with fine features, and a re-fined way about her. If she had given herself to anyone,Ketchum sensed, it would only have been out of love. Heturned to the mother, "May I talk to your daughter alone?"

In the privacy of his office, he said gently, "Now tell meall about yourself."

She flushed and swallowed a few times, then said in a tightlittle voice, "Nobody knows about it, but I've missed twomonths." It was by no means an unusual story, even for thatday and age. She had been dating a young man at a collegenearby for a year and a half, and they had fallen in love.Now she was pregnant.

Ketchum was only a few years older than the girl, but hehad Cayce to borrow from. And Cayce had proposed thatNature take care of the problem.

Ketchum thought he would help Nature. "The first thingwe must do is tell your mother," he said.

The girl was horrified. "Please, not that."

"Of course, your mother will know exactly what is best."

The mother was surprisingly calm. She turned to herdaughter, asking how she felt about the young man. The girlsobbed that she loved him, but was too ashamed to let himknow what had happened. "I don't want him to have tomarry me."

The mother looked questioningly at the young doctor whoseemed to have such easy command of a difficult situation.

Ketchum was still pushing Nature. "Take my advice, con-tact this young man right away, and have him come here fora talk." He threw one sop to her female pride. "1 wouldn'task any man to marry a girl unless she is the one for him. Ifyou feel the same, then slip off to another state, get married,and spread it across every paper in town. If you keep it undercover, you'll only make people curious." In forty-eight hours.

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it was all settled. The pair eloped, and then went back totheir classes, graduating in June, the baby arriving almostwith the Commencement Exercises.

As Ketchum kept using Cayce, other doctors in ChristianCounty began to take an increasingly dim view of him and|The Freak." On his part, the bumptious Ketchum was feel-ing a growing annoyance with a medical fraternity thatlooked on him suspiciously. He was also quietly aware thatsome who had been quick to denounce him to the local medi-cal societies had clandestinely used Cayce themselves.

Cayce's own attitude toward M.D.s was sharply edgedwith reserve. His distant kin, Thomas House, later to head upthe Cayce Hospital, had used him, without understandinghow the power worked. But at least he conceded what didwork, without the customary medical observation, that itwould have cured itself anyway. Long before Ketchum ar-rived, the M.D.s had stopped the unlicensed Al Layne frompracticing medicine. Cayce had keenly felt their endingLayne's work with him, when they seemed to be helping peo-ple. He had agreed, nevertheless, to work with a committee ofyouthful physicians headed by Dr. John Blackburn, who hadbeen impressed by his work with the Dietrich child, amongOthers. Blackburn, superseding Layne, had even helped Cayceonce, when his aphonia, or voice lapse, had suddenly re-curred, having Cayce suggest to himself that his blood circu-late properly. His voice promptly came back.

But even so, the committee of doctors, constantly testing,put a strain on the brooding mystic, since at this indecisivestage, he was looking for assurance, not misgivings or doubts,to justify going on with the work. Some doctors had stuckhim with pins when he was sleeping to make sure he wasn'tfaking, others had exerted themselves to show his treatmentsutterly false. Once, the committee thought they had him. Itseemed an open-and-shut case. Specialists had urged animmediate operation for a woman with abdominal pains,bleeding internally. She went to Cayce. Cayce told her thatall she had was an abrasion of the stomach wall. He advisedlong walks every day and a raw lemon sprinkled with salt Itwas so patently absurd that the doctors decided to use thiscase to show up Cayce as a fraud. They held off the opera-tion, though they considered surgery imperative. Three weekslater, the woman was hiking ten miles a day and the abdomi-nal pains had disappeared. She was completely cured.

Shortly before he met Ketchum, Cayce decided that his

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gift, if it was that, would have to stand on its own. Therewould be no more experiments, with him as the guinea pig.While he and Ketchum were worlds apart temperamentally,he recognized in Ketchum a pragmatic acceptance of whatworked, and it gave him a chance to help people under com-petent supervision. Ketchum of course had profited. In threeor four years of backstopping by Cayce he had achieved anenviable reputation as the doctor who could help when no-body else could. But he had no objection to Cayce as a part-ner, if Cayce was willing, for he realized that the only objec-tions would come from doctors, not patients interested onlyin being helped. So he tossed a trial balloon in the air, choos-ing with his flair for the dramatic a most suitable stage—aconvention of doctors. The occasion was a meeting of theNational Society of Homeopathic Physicians, at Pasadena,California. As he listened to his fellow physicians discusstheir most unusual cases, Ketchum rose leisurely one day andtold them of his most unusual case. This was in July 1910.

Most of his listeners were incredulous, of course. But one,a Dr. Krauss, from Boston, approached Ketchum andasked if he would prepare a paper on Cayce for the Ameri-can Association for Clinical Research meeting in Boston thatSeptember. Without much more ado, Ketchum sat down anddashed off his description of Cayce with a lead pencil, andhanded it to the doctor. He thought no more of it, until hegot a copy of the program later, and saw himself down for"My Unusual Case."

He had not bothered to go himself, or try to bring Cayce,because he felt the medical profession—and the laypublic—was not prepared to accept what he had to say. Andcould he have had second thoughts, he would probably havewithdrawn his paper. As it was, it was read by Henry E.Harrower, M.D., of Chicago, a frequent contributor to theJournal of the American Medical Association, and fully re-ported in a subsequent issue of the New York Times. TheTimes considered it pertinent to mention Dr. Ketchum's owncredentials. "It is well enough to add that Dr. Wesley H.Ketchum is a reputable physician of high standing and suc-cessful practice in the homeopathic school of medicine. Hepossesses a classical education, is by nature of a scientificturn, and is a graduate of one of the leading medical institu-tions of the country. He is vouched for by orthodox physi-cians in both Kentucky and Ohio, in both of which states he

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is well known. In Hopkinsville, no physician of any schoolstands higher, though he is still a young man."

The assembly of physicians listened with mingled reactionsas Dr. Harrower read off the paper for the absent Ketchum.It spelled out Ketchum, almost as much as it did Cayce."About four years ago," it went, "I made the acquaintance ofa young man twenty-eight years old who had the reputationof being a 'freak.' They said he told wonderful truths whilehe was asleep. I, being interested, immediately began to in-vestigate, and as I was from Missouri, I had to be shown.And truly, when it comes to anything psychical, every lay-man is a disbeliever from the start, and most of our chosenprofession will not accept anything of a psychic nature, hyp-notism, mesmerism, or what not, unless vouched for by someM.D. away up in the profession and one whose orthodoxstanding is unquestioned."

Ketchum then mentioned how he put Cayce into trance."While in this sleep, which to all intents and purposes is anatural sleep, his objective mind is completely inactive andonly his subjective is working. By suggestion he becomes uncon-scious to pain of any sort, and strange to say, his best work isdone when he is seemingly 'dead to the world.' "

He stressed Cayce's clinical detail and his accurate termi-nology. "His psychological terms and description of the ner-vous anatomy would do credit to any professor of nervousanatomy. There is no faltering in his speech and all his state-ments are clear and concise. He handles the most complexjawbreakers with as much ease as any Boston physician,which to me is quite wonderful, in view of the fact thatwhile in his normal state he is an illiterate man, especiallyalong the line of medicine, surgery or pharmacy, of which heknows nothing. He is awakened by the suggestion that he willsee this person no more, and in a few minutes will be awake.Upon questioning him, he knows absolutely nothing that hesaid, or whose case he was talking about."

He had never known Cayce to err in diagnosis, though hedid once describe the wrong person living in the same houseas the one wanted. "The cases I have used him in have, in themain, been the rounds before coming to my attention, and insix important cases which had been diagnosed as strictly sur-gical he stated that no such condition existed, and outlinedtreatment which was followed with gratifying results in everycase."

Conventionally schooled himself, Ketchum boldly antici-

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pated the reaction to his remarks. "The regular professionscoff at anything reliable coming from this source, becausethe majority of them are in the rut and have never taken toanything not strictly orthodox. You may ask why has a manwith such powers not been before the public and received theindorsement of the profession, one and all, without fear orfavor? I can truly answer that they are not ready as yet. EvenChrist himself was rejected. 'Unless they see signs and won-ders they will not believe.' "

Not long after the Boston report, which brought a descentof curious newspapermen on ordinarily drowsy Hopkinsville,the organized medical groups in Christian County decided thetime was at hand to take action against an upstart whoseemed to encourage unlicensed quackery at the expense ofthe conventionally licensed profession. A special meeting, ofwhich Ketchum had not been apprised, was held in the Hop-kinsville Courthouse. Practically every licensed M.D. inChristian County was there, crying for Ketchum's scalp."You and your Freak were both cussed and discussed," afriendly doctor advised Ketchum later, "and the outcome wasthat they're sending a committee to the state capital to haveyour license revoked, because no physician of judgmentwould take up with such a crazy thing."

In due course, Ketchum was formally notified of a secondmeeting, in which charges were to be made publicly againsthim. The resourceful Ketchum considered his course of ac-tion carefully. There were forty or forty-five doctors in thecounty, and they would be solidly arraigned against him. Hecould not expect one supporting word, not to mention onevote. On the morning of the meeting—a Tuesday—he wentdown to the First National Bank of Hopkinsville, where hekept his account, and announced to a surprised cashier. "Iwant a thousand dollars in two separate packs, five hundredeach. New money." Later, that day, he put the two stacksinto his pocket, and sauntered off to the courthouse, pickingout a seat in the back row of the trial room. Dr. Frank Steitz,located directly across the street from Ketchum, called themeeting to order. The minutes from the last meeting re-hashed the complaint, and named the committee chosen to goto Frankfort, the state capital, to strike Ketchum from thelist of licensed practitioners. It was pointed out that he wasdealing openly with the freak Cayce, a well-known faker, andthus reflected discredit on the entire medical community Thesooner he was eliminated, the better.

There was no comment on the minutes, and it was Ketch-um's turn to speak for himself. He stood up, a tall and com-manding presence, and with all eyes on him, strode down tothe front of the courtroom, taking his place next to SteitzThe wily young doctor had his strategy well planned. Hebegan evenly enough, placatingly, much as Mark Antony haddone with the conspirators in his memorable address buryingCaesar. "Gentlemen," he said in a conciliatory voice, "I amvery sorry to have brought this on the doctors of ChristianCounty. You were born and raised here, the majority of you.I was not I was raised north of the river [the Ohio] and Icame here a few years ago at the encouragement of a numberof your leading citizens, and one of these, Professor Dietrichthe father of your wonderful school system, told me aboutthis boy Cayce. All I did was to investigate him, and that's allI m still doing now."

In the same silky voice, he appealed to them for help indeciding whether Cayce was a fake or not. "I have a sugges-tion," he said. "I'd like you to appoint six men, each tochoose his most complex case, and then have Cayce diagnoseeach of the six cases, with two stenographers taking it alldown verbatim."

He looked around the room with a face full of nothing butgood will. The doctors were following him raptly. Dramati-cally, he reached into his pocket and slapped two stacks offresh bills on the table before him. "Here's a thousand dollarsof good American money," he said. "Now after the diagnoseshave been made, and the patients have been examined, if thediagnoses are not absolutely correct, I will turn this moneyover to any charity you name in Christian County, deductingof course, the money paid out for your examinations."

There was a stunned silence. Ketchum's eyes traveledaround the room, relishing every moment of drama, every bitof the consternation that his bold thrust had engenderedThen as he surveyed the faces of his accusers, Ketchum'smanner abruptly changed; all the righteous wrath of the in-lured lion burst forth. "Here's my thousand dollars," hesnapped, smacking the two piles on the table. "Now eitherput up or shut up."

thPV? S°qlet ?at Ket°hum ^ hear *"» breathing of£e doctors in the first few rows. And then a voice broke the

long silence saying with a humor lost on everybody butKetchum"Mister Chairman, I make a motion that the sub-ject be laid on the table."

THE DOCTORS AND CAYCE

in

Ketchum chuckled to himself. Cayce would have appre-ciated that touch. In fact, he might have absent-mindedly si-dled onto the table and fallen into trance.

That was the last Ketchum was to hear from organizedmedicine in Christian County. However, what the doctorshad not dared, the lawyers did. Months after the abortivemedical meeting, Ketchum produced Cayce for banquetinglawyers from three states—Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indi-ana. The guest of honor was the Attorney General of Ken-tucky. It was a simple demonstration of Cayce's power ofuniversal knowledge. Several lawyers wrote out questions of apersonal nature, and Cayce answered them, shocking eachand every one with his intimate knowledge of their privateaffairs. The incredulous looks on their faces reflected his ac-curacy.

The State's highest legal authority had watched with spe-cial interest, knowing of the action against Ketchum that hadalmost landed on his desk. Ketchum looked at the AttorneyGeneral sharply, and liked what he saw. "What do you thinkof it, sir?" he asked, nodding at Cayce who was now standingaround, busily disavowing knowledge of anything he had saidin his sleep.

The Attorney General stared at the doctor for a moment,raised his eyes heavenward, and observed, "It's not very far,you know, from Here to What's Over There, and Cayce fallsthrough somehow."

Ketchum kept repeating the Attorney General's phrase tohimself. Cayce did fall through, into a completely differentsphere, of which the ordinary mortal could only speculate atthe most.

The problem again with Cayce was that just as Ketchumhad to be convinced, so did others, and Cayce, troubled byhis own gift, was a little weary of being a "freak." Mistrustand skepticism wore on him, just as it affected one whoworked greater miracles two thousand years before. Evenwhen he performed wonders of diagnosis and treatment,there were medical men to scoff that chicanery was obviousFor what he was doing was impossible, even though Christhad once said that others could heal like himself given thefaith in the Father. And certainly Cayce had that.

Ketchum's faith was also put on trial. But his was a fardifferent personality than the introverted Bible-reader, withhis constant misgivings about himself and his power

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Ketch urn was the hyperadrenalin type, an extrovert, whoslugged back when slugged.And he believed in Cayce.

Cayce had closed his photographic studio in BowlingGreen, the year before Ketchum's big blast, and was workingas a photographer in Alabama when the doctor persuadedhim to return to Hopkinsville, setting him up in a studio ofhis own, and arranging for him to give daily readings, as aPsychic Diagnostician. The enterprise was co-sponsored byhotel man Albert Noe. And for the first time Cayce was towork professionally as a psychic, and receive a fee.

The new firm did a flourishing business. Sacks of mail ar-rived daily, asking for readings, enclosing various sums ofmoney. Along with the mail arrived Ketchum's father, aPittsburgh horse trader. He had seen his son's picture in thepaper, next to The Freak's, and wondered what he was get-ting into after all that expensive education doctoring.Ketchum was his usual dramatic self as he tried to reassurehis father. He pointed to the daily mail bag of forty or fiftypounds. 'Til show you this boy isn't a fake," he said. "Reachdown to the bottom of the sack and pull out a letter, any let-ter."

The elder Ketchum brought out an envelope postmarkedCincinnati. He tore it open. Inside was a twenty-dollar bill,with the note: "Dear Doctor Ketchum: We have read of youand your Wonderful Man in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Pleasefind enclosed twenty dollars and send me a diagnosis." Thename and address were all that was given. There was no de-scription of the condition, since the Times article had saidthat Cayce required only a written request to diagnose andtreat.

Ketchum turned to his father. "Is there anything in this let-ter that would tend to tell you what the trouble is with thisman?"

The older man shook his head. "No, not a thing."

Cayce was in his studio down the street. He quickly re-sponded to a call. Ketchum senior was not particularly im-pressed by the gangling, bespectacled young man, but on theother hand he was pleasantly surprised that he at least didn'tlook the freak. He watched with some misgivings as Cayceloosened his collar and cuffs, slipped off his shoes, andstretched out comfortably on the couch in Ketchum's office.The doctor simply gave the man's name and address, andasked what could be done for him. After he lay there a

THE DOCTORS AND CAYCB 111

while, breathing evenly, Cayce said, with his eyes closed,"Oh, yes, we have him here. The trouble with this man is allwith his eyes. The central axis cylinder of his eyes is blank.He can only see out of the sides of his eyes, through the fila-ments around the edges. The optic nerve seems to be only ac-tive around the edges. The central part of his optic nerve isdead."

He then briefly gave the man's medical history, saying thathe had been to a number of doctors and clinics without get-ting any help whatsoever.

"Will you suggest treatment?" Ketchum asked.

As a stenographer busily raced over her shorthand pad, thesleeping seer gave a detailed description of what should bedone.

"Very well," Ketchum said, taking Cayce out of his trance,"you will wake up and see him no more."

As the elder Ketchum sat around, unconvinced, the secre-tary typed off the reading, and a copy was sent off to the sub-ject in Cincinnati.

Anxious to demonstrate that he was not in anything shady,Ketchum invited a local eye specialist, who had just returnedfrom three years of European study, to join him and his fa-ther for lunch. "I think he's the right man to review this par-ticular diagnosis."

After the luncheon dishes were cleared away, Ketchumbrought out a copy of the Cayce diagnosis. Dr. Edwards readit through carefully, re-read it even more carefully, and thenturned to Ketchum's father. "Now listen closely, MisterKetchum. Your son has only been here a relatively shorttime. He has good ordinary judgment He's had thoroughtraining in medicine and hospital work. So the sooner he for-gets about this damn thing, the better it's going to be for him!It's the biggest farce that I ever heard of. And to think hebelieves in it, is beyond my comprehension."

Ketchum pere was convinced, but not the way the son hadplanned. When they got back to the office, he blurted out an-grily, "Just as I expected! I don't believe any of it, either."

Ketchum junior smiled rather bleakly. "Wait and see, wehaven't heard from the patient yet"

On the third day, thereafter, there was a discreet knock onthe Ketchum door. It was a man the doctor had never seenbefore. His head was averted, as though he was trying to seeout of the corners of his eyes. "You're from Cincinnati,aren't you?" Ketchum said.

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Ketchum had guessed right again. The man was too ex-cited to write or phone, he had to express himself in person.He had set out almost as soon as he had received the readingin the mail. "This is the most wonderful thing," he said. "Ihave been suffering from eye trouble, but no one ever diag-nosed my case before."

Dr. Edwards was summoned. He agreed to examine thevisitor. Two hours later his examination was completed. Thistime he called to say that lunch would be on him. The groupmet again, with the patient present. Edwards turned toKetchum with an apologetic smile. "I want to take backeverything I said. I didn't know that such a condition couldpossibly exist The central portion of the optic nerve is dead,as you said."

Ketchum took his win in stride. "But he can see out of thesides of his eyes."

"Of course he can. But not through the center. Every wordCayce said is absolutely true." He held out his hand to thedamyankee from across the wide Ohio. "If any of the doctorsraise any objection to you trying to demonstrate this boy,send them to me, and I'll tell them what I think of them."

There was not much for the patient, since there wasn'tmuch that could be done. But one person was immeasurablyhelped: that was Ketchum's father. He went back to Pitts-burgh, convinced that he hadn't produced a fool, after all.

During this period, with Ketchum, the fact that Cayce wasmaking money on his readings for the first time continuallybothered him. But somebody would be helped by a reading,and this again convinced Cayce they were worth doing.Meanwhile, his fame was spreading. In October 1911Ketchum was persuaded to address the American Associationfor Clinical Research, in Boston. The doctors wanted to hearmore about Cayce. Working with Cayce every day, Ketchumhad tried to figure out how The Work worked. "As fixed lawsseem to govern all phenomena in nature," he told the assem-bly, "it is but natural to infer that this is true of the workingsof the psychic. In the course of my investigations I have dis-covered only one thing that seems to be absolute; that is thatthe patient should in some way solicit help in his or her par-ticular case. Otherwise results are meager. In several in-stances where my Unusual Case tried to help patients whohad no previous knowledge that such was being done forthem, he only gave a rambling talk, hitting the subject only inhigh places, so to speak."

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In a sense, Ketchum was years ahead of his time, not onlyin accepting a phenomenon that he didn't understand, but incomprehending that Cayce somehow represented a principleof nature, which like electricity, or flying, was part of abroad universal pattern that people could apply when theywere ready. "After experimenting with my subject for severalyears," he said, "I can compare parapsychology only withaviation, which is just now commanding the attention of themechanical experts of the world; and there can only be oneoutcome, success eventually. The same is true in the psychic.Conditions in nature have always been as now for aviation,but men said, 'It is impossible,' and of course nothing hap-pened. Heretofore, the medical profession has assumed thesame attitude. They could scarcely reconcile themselves tothe teachings of those who belonged to different schools ofmedicine; so it naturally follows, since they did not even be-lieve in each other, that they surely would place little confi-dence in anything of a psychic nature."

In time the relationship with Ketchum and Noe ended.Cayce, overly concerned perhaps that he was becoming amoney-making machine, temporarily broke off the readings,tailing back to photography. He had suffered recurring head-aches during this period, as when he visited Chicago to dem-onstrate for a newspaper there. He had to be his own master,doing things his own way, or not function at all. Ketchumeventually left Hopkinsville, took a refresher course at Har-vard, and then went out to Hawaii to practice. He had along, productive career, before retiring in California.

Though he sent people to osteopaths, chiropractors, andphysiotherapists, Cayce actually didn't favor any of theseover the medical men. He just felt that they, too, had a placein the healing art He himself was treated by all at varioustimes. In fact, his favorite therapist was the dean of VirginiaBeach medical doctors, Robert Woodhouse, who is hale andhearty today at eighty-three. He remembers Cayce as an in-telligent patient, who professed to know little or nothingabout medicine in the waking state. He had enjoyed theirchats together during consultations, and had seen nothingironic about the man who went to sleep for others coming tohim with his own personal health problems. "We have a say-ing in the profession," the wise old doctor observed with asmile, "that a man who treats himself, has an idiot for a pa-tient, and a fool for a doctor."

Chapter Eight

TWENTY YEARS LATER

In March 1966, as I sat listening to the moving theme musicfor "Nehru and India" on CBS television, 1 could not helpthinking that but for Edgar Cayce millions would have beendenied this musical thrill. Dead now more than twenty years,Edgar Cayce was still saving people, and the prolific, talentedAmerican composer-conductor Alan Hovhaness was grate-fully one of them. Half-crippled, disabled, debilitated, suffer-ing from hemorrhoids, the musical wonder had about givenup. Then, one day on the radio, listening with his wife, heheard the mystic's son mention to interviewer Long JohnNebel that his father still lived in the healers using his reme-dies to help people. "Here in New York," Hugh Lynn said,"physiotherapist Harold J. Reilly is using the same kind oftreatments my father once sent people to him for."

At this Nara Hovhaness' eyes brightened, and she turnedeagerly to her husband. "Alan," she said, "maybe he can helpyou."

The composer gave her a wan smile. He was considerablyolder than his wife—in his mid-fifties—and not as impres-sionable. He looked at his hands and shook his head toler-antly. It was an effort just to make that movement, and hewinced. His body was racked with bursitis and arthritis, andthe crippling stiffness was edging down his arms, foreshadow-ing an end to his career. He had tried one specialist after an-other for years, and had not been helped.

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His wife looked at him appealingly. "Mr. Cayce said therewere special exercises recommended by his father that Reillyhad given for years with great results."

The composer shrugged. "I don't have to go to Reilly toexercise," he said.

So that summer of 1964, Alan Hovhaness compromised,trying to please his wife by swimming at a midtown Manhat-tan pool. But it was a dismal failure. "He didn't have enoughstrength in his arms to hold on to the edge of the pool andtread water," she recalled.

Five months later, the composer was desperate. He had tostop his conducting because he could no longer lift his armsabove his waist. He could lie on only one side at night, andeven this was painful. Even finger movement was restricted,composition was a strain, and soon an impossibility.

"Alan," his wife said, "there was a reason for us to betuned in that night; let me make an appointment withReilly."

By this time, it was apparent there was nothing to lose.The composer sighed, "As you will."

A few weeks later, Alan Hovhaness was a new person. Hecould raise his arms to the ceiling, he could rest comfortablyfor the first time in years, and he was beginning to get anidea of what it meant to feel well.

What miracle had the seventy-year-old Reilly wrought?

Actually, nothing that he hadn't been doing for some fortyyears. "It was all very simple," the youthful septuagenariansaid. "I made a few adjustments of the vertebrae and limbs,taking the pressure off nerves; gave him massage to stimulateblood, lymph, and glands; pine oil fume baths and colonics toeliminate toxics; and a few simple exercises."

It was hard to believe that a cure could have been so easilyeffected.

Reilly shrugged. "He had to keep at it for months, but he'snow functioning all over the lot, and he enjoys the exercises."

I had dropped by Reilly's office to discuss the Cayce work,generally, only to become interested specifically in Hov-haness.

During Cayce's lifetime, Reilly had treated scores of pa-tients sent by Cayce, the first arriving in 1931 before Reillyhad even heard of Cayce, and, for that matter, before thewaking Cayce had heard of Reilly. They had arrived withslips in their hands, describing the treatment, and Reilly had

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given it. He knew of no case where the treatment was fol-lowed that the patient didn't improve or get well. Now withCayce gone, he gave what was indicated for obvious disor-ders, already accurately diagnosed, since he was no diagnosti-cian, and Cayce was gone. But it wasn't hard to figureHovhaness, a simple case of rack and ruin.

I anticipated meeting the composer whose work I had longadmired.

Reilly consulted his watch. "He should be here any minute,and you can see for yourself."

In a few moments, the composer bustled through the door.His step was springy, his eye alert, his arms were swingingloosely at his sides. He had the look of a man who got a kickout of life. He shook first Reilly's hand and then mine. Hisgrip was strong and firm.

Tm so pleased about the way I feel," he said, "that I don'tcare who knows about it." He smiled. "It's a miracle, thanksto Mr. Reilly, and Cayce."

A year had passed since his first visit to Reilly. In that timehe had been to Russia for the State Department, observingthe music of that country, and had traveled extensively as aguest conductor. He had returned just the day before fromleading a symphony orchestra in Rochester, New York, andwas off the next day for Seattle, Washington, to lead another.He was working ten, twelve hours a day at the compositionthat made him the country's most versatile and prolific com-poser.

How had Reilly managed it?

The physiotherapist had retired to an inner office to finishwith a patient, and we were alone. "He manipulated and mas-saged me," Hovhaness said, "but apparently what helpedmost was the bending and stretching. It brought new life tomy arms and legs." His exercise routine was elementary. Hehad done the neck rolls, a simple Yoga exercise, often recom-mended by Cayce; he had bent forward down, allowing hisarms to swing back and forth like a pendulum, a specific forbursitis, and he had stretched toward the ceiling, visualizingthe sky. The pendulum and the manipulations, bringing freshblood into his arms, had given him the flexibility to get hisarms above his waist—and from there progress was rapid.

He had not been able to do much at first. The manipula-tions and fume baths had helped to ease his stiffness, the co-lonics had detoxified him. For a few minutes each day, he

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exercised on a massage table, bending his arms and legs,reaching behind his head and for his toes, bringing his legsup to his chin and over his head. Each day he did a littlemore, straining to the point of tension but never fatigue. Hismuscles and joints began to open up and live again, the bloodcoursed to every part of the anatomy. He began to get overthe idea that he was an invalid, becoming imbued with hisbody's capacities, not its limitations. Each exercise became arevelation of unaccustomed movement. The first gingerish ap-proaches were replaced by sure, confident thrusts. Everythingseemed possible now. He was on his way.

Though normally shy and retiring, Hovhaness was not atall backward about discussing his transformation. "I'm soeternally grateful that I'm for helping anybody who wants tohelp himself." He still exercised faithfully.

"I wouldn't miss the exercises for the world. In Rochesterthe other day, I had an hour between rehearsal and perform-ance, so I hurried back to my hotel room and exercised."

"Which exercises seem to help the most?" I asked.

He plopped down on the floor, his feet planted firmlyagainst the floor molding, and straightened out as thoughabout to do pushups. Instead, supported by his arms, hestarted rotating his body with his hips, first one way and thenthe other. "That not only makes me feel better generally,strengthening my shoulders, but got rid of the hemorrhoidswhich the doctors have been wanting to operate on fortwenty years." The composer laughed easily. "The stretchinghelped the upper part of me, the torso twist the lower part."

He scrambled to his feet with the grace and ease of amuch younger man. "I have new confidence in my powers toget well and stay well. As Reilly—and Cayce—stress, thebody is a self-healing organism. All it needs is a starter, plusproper stimulation, assimilation, and circulation." He wastalking like a Cayce reading.

I saw the composer two or three times thereafter, and wasimpressed, above all, by his robust attitude toward life. Hewas fifty-seven, but his outlook was that of a boy, eager, ex-pectant, nourishing each new experience as part of the greatadventure. "I feel as though Edgar Cayce just reached outand guided me to the man who could help me, even though ittook me a while to listen."

As a Cayce practitioner Reilly has been the agency, post-humously, of many Cayce cures. One of the most remarkable

concerned a wealthy Connecticut woman, who had readabout Cayce in my book, The Door to the Future, and hadhunted up doctors who knew anything about the Caycemethod. Her search finally led her to her own FairfieldCounty, where a physician, who had once researched theCayce readings, confirmed that she was suffering from a vagi-nal tumor, and recalled that Cayce had successfully pres-cribed high-frequency ultraviolet in similar cases. He sent herto the physiotherapist, Reilly, noting that the ultraviolet ap-pliance would have to be carefully inserted. "She apparentlyrequired a pelvic operation and had learned about the EdgarCayce material," the doctor reported. "She wanted sometreatment in accordance with the readings. Apparently, sev-eral physicians refused to do this and this is how she came tome. I outlined a course of treatment for her, according to theCayce data, which she will obtain at the Reilly institute inNew York City."

The patient was of a distinguished family, represented inthe Franklin D. Roosevelt wartime cabinet She had con-sulted many doctors without being helped, and so was in themood to get help from a dead psychic. Reilly proceeded asCayce had indicated. After a few treatments, the tumorbegan to noticeably dwindle. And in a few weeks, it had van-ished completely. Gratefully, the patient gave a grant formedical research into the Cayce readings.

Harold Reilly had studied Cayce well. "After a while," hesaid, "I got the idea that all a healer had to do was start thebody healing itself. Once blood, lymph, and nerve impulseswere flowing through the system, once circulation, assimila-tion and elimination were normal, then the body would coun-terattack wherever its defenses had been breached."

As reflecting the Cayce concepts, I quoted Reilly one dayto Mrs. Louise Ansberry, a former Washington societywoman and public relations counsel. Mrs. Ansberry seemedmore than casually interested. "I wonder," she said, "if hecould help my daughter."

Ten-year-old Hale Ansberry, it developed, was sufferingfrom a little-known skin affliction, and had been to threeNew York specialists. The dermatologists had heard of onlytwo or three cases like it. They identified it as lichen sclerosis,and pronounced it incurable.

The disorder was beginning to affect the child's personality,as well as health. She was a pupil at the Spence School, and

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she had become acutely sensitive to the stares of classmatesand their innocent references to the infection, which hadcracked the skin of her legs, leaving them scaly and chalk-like. The child's body was similarly marked, as were herarms. She was not exacdy a basket-case, but she was acomely girl, on the edge of puberty, and a chronic infectionof this sort could very well distort her personality. She al-ready was growing morose, and kept to herself, a distinctchange from the laughing extroverted little girl I had enjoyed.

As the child sidled in, curtsied, and quietly went off to bed,Mrs. Ansberry's eyes followed her with a worried frown."Certainly," she said, "Reilly could do no harm."

That weekend we all drove to Reilly's place in the country.Reilly gave Hale a friendly smile, and took her into a treat-ment room equipped with shortwave diathermy, steam cabi-net, and massage table. They came out together about forty-five minutes later. The child was ruddy of face and lookedfresh and alive, but a little sheepish. She had never been on amassage table before.

Reilly turned to the mother, "You might bring her backfor a couple more treatments."

Five or six weeks passed. Mrs. Ansberry traveled to Japanand India, and phoned me on her return. "How is yourdaughter?" I asked.

Her voice rose in excitement. "Didn't 1 tell you," she said,"her skin has practically cleared up. There are only a fewfaint red marks, and they seem to be vanishing."

I called Reilly to find out what miracle he had performed.

"I can't even remember what I did," he said, "I keep norecords in the country. Why not bring her up again? It'll re-fresh my memory."

I scanned Hale's legs and arms before we started. Thecracks in the skin, and the chalkiness, had completely disap-peared. If she hadn't called a few pale pink spots to my at-tention, I would never have noticed them. Hale was her "old"self, relaxed, friendly, trading quips as though 1 was her age.

We had a pleasant ride, the two of us, and Reilly was wait-ing. "I remember now," he said, leading Hale to the treat-ment room, "I adjusted her spine."

He placed the child on the massage table, ran his handsexpertly over her vertebrae, and told her to relax on herstomach. "She's still a bit out of adjustment," he said, as hisstrong hands flexed her spine tenderly. "There could very eas-

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ily have been some pressure or nerve impingement, whichthrew off the normal vibration of the body." His handsmoved up and down her spine. There were three distinct popsin the dorsal (midback) and lumbar (lower back) area.Reilly grunted in satisfaction. "That ought to do it," he said.

Two weeks later, the last signs of the rare skin disorderhad apparently vanished, and we were ready for the post-script. Mrs. Ansberry called to say that she had reported thecure to one of the dermatologists, mentioning that the condi-tion had cleared completely after two spinal adjustments.

"That's impossible," said the learned M.D., whose officefee had been seventy-five dollars. 'The condition is incura-ble."

"But it's gone," the mother protested.The specialist's voice turned cool. "Then the diagnosis wasfalse."

"But the other doctors agreed," she reminded him, "andyou removed patches of the child's skin and tested them."

"The condition," be repeated, with a note of finality, "is in-curable."

The mother then phoned the original diagnostician. Hisreaction was not quite as arbitrary. "It could have been aspontaneous remission," he said, "these things happen."

Mrs. Ansberry's conversations with the doctors were con-veyed to healer Reilly. A broad grin brightened his face. "It'sa curious thing," he said, "these spontaneous cures alwayshappen with somebody else's cases, never theirs."

Although many of his Cayce-patients staged dramatic re-coveries, there was none more remarkable than one reviewedbefore his very eyes at a meeting at the old McAlpin Hotel inNew York City. Reilly had shared the speaker's rostrum withthe osteopath, Frank Dobbins of Staten Island; Cayce's oldfriend, David Kahn, and Cayce himself, when Kahn, a Ken-tucky-born businessman, whose whole life had been in-fluenced by the Cayce readings, got up to tell of a miracleCayce had performed for a man who had been in a mental in-stitution. Because of Cayce, Kahn said, that man was nowfree, and Cayce had correcUy diagnosed and prescribed forhim without knowing more than his name and plight. He hadnever seen him, nor consulted any of the diagnoses of hiscondition. As a matter of fact, the man in question was stillin the institution when Cayce read for him in Virginia Beach.It was all documented. Through a nurse, who had once

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worked for David Kahn, had come the appeal for Cayce aid.Her sister was married to the victim, who was forty-seven,the father of three, and a post office foreman.

"I have a very worthwhile case that I would like you toassist me with," Kahn wrote. "This man had a nervous break-down while in the postal service, from overwork, or so thedoctors stated. They tell us he will now be dismissed in twoweeks from a State Hospital and will return to New York.The problem of the family is whether he will be able to as-sume the new duties, or what they should do under the cir-cumstances?" The troubled wife and children had a numberof questions:

Will it be best for the patient to return to work in the PostOffice Department immediately upon his leaving the sanitar-ium?

Are there any dangers of the pains in his head returning?

Is there any adjustment necessary in the home for his wifeand children to know about so that they can make whateverchanges are necessary upon the father's return?

In what way can his illness be discussed so that he will notdevelop an inferiority complex?

What will enable him to regain his health physically?

How long will it take for him to regain his normal equilib-rium?

Can he be entirely cured?

The man had already been in the asylum for three years,and as he well knew, his return was probationary, since hewould be scrutinized closely for signs of any relapse.

With Kahn's letter came a written request for a readingfrom the wife. "My husband is in Rockland State Hospital,Orangeburg, New York, in Building X, Ward Z, which is onthe ground floor of the building. He is not confined to oneroom, but is around the ward."

As usual, Gertrude Cayce put the hypnotic suggestion toher husband and Gladys Davis was there to take down what-ever Cayce said. The suggestion by Gertrude was the usual:"Now you will have before you the body of . . . who is atOrangeburg, New York. You will go over this body carefully,examine it thoroughly, and tell me the conditions you find atthe present time, giving the cause of the existing conditions,also the treatment for the cure and relief of this body. You

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will speak distinctly at a normal rate of speech, answering thequestions as I ask them."

As Cayce fell into the shallow trance that preceded hisdeeper slumber, Gertrude repeated the suggestion in a softundertone. With his face impassive, and his lips moving pre-cisely, Cayce responded in clear-cut tones. "Yes, we have thebody," he said, as he had said so many times before. Andnow, from what Cayce was to say, it became apparent thatthe whole diagnosis of the complex causes of the man'scondition had been erroneous, either that, or Cayce waswrong. For, immediately, warning that there could be a re-currence, unless the cause was treated, Cayce pointed directlyto a physical source as the cause of the mental disorder. "Un-less there are other applications to keep this coordination, orto supply the activities to the nerve energies of the system, wefind that with the realization that there is an improbability ofbeing restored to active service fat the Post Office] the condi-tion would become very much disturbed again."

And now he came to the immediate cause, though he wouldonly later relate, remarkably, what the instigator of thisimmediate cause was. The trouble had begun in an area at thebase of the spine. "For through pressures upon nerve energiesin the coccyx area and the ilium plexus, as well as that pres-sure upon the lumbar axis, there has been a deflection [de-rangement] of coordination between the sympathetic and thecerebrospinal nervous system. Thus we find impulses for activ-ities become very much exaggerated. While the hypnotic thathas been administered, and the sedatives have allayed the con-ditions and created rather a submissiveness in the impulsesthrough added suggestions to the body, and the activities inwhich it had been engaged." In other words, the condition hadonly been masked.

Cayce then recommended spinal adjustments in the coccyxand lumbar centers, and application through low electrical vi-bration of gold to "revivify the energies through the creatingin the glandular forces of the body the elements necessary forthe replenishing of the impulses, so there may be a restoringof the mental forces and a better coordination."

Cayce was nothing if not specific. The spinal adjustmentswould be made each day for ten days, and then every thirdday. Chloride of gold would be administered, via a wet cellappliance, three grains to each ounce of distilled water, ahalf-hour daily, with the solution changed at least every fif-

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teen days. He even specified how the appliance should be at-tached to the body. "The small anode or plate would be at-tached first to the fourth lumbar, while the larger plate,through which the gold solution passes, would be attachedlast, to the umbilicus and lacteal duct plexus, or four fingersfrom the umbilicus center toward the right in a straight line."

Not even the most formidable pathologist or anatomistcould have more precisely employed this technical terminol-ogy. A sympathetic physician would be required for both theadjustments and the gold application, which meant some os-teopath, since almost any medical doctor would have laughedthe reading away at this time.

Additional questions were then put to Cayce, which madehis reading all the more incredible.

Q. What was the original cause, or what produced thiscondition?

A. A fall on the ice, injuring the coccyx end of the spine.

Q. What caused the original pains in head?

A. Reflexes from those injuries to the pressures made uponthe pineal center.

Q. What doctor in New York will be best able to aid thisman to get his mental equilibrium?

A. Anyone in sympathy with the conditions to be applied.But the adjustments should be made by the same.

Q. How long will it be before he will be able to return towork after leaving the institution?

A. It would require at least sixty to ninety days.

Q. Should he be told that he has been put on the retiredlist of the Post Office Department and will have to apply forreinstatement to active work, or what should be done consid-ering his mental condition at present?

A. To give the body the impression that it has been en-tirely left out, without there being some adjustments andsome reconstruction, will make for a greater derangementthrough the mental incapacities of the body, and will causeviolence.

As Cayce saw it, it would be necessary to gradually buildup the body to gain the equilibrium needed for active servicein Post Office work.

He was then asked: "What kind of body-building exercisewould be best?"

"Keep in the open as much as practical, but never alone,until there is at least the opportunity for better equilibrium to

no

be gained by the releasing of the pressures and the buildingup to the glandular forces and to the activities from theelectrical forces through the gold chloride in the system."

Thereafter, in accordance with the Cayce reading, the manwas treated by Dr. Dobbins, with the treatment getting underway on March 26, 1938. By this time, the man was out ofthe asylum, and confronted with the task of bringing togetherthe threads of his life. Kahn met him at Dobbins' office, andreflected sadly on the man's institutionalization. "I wish youcould see what a fine upstanding figure of a man this is," hewrote Cayce, who had already seen through him with hisX-ray eyes. "He stands over six feet tall and is as broad andhandsome a man as I have ever seen anywhere, and his mindseems to function even more normally than mine. Yet, thedoctors up here put him in an insane asylum and he had aterrible time getting out, when, according to the reading anadjustment in the base of the spine would make him perfectlynormal. It certainly is remarkable, and the pity of it is that sofew people can know the wonder of it."

Without having been shown the reading the postal foremanwas asked if he had ever suffered a bad fall on the ice. Herecalled one such spill; it bothered his lower spine for a fewdays, then seemed to go away. Cayce had seen it all. All thiswas now eight or nine months in the past and Kahn washappy to announce to the McAlpin audience that the man,given the case number 1513 to protect bis identity, was hap-pily rejoined to his family and job.

At this point, as Kahn moved to introduce Cayce, a tall,square-shouldered man got up from a back seat and beganlumbering down the aisle to the speakers' platform. His eyesseemed intent not on Kahn, who was watching him closely,but on Cayce sitting nearby, ready to take the platform him-self.

There was a hush, as the audience sensed the determina-tion in the stride of the man nearing the rostrum. Finally, hecame to the front of the hall, and in a quiet, choked voice,turned to face the audience, and said, "Every word Mr. Kahnhas spoken is true, and I came tonight to shake the hand ofthe man who gave me back my life."

It was the postal foreman. With tears in his eyes, he turnedand offered his outstretched hand to the equally affectedCayce. There was hardly a dry eye in the auditorium, includ-ing the normally phlegmatic Reilly. Awkwardly, Cayce rose

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to acknowledge the help he had given. "1 feel like exhibit A,"he said, "I myself have done nothing. I am but a channel ofthis great gift, and I feel that I am more helpful to you asleepthan when I'm awake."

Over the years, Reilly had become a portable repository ofpractical Cayce therapy. He wasn't always sure how theCayce treatment worked, but was content that it did. DuringCayce's lifetime, everyone coming to Reilly, even for a sim-ple massage or colonic, had their treatment spelled out in de-tail. Massage varied according to the physical problem. Forepilepsy, for instance, peanut oil and olive oil were recom-mended as a rub, with precise particulars: "Extend massagefrom base of brain to end of spine. Massage in circular mo-tion either side of spine. Give this regularly, once a week,during the castor oil packs treatment."

The massage for the diabetic, with peanut oil exclusively,was somewhat different. "Massage across small of back, sac-ral, hips, even along sciatic area." There was a brief refer-ence to the cause. "Unbalanced circulation by lack of properreaction through pancreas. Excess sugar." A patient with se-vere anemia had more rigorous massage, with peanut oil."Each morning upon arising, all body will absorb. Once aweek massage into abdomen and over stomach area, wholespine, across sacral." For psoriasis, there were explicit direc-tions. "Take colonic after the first cabinet sweat. Osteopathicadjustments. Fume baths [pine oil or wintergreen]. Massage.Diet." Again, a reference to cause. "Poisons in lymph bloodarising from lack of coordination in eliminations. A form ofstrep that brings pus-forming activities even to the surface."

Perhaps the most unusual of Cayce's purifying baths whichincluded Epsom salts for stiff, arthritic joints, was one of hotcoffee. "Bathe feet when there is tiredness with hot coffeemade from old coffee grounds to stimulate better circulationand aid eliminations through entire system. Rub bursae offeet and limbs well and the acid will aid in circulation."Reflecting his own belief in the essential unity of the body,Cayce advised: "This will eliminate heaviness in throat andhead disturbances."

Even the type of massage was important. A well-knownadvertising tycoon, for instance, had come to Reilly with aprescription for a gentle, soothing massage. "Otherwise," thereading said, "he will disintegrate." The subject was an ob-vious case of high-blood pressure, and Reilly would not have

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permitted a brisk or deep massage in any event. However, theexecutive, a millionaire used to his own way, balked at themassage. "I like the kind of rub I can feel," he said.

Reilly insisted on following the reading, and the man wentelsewhere, getting what he wanted. "Less than a month later,"Reilly recalled, "he was dead. He disintegrated."

As he worked with the various oils that Cayce recom-mended, Reilly noticed that some, like peanut and camphor-ated oil, seemed to have remarkable healing powers, indicat-ing that they were being absorbed through the skin, and werenot mere emulsions. After Cayce's death, Reilly's studybrought him to Virginia Beach to pore through the readings,and discuss Cayce's therapy with others who had used it.

In Virginia Beach, as I soon discovered, he was as cele-brated for his rehabilitating work with Cayce remedies, as hewas in New York City.

Still, with it all, I couldn't help but feel a twinge thatCayce's psychic contribution had been lost when he himselfpassed on. "It's too bad so much of this is lost," I remarkedone day to Marjorie Bonney, a Virginia Beach matron, whowas the mother of two.

Mrs. Bonney, an attractive woman in her mid-forties, gaveme a searching look. "The important thing," she said, "is thatso much of it remains."

I regarded her enquiringly.

"You know Harold Reilly?"

I nodded.

She hesitated. "It's a rather personal story, but I supposethey all are, or we wouldn't be talking about them."I waited quietly.

"It concerns my daughter, and it goes back a while, thoughCayce was already dead then, and you could hardly have ex-pected any help from him. We were in a terrible automobileaccident, my daughter and I; this was back in 1948. Emilywas three years old. We were both taken to the hospital.After weeks of hospitalization, Emily's face and body wereterribly scarred, and one of her legs seemed to have lost itsdevelopment. It became like a stick, and her foot wobbled asshe walked. Even with surgery, the wobbliness persisted. Itwas apparent the condition would only persist and growworse with time."

At this stage of the girl's infirmity, Reilly was visiting inVirginia Beach, and happened to be around near A. R. E.

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headquarters, watching some children at play. He noticed,particularly, a small girl limping after a ball. His eyes ranprofessionally down the skimpy little leg. Frowning, heturned to an attractive woman standing nearby. It was Mar-jorie Bonney, though he did not know her at the time.

"Do you know whose child that is?" he asked.

Marjorie nodded. "She's mine."

"Well, if something Isn't done about that leg pretty soon,"he said, "the muscles will atrophy completely, and shell becrippled for life."

Marjorie Bonney felt sick inside. "We've been to the bestdoctors, and there's nothing that even the surgeons can donow," she said.

Reilly regarded her kindly. "Why don't you talk to GladysDavis, Edgar Cayce's secretary," he suggested, "she may re-member two or three readings that applied to wasted mus-cles?"

Familiar with Cayce, Mrs. Bonney promptly conferredwith the secretary. Three or four readings dealing with appar-ently similar afflictions of an arm or leg were dug out. Theyrecommended massage with peanut oil and camphorated oil,applied on alternate days, the muscles to be rubbed from thetoe toward calf, thigh, and groin.

Each night before bed little Emily got her massage. "Onenight I would massage her leg for a half-hour, the next nightmy husband would." The two oils had an added purpose.They would rub some on their daughter's hands, and thenhave her rub her scarred face with it. The readings had saidthat the peanut oil stimulated the growth of new tissue. Themassages continued for two years. Improvement was gradualduring the first year. The muscles expanded and developeduntil both calves were the same size and shape, the ankle be-came firmly attached to the foot, the wobble stopped, andwith it the limp. At the same time the facial scars began todisappear, both small and large. Edgar Cayce had againreached out from the dead to help. His dearest supplicant—asmall child.

Marjorie Bonney didn't see it quite that way, though herdaughter, now Mrs. E. F. Friedrich of Buffalo, New York,grew up normally and happily. "I just don't think," Mrs.Bonney said, "that Edgar Cayce ever left us."

Although he now talks freely about Cayce, there was atime, when Cayce lived, that Reilly seldom mentioned the

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work he was doing with Cayce patients. "I felt foolish tellingpeople that a sleeping Yehudi, as I thought of Cayce then,was telling me how to run my business. They would onlyhave laughed, and nobody likes being laughed at."

Today, Reilly no longer cares what anybody thinks, so longas the treatments work. "I know more about Cayce now for Iunderstand the concept behind his work. You get everythingworking right, body and mind, and illness hasn't got achance."

Even now as he thinks back on it, Reilly is amazed by thesequence of strange events that brought Edgar Cayce and hispatients into his life. He had never heard of Cayce, and thewaking Cayce, as noted, had never heard of Reilly. Yet, oneday, a middle-aged man, looking a bit under the weather,walked into the Reilly health center, then located in NewYork on 63rd Street and Broadway, and handed him a slip ofpaper. The handsome Irishman looked at it curiously, itdidn't seem too different from a lot of other prescriptionsthat came his way from physicians, osteopaths, and naturo-paths. On it was a diagnosis of a gall bladder condition, and arecommendation for a certain type of bath and manipulation.As his establishment specialized in hydrotherapy, electrother-apy, manipulative therapy, Reilly didn't give the reading an-other thought. He figured Cayce might be an osteopath thathe hadn't heard of.

The number of people coming in with Cayce readings con-tinued, and Reilly grew even more curious. This "Dr." Cayceseemed to know his stuff. Whatever it was he recommended,whether the patients had bursitis, arthritis, nervous tension,asthma, or whatever—the results were the same. They im-proved and got well.

One day, Reilly called one of the patients aside and askedabout Dr. Cayce. The patient shook his head. He had neverseen the "doctor." Reilly looked at him as though he werederanged. The man explained. "My wife sent in a requestthat he read for me, saying what was wrong. We had been toall kinds of doctors and they hadn't helped."

It was difficult for the reading process to get through Reil-ly's practical mind. But he finally accepted that he wasn'tbeing the butt of any joke. Still, there were other obviousmysteries. How did Cayce get his, Reilly's, name? How didhe know of the types of treatment Reilly was giving? Wheredid he get his understanding of the therapies for differently

TWENTY YEARS LATER fgg

ailing individuals? With all Reilly's experience, it was impos-sible to improve on Cayce's suggestions. It seemed incrediblethat Cayce could merely go into a trance and get the infor-mation he did. Even after two years, receiving streams ofCayce patients, Reilly had no clue as to the method of theman who was throwing all this business his way. "I can't un-derstand," he told friends, "how a man can go to sleep andgive as good, or better, advice than I can, wide awake, in myown special field."

So Reilly decided to get acquainted with the wizard. Hemade arrangements for a meeting on Cayce's next trip toNew York, and had another surprise in store for him. Hehad envisioned a person of commanding appearance withpiercing eyes and majestic gestures, with perhaps a turbandraped around his head. But the only mystic he saw was atall, slightly-stooped scholarly-looking man with a mild eye,gentle mien, and soft-spoken drawl. "He reminded me of aminister of some quiet country church," Reilly said later.

They chatted and had lunch together, the canny Reillywatching every move by the mystic. When Cayce ordered hismeal, carelessly giving his request to a waiter, Reilly observedthat his guest did not pay much attention to the rules of diet,for one so stringent with the diets of others. Noticing the in-ordinate amount of fattening starches on the Cayce platter,Reilly mentioned the apparent health discrepancy. Cayce re-plied that in his everyday waking life he had no specialknowledge of diet or any other health measures, nor was hegreatly concerned about bis health. Still, in his trancelikestate, as Reilly had already discovered, the wisdom of theages came through him. On one hand, he had suggested rem-edies thousands of years old; on the other, some so up-to-date they hadn't been packaged yet. As the two men sattogether, Reilly found himself reviewing the treatments thatCayce had sent him—all forms of drugless healing, invokingthe use of baths, oils, heat, light, colonic irrigations, massageand other forms of manipulative therapy, diet and exercise.To Reilly, it was obvious that the Cayce health readings notonly helped to overcome sickness and disability, but would asa broad principle tend to prevent illness.

As lunch drew out, Reilly peppering his guest with ques-tions, and Cayce chain-smoking to Reilly's consternation, itbecame evident to the physiotherapist that Cayce's physicaltherapy resolved itself into four broad patterns: increased cir-

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culation, eliminaiion. assimilation, plus a proper approach toeating. "It was better not to eat at all, than to eat whenupset," Reilly learned. "Long before anybody else suspectedit, Cayce was saying that the mind, not the stomach, inducedstomach ulcers."

The waking Cayce didn't seem to know any more abouthis treatments than Reilly did. And so, after their meeting,ReUly went back to analyzing the cases that had walked intohis place, and classifying them, so that today, some thirtyyears later, he is able to effectively apply Cayce's physicaltherapy approach. Elimination, a la Cayce, was a completeprocess, through stepped-up action of kidneys, intestines,skin, lungs. "To stimulate kidneys and skin, for toxic people,generally the rheumatic or arthritic," Reilly observed, "Caycerecommended warm pack treatments, chiefly with castor oil."A swathe of flannel eight inches wide was soaked in thewarmed oil, and placed over the gall bladder, liver, or kid-neys, wherever the seat of trouble was. Packs of hot Epsomsalts were applied across hips and back, in lumbago. Packs ofGlyco-Thymoline, little known until advocated by Cayce,were also prescribed in some cases, increased stimulationthrough the skin taking the burden off overworked kidneys.

The readings recommended fume baths and occasionalfriction rubs. The fume bath, opening the pores, also tonedup elimination through the respiratory tract. Reilly used thesoothing vapors of the balsam, eucalyptus, pine, Atomidine(another Cayce nostrum). Formulas varied for the individualmalfunctions but, generally, Reilly used about one-half to oneteaspoonful of the solution or oil, in one to two quarts ofsteaming water. "If the person is not able to go to an institu-tion for a fume bath, it is quite simple to fix one for him-self." He issued instructions. "Sew together four blankets, ortake a large piece of canvas and sew it together with an open-ing for the head, and an overlap at this opening—flexible,non-flammable plastic might be better. Next, take a stool andplace it over an electric stove with a steaming pot on it. Foldtowels on the seat of the stool and hang a towel in front ofthe stool to protect legs from the heat. The hotter the water,the more quickly the steaming takes effect. Then sit on thestool, wrap the covering close across shoulders and fasten itaround the neck, after, of course, removing the clothing. Aperson with a cold can clear nasal or bronchial congestion, byleaving a small opening in the front where he can put his head

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down to inhale, closing off the opening when the inhalationbecomes too strong."

Reilly stressed exercise, having maintained gymnasiums forforty-five years, and Cayce's simple therapeutic exercisescaught his interest. He noted that the mystic, while seldomexercising himself, recommended sitting-up exercises from avertical position in the morning, floor exercises later in theday. "In this way," Reilly explained, "Cayce changed the flowof the lymphatic and blood circulation, getting the personwho had been lying down all night on his feet to start theday." He also got him breathing deeply, preferably before anopen window to eliminate stale lung air and oxygenate thebody, giving it a full head of steam to open the day.

"Cayce," Reilly pointed out, "specifically mentioned aYoga breathing exercise, the alternate breathing." Mouthclosed, the individual started off by breathing in through theleft nostril, the thumb closing off the right, to the count offour, retaining the breath to eight, then exhaling through theright nostril to a similar eight count, closing off the oppositenostril. The breath was then taken in through right nostril,and the exercise repeated three or four times.

Demonstrating the Cayce floor exercises, the supple sep-tuagenarian promptly got down on all fours and started mov-ing his muscular body forward like a big cat. "This is the catcrawl," he announced. "You take five strides forward, fiveback, stretching every muscle in the body and bringing thevital hinge and rotary joints into play."

As he finished his crawl, Reilly sat up with a smile. Hisface was red from the reversal of normal posture, but hisblue eyes sparkled. "Getting back to nature drains the si-nuses. It wasn't so many millions of years ago that man gotaround that way normally."

Next was the Cayce roll-over. Sitting on the floor, kneeshunched up, Reilly began to rock sidewise, from one half-reclining elbow to another. "This stretches the side musclesalong the ribs, flexes the hip joints, trims the thighs." Heshook his head. "Amazing that a man who didn't know aboutexercise, consciously, should have hit on this simple yet effec-tive movement."

Reilly then slipped into a Cayce old-timer, the buttockswalk. Sitting up, legs stretched out, arms toward the ceiling,the septuagenarian started to move forward by first liftingone buttock and then the other. "Many a woman's hips I've

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slimmed with that one," he said, negotiating the width of theroom on the seat of his pants. "I call it the beam-shrinker."

From pushup position, Reilly then repeated the torso twistthat Hovhaness had earlier demonstrated, his hips forming acircle, in first one direction and then the other.

The bear walk, similar in posture to the cat crawl, wasnext. Reilly, again on all fours, walked flat-footed, his kneesstiff, hips high in the air, heels and palms of hands flat on thefloor.

And how was this different from the cat crawl?

"A stiffer walk," Reilly explained. "It stretches the leg ten-dons, the hamstring muscle, and the area of the sciatic nerve,while also developing the arms and shoulders."

Still demonstrating, Reilly slid into the morning exerciseroutine. After taking a few deep breaths, and practicing thealternate breathing, he began swinging one arm forward fiveor six times like a sidewheel on a Mississippi riverboat, andthen reversed, repeating with the other arm. "The individ-ual," he stressed, "is better stimulated, vertically, after a nightof horizontal inactivity."

After the arm swing, Reilly rotated first the left and thenthe right foot from the hip, in a brief circular motion, repeat-ing five or six times in each direction. He then did a standupstretch, up on toes, arms high over head, meanwhile tighten-ing the buttocks and then bending the hands to the floor,keeping the knees stiff. "That's the exercise," he said, "thathelped Hovhaness with his hemorrhoids, that and the torsotwist"

The demonstration continued. Arms again stretched over-head, Reilly lowered his head slowly to his chest, and thenslowly pulled it back over his shoulders. It was the beginningof the head-and-neck exercise. Still stretching up on his toes,he circled the head slowly three or four times in each direc-tion, and then, relaxing, started to rub his head. I suddenlynoticed a new fuzzy growth of silver gray on the front of hisscalp, where there had been no hair before. He noted my sur-prise .

"I don't know what's doing it," he smiled, "but I've beengrowing hair on the bald spots for the last few weeks. It's ei-ther the Cayce head-and-neck exercise, which I've been doingrecently, or the castor oil I've been rubbing on my scalp.Nothing else has certainly changed after seventy."

Some of the Cayce readings providing relief via drugless

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therapy were given long before physiotherapy was practicedgenerally, when there was no opportunity for Cayce to havebecome familiar with such physiotherapy. Yet he gave read-ings advising electrotherapy, short wave and ultra-short wave."Strange as it may seem," Reilly recalls, "the machine forthis special type of therapy had just been perfected and theReilly Health Service had obtained it just three weeks beforeit was mentioned in the readings."

Chapter Nine

THE DOCTORS CATCH OH

"One striking concept has come out of the Cayce health read-ings," Dr. William O. McGarey said, "the concept that eachcell has a consciousness of its own. Apparently, Cayce wasable to identify clairvoyantly with the consciousness of thesecells, to look at every gland, organ, blood vessel, nerve, andtissue from inside the body. His unconscious seemed to com-municate with the autonomic nervous system, travelingthrough the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, whichit controlled, into each and every cell."

The doctor's lean, sensitive face lit up with interest as heheld out a slim finger. "An uncomfortable cell in this fingermight tell Cayce's unconscious there was pressure on it, andthe unconscious would recommend an oil that would sootheand comfort it. All through the body, cells were apparentlyconveying their message to this remarkable unconscious-ness—for even as there are wars between nations, cells waramong themselves." And in this conflict, there was dis-ease orillness.

Like many doctors who had studied the Cayce readings,Dr. McGarey had begun to apply them to patients and wasgratified at the results. "It requires an almost intuitive knowl-edge, at times," he observed, "for the practitioner to sensewhen some of these measures may be most effective." Butmany remedies seemed broadly applicable.

McGarey knew Cayce only through reading about him. He

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She doctors catch on I*1

was considered a solid practitioner, operating a clinic inPhoenix, Arizona with his wife, Gladys, also an M.D. Likeother physicians, McGarey was vexed and saddened when theorthodox didn't work, left with a sense of helplessness. Therewas so much about therapy that was a mystery. Recognizinghis own shortcomings, the doctor brought into his assault ondisease a certain humility. He did not discount what he hadlearned at the Cincinnati medical school, or in the trainingyears that followed, but his mind was open. And so as hisinterest developed in Cayce, he did something about it. Hepored over some of the Cayce health readings, studying theirresults, and out of the health readings of the unschooled mys-tic, came successful adaptation of some Cayce treatments.McGarey's greatest luck has been with castor oil packs whichhave helped reduce sundry abdominal complaints: stomachulcers, appendicitis, colitis, gall bladder. Conventionallytrained, he applied the packs only after more conventionalcures failed. His most remarkable recovery, a la Cayce, wasan eighty-year-old woman with an intestinal obstruction. Be-cause of an irritated bowel, he was afraid of gangrene. Sur-gery was inadvisable because of the patient's condition. So, asa last resort, he began applying the packs to the abdominalarea, which was noticeably distended and sore. Within twen-ty-four hours, magically, the obstruction had cleared up;within a few days, the patient's stomach was as flat as a teen-ager's, distention and stress clearly removed for the first timein years.

As Cayce had suggested, in cases of hypertension and highblood pressure, he found the packs had a quieting effect insome instances on the autonomic nervous system. "Appar-ently by speeding up the lymphatic flow," he observed, "thepacks relieved stress on the sympathetic system, which di-rectly reacts when people get excited or angry, what doctorscall the fright-flight symptom."

Cayce's treatment usually embraced the whole system, notonly specific local areas. After the packs, olive oil was givento clear out the gall bladder and stimulate the liver, stirringan apparent outflow of toxicity via liver, kidneys, skin, lungs.Apparently, the castor oil reduced local toxicity, soothingstiffened arthritic joints and modifying local abcesses.

McGarey's theory of how the packs worked has been elab-orated on elsewhere. Dr. George O'Malley of Galien, Michi-gan, practicing successfully from the readings, suggested that

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the castor oil packs beneficially stimulate the lacteals, tinylymphatic vessels in the small intestines. "Some authorities,"he said, "suggest that the vital life force of the human organ-ism begins in these cells."

O'Malley, an osteopath, has been applying the remediesCayce dredged out of his dreams, since the time a friendimpishly gave him a copy of Tom Sugrue's book, There Is aRiver, which features the Cayce cures. Intrigued, O'Malleyobtained files of Cayce readings on diseases particularly diffi-cult to treat. He noticed that castor oil packs were commonlyrecommended, as was Atomidine, an iodine derivative. Wherean eye specialist had failed, O'Malley reported relieving acorneal ulcer with two drops of Atomidine daily, just asCayce had recommended. But his most outstanding successescame with castor oil packs. In one notable case, even as sur-geons were planning to operate on a fifty-four-year-old pa-tient for an abdominal obstruction, O'Malley kept faithfullyapplying his castor oil packs. When an electrical storm heldup the operation, the packs were additionally continued, andthen an hour before the rescheduled surgery, the obstructiondramatically cleared up, and the surgery became unnecessary.O'Malley has reported similar success with chronically in-flamed gall bladder, chronic stomach disorders, ulcerative co-litis, chronic appendicitis, even swelling of feet—all as suscep-tible to the packs as the obstructions.

From the Cayce readings O'Malley concluded that castoroil packs, absorbed through the skin, served to relieve ab-dominal congestion due to sluggishness of the lymphatic cir-culation. Widely used as a laxative internally, castor oil issometimes known as Palma Christus—the hand of Christ"The action of the castor oil on the skin is twofold," the doc-tor found. "It directly stimulates the lymphatic flow throughthe superficial and deep lymphatic vessels, and strengthenssome deep organs of the abdomen."

O'Malley applied the packs just as Cayce had outlined."Three thicknesses of soft flannel soaked in hot castor oilwere applied over the abdomen in the area of the liver andgall bladder, extending down over the caecum [right lowerquadrant of the abdomen] and appendix. A heating pad orheat lamp was used to retain the heat, with the packs appliedthree consecutive days each week, for one and a half to threehours per day. They were followed by olive oil taken inter-nally for the next three days. "Apparently," the doctor theo-

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rized, "the olive oil stimulates the increased production oflymph, which acts to decrease the circulatory stasis [stoppage]in most abdominal disfunctions. At the same time, it stimu-lates the production of lymphocytes, a forerunner in thebody-defense mechanism."

Whatever happened, the relief of ailments which had beentroubling people for years was often miraculous.

One day, O'Malley made an emergency call on a middle-aged school teacher, stricken with an apparent heart attack atthe dinner table. He soon discovered that she had a history ofchonic pain aggravated by injudicious, fatty foods. X-raysrevealed an inflamed, nonfunctional gall bladder. Her heartwas sound. She was anxious to get back to her classes, asonly two weeks of the semester remained. "Doctor," she said,"it would please me and my class to finish the year together."

Castor oil packs were relatively new in the O'Malley ar-mory at this time. He told the teacher about them, and sheagreed to give it a try. "She was instructed to report any ad-verse symptom at once," the doctor said, "and keep us up onher progress." A week later the husband phoned to report hiswife better than in years. The deceptive heaviness in the chestbad virtually disappeared. She was to continue the packs foranother week. The next report, weeks later, came from thelocal superintendent of schools, as he mentioned how well theteacher looked as the new term opened. In three monthsthere was no recurrence.

Ulcerative colitis was like a plague to most doctors, diffi-cult to diagnose, difficult to treat An elderly woman, six-ty-six, injured in an auto accident, entered a clinic; the diag-nosis was ulcerative colitis, due to trauma and shock. Treatedsix months, she lost considerable weight, as she was afraid toeat, since it immediately irritated her bowel. When she com-plained of palpitations, the family feared a heart conditionand called in O'Malley. He immediately prescribed castor oilpacks. "With the first treatment," he noted, "she began to re-spond. After three weeks, all the pain had subsided in her ab-domen. She began sleeping without medication."

One of the more rewarding cures, so unexpected, came intreating an eight-year-old girl for a recurring abdominal pain,dating back to a siege of measles. She was operated on forchronic appendicitis, and surgery revealed an old appendixrupture, complicated by an acute abscess. Due to adhesions,the removal of the appendix was diflicult, and the child's con-

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dition critical. There was abdominal bloating, vomiting, hightemperature. Antibiotics were not effective. Finally, castor oilpacks were used, for an hour at a time, three times a day."There was slight improvement during the first twenty-fourhours," O'Malley observed, "but by the third day, the bloat-ing began to subside, and the temperature dropped." Thepacks were continued for twelve days of convalescence. "It ismy conviction," the doctor recorded, "that the castor oilpacks stimulated the body's defense mechanism, and with theimproved circulation, the medication helped to restore ho-meostasis [equilibrium between cells]. It was of interest to notethat an anemia, which the patient had picked up, appeared torespond much better to iron therapy while the castor oilpacks were being applied to the abdomen."

As they relieved congestion, the castor oil packs were help-ful also in reducing excrescences such as moles, warts, andcysts, and in psoriasis, gout, and kidney stones. Like Mo-Garey, O'Malley not only profited from treatment of specificcases, but gained a broader concept of what some ailmentswere all about. The castor oil packs seemed helpful in mala-dies where a lack of lymphatic circulation resulted in im-proper removal of "toxins of the body or of the disease." Thisseemed to offer the possibility that the packs might have eveabroader application. "In tabulated cases of psoriasis, cancer,and arthritis," O'Malley observed, "the readings refer to lackof absorption of lymph circulation through the alimentarycanal."

Many healers have pored over Cayce's remedies for suchmystifying ailments as arthritis and cancer, looking for cluesthat would be therapeutically helpful in their treatmentMany "cures" for arthritis are recorded in the Cayce files,with testimonials years later from those who got well. Cayceapproached arthritis on a broad front, understanding whatmany doctors have only recently come to accept: that arthri-tis is the body's—and mind's—reaction to multiple wrongsand abuses. Scores of readings on this crippling disorder wereclosely examined by Dr. Henry George m of Wilmington,Delaware, descendant of the noted economist. In forty-nineof fifty-nine cases under study, Cayce recommended olive oilor peanut oil massage, general osteopathy with special stressto adjustments in the cervical (neck) and low dorsal area inthirty-eight cases. Gold chloride or Atomidine was used incombination with these therapies eleven times; colonic irriga-

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tions, cleansing the system some fourteen times. In ninecases, he urged the subjects to improve their mental and spir-itual attitude. He was strong on diet, banning large quantitiesof meat in half the cases and pork in virtually every case.Many were told to avoid white bread, potatoes, fatty foodsand grease, encouraged to eat root vegetables.

The progress reports were interesting. Twenty-three werecured or improved, eleven found the diversified treatment toocomplex to follow, two died before they could start the treat-ment, and the balance couldn't be located for a report-back.

It was rather absorbing to follow the question and answerprocess by which Cayce arrived at a dramatic cure. In onepertinent case, the subject was a middle-aged nurse, who hadmade the rounds of doctors and finally turned to Cayce.

She got right to the point. "What," she asked, "is causingthe hard places or knots to form on or around the joints ofmy fingers?"

"The lack of the proper eliminations through the generalsystem," Cayce said, "and the stimulating of the circulationin the upper dorsal and through the cervical areas [throughosteopathic adjustments] should set up better eliminationsthrough the general alimentary canal." A diet suggestion:"Add to the diet a great deal of watercress and beet tops."

Nurselike, she was persistent. "Should anything specific bedone for the hard place on the joint of my little finger whichis now sore?"

"Application of an Epsom salts pack will bring relief tothis area, but the better eliminations set up in the order asindicated [colonics every ten days] will relieve the conditionsthrough the general system."

There was a war on, and she was an enterprising soul."Would it be safe—not harmful to my health—for me to do-nate blood to the Red Cross?"

"Not harmful under the present conditions."

She threw in still another digressive question.

"What is the best treatment for a bedsore—I ask this formy patient?"

Cayce obviously didn't mind two subjects for the price ofone. "The best application as a general condition for such isthe use of ichthyol ointment."

The nurse followed the treatments faithfully, and theyworked. The adjustments were made by Dr. Andre Aillaud,an osteopath, of Charlottesville, Virginia, and the patient did

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the rest. Some ten years later, in November 1952, she re-ported back enthusiastically, both for herself, and the auxil-iary patient, with bedsores. "The knots on my fingers clearedup; I gave blood six times during the war years. The bedsoreremedy was wonderful; my patient never had any more trou-ble from sores." In December 1965, when last checked, thepatient was approaching seventy. She was described as "thepicture of health."

Philosophically, Cayce often intrigues the scientists whouse him. "I could give twenty or thirty case histories of ar-thritis treated by the readings," reported M. L. Hotten, an os-teopath, of Arvin, California, "and indicate good results. Butwhen one starts to use these readings, one cannot help butask questions about some of the gaps in the information.There is a challenge to the material which we cannot easilyignore. We can scarcely accept health readings, for instance,and ignore the spiritual and psychological overtones. Wemust not simply use what we want and throw the rest aside."

Hotten observed the same clinical attitude toward theCayce readings that he did in determining the best treatmentfor a patient; he suggested that other practitioners do like-wise. Many of the Cayce readings dealt with arthritis, and asurvey of the recommended treatment revealed enough simi-larities for Hotten to arrive at a therapeutic pattern. "A sim-plification," he pointed out, "shows four major steps:

1. Improved circulation through salt packs and baths.

2. Specific massage with certain oils and resinous extractssuch as myrrh and peanut oil.

3. Dietary alteration to change the chemical balance andreduce intake of certain minerals.

4. Osteopathic manipulation of the third cervical, theninth dorsal, and the fourth lumbars; these latter three areasare most often mentioned."

Like McGarey, he had become convinced that the bodywas acutely conscious of its own state. "We know there is a'consciousness' innate in the entity, which is usually termedthe subconscious or unconscious. This is usually related tomental activity, but there may be still another type of con-sciousness at a still deeper level which is sensitive to the stateof balance existing in the sympathetic and parasympatheticnervous systems."

Because nobody else could apparently explore this con-sciousness, the Cayce readings, together with the underlying

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philosophy, became doubly important And so Dr. Hottendelved eagerly into Cayce's conception of the cause of dis-ease, and of healing. "Is it possible," Cayce was once asked,"to give information through psychic readings, which willlead to the cure of diseases now known as incurable?"

He replied: "We find that all conditions existent in physi-cal bodies are produced by that which may be met. There arein truth no incurable conditions. For each ailment is the re-sult of the breaking of a law. Healing will of necessity comewhen there is compliance with other laws which meet theneeds. No healing is perfected without some psychic force ex-erted. In regard to healing of any kind, the counteractingforce, whether operative or medicinal, or self-producing, isnothing more nor less than the active force exerted in psychicforce."

Apparently, this was one reason why Cayce preferred a re-quest from an individual for a health reading. He wantedsubjects whose minds were already prepared for help.

Just as many skeptics have been converted through expo-sure to the Cayce readings, Hotten feels that science mightlearn more about healing if it would but consider ideas for-eign to orthodox medical concepts. "It is really unscientificand dogmatic," he observed, "to indict any treatment, con-cept or idea because one thinks it has no value." As the ar-thritic have been helped, so may the cancer-ridden. And justas peanut oil was helpful in arthritis, that was the functionof almonds, frequently mentioned by Cayce in cancer ther-apy. Cayce often emphasized the vibrations of various sub-stances, and Hotten questioned: "Is it the vibration of peanutoil, applied once or twice a week, which helps prevent arthri-tis? What is the vibratory nature of almonds that could alterthe physiology of the body so that, for one individual at least,one or two almonds a day would help prevent cancer?"

Hotten was not saying that almonds would prevent or curecancer. He was just suggesting that the possibility be scientifi-cally explored. "Now that cancer cells can be grown on syn-thetic culture media, perhaps the chemical components of al-monds could become a subject for such research. Or," headded with delicate irony, "perhaps this is too simple an ideato appeal to men who are searching for a drug to cure disease,rather than considering the delicate chemical balance proba-bly essential for prevention of disordered physiology."

The doorway on apparently universal knowledge was not

closed to those with open minds. "One man in our time,Edgar Cayce, with deep inner desire and perfected vehicle,was able to be the perfect channel, while in hypnotic trance.Let us not close the door on that channel."

It is easy to see why even the most open-minded doctorswere baffled by Cayce. His knowledge of the anatomy, dis-ease and drugs was encyclopedic. He was an authority ondiet, down to the last calorie and vitamin, and gave minutelists of meals for his subjects. He not only prescribed thedrugs, but told how they should be made, just as he once saidhow a glass of orange juice should be ten minutes in thedrinking. His treatments were many-sided. Not only diet anddrugs, but massage and manipulation and therapeutic baths,all for the same patient; whatever would help. A fully docu-mented report on one of his most outstanding cases was amarvel of detail. Reading it, one wondered how even themost erudite physician could have been so explicit in diagno-sis and treatment, not to mention one who had never pro-gressed beyond grade school.

To the sleeping Cayce, the body was a connecting networkof blood, muscle, nerves, and bone, and when any of thesewere out of order, the whole entity, as he described the indi-vidual, was out of order. In one instance, the subject wassuffering from paralysis of the limbs, and had consulted manydoctors without success. He was a man of thirty-five, doomedto invalidism. Cayce, reading for this man three hundredmiles away, whom he had never seen, said the patient wassuffering a disturbance in the lower lumbar plexus, affectingcoordination of the sympathetic and cerebrospinal nervoussystems. With great detail he advised adjustments of thespine, specifying the dorsal and cervical vertebrae, and de-claring that the resultingly restored vibration of the bodywould help step up the blood supply and hasten the healingprocess. As a supplementary aid, he recommended a concoc-tion of herbs and told how it should be put together. Nobodycould have consciously memorized it:

"First, we would take eight ounces of distilled water. Tothis add garden sage one-half ounce, ambrosia leaves, notmuch stems, but leaves—one-quarter ounce." Then: "Pricklyash and dog fennel, one-quarter ounce, and wild ginseng,one-half ounce." The directions continued: "Reduce this bysimmering, not boiling too strong, to one-half the quantity.Strain, and while warm, add one and a half ounce 85 proof

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alcohol, with one dram of balsam of tolu cut in same. Thenadd three mi ni is tincture of capsici. Thi dose would be halfa teaspoonful four tines each day, taken about fifteen totwenty minutes before the meals."

He then minutely described each meal. Breakfast wouldconsist principally of citrus fruits, though gruels might beadded, "especially those of the whole wheat, of the oat, or ofthose where both the gluten from rice and wheat are con-bincd." He even directed how the patient should be handled."Positive suggestion, in a gentle, quiet, easy way and manner.Blustering will only irritate. To scold, or to be too much ofthe commanding nature, is to destroy that which may be builtup in the body." There was even a moral, years ahead of itstime: "Teach or train the body not only to be good, but to begood for something."

The first reading for the paralytic occurred in September1930. To make sure treatments were properly administered,the patient was moved to the then functioning Cayce Hospi-tal on October 6. He remained a patient there until October24, and then, showing marked progress, was returned to hishome to continue the treatment The person who had senthim to Cayce noted with satisfaction, "Doctors have admittedtheir inability to help, and yet his cure will now be a compar-atively fast one."

His appetite was picking up, he was gaining weight, andbeginning to move his limbs, and take a few halting steps. InNovember, he was walking. He sent the Cayce Foundation agrateful letter on November 17. "I am glad to tell you that Iam still gaining. I weigh 170 [a gain of thirty pounds]. I canwalk about a mile in a day, but of course I get awfully tired."

His care was supervised by Dr. Theodore J. Berger, a NewYork osteopath. On December 1, he had another reading,and the treatment modified because of his improvement.Cayce stressed massage for the reviving circulation. "Wewould change now to one general osteopathic treatment eachweek, and one massage with balsam of sulphur in the lumbarand sacral regions, rubbing thoroughly along the limbs to theknees and ankles, following the course of the muscles ratherthan the nerves. Greater strength will be gained by the bodythrough this application." It could be done by any masseur,or by somebody at home, if thorough. The balsam of sul-phur, not too dry, was to be massaged thoroughly "into thelumbar and sacral regions, and along the muscular portions

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of the limbs, to the feet, ankles, and on to the upper portionof the body, to the hips." The general diet was to be main-tained, along with outdoor exercise. And then Cayce pre-dicted, "It will be found that earlier than expected the bodywill be able to return to daily labors."

An interesting sidelight developed, when the subject askedif he should stop smoking.

"If in moderation," Cayce replied, "does not become harm-ful to the body."

In February of 1931, a few months after the first reading,the patient was so much better that he asked for a life read-ing, feeling that if Cayce was so right about the physical hemost likely was right about everything else.

Cayce kept to the physical at first He altered the diet,since the patient was now too heavy. "Leave off too muchstarches for the next thirty to forty days. The only characterof meat being either kid or lamb; nerve-building meats, nosweets, no butter; taking all foods in as near its natural stateas possible, without sugar. No potatoes of any kind." Thedrug intake was tapered off. "When it's to be filled again,leave off. Decrease in quantity until this is gone." Then somejob advice: return to work at once, in congenial surround-ings.

"What kind of work?" the convalescent asked.

"That which has been followed, or found to be more inkeeping with the nature or tendencies of the body."

There was one last question. "Any advice regarding mentalor spiritual body?"

He was pleasantly reassured. In the discipline of gettingwell he had also developed spirit and mind. "As the body hasbuilt in the mental force, this recuperation has begun. Keepan ideal and work toward it."

In May of 1931, the patient was reported fully recovered.The AR.E. record revealed a letter of gratitude to Caycefrom his sister-in-law. "It took a great responsibility off ourshoulders. He is fine, working every day and always talkingabout you." Six months later, the patient added his own testi-monial. His name was not used, but was available, togetherwith this accolade: "I am writing this letter in appreciation ofall you did for me. When I went under your care, I could notuse my hands to write, and my legs were partially paralyzedand I could not straighten them out at all. I only weighed140 pounds. 1 had been in this condition for six months pre-

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vious and was gradually getting worse. I was not at the CayceHospital one week before I wrote letters home and straight-ened my legs out and have gradually gained ever since. I nowweigh 184 pounds. Also medical doctors had as much as toldme there was no help for my condition. I was able to go towork May 5, 1931, eight months after I started your treat-ment and have not laid off one day since. When I got homeeveryone was more than surprised to see me walking as goodas ever again. I cannot word this letter to show my apprecia-tion and thank you enough. As you know, when people firsthear about a reading they cannot believe in it I did not atfirst and I hope others who are sick will let you help thembefore waiting too long."

The Cayce concoctions amazed the pharmacists, who hadseen nothing like them before. As a young druggist freshfrom college in Richmond, Virginia, Milton H. Snyder hadknit his brow over the prescriptions of herbs and roots thatCayce had sent into the Virginia Beach pharmacy where heworked. In one prescription, for instance, the man who hadnever looked at a medical book or pharmaceutical journal or-dered for a patient two ounces of strained honey, brought toa boil in four ounces of distilled water, and then—before ithad cooled entirely, but after it had stopped steaming—added: Essence from wild ginseng, tincture of stillingia, es-sence of wild turnip, essence of wild ginger (made from theherb itself); essence of cinchona bark." The directions wereexplicit: "Shake the solution before the dose is taken, whichwould be half a teaspoonful twice each day, preferably be-fore the morning meal and before the time for retiring in theevening. Take the whole quantity."

In time, Snyder moved from the drug to the jewelry busi-ness, operating a shop in Portsmouth, Virginia. However, histhoughts often turned to the eccentric Cayce. Nobody, he re-called, could have shown more concern for a patient, includ-ing an inordinate interest in the mixtures he had specified inhis readings, which he referred to constantly. "He wouldstand over me in the beginning," Snyder recalled, "and makesure that I boiled a preparation in an enamel pot rather thanmetal, so that there would be no danger of contamination."There had been no potions like Cayce's since the Middle Agealchemists, Snyder reckoned, but the roots and herbs werecertainly harmless, if not helpful, and he had no compunctionabout filling them. "There was no question of Cayce's sincer-

ity," he drawled, "he wanted everything just the way it wasordered."

Had Snyder ever had a reading?

He could recall having one, back in January of 1931, notlong before the Cayce hospital closed. He was bothered by abladder problem and bad headaches, and his employer, S. J.Benstock, had made an appointment for him. Snyder had notbeen impressed. "I don't think he helped me," he said reflec-tively, "but he was a nice man, quite unusual."

"I had understood," I said, "that his treatments helpedpractically everybody who did exactly what he said."

"Well, I don't remember now what he told me," Snydersaid, "it was quite a time ago, but I finally went over to Char-lottesville and some medical doctor fixed me up."

"May I check through your reading?" I asked.

Snyder laughed. "I'd be right curious myself to see whatthere was."

It was no problem finding the reading. Snyder had beentwenty-four years old at the time. In the file, there was nocomplaint, no hint of his ailment, just the request for a physi-cal reading.

The Cayce reading was rather brief. By and large, Caycesaid, the subject was in good shape, organically sound thoughfunctioning improperly. He blamed some of his difficulties onthe digestive and nervous system, causing at times headaches,as well as problems with eyes and throat

At any rate, Cayce had the headaches right.

Additionally, the reading continued, these conditions dis-tributed toxins throughout the system, and produced pres-sures in various parts of the body. Cayce's remedy was rathersimple, too simple perhaps. He recommended a diet thatwould combat the "acid forces in the body" and osteopathicadjustments in the cervical and dorsal area, so that the nerveimpulses, now under impairing pressure, would function nor-mally.

That was all for the reading, but Snyder had some ques-tions. "What causes the specific ailment?"

"By the creating of a balance in the digestive and assimilat-ing system," Cayce replied, "we will overcome these disor-ders. Also those pressures that exist in the lower portion ofthe system, for these are as of a filling up of the glands them-selves."

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I remembered Snyder telling me of a urination problem."Are the kidneys in good condition?" That question soonfollowed.

"These are in sympathetic disorder, from the over amountof the pressure produced from the poisons [toxics]. Removethe pressures that produce same, and we will bring the condi-tion to normalcy."

Snyder asked how often the spinal adjustments should bemade.

"At least twice each week, until the muscular forces andnerve centers are aligned through the cerebrospinal system."

Snyder, who had been consulting a doctor, now asked, "Istreatment now being given correct?"

Cayce replied drily, "If it had been, we wouldn't havechanged it."

Reviewing the reading, it appeared to me that Cayce hadbeen half-right anyway. His diagnosis had been correct, head-aches and pressure trouble in the lower areas were certainlyapplicable to the kidneys. How had he missed?

I got back to Snyder again. He was as affable as before.

A sudden thought had struck me. "What did the osteopathdo for you?" I asked.

"What osteopath?" Snyder said.

"For the adjustments Cayce ordered."

Snyder's voice came back pleasantly. "I never went alongmuch with that sort of thing."

"Well," I said, "that's what Cayce suggested."

"Is that right—well, I remember something like that now. Ididn't put much store by it."

'Then, you didn't follow the treatment?"

"I guess not, because I didn't go to an osteopath, and Ididn't get any adjustments. I just couldn't see anything likethat then."

Snyder's voice became almost wistful. "I'd like to knownow what one of those osteopaths would say about whatCayce got for me—let me know if you find out?"

A week later, I checked the Snyder reading with Harold J.Reilly. He gave it an expert eye. "The adjustment that Caycedescribed," he said, "could very easily have relieved pressureon the kidneys. That was the area directly affected."

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seems noteworthy that Cayce opposed indiscriminate fluorida-tion of the public reservoirs, warning that fluorine could com-bine dangerously with minerals already there.

Cayce first considered the problem in September 1943,when a research dentist asked, "Is it true, as thought, that theintake of certain form and percentage of fluorine in drinkingwater causes mottled enamel of the teeth?"

"This, to be sure, is true," Cayce replied. "But this is alsountrue, unless there is considered the other properties withwhich such is associated in drinking water." His sleep voiceelaborated, "If there are certain percents of fluorine with freelimestone, we will find it beneficial. If there are certain per-cents with indications of magnesium, sulphur and the like, wewill have, one, mottline; another, decaying at the gum."

The dentist asked, "Does too much fluorine cause decay ofteeth, and where is the borderline?"

"Read what has just been indicated," Cayce said. "It de-pends upon the combinations, more than it does upon thequantity of fluorine itself." Still, an over-supply of fluorinecould bring on an adverse chemical reaction within the body,manifested chiefly in the teeth. "But, to be sure, too muchfluorine in the water would not make so much in the teeth, asit would in other elements of activities which may bereflected in teeth; not as the cause of same but producing adisturbance that may contribute to the condition."

Cayce repeated his admonition about magnesium and sul-phur in combination with fluorine, adding another warningabout excessive iron deposits. "Where there is iron or sulphuror magnesium, be careful!"

In a rather remarkable passage, considering he had no con-scious knowledge of the fluoridation problem, Cayce brieflyreviewed the natural appearance of fluorine in water, point-ing out that in its beneficial state it could serve as a safetycontrol in artificially fluoridating drinking water. "There areareas within the United States," he said, "as in some portionsof Texas, portions in Arizona, others in Wyoming, where theteeth are seldom decayed. [And where fluorine safely oc-curred.] Study the water there, the lack of iron or sulphur orthe proportions of sulphur."

Cayce stressed that the success of any fluoridation experi-ment hinged completely on the properties of the water towhich the fluorine was to be added. "There are many sections

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where fluorine added to the water, with many other chemi-cals, would be most beneficial. There are others where even asmall quantity added would be very detrimental. Hence itcannot be said positively that this or that quantity should beadded save in a certain degree of other chemicals (forming abeneficial combination) being combined with same in thedrinking water." He picked out spots in central Texas, north-western Arizona, and around Cheyenne, Wyoming, wherefluorine combined with other natural elements to offset toothdecay. However, supplementary water pumped in from otherareas could alter this natural therapy. "Where there havebeen contributions from other supplies of water, there will befound variations in the supply of magnesium and other chem-icals—as arsenic and such—and these cause destruction ofthe teeth."

Asked the best way of protecting teeth, Cayce said ironbalance was of primary importance. "Keeping the best physi-cal health of the body and protecting it from iron or ironproducts that may become a part of the body-physical in onemanner or another. These (iron deposits) are needed, butwhen their proportions are varied from normal, the teeth donot show the proper relationships, when you lose that quan-tity of iron needed."

"What other factors are there," the dentist inquired, "thatcontrol and have an effect on mottled enamel and decay ofteeth?"

The empirical Cayce replied, "The general health of thebody and the chemical processes that are a part of the diges-tive system, the process of digestion, the chemical processesthrough same, and the blood stream."

The dentist went back to fluoridation. "Should drinkingwater in certain localities be prepared with a percentage offluorine for prevention of decay and for preventing mottledenamel in the teeth? If so, how and where?"

Again Cayce stressed that the value of fluoridation de-pended entirely on the type of water fluoridated. "This wouldhave to be tested in the various districts themselves, much ashas been indicated. There's scarcely an individual place inOhio that wouldn't be helpful, for it will get rid of and addto that condition to cause a better activity in the thyroidglands: while, for general use, in such a district as Illinois(say in the extreme northern portion) it would be harmful.

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These [possible fluoridation] would necessarily require testing,according to the quantities of other conditions or minerals orelements in the water."

As remarkable as Cayce was, not all Cayce patients weresatisfied. Indeed I had met one, a psychic researcher, whowas downright unhappy about the treatment he had received.Even now, twenty-five years later, he argued that Cayce wasa fake. "The treatment nearly killed me," he told me, withfire in his eyes. "Cayce didn't know what he was doing."

As I had already talked to numbers of people miraculouslyhelped by Cayce, I suggested that something may have inad-vertently misfired. "Perhaps," I said, "you didn't do every-thing you were supposed to do."

My dyspeptic friend had been a victim of ulcers. "I didwhat it said I should," he growled. "Cayce sent me to a chi-ropractor with my ulcers, and he practically killed me."

"Maybe," I suggested, "the chiropractor didn't do what hewas supposed to do." The directions were often complex andan error conceivable. It had happened more than once. Be-sides that, there was always an allowable margin of error, theclaim being that Cayce was right at least 97 percent of thetime on his physical readings, a remarkable average if itchecked out.

The researcher eyed me darkly. "Don't buy that tommy-rot," he said. "If it hadn't been for the doctors I wouldn't behere today."

Subsequently, I saw where my friend had chosen to criti-cize Cayce to a reporter, who had added a criticism of herown, about the fees exacted by the Cayce people. The lastattack was patently absurd, since there is no charge for treat-ment at the Cayce Foundation today, and no treatment!

In view of the charge, I decided to check back on thequestioned reading. It was all in the AR.E. files in VirginiaBeach. The original reading was given on November 2, 1938,Cayce found that the researcher, then forty, had "a great dealof disturbance through the stomach, duodenum and through-out the intestinal system." The subject didn't have ulcers yet,but was apparently on the verge. That was pretty good diag-nosis, I thought, since Cayce only had a name and address."There has not been produced as yet lacerations or ulcera-tions in the pyloric end of the stomach," Cayce said omi-nously, "but there is more of a catarrhal condition in theduodenum and the pylorus."

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He recommended a balanced diet: "Not too much whitebread, not too much of meats, and never fried foods." Myfriend, like myself, was of a choleric temperament, a re-searcher's syndrome, it seems, and Cayce suggested, "When-ever there is great anxiety or stress, do not eat, especially raw ap-ples nor bananas nor fruits of that nature which are acid-producing." Additionally, he recommended hydrotherapy, acolonic irrigation, and electrotherapy treatment, "for stimula-tion to the system especially across the stomach, the dia-phragm and the centers in the cerebrospinal system fromwhich the organs of assimilation and digestion receive theirimpulse."

I kept checking through the file. Four days after the firstreading, my friend, duly grateful, had written Cayce that thereading "was remarkable and agreed in every way with thediagnosis of my physician." He commented, "I have sufferedgreat pain for some weeks, as you reported, due to partialclosing of pylorus valve under nervous tensions." He ap-proached treatment hopefully. A month later, I noted, poringover the file, that he still didn't report much relief. There wasa request for a check reading, with Cayce asked to be morespecific: "How much electrotherapy—what kind?"

On December 23, 1938, Cayce gave a second reading,pointing out that "there is still some regurgitation from theduodenum to the stomach through the pylorus." He recom-mended more hydrotherapy, but cautioned against the elec-trotherapy. "Not too strong with the electrical forces thathave been applied. These have been somewhat severe. Usethe same kind, but not so high, so much." Three weeks later,on January 17, 1939, my friend wrote Cayce, asking for an-other check reading. "You certainly are being grand andmost helpful to me." He asked: "Is former suggested treat-ment advisable at this time?"

Cayce, disapproving of the electrotherapy as it was beinggiven, ordered its discontinuance. "The reactions that causealmost an extra flow of blood, or hemorrhage," he said,"arises from too great a quantity of the electrical forces."However, he suggested osteopathic adjustments, and a newtherapist.

My friend was again impressed. Cayce, rather remarkably,had correctly visualized what had happened, though at notime did he meet the patient, who was in New York City allthrough this exchange.

"Your check reading was excellent," my friend confirmed."I had a hemorrhage about two weeks ago, and apparentlyanother one before that while on the table taking a too dras-tic electrical treatment." He had now returned to his owndoctor, who was sympathetic to the readings and wanted atest reading himself.

"Your own readings," my friend continued, "have beenamazingly accurate and to the point—above all frank—evento censuring certain well-intentioned treatments given. Theyhave also been most helpful."

My friend now asked for a life reading, and an appoint-ment was made. Two weeks later, he again reported on hiscondition. "I'm feeling much better. Had a series of X-rayswhich confirmed report in your readings. Also confirmedyour statement that hemorrhage was caused by too severeelectrical treatment." My friend was bitterly critical of thetherapist, but had only praise for Cayce. "The ulcerated con-dition [another confirmation] was present, but with propertreatment a hemorrhage could have been averted, as yourreadings indicated."

There was an exchange of friendly letters the next fewyears between my friend and the Cayces, and then in 1952,seven years after the mystic's death, came the "first indicationof criticism. "I did not blame Edgar Cayce at the time," hewrote. "I blamed myself for having blindly followed the read-ing without double-checking."

If anything had gone wrong—which it obviously had—itseemed clear it had gone wrong in the application of the ther-apy, always a possibility, at any clinic, hospital or healthservice, where human frailty must be considered.

The criticism, where there once had been only praise, in-trigued me.

"Do you know my friend?" I inquired of a Cayce intimate.He nodded. "Yes, and I like him.""Do you remember his case?"

He hesitated a moment. "It is my recollection that Caycerecommended electrotherapy, and the therapist may havebeen more severe than he should have been." He looked upwith a smile. "But I hadn't thought he blamed Cayce, sincehe wanted very much to do a book about Cayce later, butTom Sugrue got to do it instead."

Chapter Ten

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The Cayce file on cancer has been well-thumbed, and the var-ious therapies purifying the system given considerable atten-tion. However, one method of treatment advanced by Caycemade even the faithful wonder. For Cayce, of all things, ad-vocated the use of a serum prepared from the blood of therabbit. True, this was done in only five cases out of the sev-enty-eight that he diagnosed as cancer, but it was still ratherbizarre. He apparently recommended the rabbit in instancesof glandular cancer, of the thyroid, the breast. In two orthree cases, he suggested that the rabbit be freshly skinned,and the raw side, still warm with the blood of the animal, beplaced against the affected area, in this case the breast of awoman.

In one reading, back in 1926, for a cancer patient in NewYork, he was quite explicit about the use of the rabbit, bothfor external and internal application. He had been asked,"Should the fur be put on with the raw side next to thebody?" and he answered, "With the fur side out, for the ani-mal heat will add."

And then he gave a description of how an anti-cancerscrum should be produced, "or there may be prepared aserum from the infusion from the pus from this body, in-jected into the rabbit between the shoulder, and when thisbrings the infection, this injected or placed on the sore will

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heal. Or the culture of same may be made and injected in theblood of this body."

Four years later, he read for a cancerous woman, recom-mended the rabbit serum, and gave directions for its manu-facture. In the question period immediately following themain reading, he was asked, "Through whom may this serumbe obtained?"

And he replied, "Hasn't been made yet"

"How can this be made?"

Answering, he added cattle to the rabbit as a potential vac-cine source. "This should be drawn off—that is the wolve [orwolf of the rabbitj—punctured by a hypodermic. This drawnoff, and then a culture made into the flesh of the same animalfrom which it's drawn, whether beef or hare. Then the cul-ture applied to the human body, or blood drawn and a cul-ture made for the human body and then applied to the body.There must necessarily be experimentations, with the properheat, the proper precautions taken as to the character of cellas is destroyed in the culture made, and in the activity of theanimal as well as human when being used. But for this char-acter of the condition [apparent breast cancer], this would bemost effective in at least fifty percent of such ills."

Cayce was dead more than twenty years when a startlingannouncement was carried on the front pages in April of1966: A team of doctors at Wayne State University in De-troit reported an apparent cure for cancer, a serum formedfrom the blood of rabbits and the patient's own cancer cells.

It was apparently just what Cayce had anticipated; particu-larly noteworthy was his warning of "proper precautionstaken as to the character of cell."

Only twenty patients had been treated with the rabbitserum, so the American Cancer Society wisely warned againstraising false hopes. Those treated with the new techniquewere all terminal cases. Still, the research team headed byDrs. Paul L. Wolf and Norbert Czajkowski, reported twocomplete recoveries, and "stabilization or retardation oftumor growth" for eight. The remaining ten died. Totalregression came in a case of breast cancer and of cancer ofthe skin of the jaw. Arrested were cancer of the skin, lung,and pancreas.

The Detroit doctors had begun their research project fouryears before. "The technique," the New York Times re-ported, "is one of tricking the cancer patient's body into rec-

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ognizing his cancer as foreign matter, and thereby triggeringthe immune-system to fight it off." The process was akin tothat described by Cayce. "The patient's tumor is removed.The tumor cells are then chemically linked to a foreign pro-tein, gamma globulin, from the blood serum of the rabbits.The gamma globulin-tumor cell combination is injected intothe patient at intervals of several weeks."

The New York Herald Tribune reported that "Dr. Wolf setabout attaching the patient's own cancer cells to a derivativeof rabbit blood. He [Wolf] got the cancer by cutting awaysome of the patient's own disease and breaking it up into in-dividual cells. After treating the cells with the rabbit bloodand a linking chemical, he injected the complex mixture backinto the patient." And so Cayce had indicated.

In the blood of the patients so treated, the medical teamdetected antibodies against the particular cancer. "Dr. Wolfhoped that if he could produce an allergy to cancer, that is,antibodies against the cancer, as the body sometimes doesagainst penicillin, he might have a chance of killing off thecancer. He knew, too, that it was possible to stimulate anti-body production to an 'innocent' chemical by attaching thatchemical to a protein totally foreign to the body."

One of the problems, as Cayce had pointed out in othercancer readings, was that the cancer cell was an uncontrolledgrowth of normal-like cells; it hoodwinked the body's im-mune system into thinking they had a right to be there. "Inthese patients," the Times reported, "the body's immune sys-tem does not recognize the tumor tissue as foreign and doesnot produce antibodies against it."

With heightened interest I turned to the Cayce file on can-cer. What else did Cayce recommend, and how far-fetched didit seem? Would science take another twenty, thirty to fiftyyears to painstakingly discover what he only had to go tosleep to learn?

On the cancer file was a warning that the extracts "are notto be used as a prescription for the treatment of a disease" bythe layman. However, the information was available to li-censed physicians, if any wanted to use it

Some of Cayce's readings on cancer were given fifty yearsago, the last more than twenty years ago, when relatively lit-tle was known of the consuming disorder. In all, Cayce gave360 readings on cancer, for 78 sufferers, and since his owndeath these have been consolidated to present an over-all pic-

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ture of the deadly malady. Cayce said there were many kindsof cancer, nineteen variations, externally and internally, aris-ing from glandular or organic disturbance, or from infectiousforces arising from bruises.

Long before the modern concept of cancer, he describedthe difference between benign and malignant growths. "Ulceris rather that of flesh being proud or infectious, while canceris that which lives upon the cellular force by the growth it-self." The dread sarcoma, he said, was "caused by breakingof tissue internally which was not covered sufficiently by theleukocyte [germ-killing white corpuscles] due to the low vital-ity in the system." Not necessarily hereditary, tendencies werepassed on and blood descendants should build up their bloodplasma.

In some cancer, he recommended mercury-type ultravioletray, refracted through green glass; often combined with asubstance known as Animated Ash, taken in water. He urgedalso two ounces of beet juice, the beets cooked in pataparpaper so that the salts and juices were retained.

With his therapy Cayce expounded a whole broad conceptof cancer origin, linked to toxics overloading the system.The ultraviolet, applied from the upper dorsal to the lowerspine, "will produce in the blood stream that which is as thestrainer, or eliminator, of the dregs of used tissue."

He explained what he meant by used tissue: "Each portionof the system uses so much vitality; this [becomes] as usedtissue, just as the corpuscles in the blood stream becomeused." Normally, there were accumulations of such tissue inbruised areas, but it was either eliminated or so walled in bywhite blood cells as to contain any potential damage to thebody.

Many have found interesting what he had to say aboutX-ray therapy. He found the ultraviolet through green-glasspreferable because "green is the healing vibration," moreeffective even than the penetrating X-ray that "destroys tis-sue, but not being enabled to eliminate that destroyed tendsto come back upon itself after certain radiations." In otherwords, destroyed tissue, too, became noxious "used tissue."

Cayce was a chronic pioneer. In 1929, the Animated Ash-Carbon Ash was first suggested for a woman with cancer. Afriend, seeking information on how to make it, was told:"Where carbon is used in a near vacuum, if the residue pro-duced by combustion [in a mercury quartz arc lamp] were to

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be saved, it would prove to be a product which, taken inter-nally, would be more valuable than water treated by radium."The friend experimented with the ash, manufacturing it untilhis death ten years later. "The product," he reported, "is se-cured by taking bamboo fiber and passing a powerful electriccurrent through it to secure partial combustion. The value ofthe resulting power lies evidently in a vibration in a mannersimilar to the activated foods being produced by Germanscientists."

Vibrations were generally electrical vibrations; theyreflected the health and vitality of the individual. And Cayceagain was decades ahead of his time, learned professors onlyrecently finding the human body one big magnetic field. "Lifein its expression in a human body," he said, "is of an electri-cal nature. The vibrations from low electrical forces, ratherthan the high vibrations [which have destroyed tissue in thiscase] produce life-flowing effects."

For both sarcoma and melanoma tumors, he advised spe-cial purifying foods, in keeping with his concept of cancer asa by-product of cumulative waste. "Live mostly for a while,"he told one victim, "on watermelon, carrots, beets, havingthese almost daily." He explained, "The watermelon is for theactivity of the liver and kidney, the beets and carrots for thepurifying of the blood, as combined with plantain tea andointment"

Both the tea and the ointment were to be made from thetender top leaves of the plantain plant, the ointment dryingup "warts or moles that become infected and sore, and run,"the tea purifying internally.

An ounce of prevention was clearly worth a pound of cure.Cayce frequently cited the almond as a preventive. "A formof vitamin may be obtained from certain nuts—as the al-mond—that would be helpful as a preventive." Elsewhere hewas more specific. "And if an almond is taken each day, andkept up, you'll never have accumulations of tumors or suchconditions through the body. An almond a day is much morein accord with keeping the doctor away, especially certaintypes of doctors, than apples." The almond moved him topoetry: "For the apple was the fall, not the almond; the al-mond blossomed when everything else died."

Almonds were a recurring theme. Somebody once asked ifhe should resume peanut oil rubs. Cayce replied: "Nothingbetter. They supply energy to the body. And just as a person

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who eats two or three almonds each day need never fear can-cer, those who take a peanut oil rub each week need neverfear arthritis." Another gem was similarly tucked away:"Also there may be obtained from the turtle egg those in-fluences for longevity that may be created in certain cellularforces in the body."

Since Cayce's diagnoses were often unconfirmed, medi-cally, skeptics argued that his cancer "cures" might have beenfor anything from hysteria to hiccoughs. However, authenti-cated "cancers" did come to him from doctors, and werehelped, according to follow-throughs made over the years bythe A.R.E. One such patient, a middle-aged woman, had beenreferred by a woman doctor, who thought that massive sur-gery, recommended by other doctors, would be disastrous, Asusual, Cayce gave his reading without seeing the subject, inDecember 1937. "While the conditions are very well under-stood, the causes, and that which would counteract, are not."He identified the cancer, and its nature. "This we find is asarcoma, an insidious condition, that is feeding upon thelymph and the blood circulation." He described a sort oftug-of-war between the cancer and the system's natural resist-ance. "Yet there is in the system that which has at timesgained upon the rebuilding and replenishing system, and atother times the disturbing factors or humor in the cellulardestruction, which in its distribution [through the body] havegained upon the physical forces of the body."

He traced the origin of this particular cancer. "They [thecancer] arose first, primarily, from too much of meats thatcarried an infectious force and that, working with the mam-mary glands, produced, through irritation, and through thebreaking down of cellular forces, the beginning or hardeningin those glands in the breast." From there, as he explained it,the cancer drained into the system, with various nodules, orlittle lumps arising in the breakdown of certain cellular forcesin the lymph, in turn affecting the blood stream. With all this,there was a weakening of the organs.

Cayce recommended for this particular cancer a course oftreatment stimulating the natural resistance forces of thelymph, and improving both circulation and elimination."Stimulate those centers in the cerebrospinal system, thatmake for the drainages from the lymph through the eliminat-ing systems." This was to be done through electrical therapy,of a low vibratory force. Then: "At least once a week give a

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maximum amount of atropine, giving it through the electricalanodes [wet cells] attached to the ninth dorsal plexus and tothe lacteal duct (where the lymph forms) and umbilicus cen-ter (the navel). The current should not pass through the areafor more than a minute in the beginning. The atropine takenvibratorially in this manner will stimulate the resistances inthe lymph, from which arises [the stress was Cayce's] thatproducing the breaking of cells in the body, thus destroyingtheir effective activity within themselves." There was a deli-cacy of treatment. "The maximum amount of the atropine,though it may be begun with the mimimum amount in theanodes. Take the vibration, not injections, for the age or con-ditions would prevent the injections from working with thelymph." The disorder was attacked on other fronts. Caycesuggested a purifying, low-carbohydrate diet, which the mostrecent physician had already prescribed. Again he stressedthe importance of elimination. "This should bring muchnearer normal conditions, and with proper precautions, with-out infectious forces or cold or congestion or other conditionsarising, should bring relief." In other words, cancer was anaffliction connected with the body's general condition.

"When may improvement begin?" he was asked.

"During the first cycle, within twenty-seven days."

A week later Cayce expressed the humility he felt abouthis gift in a letter to the referring doctor. "There is little usein trying to comment on the information," the waking Caycesaid. "It speaks for itself. Hope you will find it in some waysat least in keeping with good judgment."

In six weeks, the sleeping giant received a report from thetreating doctor. "As soon as I could get the machine working[the wet cell appliance], I carried out the instructions. The pa-tient felt almost immediately that the treatment was helpful.We really feel that the case is progressing exceedingly welland I am hopeful of a complete cure." She added a gratefulfootnote. "I am most happy in feeling that I am, in a sense,working with you."

Six months after the initial reading the patient asked for acheck reading. Miraculously, she felt better than she had inyears. "At the present time," she wrote, "I am feeling far bet-ter and am grateful for your suggestions to the doctor, towhom enough praise and credit cannot be given for her faith-ful and untiring efforts in bringing about a most marvelouscure in a potentially incurable case."

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She had a number of questions for Cayce: "How much ofthe cancer condition is left in bloodstream at the presenttime? Are further injections of atropine advisable? Has themalady affected any organs or internal parts? If so, whatcourse of treatment is advised? Will there be a recurrence ofthe disease at any future time? If so, how will it manifest it-self?"

Cayce's check reading was to the point "There are greatimprovements in the general physical forces of the body. Theinfectious forces have been eliminated. However, there arestill inclinations or tendencies. The system in combating samewill need more of the vibratory forces that have assisted ineliminating those causes of disturbance." Treatments with theelectrical appliance could be gradually eased, then eliminated.The atropine could be discontinued, unless there was a feel-ing of irritation in the lymphatic circulation. But until the pa-tient felt fully recovered, she was not to extend herself physi-cally or expose herself to mental strain.

Cayce had not specifically commented on the question re-garding a recurrence. It was put to him again. His reply wasrather conditional. "This depends altogether upon the amountof irritation, or how well the elminating is completed beforethere is a resuscitation of the condition." The tendency lin-gered, but once the condition was knocked out, and thehealth forces built up, so that there was a normal balance inthe system, the patient would be over the hurdle. It allseemed to work. Four years later, the cancer had not reap-peared, and the patient, apparently fully recovered, hadmoved to sunny California.

Repeatedly, Cayce stressed there was nothing incurable,provided one got to the primary cause. There was no point totreating symptoms. I had discussed Cayce's healing philoso-phy with a dear friend in Los Angeles, a voice teacher, whohad suffered from the disfiguring skin disorder of psoriasismost of his life. The disorder had marred his personality, giv-ing him an inferiority complex with accompanying defensive-ness and insecurity. Sometimes, he wore long sleeve shirtseven in the warmest weather to hide the angry red scales onhis arms; other times—when his resentments got the better ofhim—he wore clothing which displayed the inflamed sores totheir greatest disadvantage. It was a way of showing he didn'treally care. But one way or the other, it was obvious he wasnever very far emotionally from his affliction. "It doesn't

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really matter," he told me once sardonically. "I am a fat oldman, and nobody would love me anyway."

Psoriasis was one of the first things I looked for in theCayce readings. I had stumbled through a thin file on theskin disorder, when somebody mentioned that a local osteo-path had been treating psoriasis successfully from the deadpsychic's readings.

I made plans to see the osteopath, Dr. Olis M. Wakefield, arespected practitioner, who had relieved my own sciaticathree years before with a series of simple adjustments.

Meanwhile, I turned back to Cayce on psoriasis. One read-ing was for a twenty-five-year-old woman, bothered with thedisorder for years. Her mother, a naturopathic physician, hadasked Cayce: "What is the cause of psoriasis? What remedieswill cure it, or what kind of treatments will do the work?How long will it take until complete cure [of daughter] iseffected?"

The mother came to the obvious conclusion: "If you cangive this reading, it will not only help our daughter but manyothers afflicted with the same condition, for which medicalscience apparently has not found a cure."

As usual in health readings, Cayce got quickly to the point,picking out conditions of a complex nature leading to incoor-dination in the eliminating system. "While there is the thin-ning of the walls of the small intestines and there are poisonsabsorbed through the system that find expression in the at-tempt to eliminate through superficial circulation, we findthat there are pressures also existing in the areas of the sixth,seventh dorsal that upset the coordination of circulationthrough the kidneys and liver. These contribute to the condi-tion causing the abrasions which occur as red splotches orspots at times."

He suggested osteopathic adjustments, twice a week, forthree weeks, and then gradually spread out. "There shouldonly be required about twelve adjustments, if properly made,coordinating the muscular forces in areas where the sympa-thetic and cerebrospinal systems coordinate in the greatermeasure."

After six osteopathic treatments, he recommended a com-pound prepared with equal tablespoons of sulphur, Rochellesalts, cream of tartar. "Take a teaspoonful every morning, ei-ther in water or dry on tongue, until the whole quantity hasbeen taken." Other recommendations followed: "Then begin

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with yellow saffron tea, a pinch in a cup of boiling water,allow to stand for thirty minutes, strain and drink each eve-ning when ready to retire. Occasionally, about two or threetimes a week, drink elm water, a pinch of ground elm [be-tween thumb and forefinger] in a cup, filled with warm water[not boiling water). Stir thoroughly and let set for thirty min-utes. Drink this preferably in morning rather than at the per-iod when the saffron is taken." There was some diet advice."Eliminate fats, sweets, and pastries. Do have a great deal offruits and vegetables."

The mother inquired if psoriasis always had the same ori-gin.

"No," Cayce replied, "more often from the lack of propercoordination in the eliminating systems. At times, the pres-sures may be in those areas disturbing the equilibrium be-tween the heart and liver, or between heart and lungs. But itis always caused by a condition of lack of lymph circulationthrough alimentary canal and by absorption of such activitiesthrough the body."

The reading was given in April 1944, and I read along rap-idly to see how the patient fared. Unfortunately, the girlnever followed the treatment Years later, the mother re-ported in response to a followup query, "The reading wasnever carried out She went to two osteopaths, and they bothmade fun of it so she quit"

Cayce had better luck with his second psoriasis patient, awoman, twenty-eight The diagnosis was similar. "The condi-tions that exist through the thinning of the walls of the intes-tines allow the poisons to find expression in the lymph circu-lation, producing the irritation to and through the epidermisitself. Through the warm weather these show the tendencyfor greater activity in the perspiratory system, causing greaterirritations."

Again Cayce prescribed the yellow saffron tea, but alter-nated this with mullein tea, gathered fresh. "Use an ounce ofthe flower and leaf of the mullein to a quart of boilingwater. Let this steep as ordinary tea, and it may be kept for aperiod of a week, provided it is put in the ice-box or keptvery cold." He also recommended treatments externally. "Inthe evenings when the bath is taken, we would apply Cuti-cura ointment followed by Resinol, both applied, you see,one following the other. Apply these especially over the areasof the abrasions. Do not apply it in the hair, but around the

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edges, and on all other portions of the body where the skin uirritated."

His dietary advice was a little more complex than before asthere was an obesity complication. "Cut down on the foodsthat give the great quantity of calories, increasing those thatgive the greater vitamin content especially B-l and B-4, as inall foods that are yellow in color. Yellow corn meal made inbread, cakes, mush or the like; carrots both raw and cooked;yellow peaches, let these be practically the only sweetstaken." He advised repeated use of grape juice, prohibitedcarbonated beverages and sugar. After the saffron and mul-lein teas had been used for three weeks, he suggested holdingan ultraviolet ray rod applicator in each hand for about threeminutes at a time, to step up electrical vibrations. With allthis went "patience, persistence, and right thinking also."

The woman began the treatment at once. In a week, sheresponded with a happy testimonial. "I just can't tell you howmuch better I feel, body and mind The places on my bodyare fading away and 1 have lost seven pounds in six days."There was a progress report five months later: "The psoriasiscondition cleared up completely, except in places of scalp;there was some flareup, when careless of diet"

I was now ready for Dr. Wakefield. I recalled Wakefield asa down-to-earth practitioner, with one of the busiest practiceson the Virginia cape. He was a tall, spare, yet ruggedly builtman, reminding one of a middle-aged Gary Cooper. He hadjust returned from a Rotary Club meeting, and was preoccu-pied with detail work as president of the Virginia Osteo-pathic Medical Association.

He soon made clear his own views. "If something helps apatient even if the treatment is not medically authenticated, Iam for it After all, my chief concern is helping people, notestablishing the superiority of one concept of medicine overanother."

Recently, he had had some luck with psoriasis, clearing upthe scales of a twenty-two-year-old college student, son of aprominent Virginia Beach attorney, who had vainly consultedspecialists around the country. The treatment had come outof the Cayce readings, and in a strange way, as Wakefield re-collected. In April 1962, a patient walked in with angry redscales on his knees and elbow. It was a clear-cut case of pso-riasis, as to both location and appearance. The patient wasLewis Love, an engineer. Dr. Wakefield told him he was

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suffering from psoriasis, adjusted his spine, and prescribed amercury ointment. Spinal adjustments were helpful, but pro-vided only temporary relief. In all his experience, Wakefieldhad never before cured a case of psoriasis. Love left, and heheard no more from him. Eight months later, in January1963, the patient returned to the office, this time for treat-ment for a shoulder dislocation. As he examined him, gentlyprobing his body, Wakefield looked up with a start. Love'sknees and elbow, he suddenly realized, were completely clear.There was not a mark of any kind on him. "What happenedto your psoriasis7" the doctor asked.

Love smiled enigmatically. "It's cured."

Wakefield fairly beamed. "You mean the treatment didthat?"

Love shook his head. "I never tried your treatment."

Instead, knowing now what he had, he had gone to theA.R.E. library and studied the readings on psoriasis. He hadthen used the Cuticura soap and the Resinol on his skin, andtaken the yellow saffron and mullein teas. Almost immedi-ately, the scales had begun to disappear.

The next day, the open-minded osteopath was runningthrough the Cayce psoriasis file himself. And soon, with star-tling results, he began to apply the Cayce treatment. Wherepatients followed the treatment faithfully, relief was nearlyalways immediate and total.

The osteopathic adjustments helped, the osteopath mean-while noting that Cayce's recommended adjustments so oftennamed the third cervical and the ninth dorsal, at which pointthe spinal nerves branched off to major glands. "Apparently,"Wakefield said, "stimulation of the glands was vital to theCayce therapy."

It was four years later now, and I wondered how theCayce therapy had stood up. And so I phoned the Lovehome. His wife answered. "Oh, yes," she said, "Lewis isn'ttroubled anymore, except for an occasional flareup, when hegets in a swivet I suppose what happens then is that hebuilds up an overload of toxics, and they permeate throughthe thin walls of the intestines, like Cayce said, and show upon his skin, where his weakness obviously lies." She laughed."But he keeps calm, since he knows what's good for him."

What had Cayce said? Right-thinking. That appeared to bethe antidote for a variety of human ailments.

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Though he never came up with anything like a Salk vac-cine (so far as anybody knows), Cayce was also ahead onpoliomyelitis, advancing the fortified-blood concept ofgamma globulin, as well as recuperative manipulation andmassage.

In May 1934, he gave an emergency reading for a ten-year-old girl at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Withoutbeing told anything of her condition, he diagnosed it as infan-tile paralysis, discussing the "wasting of those centers of bulbgland or plexus forces along the spine, attacking principallythe locomotory centers." As part of the therapy, he recom-mended a "transfusion from a body that has been cured orrelieved of that known as infantile paralysis." In other words,years before its introduction, he was advocating gamma glob-ulin to step up the body's resistance to the infection.

Because of the girl's critical state, he sent a telegram listingthe treatment There was internal as well as external medica-tion. "Give three to five drops Atomidine thrice daily," he ad-vised. "Begin immediately massaging not too briskly but toredden skin from base brain downward on, not upward, evenon lower limbs with compound as follows, adding ingredientsin order named: Russian White Oil, two ounces, oil of cedarwood one-half ounce, oil of mustard twenty minims [drops],tincture of benzoin one ounce, oil of sassafras three minims."

His directions were explicit: "Shake well each time, mas-saging what will absorb once daily or oftener if suffering con-tinues." If a fever continued, he recommended the transfu-sion of the built-up blood.

The doctors in New York had meanwhile diagnosed thechild's ailment as spinal meningitis, whose symptoms areoften similar to polio. Cayce's recommendations were re-sisted, though the child lay dying, without any other helpforthcoming.

The end with all its pathos was related by a family friend,who had handled the request for a reading. Ironically, atransfusion was effected, but of normal blood. "I got to thehospital at 3 p.m." the friend reported. "It took me until 8 p.m.to get the doctors to give the Atomidine, and to allow therubbing, but only a transfusion of 'pure blood' was given. Shepassed away at 9:15 p.m., one hour later. I was sorry thatyou didn't get the reading for the little girl sooner. She wasbeautiful; ten years old, sick nine weeks, and looked just like

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Alice in Wonderland. They [the family] all appreciated your[Cayce's] willingness and aid, but it's almost impossible wheredoctors are so arbitrary."

Actually, the child had little chance, as Cayce had said itwould take from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to respond tohis treatment Too little, too late, a familiar story.

Of late, Cayce has been getting more attention from thedoctors than he did when alive. Quietly, many physicianshave delved into his readings, searching for clues to condi-tions which resist orthodox therapy. Only recently an enter-prising young physician affiliated with the Harvard Universityfaculty studied extracts from the Cayce record on such in-curables as epilepsy, leukemia, and multiple sclerosis, andsummarized the Cayce-given etiological or causative factorsand treatment program. His abstracts in no way implied ap-proval of the Cayce approach, but were an effort to seewhether a pattern could be worked out which would lend it-self to large-scale medical research.

The doctor reviewed ninety-five cases of epilepsy. In a ma-jority, he found lesions (impairing injuries) of the lactealduct (supplying the lymphatic vessels) and the spine given asthe basic cause. "The lesions in the spinal segments and thelacteal duct lesion," he observed, "produced what was de-scribed as an incoordination between the cerebrospinal andthe autonomic nervous system. From this data, it can be im-plied that there was a type of reciprocal action between le-sions in the spinal segments and the lacteal duct"

The endocrine or ductless glands were involved in sometwenty-five percent of the cases. "Because of the disturbancesin the lacteal duct area and the spinal segments, the adrenalsand the gonads would be affected. These glands in turn wouldcause a response in the pineal and pituitary glands in thebrain. The end result of these disturbances was an overflowof neuronal (nerve cell) discharge via the central nervoussystem in the case of grand mal seizure, or the temporary lossof consciousness in a petit mal seizure." The medical investi-gator stressed the explanation was incomplete, unverified bypresent medical knowledge. "The readings were more con-cerned with treatment than cause," he observed, "and usuallyonly gave as much theory as was necessary to understand andcarry out the treatments." Nevertheless, the Cayce readingstended to dissipate the notion that epilepsy was inevitably tied

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up with a malfunction of the brain. The doctor briefly quotedfrom one reading:

Q. Do you find any condition existing in the brain, or is itreflex?

A. The accumulations that have been there are ratherreflex, produced by the condition in the lacteal duct [abdomi-nal] area.

Q. Of what nature was the injury that brought about thiscondition in the lacteal area?

A. This was a pressure, or a licking.

In another diagnosis, Cayce was considerably more explicitin tracing the background: 'The causes arise from an injuryreceived some years ago, in the coccyx area [base of spine],and then contributory causes later above the lumbar axis ofthe spine. These caused a slowing circulation through the lac-teal duct area, producing a cold area there that has produceda partial adherence of tissue. When there is the lack ofproper eliminations through the alimentary canal, coordina-tion between the sympathetic and cerebrospinal system isaffected, governing impulses to the brain, or a form of spas-modic reaction that might be called epileptic in nature." Hewarned that ordinary treatment would only make thingsworse, increasing the attacks that "occur from this deflectionof impulse."

Asked the nature of the original accident, his UniversalMind promptly replied: "Striking the end of the spine on abanister."

In a minority of cases, brain damage was listed as a cause;even fewer were involved with mental retardation. Where in-coordination between the autonomic and cerebrospinal ner-vous systems was mentioned as a definite factor, the doctorfound that Cayce usually recommended castor oil packs, to-gether with additional therapy. "In order to break up the le-sions and adhesions in the lacteal duct area," the physiciannoted, "a combination of hot castor oil packs, massage, oliveoil taken internally and manipulations of the spine were em-ployed. In addition, proper elimination and diet also weresupposed to have their effect upon the lacteal area The hotcastor oil packs were usually given in a three-day series, andwere kept on from one to three hours over the entire right

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abdomen." The doctor, school trained for half a lifetime, wasas technical as the unschooled Cayce in describing how thepack was applied: "Both anterior and posterior from theright costal margin to the crest of the ileum and covering thearea of the caecum and the umbilicus." He explained how itpresumably worked: "These hot packs were described asbeing able to start the breakup of the lacteal lesions andadhesions. The heat alone would tend to increase the circula-tion to the area. It was also implied that castor oil itselfwould have a beneficial effect by absorption through the skin.In some cases, kneading of the right side of the abdomen wasadvised immediately after the removal of the packs, to helpin the breakup of the lesions and adhesions. This massagewas done with either peanut oil, or a mixture of olive oil andmyrrh, and sometimes a combination of all three."

The doctor summarized the balance of the treatment, soeffective in some cases: "The olive oil which was given inter-nally [usually two tablespoonfuls] was to be taken at bedtimeon the last day of the series of packs. The olive oil as a fatwould be absorbed through the lacteal ducts and might helpto increase the flow through them. Osteopathic massage andmanipulation on and around the spine followed the day afterthe series of castor oil packs was finished. The manipulativetreatment was supposed not only to correct any mechanicalabnormalities in spinal segments, but also to stimulate the au-tonomic nervous system to help overcome the imbalance be-tween the autonomic and the cerebrospinal nervous system,by an increase in circulation and a relief of nervous tension.The hot packs seem to be an essential preliminary step, sothat the manipulations would have their maximum effect"

Cayce's treatment extended to diet, elimination, herbs, ex-ercise. Olive oil was described as a natural laxative. Colonicswere recommended for those with a difficult problem. Thediet was designed to be easily digestible, aiding eliminations."The diet was low fat in nature," the Harvard man reported,"with definite prohibitions of fried foods, pork, fat meats, andsweet milk. Alkaline forming foods and vegetables were re-commended but most tuberous vegetables were excluded.Acid-producing foods such as meats, sugars, starches, andcondiments were discouraged." In one respect, the treatmentwas exotic. Cayce recommended a boiled concentrate of thePassion Flower to replace the use of normal sedatives. "Al-though in various places the readings approved the temporary

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continuance of sedatives such as Dilantin or Phenobarbitol,"the doctor observed, "the ultimate goal of successful treat-ment was the elimination of the need for such drugs whichacted as poisons in the system." He had a word about thePassion Flower. "This fusion was described as a nonhabit-forming herb compound and not a sedative itself, though itwas supposed to have a calming action on the nervous systemand to aid the eliminations, as well as to help retard muscularcontractions."

Outdoor exercise was recommended both as an outlet forexcess energy and obtaining the fullest relaxation during restHe quoted Cayce, 'The body should take as much physicalexercise, in the open, as is practical each day, but not to beoverstrenuous. Calisthenics or anything which has to do withthe general movement of the body in the open is well. Walk-ing is one of the best of exercises, swimming, tennis, hand-ball, badminton, any of these activities."

The aim of the treatments, the doctor noted, was completecure. "Therefore, all traces of the underlying difficulties hadto be eliminated, as well as factors which would set up newtendencies. In most cases the treatment recommended was atleast six months."

The cure was not easy—but neither was epilepsy.

Leukemia was one of the more intriguing studies tackledby the Harvard doctor. There were only eleven authenticatedblood cancer cases in the Cayce readings, and many of thesewere terminal, but Cayce did indicate a cause and suggestedtreatment. "The cause of leukemia was not given in a de-tailed way," the doctor observed, "but a disturbance in bodycatabolism [normal breakdown of tissue to waste] was notedalong with loss of the energies of anabolism [normal foodchange to living tissue]. Infection through the spleen waslinked with an excess of destructive forces of the lymph"The spleen has the function of modifying the structure of theblood, and this is perhaps the first time it has been pinpointedas the culprit in leukemia. "It is a medical fact" the doctorpointed out, "that the red cell count decreases and the whiteblood cell count mounts in leukemia. In the readings this de-structive process chiefly of red blood cells was linked to anoveractivity and infection of the spleen."

Oddly, the doctor noted, in one of the four cases of Hodg-kin's disease in the readings (confirmed by autopsy), the de-scribed cause and treatment was similar to that in the leuke-

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mia readings. "These similarities," the doctor suggested, "hintthat perhaps there are some similar underlying biochemicalmechanisms having to do with the endocrine glands and thespleen in various diseases of the blood."

The sufferers invariably turned to Cayce too late—if theycould have been helped at all. Treatment, quite complex, wassummarized: Ultraviolet light (mercury quartz lamp) was tobe used forty inches from the body with a green stained glassplate (at least ten by twelve inches) suspended between thesource of the light and the body. The light was to focus fornot more than one to one and a half minutes in any one spotwith special emphasis on the spleen and rib area, and notmore than an all-over total of five minutes. Infrared light(thirty to forty minutes) was to be applied every other day tothe cerebrospinal area, particularly along the rib zone. Alsorecommended was massage, osteopathic manipulations, iodinetrichloride (Atomidine), supplementary diet of beef juice,rare calves liver, massive intake of fresh orange juice. Thetreatment was at least geared to where Cayce said the causelay. "The whole process of the disease," the doctor indicated,"was said to be caused by a glandular disturbance from un-balanced chemical reactions in the body. This could point to-ward a biochemical cause of the disease. One reading specifi-cally mentions iodine deficiency. This could be the reason forCayce's advising iodine trichloride as a gland stimulant. Inone case the thyroid gland was mentioned in particular. Alack of proper activity of the structural portions of the bodycould refer to the red blood cell producing capacity of themarrow, especially the ribs [which are mentioned specifi-cally]. These portions of the body could in turn be affectedby the glands. Mention was also made of the activity havingbecome static in the cerebrospinal system centers which con-trol the marrow production from the ribs. Apparently an at-tempt was made to stimulate these centers through ultravioletand infrared light, as well as manual massage."

The same distinguished medical authority researchedCayce's treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, he madethe same reservations as with other abstracts, in proposingcontrolled clinical trial. "The summary of treatment is not tobe taken as an endorsement," he warned, "the validity of thedata can only be decided by careful research in the form ofcontrolled experiments by qualified physicians. The etiologi-

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cal [causative] mechanisms described are meant to be consid-ered as theories to be proved."

The doctor pondered one hundred readings for sixty-ninesubjects, but was particularly impressed by one reading madeat the request of a physician, L>r. Charles Goodman Taylor,since this could be scientifically validated as a case of mul-tiple sclerosis. In postulating how the disease formed, heintegrated the material from other readings with this specificreading. "The basic biochemical mechanism stated in thereading was that multiple sclerosis was a result of a lack ofgold which caused a glandular imbalance which in turnresulted in a hormonal deficiency or imbalance. This hor-mone was said to be necessary for proper functioning of thenerves."

The normal balance of metals in the system was out ofequilibrium due to a lack of gold primarily. In forty cases,gold was mentioned as a factor which needed to be added tothe system. 'The reason for the lack of gold," the doctorcommented, "was tied to a defect in the assimilating system[by this was probably meant the digestive system] which inturn was kept in proper working order by the proper hor-monal balance from the glands." It was all part of a delicaterelationship on which the well-being of the body depended."Because the glands were in turn dependent upon the properamount of gold in the system, this would apparently lead to acircular feedback relationship between gold, the glands andthe assimilating system Though not explicitly stated, it couldbe assumed that the disease was not caused from simply alack of gold in the diet, but perhaps from a lack of the ca-pacity of the digestive system to assimilate gold or perhapsinability of the body to use the gold assimilated. In this read-ing, a genetic factor was suggested as the underlying cause ofthe imbalance between these three factors: gold, glands, andassimilation." There was a way of checking this out. "Aconnection of the normal balance of metals in the systemcould be discovered in the male by a lack of sperm [i.e. somedegree of sterility]. However, it was not clear whether thiswas simply a decreased sperm count or a lack of potency ofthe sperm due to a lack of metals, most notably gold, in thesperm." The doctor then observed, "There is no medical datato confirm the theory that sterility is a result of multiplesclerosis." However, as he pointed out, impotency has beenreported.

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Some type of glandular disturbance was mentioned innumerous cases. In this case, in response to the question"Which glands are involved?" the Cayce reply was:

"Those about the liver and gall duct."

The liver was repeatedly described as the direct link to themalfunctioning of the nervous system in multiple sclerosis.There was a hormone deficiency but the lacking hormonewas not named. This missing substance from the glands wassupposed to be a nutrient to nervous tissue, and the nerveswere repeatedly said to lack proper balance of nervous en-ergy or stamina. Some of the apparent pathology was thennoted. "The reading stated that this lack of nervous energycaused a poison to form in certain nerve cells, and then othersurrounding cells were poisoned. A description was given ofthe pulling apart and elongation of originally round cells.Perhaps this was the same process referred to in one case inwhich the hormonal lack was said to cause a breakdown ofthe cellular forces in the nerve walls and led to an inflamma-tion and irritation via an action on the nerve plexuses andganglia between the central and the autonomic nervous sys-tems." This was analogous to what medicine has sincelearned about the disorder. 'This breakdown of nerve wallscoupled with wasting away or dissolving of the nerves couldbe taken as a description of the pathological loss of myelinsheath or white matter in multiple sclerosis. Pathologically,there is damage to both the *white' myelin sheath and the'gray' axone in this disease." Cayce remarkably mentioned alack of "gray" matter.

The doctor analyzed three treatment approaches: additionof the atomic effect of gold through a wet cell battery, mas-sage and diet. "The atomic effect of gold was said to benecessary for the glandular production of the hormone whichmaintained the proper structural condition and functioning ofthe nerves. However, gold was not to be added directly to thesystem by ingestion or injection, but vibratorily through theuse of the wet cell battery." The wet cell was a weak batterycomposed of two poles, with a wire from one pole suspendedin a solution of gold chloride and then attached to the body.The readings indicated that the vibration given from the goldin solution would be electrically transmitted into the bodyand have the [needed] glandular effect The vibration did notact directly but only enabled other elements [perhaps gold al-ready in the body in an inactive form] to become active and

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have the desired effect. The wet cell was to be recharged[new solutions added] every thirty days and to be used eachday, preferably before retiring, for thirty to sixty minutes.

Massage with nourishing oils was an important part of theCayce treatment Curiously, years after the first Cayce read-ings, massage became current medical treatment (as suppor-tive therapy) for multiple sclerosis. As the doctor pointedout: "It certainly helps to maintain the tone of muscles whichhave lost their normal innervation [active nerve network], theadvantage being that when and if function returns, the musclewill not have atrophied and shortened."

However, there was a basic difference between the medicaland Cayce concept of the function of the oils. Where med-icine attributes chiefly a lubricating effect to the oils, Caycesaid the oils nourished weakened tissue, as borne out in hisown cases, and by Hotten in California, McGarey in Ar-izona, Reilly in New York.

There were two basic blends. "The simple mixture," thedoctor noted, "was usually a combination of equal parts ofolive oil and peanut oil plus melted lanolin in this ratio: twoounces of olive oil, two ounces of peanut oil, one-quarterounce of lanolin. The complex mixture had an olive oil baseplus peanut oil, various combinations of Russian white oil, oilof cedarwood, oil of sassafras root, oil of pine needles, lano-lin, oil of wintergreen, tincture of benzoin, tincture of myrrh,spirits of camphor, spirits of turpentine, mutton suet and/oroil of mustard."

The directions varied. "In the majority of cases, it wassuggested to massage from the spine to the distal [farthest]portions of the extremities, but in some from the tips of theextremities to the spine. Although the spine and extremitieswere mentioned most, the chest and abdomen were alsosuggested. A circular motion for the massage wasrecommended."

With Cayce dead, of course, it was not quite clear whattreatments, even if generally effective, should be applied to aspecific case. As Dr. McGarey had said, commenting on hisown research, it entailed an almost intuitive rapport withCayce's subconscious to know when to do what to whom, a laCayce.

The recommended diet was consistent with Cayce's normaldiet for the ailing, or well, for that matter, low-fat, non-constipating. "Foods containing B vitamins were stressed,"

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the doctor found, "and sometimes brewers yeast or wheatgerm was advised. Seafood, liver, wild game and fowl wererecommended as the meats, but broiled and not fried. Thebones of chicken and fish were to be chewed. Fried foodswere generally prohibited. Raw vegetables such as watercress,carrots, celery, beets, and salads with gelatin were stressed.Vegetables, fruits and cereals were to be eaten much morethan meat. None of the emphasized foods were designated asproviding gold in any form. Seafood was explicitly mentionedas being especially important because of its iodine con-tent—the Cayce readings stating that iodine has an effect onall the endocrine glands, not only the thyroid."

The experienced Cayce reader had something to learnfrom the fact that gold was not mentioned. Obviously, theproblem was not so much a lack of gold intake, but of activa-tion of this gold, and this apparently was provided by the wetcell's vibratory influence. The Harvard researcher pointed outthat Cayce's treatment was connected, the massage immedi-ately following the wet cell treatment, when the body was ex-tremely susceptible to external impulses. But, scientifically, headded, almost regretfully, the Cayce readings could "onlyhope to give hints and point the direction for further researchwhich perhaps may unravel some of the present unknown inthe etiology and treatment of multiple sclerosis."

After all, it only worked.

Chapter Eleven

CATCE'S HOME REMEDIES

One Sunday I was having dinner with friends in New Jersey,about an hour's ride from New York City.

There were several people at the table, and somebody hadbeen talking of making a trip to Europe.

"Be sure to take a bottle of Cayce's seasick drops," a mid-dle-aged man said. His wife nodded her emphasis. "We nevertravel without them," she said. "They are even more usefulthan Cayce suggested. In New Orleans recently, Al"—hereshe turned to her husband—"Al felt some distress afterovereating, and the thought of getting on the plane made himwant to cancel out He took the drops, and the nausea dis-appeared."

I looked up politely. "Where do you get these drops?"

"We make them ourselves, from the Cayce formula,**Barbara Anton said. "We've given them to twenty of ourfriends." She laughed. "The kind of people who rum greenjust looking at a boat have found an end to all their dreadabout ocean travel, and the same with air or car sickness."

The drops were a first-aid must. But there was still anothersubstance they wouldn't travel without. This was a mild anti-septic known as Glyco-Thymoline. Cayce had recommendedthis for all sorts of packs, douches, and gargles. The husband,Al Anton, a jeweler, rubbed his hands over his eyes. "Some-times, I've felt as if my eyes were coming out of their sockets.Three parts of distilled water with one part of Glyco-Thymo-

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line, in cotton pads applied to the eyes for five to ten minutes,and all the ache, sting, and smart goes out. It's amazing."

The rest of the company had looked up with interest. Aman sitting down the table from me put in, "And don't forgetthe witch hazel for athlete's foot. There's nothing better;Cayce certainly knew what he was talking about."

How could so many home remedies be put to practicalapplication so long after Cayce's death?

"That's the easiest part of it," our host spoke up. "Haven'tyou heard of the famous black book? It's all there, clarified,collated, and indexed, for anybody that wants it."

The black book consisted of extracts from diverse readings.Everything from baldness to stuttering was represented, withtips on how these conditions could be helped. The book wasbrought out, and I dutifully leafed through it, turning to Gly-co-Thymoline, and its various uses.

"What should be done to relieve my eyes?" somebody hadasked thirty years before.

And Cayce had replied, "Bathe them with a weak Glycc-Thymoline solution. Use an eye-cup, two parts of distilledwater preferably, to one part of Glyco-Thymoline. This ir-ritation is a part of the kidney disturbance that has comefrom the upsetting in the digestive forces."

The conversation had become general, and another womanlooked up with a sheepish grin. "I don't know if I shouldmention this in mixed company," she said, "but a little Coca-Cola after the menstrual period does a lot toward eettintr mefeeling better."

I suddenly remembered. "But I thought Cayce disapprovedof carbonated beverages."

She smiled. "The Coca-Cola syrup is mixed with water."

I thumbed through the big black book, to good old Coke.Cayce had recommended the drink for both men and women,for purifying the body. Apparently, it helped clear the systemof toxics. "Do take Coca-Cola occasionally as a drink, for theactivity of the kidneys," he told a twenly-nine-year-oldwoman, 'but not with carbonated water. Buy or have thesyrup prepared and add plain water to this. Take about onehalf-ounce or one ounce of the syrup and add plain water.This to be taken about every other day, with or without ice.This will aid in purifying the kidney activity and bladder andwill be better for the body."

Cayce hadn't exactly recommended Coke as a steady diet

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By now, of course, nearly everybody was recalling somemiraculous way that someone had been helped. "This man Iknew," a woman said, "threw away his glasses after doing thehead and neck exercise."

There were exclamations of interest, and she continued."He was suffering from eye-strain, and somebody mentioneddoing this simple neck-rolling exercise a few times a day. Hisvision improved to a point where the headaches left him andhe threw his glasses away in a week."

It had all happened two years before, twenty years afterCayce's death.

I remembered now Gladys Davis telling me how a fewsimple neck rolls, advised in a reading, had helped her as ayoung woman to get rid of her reading glasses, not to returnto glasses until she was fifty, though constantly doing closework.

Again I skimmed through the black book.

"How can I improve my vision?" a fifty-four-year-oldwoman had asked Cayce.

"The head and neck exercise will be most helpful," he said."Take this regularly, each morning and each evening for sixmonths, and we will see a great deal of difference."

He then described what seemed a simple Yoga exercise toan old Yogi like myself.

"Sitting erect, bend the head forward three times, to theback three times, to the right side three times, to the left sidethree times, and then circle the head each way three times.Don't hurry through with it, but take the time to do it Wewill get results."

For some, I noticed Cayce suggested a variation of this ex-ercise, along with a brisk walk. "Do the head and neck exer-cise in the open, as you walk for twenty to thirty minuteseach morning. Now do not undertake it one morning andthen say, 'It rained and I couldn't get out,' or 'I've got to gosomewhere else.*"

I put the book aside. Between the conversation and thefood, the table was heavily freighted. My hosts were healthfaddists and I had half-surmised they were vegetarians, or-ganic vegetables at that. But, pleasantly, a thick, sizzlingsteak was brought on, set off with a variety of vegetables. Asthe meal ended, I mentioned my surprise that they weremeat-eaters.

My host laughed. "Actually," he said, "we follow what

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might be called the Cayce normal diet. Pork was about theonly meat he was dead set against. He was for a little ofeverything in moderation, favoring a well-balanced diet fullof natural vitamins. He didn't believe much in the synthetics.He was full of surprises. For instance, he felt that coffee,without milk or cream, was a food and not necessarily harm-ful. With milk, it formed a leathery substance inside thestomach, he said, and it was better taken alone than with ameal."

He rf,ached for. toe black book, and turned to coffee."Coffee," Cayce said, "is a stimulant to the nerve system. Thedross from coffee is caffeine which is not digestible in the sys-tem. When caffeine is allowed to remain in the colon, poisonsare thrown off from it. If it is eliminated, as it is in this in-dividual, coffee is a food and is preferable to many stimu-lants."

My host had made a study of Cayce's dietary advice. "Itwasn't only what he prescribed, but the way he felt foodsshould be consumed. The person should always be relaxed atthe table, or the meal would become almost immediatelytoxic. As a digestive aid, he recommended a glass of warmwater on rising. Not so hot that it is objectionable, not sotepid that it makes for sickening, but this will clarify the sys-tem of poisons. Occasionally, a pinch of salt should be addedto this draught of water."

It seemed to me that we were getting a little afield. Whatwas the perfect diet?

My host shrugged. "Even Cayce varied it for the individualand his individual needs. He was great for the shellfish withtheir natural iodines, as he felt they toned up the thyroid, andhe recommended the lighter meats, fish, fowl, Iamb, freshvegetables, and fruits." This was not at all unusual in the cur-rent nutrition-conscious period, but Cayce had been advocat-ing this fifty years ago, when hogs, hominy, and grits madepellagra epidemic in the South.

At times, Cayce outlined an ideal diet, as he did for asix-year-old girl. "Mornings: whole grain cereals, or citrusfruits, but these never taken at the same meal; rather al-ternate these, using one on one day and the other the nextAny form of rice cakes or the like, the yolk of eggs. Noons:some fresh raw vegetable salad. Soups with brown bread,broths or such. Evenings: a well-coordinated vegetable diet.

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with three vegetables above the ground to one below theground. Seafood, fowl, or lamb; not other types of meat. Gel-atin may be prepared with any of the vegetables, as in thesalads for the noon meal, or with milk and cream dishes."

Cayce ruled out fried foods, preferring the roasted, broiled,or boiled. He didn't vary the normal diet much for adults,but stressed the seafoods twice a week, particularly clams,oysters, shrimp, or lobster. "The oyster or clam should betaken raw if possible, while having the others preparedthrough roasting or boiling with the use of butter." Headvocated "foods of the blood-building type once or twice aweek—pig's knuckles, tripe, and calves liver, or those meatsof brains and the like." He was definitely no vegetarian, forspecifying certain vegetables and fruits, he stressed, "Thesefoods with the occasional eating of sufficient meat forstrength, would bring a well-balanced diet."

I found the diet business rather tedious, but my host ob-served,. "Cayce never believed that you are only what youeat, but rather what your body does with what you eat, andwhat you do with your body and mind."

My host, on the portly side, had tried one of Cayce's spe-cial diets, raw apples, for reducing. After three days of all theapples he wanted, he had dropped twelve pounds, and waswell on his way to pruning off a desired twenty pounds."There's something about the apples that pulls the water outof the system," he said. His diet had been topped off eachnight with a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil, for cleans-ing.

I wondered what kind of apples he had eaten.

"Golden, red, purple, Mcintosh, Delicious, Baldwin,Northern Spy. I kept mixing them up, but they were still ap-ples."

Hadn't he gotten weak or hungry?

"All I had to do was eat another apple."

Cayce was the answer to the cigarette manufacturer's cur-rent nightmare over cancer. He said that moderatecigarette-smoking—five or six cigarettes a day—never hurtanybody, and he was an inveterate smoker himself. They re-laxed him.

He saw no harm in an occasional drink, but said wine wasthe only alcoholic drink actually helpful. "Wine is good forall, if taken alone, or with black or brown bread Not with

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meat so much as with just bread. This may be taken betweenmeals, or as a meal, but not too much, and just once a day.Red wine only."

Eventually, the dinner party broke up, all agreeing thatCayce was affecting more people's well-being today than hehad even while alive.

As the others drifted off, I retired to my room with theprecious black book. I thumbed through the index, stoppingat asthma. A dear friend had a child suffering from this afflic-tion. What could Cayce do for it?

Here was a girl, thirteen, whose mother had written, "Theasthma has bothered her two and a half years."

Cayce was as specific as gravity. "For the asthmatic con-dition," he said, "have those properties made into an inhal-ant. To four ounces of pure grain alcohol (not 85%, butpure grain, 190 proof) add: oil of eucalyptus, twenty drops;benzol, ten drops; oil of turpentine, five drops; tolu in solu-tion, forty drops; tincture of benzoin, five drops. Keep in acontainer at least twice the size, or an eight ounce bottle witha glass cork. Shake solution together and inhale deep into thelungs and bronchi, two or three times a day."

Under attitudes and emotions, to which I next turned,Cayce translated a whole course in psychosomatic medicineinto a few simple paragraphs. My host, a well-known healerhimself, had marked the margin, "Here is the root of nearlyall illness—Cayce was a generation ahead of his time."

I read where Cayce told a man whose simmering resent-ments had affected his health: "Attitudes oft influence thephysical conditions of the body. No one can hate his neigh-bor and not have stomach or liver trouble. No one can bejealous and allow the anger of same and not have upset diges-tion or heart disorder. Neither of these disorders is presenthere, and yet those attitudes have much to do with theaccumulations which have come gradually, tendencies to-wards neuritic-arthritic reactions." It was all part of anemotional backwash, hindering the healthy flow of glands,blood, lymph, and nerves. "Stiffness at times is indicated inthe locomotories; a nausea, or upsetting of the digestive sys-tem; headaches seem to arise from a disturbance betweenliver and the kidneys themselves, though usually the settingup of better eliminations causes these to be eased." All thesewere symptoms, not cause. Then came the crux of all Caycehealing, "There is within self all healing that may be ac-

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complished for the body. For all healing must come fromthe Divine. For who healeth thy diseases? The source of theuniversal supply." He put it all on the individual and his out-look. "How well do you wish to be? Are you willing to coor-dinate with the Divine influences which may work in andthrough you by stimulating the centers latent with nature'sactivities? For all of these forces must come from the onesource, and the applications are merely to stimulate the atomsof the body. For each cell is as a representative of a universein itself."

From my own Yoga, I knew pretty well what Cayce wassaving. With Yoga had come a new positive state of mind, afreedom from illness, a reliance on strength. Pains, aches,colds disappeared. The head and neck rolls, similar to thoseadvocated by Cayce, had dissolved an arthritic stiffness in myneck resulting from a whiplash injury. In my new tranquilli-ty, I was more tolerant, less critical, more productive and en-ergetic. Nearing fifty, I was keenly aware of a well-being Ihad never known before. Each cell of my being seemedproudly confident of its ability to maintain its integrity. AVirginia Beach physician, viewing a brief Yoga dem-onstration, had observed, "You can stave off the inevitablebut eventually you will need a doctor." And the Yogi had re-plied with equal conviction, "Only for the death certificate."He was sure of his health, for he drew on the universal sup-ply.

Still skimming through the black book, I came upon theheading baldness. It appeared to me that if Cayce could havecured baldness, he could have named his own price and nevergone without. Yet, there were some who insisted the readingshad halted premature loss of hair. Cayce's advice on hair-grooming had chiefly helped those whose hair loss was sud-den, indicating some striking deficiency in body chemistry. Atwenty-six-year-old youth had turned desperately to Cayce."Is there any chance of restoring my hair? I am the only oneof six brothers who is going bald."

"Yes," Cayce replied. "There is a lack of activity of theglands in the thyroid areas. This causes a weakness in theactivities to nails and hair over the body." The treatment wassweeping. "We would take small dose of Atomidine to purifythe thyroid activity. Take one drop each morning for fivedays in succession. Then leave off for five days. During thatperiod give the scalp a thorough massage with crude oil,

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using the electrically driven vibrator with suction applicator.This should be done very thoroughly, not hurriedly andshould require at least thirty to forty minutes for the massagewith the crude oil and then the application of white Vaselineand the vibrator again. Then begin the first of the next weekwith the Atomidine, one drop each morning for five days.During the next five days (now the middle of the week) giveanother crude oil shampoo following with the white Vaselineand the vibrator treatment. Leave these off then for twoweeks. Then have another complete series, but between eachtwo series allow two weeks to elapse. Doing these, we willfind that in six or eight months, it will begin to stimulate theactivities for the growth of hair over the scalp and the body.

"Use the diets that carry iodine in their natural forms. Useonly kelp salt or deep sea salt, plenty of seafoods. Not toomuch sweets. The egg yolk but not the white of egg shouldbe taken. These will bring better conditions to the body."

For another person with a dry scalp, losing his hair pre-maturely, he advised massaging the scalp once every twelvedays with hog lard, allowing it to soak twenty minutes beforewashing it out with tepid water and a dandruff remover. Hehad several diet recommendations: "Eat the soup from thepeelings of Irish potatoes, take raw vegetables such as lettuce,celery, watercress, radishes, onions, mustard greens and all ofthose that may be prepared as salad and the like. Carrots willmake better conditions in combination with these for thesparkle of the eye and the general vision."

"What will thicken the hair?" somebody else asked.

"Massage the scalp with crude oil," he replied, "cleansingit with a twenty percent solution of grain alcohol. This willthicken the hair and bring better conditions to the scalp."

Cayce never completely lost his sense of humor.

"What should the individual now do," he was asked, "tocause the hair to grow in the front of the forehead?"

"You won't have much brains there, and hair, too," he re-plied drily, but added seriously, "This may be assisted,though, by using any vapor rub, or the use of Listerine willkeep the hair in a healthy normal condition."

The same person asked again, "What causes the scalp toitch?"

"Irritation, produced by the accumulations in the system.The digestion is bad, and the nerves on edge. Use the Lister-ine twice a week on the hair."

CAYCE'S HOME REMEDIES la*

I had gone through much of the black book when my hostdropped in for a good-night chat. "I don't want to run thisinto the ground," he said, "but if there had been more Caycesaround, a lot of doctors would be out of business. Take thecommon cold; nothing causes more misery and disruptionthan colds and flu, yet I haven't had a cold in thirty years."

I surveyed his robust figure appraisingly. "Maybe your re-sistance is better than most."

He laughed. "Naturally, but I avoid the situations Caycetold me to avoid, and I keep alkaline. Cayce once suggestedthat people give themselves a litmus paper test If they turnedblue, they were all right Pink, and they had an acid condi-tion, usual forerunner of a cold." He picked up the blackbook, turning to Common Cold. His finger stopped at "sus-ceptibility."

"A body," he read, "is more susceptible to a cold with anexcess of acidity. An alkalizing effect is destructive to thecold germ. An extra depletion of the vital energies produces atendency for excess acidity. At such periods, if an individualcomes in contact with one sneezing or suffering with cold, itis more easily contracted."

The whole mechanics of cold causation were explored.Cayce went into drafts, sharp changes in temperature, unu-sual changes in clothing, wet feet "All of these affect the cir-culation by the depletion of the body-balance, body-temperature, or body-equilibrium. Then if the body is tired,worn, overacid—or more rarely, overalkaline—it is more sus-ceptible to a cold, as, too, from being in a warm room, over-heated. When overheated there is less oxygen, which weakensthe circulation of the life-giving forces that are destructive toany germ or contagion."

My host looked up pertly. "I always keep my rooms cool,stay away from drafts, dress lightly during the winter, anddon't do any heavy eating or drinking that would turn mystomach acid. And no sweets—they're the worst"

I couldn't help but smile. "You don't have time to think ofmuch else."

He growled. "I don't have time to be sick."

His mood changed. "You know, I knew Cayce quite well.He read for me a number of times. Generally, he would giveme a life reading or advise me on business problems. I wasseldom under the weather because I did maintain the hygienehe recommended."

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As we chatted, I recalled a learned doctor friend expound-ing on a recent theory that equalization of body temperaturewas important in forestalling colds. And yet here was Caycesaymg a generation or so before: "Much may also dependupon the body's becoming immune to sudden temperaturechanges, by the use of clothing to equalize the pressure overthe body. One that is often in the open and dresses accordingto general conditions, or the temperatures, will be less suscep-tible than one who bundles up too much."

Vitamins, he said, could be used judiciously during thecold season, as a preventive, not after the infection had takenhold. For that which may be helpful may also be harmful ifmisapplied, whether by the conscious activity in a body or byan unconscious activity in the assimilating forces of the sys-

Analyzing body resistance, Cayce stressed that the systemfunctioned as a unit, drawing on one area to shore up an-other; therefore it helped to have a natural reservoir of vita-mins and minerals to tap in emergency.

My host explained, "So often people get over their coldsonly to come down with a secondary infection, because theydepleted themselves. That's why Cayce stressed rest in thefirst days of a cold." To show how body repair works, Cayceused this analogy: "If there is a bone fracture, the body ofitself creates that element needed to knit this fracture or bro-ken area. Yet it does not supply or build as much of such anelement during the periods when the fracture does not existHence when it exists, unless there is an abundant supply ofthat which is needed by or from that which is assimilated,other portions of the body will suffer."

In treating a cold, there should be an over-all approach.One may get one's feet wet and yet have a cold in the head.One may also get the head wet and still have a cold in thehead."

m Cayce's cold therapy would be generally accepted today.l>o not attempt to go on, but rest. For there is the indicationot an exhaustion somewhere, else the body would not havebeen susceptible." The victim's vulnerability to secondary in-fectton was explored. "Then, too, the inflammation of themucous membranes tends to weaken the body, so that thereis die pater susceptibility in the weakened portions of thebody throughout the special areas of influences of the lymphand the head, throat, lungs, intestinal system. If there has

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been an injury in any of the structural portions of the body,causing a weakness in those directions, there is a susceptibil-ity for harmful effects from such a cold."

Different colds were treated differently. "In correcting acold, determine where the weakness lies. Is it from lack ofeliminations, which causes many ailments? Hence quantitiesof water, as well as an alkalizer, as well as a booster to assim-ilating forces, are beneficial toward producing a balance, sothat the cold and its consequences may be the more readilyeradicated."

Cayce really hadn't contributed much on colds that a sensi-ble doctor wouldn't

My host smiled. "Cayce only knew the cures, when therewas a cure. The system with a cold was a system run down;the cold, sniffles, sore throat, or what have you, was only thesymptom, generally a warning signal."

"You mean Cayce was like the doctor who let a cold de-velop into pneumonia so he could cure it?"

"Oh, Cayce could knock out a cold quickly, when the basicresistance was strong." He turned to a reading Cayce gavefor a man with a heavy cold thirty years before. The subjectwas a New York industrialist, who didn't give in easily toanything. His secretary had requested the reading, saying herboss was so choked up he couldn't speak above a whisper.

Cayce got right to the remedy. "Take first an eliminant, orabout eighteen hundred drops [two bottles of Castoria] butnot at once. Take it in very small doses, a half teaspoonfulevery half hour. After the first bottle has been taken in theseproportions, then take the Turkish bath; first the sweats, thenthe salt rubs, then the alcohol rub after the oil rubs. Keepmore of an alkaline diet. No white bread. Principally usefruit juices, and citrus fruit juices at that A little coffee with-out cream may be taken as a stimulant or a little whiskey andsoda later in the evening. The body should feel physically fitby morning."

Apparently it worked. For here was the subject's reporttacked on to the reading. "I felt miserable, but after takingthe day's rest and the bottle of Castoria, and the rubs, I couldtalk the next morning and was at work all day."

The rubs had concentrated on the lower dorsal and lumbararea, though the cold manifested itself in the nose and throat.It was all the same body.

My host skimmed through the black book. "Cayce told

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them how to look pretty, grow hair, clear up their kidneys,get rid of their migraines. But people hate to do anythingabout themselves. Women, for instance, just want to sit downin a chair and let somebody coat them with cosmetics, whenessentially, real beauty stems out of good health."

One brief passage illustrated Cayce's attitude toward van-ity.

"How can people avoid aging in appearance?" he wasasked.

"The mind," he replied drily.

The questioner, a thirty-two-year-old woman, persisted,"How can sagging facial muscles be avoided? How cor-rected?"

Cayce relented. "By massage and the use of those creamsas indicated [Black and White Genuine] over the chin andthroat, around the eyes and such conditions of sagging. Occa-sionally, the use of the Boncilla or mud packs would be verygood." He elaborated for a thirty-year-old woman, "Abouttwice a month the mud packs, face and neck, across theshoulders and upper portions about the neck; especially ex-tending over the area of the thyroids, as an astringent and asa stimulation for better circulation throughout the system."

Cayce had a special preparation for the girlish complexionand told a thirty-two-year-old woman, whose skin was begin-ning to dry, how to use it The treatment amused my host "Iknow a dozen women who look ten years younger because ofthe preparation, and the exercise they get nibbing it into theirskin," he said with a chuckle.

'Tor a good complexion for the skin, the hands and armsand body as well," Cayce said, "prepare a compound to useas a massage by self, at least once or twice a week. To sixounces of peanut oil, add olive oil, two ounces; rose water,two ounces; dissolved lanolin, one tablespoonful. This wouldbe used after a tepid bath in which the body has remainedfor at least fifteen to twenty minutes, giving the body then,during the bath, a thorough rub with any good soap, to stim-ulate the body forces. Sweetheart, or any good Castile soap,or Ivory, may be used.

"Afterwards, after shaking it well, massage with this solu-tion, which will be sufficient for many times. Pour some in anopen saucer, dipping fingers in same. Begin with the face,neck, shoulders, arms, and then the whole body would bemassaged thoroughly with the solution, especially in the area

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of the limbs, in the areas that are across the hips, across thediaphragm. This will not only keep a stimulating effect withother treatments (hydrotherapy, and osteopathy) taken occa-sionally, and give the body a good base for the stimulating ofthe superficial circulation, but the solution will aid in keepingthe body beautiful, as to being free from any blemish of anynature."

Topping this off, the tissues of the face could be patted, anact more beneficial, Cayce said, than any facial exercises.

My host handed back the black book. "Have you anyfriends with halitosis?" he said lightly. "1 got rid of mine withCayce."

As I turned to Halitosis, he finally bade me good-night"Don't sleep too late," he said cheerily. "Cayce said mind andbody develop from conscious stimulation of same."

I wondered what Cayce had to say about what-best-friends-won't-tell-you. "The condition of halitosis," hesaid, "is produced from the stomach and from the throat andlarynx. In the blood supply, in the lungs proper, the bodydoes not receive sufficient carbon. Hence the whole body isunder strain at times and this interferes with the blood supplyhaving sufficient properties to supply the organs in their func-tioning and in keeping coagulation effective in the system,where organs use the force and energy in their functioning.Hence, non-elimination often shows and through this samecondition brings much of the condition exhibited in the intes-tines and stomach of the catarrhal condition."

I had always thought of halitosis as something pertainingsimply to the mouth, and here was Cayce again insisting thatthe body functioned as a unit, malfunctioning where outercircumstances and inner conditions combined to provoke aweakness.

The cure conformed with Cayce's belief of over-all tough-ening. "First take that which will give an incentive for cor-rection in the body through the digestive organs, as well asthrough the mental reaction in the system." But there had tobe other incentives. "Unless the body desires to improve it-self, it will continue to enjoy poor health." The subject was alongtime hypochondriac.

Elsewhere, he was more specific. "Get rid of bad breath bymaking better conditions in the eliminations. Take Glyco-Thymoline as an intestinal antiseptic, two. three times a dayput six drops of Glyco-Thymoline in the drinking water.

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"This is a condition of poisons being thrown off into thelungs [into the body forces] from the changing in cellular ac-tivity of lymph forces that become fecal."

Hypochondria was something Cayce dealt with con-stantly, but he didn't give out placebos or coddle anyone.And though some doctors, without knowing his work, insistedthat many of his cures came through the power of suggestion,they themselves acknowledged they had rarely, if ever, curedanybody with similar suggestion.

To Cayce, there was no incurable ailment; the patient hadto be ready, and the therapist knowledgeable. He was famil-iar with incurable migraine headaches, and where manythought these the result of a nervous, tense disposition, Caycenoted this was again only the symptom, not the cause.

But even a Cayce could do little with long-sufferers whoclung desperately to their illnesses, fancied or otherwise. Ear-lier that very day I had a long talk with a friend of forty-fiveor so who had complained proudly, I suspected, of migraineheadaches for years. Ever since I had known her, she hadused them as an excuse for long periods of bedrest, with hertelephone off the receiver, and a cluster of pillboxes on hernight table.

Recovered periodically from an attack, she would closeher eyes and sigh, "I don't see how I can ever go through an-other one." Then she would look up and say brightly,"They're incurable, don't you know, and nobody knows whatcauses them—nobody."

According to the black book, my migraine friend waswrong. Cayce seemed to know all about migraines, even tothe sage advice, "In the activities mentally, keep optimistic,even when everything goes wrong."

There were several migraine cases, and all, I noted,stemmed not from pressures within the head, but the abdomi-nal area. "Most migraine headaches, as in this case," Caycesaid, "begin from congestions in the colon. These poisonscause toxic conditions which make pressures on the sympa-thetic nerve centers and on the cerebrospinal system. Andthese pressures cause the violent headaches, and almost irra-tional activities at times. These should respond to colonic irri-gations. But first, we would X-ray the colon and find areasin the ascending and transverse colon where there are fecalforces that are as cakes."

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I wondered if this was what was bothering my lady friend,and whether Cayce's remedy would help.

"There will be required several full colonic irrigations,using salt and soda as purifiers for the colon; and we will findthat these conditions will be released. The first cleansing solu-tion should have two level teaspoonfuls of salt and one levelteaspoonful of soda to the gallon of water, body-temperature.Also in the rinse-water, body-temperature, have at least twotablespoonfuls of Glyco-Thymoline to the quart and a half ofwater."

Additionally, in his mass attack on dis-ease, Cayce recom-mended the use of a radioactive appliance, along with anhour of meditation for self-analysis. "Keep the attachmentplates very clean, polishing them with the emery paper eachtime before attaching to the ankle and the wrist, and polish-ing them each time when taking them off."

He also recommended osteopathic adjustments to relax theneck area, and in the sixth dorsal, the midback; and in thelower back, the lumbar axis. "Do these," Cayce said, "and weshould bring help for this body."

This particular migraine sufferer reminded me of myfriend. She just wouldn't recognize the possibility of a cure.

"Is any of this trouble due to allergy?" she asked.

I could almost see Cayce shrug in his sleep. "Some of it isdue to allergy, but what is allergy? These are the effects ofthe imagination upon any influences that may react upon theolfactory or the sympathetic nerves. If we will cleanse thesystem as we find, we should bring better conditions."

The subject apparently couldn't believe that those terribleracking pains in his head came from another part of theanatomy. "What mental factor," he persisted, "is responsiblefor the disturbance to the subject's head?"

Cayce was adamant "Those pressures, as indicated, be-tween sympathetic and cerebrospinal system, and these arisefrom condition in the colon. X-ray the colon, and you'll findit"

I made a mental note to Xerox the Migraine pages andpresent them to my friend the next time she proudly invokedher own incurable migraine. It might at least quiet her.

I was about to close the black book when a nipping pagestopped me. Menstruation. As one twice-married, I had expe-rienced the reflected agonies of woman's periodic cramps and

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headaches until I felt somehow guilty that I was not similarlyoppressed. Therefore, I read with more than normal curiositywhat Cayce had to say.

"Please explain fully the reason for cramps at menstrua-tion?" a sufferer asked.

"Contraction of the uterus," the admirably concise Caycereplied. "And this is caused by the muscular forces that sup-ply nourishment to the ovarian channels and the Fallopiantubes. Hence, have those osteopathic relaxations and the gen-eral body-building conditions indicated, that would be neces-sary for correction."

This didn't seem at all difficult, once the woman concernedtook the vitamin and iron supplements needed to balance outa diet deficiency.

Now came the second of the monsters—menstrual head-aches. How many hapless males had suffered through these!

"Why are there headaches at the time of my monthly pe-riod?" a forty-year-old female queried.

Cayce likened the cause to that of the migraines. "Theseare part of the clogging that is a part of the general eliminat-ing system. There are channels or outlets for the elminatingof poisons, that is, used energies, where there is the effect ofthe activity of the circulation upon foreign forces taken inbreath, taken in dust, taken in particles of food or those ac-tivities which come from such as these—from odors or thelike. These all, by segregating of same in system, produceforces necessary to be eliminated. We eliminate principallythrough the activity of the lungs, of course, and the perspira-tory system, the alimentary canal, and the kidneys. Then, asin the case of women, as here, we find that such periods ofthe menstrual flow cause congestion in certain areas until theflow is begun, or until there is the beginning of the let-up ofsame. This then, clogs some portions of the system. Theheadaches are the signs or warnings that eliminations are notbeing properly cared for. Most of this, in this body, comesfrom the alimentary canal and conditions that exist in por-tions of the colon itself, as to produce a pressure upon thosecenters affected from such periods. Hence the suggestion forthe osteopathic corrections, which aid but which do not elim-inate all of those conditions which are as accumulationsthrough portions of the colon. Consequently, the colonic irri-gations are necessary occasionally, as well as the general hy-drotherapy and massage."

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Cayce apparently felt his subject needed more than physi-cal advice, for he counseled, "Keep the mental attitude of auseful, purposeful life, using the abilities to be helpful to oth-ers." In other words, stop <»mplaining!

With some regret I put the black book away. But I did notforget it, not completely. A month later, my lady friend withthe migraines phoned to complain about her inexplicable, in-curable headaches. I suggested she would perhaps be inter-ested in reading what Cayce had to say about migraine cure.

She had read about Cayce and had been duly impressed bythe reports of his wizardry. But now she seemed strangely re-served and skeptical.

"Cayce," I pushed on, "said migraine could be cured if thesufferer cleaned himself out, got osteopathic adjustments ofthe spine, and improved general mental attitude. Would youcare to see his report?"

The long-sufferer drew in her breath sharply.

"How ridiculous," she cried. "Nobody can cure migraine,nobody."

As she rang off, I recalled a line from the black bookWhat was it Cayce had said? Oh, yes, here it was: "For thatbuilded, that held in the mental image of one, becomes thecondition."

And so it was.

In Cayce-land, another way of saying Virginia Beach,Cayce home remedies were as common as saying hello. Eventhe Geologist, in the midst of his earth changes, was familiarwith some. "Every time the kids get pinworms, my wifegrates some raw cabbage and feeds it to them, for breakfast,lunch, and dinner. By bedtime, or the next morning, the pin-worms are gone." The cabbage was all they took that day ex-cept for tea, also recommended.

"Cayce," the Geologist observed, "said that one cabbageleaf killed a hundred thousand pinworms."

Pokeweed was another great favorite of Cayce's, and itwas used regularly by the faithful as a purifier. "Boil it up," aCayce follower said, "and it tastes better than spinach andkale, while doing the work of sulphur and molasses." Helaughed. "It's a funny thing, but at a meeting of the Virginiaagricultural association recently, they told everybody how togrow more corn by killing the surrounding pokeweed, andthe pokeweed will do you more good than the com evercould."

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Wherever I turned in Cayce-Iand somebody seemed to befollowing Cayce. In one household, I noticed that steamedleaf lettuce and sliced raw tomatoes were practically dinnerstaples. The tomatoes, a hostess advised, were the richest ofvegetables in vitamins. Edgar Cayce had said so. As for thelettuce, it was served only in the evening for a very good rea-son. "The effect is so immediately sedative that my husbandfalls asleep at the table."

I was inclined to treat this lightly, until I read elsewherethat doctors abroad had just discovered that lettuce had anarcotic effect, taken in quantity.

Many householders in the Tidewater belt around VirginiaBeach were familiar with Cayce table tips. "To lose weight,the easy way," a slimmed-down housewife reported, "merelytake a half-glass of Welch's natural grape juice a half-hourbefore each meal. It satisfies the body's craving for sugar, andwill break the habit of fattening desserts."

This housewife also fancied gelatin salads, with such rawvegetables as watercress, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots."The gelatin," she pointed out, "acts as a catalyst to increasenatural absorption of vitamins in vegetables. Cayce said thatwith the Knox gelatin the vitamin intake from the vegetableswas seven times what it would be ordinarily." Like myfriends in New Jersey, the housewife thumbed through theCayce black book for an explanation. "It isn't the vitamincontent in the gelatin," Cayce explained, "but its ability towork with the activities of the glands, causing the glands totake from that which is absorbed or digested the vitaminsthat would not be active, if there were not sufficient gelatin inthe body."

Oddly, even among oldsters who didn't look favorably toexercise, I found that the head and neck exercise had its con-verts. And the younger element had profited equally. TomHungerford, a middle-aged Chicago business executive, triedthe simple exercise because of his dissatisfaction with bifocalglasses just prescribed. His experience was so transformingthat he still marvels at it. "Though it seemed a bit odd thatsuch an exercise could have any effect on the eyes," he said,"1 decided I'd rather do anything than wear bifocals. So Itook them off and started the exercise." There followed a fixmonth period of hardly being able to see anything very wellwithout his glasses, but Hungerford, believing in Cayce, per-sisted. "Then, gradually," as he continued the exercises twice

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daily, "came a clearing, and better sight than I'd had sincemy teens." His testimonial was glowing indeed. "This was allfive years ago, and I have not worn any glasses since. I don'teven have a restriction on my driver's license anymore."

In his enthusiasm, he has given the exercise to nearly ahundred people. "Some said it would not work [and it didnot]; but it did work for an airline employee in Hawaii, andher mother. And it did work for a seventy-nine-year-old manin Las Vegas who was about to lose his driver's license, andwho, on last report, could read the morning paper without hisglasses." It not only helped vision, the enthusiastic Hunger-ford said, but cleared up the chronic sinus of one friend, andstopped the migraine headaches of another.

Like Cayce, latter-day disciple Hungerford has found that"that held in the mental image of one, becomes the condi-tion." For ultimately, he concluded: "It seems to boil downto the fact that for those who believe in it and do it regularly,it works—for the eyes and for other things as well."

Chapter Twelve

THE DREAM WORLD

For many, the dream world is more revealing than the worldof apparent reality. "In every man," Hugh Lynn Cayce onceobserved, "there exists a vast expanse, unfamiliar and unex-plored, which sometimes appears in the guise of an angel,other times a monster. This is man's unconscious mind, andthe language we call dreams."

Although little of Edgar Cayce's psychic power apparentlyhas rubbed off on the son, Hugh Lynn, as directed by hissleeping father, has carried on diligently with the A. R. E.research effort, establishing a dream seminar at VirginiaBeach, where psychiatrists and psychologists analyze dreamsthat the elder Cayce had casually interpreted in his sleep.

During his lifetime, Cayce gave six hundred psychic read-ings on dreams, some of the most notable his own. TheCayce dream readings dealt chiefly with the interpretations ofindividual dreams, but the symbols and suggestions he ad-vanced for using one's own dreams to advantage still apply.

Studying his father's dream readings, Hugh Lynn con-cluded that dreams are not only a doorway to the uncon-scious, but can be readily opened by anyone who can recallhis own dreams and wants to know what they mean.

From experience, the younger Cayce has discovered thatthis doorway is as available to the average person as a penciland pad at his bedside table. At first, on waking, he may notremember a single fragmentary dream, but in time his uncon-

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scious will get a prod from the waiting pencil and pad, andwill go to work for him, opening wide the possibilities of awhole new area of self-exploration. "Through his owndreams," Edgar Cayce stressed, "a person may gain more un-derstanding of those forces that go to make the real exist-ence—what it's all about and what it's good for—if the indi-vidual would but comprehend the conditions being mani-fested."

Dreams, of course, are a concomitant of sleep, and Cayce'sdescription of sleep gives ample indication that this hiatus inthe waking life of the individual is designed for more thanmere rest of mind and muscle. In sleep, the subconsciousmind, more powerful than the conscious, as hypnotism hasshown, reviews whatever has passed through the consciousmind, and distills in dreams whatever warnings or messages itfinds necessary.

"Sleep," observed the sleeping Cayce, "is that period whenthe soul takes stock of what it has acted upon, from one restperiod to another; drawing comparisons, as it were, thatmake for harmony, peace, joy, love, long-suffering, patience,brotherly love, and kindness—fruits of the spirit; or hate,harsh words, unkind thoughts and oppressions which arefruits of Satan. The soul dreaming either abhors what it haspassed through, or it enters into the joy of its Lord."

Edgar Cayce may very well have been the only living manwho ever used his own subconscious consciously to interpretthe dreams channeled through that subconscious. Through adesire to understand dreams of his own that remained vividlyin his consciousness, he began to take interest in thedreams of others.

In some dreams he saw an immediate symbology, whichantedated by years the symbology generally accepted by thepsychiatric profession. Back in January 1925, in perhaps theearliest dream for which he sought an interpretation, Caycevisioned a close associate and himself standing together in arocky area. There were many knots of people standingaround, but they were separated from him and other groupsby streams of running water. Incongruously, as dreams sooften seem, Edgar Cayce at this point saw a fish jump out ofthe water. He tried to catch it, but in the attempt the fish wasbroken into fragments and he set about to put the pieces to-gether.

All through that day and the next, the dream stayed with

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Cayce. It vaguely troubled him, made him uneasy. But thinkof it as he would, it didn't seem to suggest anything thatmade sense. Finally, he went into trance, and the suggestionwas put to him by his wife that he analyze and interpret thedream. The ever-present Gladys Davis was there to recordthe interpretation for posterity. Out of this dream came in-terpretations of symbols useful today to anyone with similardream images.

As Cayce said: "In the dream of water, with the sepa-rating of the acquaintances and the body, we find the mani-festation again of the subconscious forces, the water represent-ing the life, the living way, that separates those of every walkof life and exists about each entity or group, building thatwhich radiates in a spiritual sphere, the deeds done in thebody."

His explanation, with symbology now generally accepted,continued: "In the fish is the representation of Him who be-came the Living Way, the Water of Life, given for the heal-ing of the nations; in the breaking, in the separation therewill yet be brought the force that will again make this theLiving Way, the perfect representation of the force necessaryto give life to all."

As Cayce saw it, this dream came under the heading ofspiritual guidance. The fish, of course, symbolized Christ, analmost universal symbol, and water, life. Peace would yetcome out of war—yet war would come.

The dreams fell into four general headings. Some dealtwith the problems of the physical body, others with self-observation, psychic perception and spiritual guidance.

The most common dreams appear to stem from the bodyitself, the dream being the reaction to improper diet, lack ofexercise, faulty regimen—the body registering its protest withthe unconscious mind through the dream medium. One ofthese rather ordinary types of dreams was recorded on wak-ing by one of two brothers who had been counseled by Cayceto study their dreams. He had the pencil and pad handy, andafter writing the dream down, took it to Cayce.

"I dreamed my brother and I with our wives were out on aparty with B. B. I fell asleep at the table. We got home verylate. My brother left the car and walked home. He and Istopped to look at a bottle of milk that was marked 'undi>tilled milk.'"

To Cayce the message was plain. He interpreted it almost

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literally. It was a warning to the dreamer, Cayce said, that hisbody was suffering from late hours (asleep at the table) andirregular diet—undistilled milk obviously referring to impuremilk.

The brother was seen as more carefully disciplined—leaving the car and going on ahead, rather than taking thechance, apparently, of riding with somebody who had overlyimbibed. Seeing the milk also was a warning to change themilk supply. For in reply to a specific question about the partdealing with the milk, Cayce had stated, "Change from thepresent supply, for this shows adulterations in same."

Many dreams, as Cayce pointed out, dealt with self-study.They included wish fulfilment dreams, suppressions, symbolicconflicts between good and evil in our natures, and work orfamily problems. Often these dreams had a prophetic quality,and were couched in horrible imagery to underline the grav-ity of the warning. Time after time, Cayce unraveled the tan-gled threads of dreams, psychically interpreting situationssubsequently confirmed in ensuing developments.

One of the most provocative dreams was that of a busi-nessman in Florida, disturbed by the vivid reality of thedream, and a guilty conscience.

He had heard of Cayce through a neighbor, whose healthhad been aided by one of Cayce's distant readings, and wasdelighted that he wouldn't have to lift an arm to get help—just send the dream in with a request for an interpretation.

With meticulous detail, the dreamer, a married man withtwo children, described a nightmarish dream: "1 was standingin the backyard of my home—had my coat on. I felt some-thing inside the cloth on the cuff of my left-hand sleeve. Iworked it out, but it was fastened in the cloth and broke offas it came out, leaving part in. It proved to be a cocoon, andwhere broken a small black spider came out. The cocoon wasblack and left a great number of eggs—small ones—on mycoat sleeve, which I began to pull off. The spider grew fastand ran away, speaking plain English as it ran, but what I donot remember, except that it was saying something about itsmother. The next time I saw it, it was a large black spiderwhich I seemed to know was the same one grown up, almostas large as my fist—had a red spot on it, otherwise was adeep black.

"At this time it had gotten into my house and had built aweb all the way across the back inside the house and was

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comfortably watching me. I took a broom, knocked it downand out of the house, thinking I'd killed it, but it did moretalking at that time. The next time I saw it, it had built along web from the ground, on the outside of the house in thebackyard, near where I first got it out of my sleeve—and itwas running up toward the eave fast when it saw me. Icouldn't reach it but threw my straw hat in front of it andcut the web and the spider fell to the ground, talking again,and that time I hacked it to pieces with my knife."

Perhaps because of a boyish loathing of spiders, I was fas-cinated with this dream. I had stumbled across it, shortlyafter my own introduction to the Cayce readings, and won-dered what the psychoanalysts would make of it, and how itwould tally with Cayce's interpretation.

I copied the dream, and took it to a distinguished psy-choanalyst, who had studied with the first of the great dreammerchants—Sigmund Freud. I told him none of the particu-lars of the dream. It might have been dreamed yesterday orthe day before, for all he knew. I did not tell him that Caycehad already made an interpretation—in fact, made it somethirty-five years before.

The learned psychoanalyst studied the dream text care-fully, and then gave his analysis. The dreamer, he said, wasdestructively obsessed with the thought of breaking up hishome. His views of women, including his wife, had beenformed from a childhood resentment of his mother, and thistransference was behind the breakup—the web or cocoonbeing the nest or home, the spider the obvious home-breaker,himself.

After he finished, I showed him the Cayce reading. He hadheard vaguely of Cayce, and he read the Cayce interpretationwith interest, inasmuch as he accepted the psychic as havingbeen scientifically established. "In my work with Dr. Freud,"he said, "there were many examples of clairvoyant and pre-cognitive dreams. It even made a believer of Freud."

Cayce's report, intriguingly, tallied with that of the psy-choanalyst's, only Cayce's delved far more extensively—andprophetically—into the home situation. He clearly saw thedreamer straying from his marital vows and warned that con-tinuation of a clandestine relationship would ruin both homeand business.

Cayce's explanation of the dream was as explicit as thedream was cryptic: "In this dream, there is seen the symbolic

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conditions of those forces as are being enacted in the life ofthis body. And, as is seen, both the spider and the characterof same are as warnings to the body as respecting the rela-tions of others who would in this underhanded manner takeaway from the body those surroundings of the home—thatare in the manner of being taken—unless such a stand istaken. For, as is seen, the conditions are of the nature emble-matically shown by the relations of this body with this otherbody [the woman]; that its relations at first meant only thecasual conditions that might be turned to an account of good,in a social and financial manner; yet, as has been seen, therehas come the constant drain on the entity, not only in thepocket, but in the affections of the heart, and now suchthreaten the very foundations of the home; and, as seen,threaten to separate the body from the home and its sur-roundings; and unless the entity attacks this condition, cuttingsame out of the mind, the body, the relations, the conditions,there will come that condition as seen."

Cayce had no way of consciously knowing that the busi-nessman had entangled himself in a financial way with hissecretary, who had brought some shady backing into the busi-ness enterprise. Originally, as it developed, their relationshiphad been confined to business, but then had developed untilhe was, in fact, considering leaving his wife and family. Atthis point, as Cayce saw, there was still time to withdraw.And so Cayce viewed the dream as being of a warning na-ture, and so gave warning:

"Prepare self. Meet the conditions as a man, not as aweakling—and remember those duties that the body owesfirst to those to whom the sacred vows were given, and towhom the entity and body owes its position in every sense; aswell as the duty that is obligatory to the body or those towhom the entity, the body, should act in the sense of the de-fender, rather than bringing through such relations those darkUnderhanded sayings, as are seen, as said by that one whowould undermine, as well as are being said by those whom thebody may feel such relations are hidden from; yet these havegrown to such an extent as may present a menace to the veryheart and soul of the body of this entity." In other words, thewife, too, was aware of the situation. The reading closed withan injunction rare for Cayce: "Beware! Beware!"

As might almost be expected of one who had gotten him-self into this scrape, the businessman did not heed the warn-

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ing. He kept on with his secretary, and lost wife, home, fam-ily, and business.

However, following a divorce, he did many the otherwoman. He was now so impressed by Cayce's insight, thatwith his newfound wife he took himself to Virginia Beach toplace himself at the disposal of the mystic. Cayce could givehim no advice, except to profit by the mistakes of the firstmarriage. He started a new business in the North, consultedCayce regularly, and managed maritally and business-wise,until his death recently.

Long before the psychoanalysts, Cayce had discovered apsychic content to dreams, similar in prophetic insight to theseven-fat-years-and-seven-lean interpretation given the Phar-aoh's dream by Joseph and of the handwriting-on-the-wallclarification by the prophet Daniel.

The prophetic or precognitive dream might revolve aroundmundane things. As a matter of fact, Cayce, interpreting onesuch dream, warned the dreamer to get out of the stock mar-ket, and predicted an unprecedented stock market crash in afew months.

The forecast was made in April 1929; six months later—Black Friday, October 29, 1929, the market collapsed.

The dreamer, a Wall Street broker, had kept a daily recordof his dreams, in accordance with an advisory from Cayce.Each morning, Cayce interpreted the dreams that the manhad the night before. The dreamer listened closely, as a rule,because he had made a fortune buying and selling stocks withCayce.

On March 5, 1929, the Wall Streeter had his first dreamreflecting misgivings about the bull market. He jotted hisdream down on a night-table pad and phoned it into Cayce."Dreamed we should sell all our stocks including box stock[one considered very good]. I saw a bull following my wife,who was dressed in red."

Cayce took this bull right by the horns. "This is an impres-sion of a condition which is to come about, a downwardmovement of long duration, not allowing latitude for thosestocks considered very safe. Dispose of all, even box, greatchange to come."

The dreamer was apparently sensitizing his own subcon-scious channels for precognitive dreams by a conscious effortto remember them each morning. On April 6, a month after

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the first market dream, the broker had another provocativedream.

The dream was shorter, but considerably more complexthan the first "Dreamed a young man was blaming me formurder of a man. A gang asked, 'Is there anyone else in theworld who knows this?' I answered, 'K. Cornell.' Saw deadman. Gang started to administer poisonous hypodermicwhich had been used on dead man. I felt needle and expecteddeath."

The dreamer awoke, startled. And then fell back into atroubled sleep. By this time his dream apparatus was solinked up to his conscious that he dreamed his own interpre-tation of the dream. "This," he wrote, "represented fightgoing on in Reserve Board—stock stimulation."

That same day, Cayce prophetically clarified the dream:"There must surely come a break where there will be panicin the money centers, not only of Wall Street's activity, but aclosing of the boards in many other centers and a readjust-ment of the actual specie—higher and lower quotations tocontinue for several moons while adjustments are beingmade—then break."

What followed is history. After the October crash, ex-changes were closed in Wall Street and elsewhere. There wasa major adjustment in the specie—the United States and anumber of other countries going off the gold standard,

Cayce's interpretation of the symbolism involved in thefirst dream would now be generally accepted. The red dresswas obviously a danger warning, the bull a bull market, on itsway out. Ironically, the wife was on the way out, too, divorc-ing the dreamer shortly thereafter.

In the second dream, Cayce went along with the "gang"identified as the Federal Reserve. The hypodermic needle wasconstrued as a "hypo" for a sinking market The attack wason the dreamer's financial stability, and spelled his deathfinancially. The apparent reference to the well-known actress,Katharine Cornell, went unexplained. But certainly, Caycehad scored a bull's-eye.

Dreams of death are particularly disturbing to many. Butfor Cayce this was often a hopeful symbol. On June 23, 1925,a subject was so shaken by a dream that he could only write:"Dreamed I died."

Cayce was reassuring. "This is the manifestation of the

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birth of thought and mental development awakening in theindividual. This, then, is the awakening of the subconscious,as manifested in death of physical forces."

I must admit I was not always satisfied with Cayce's in-terpretations. A Virginia woman, of Anglo-Saxon heritage,was having a physical reading for a condition of obesity, hem-orrhoids, and a kidney disorder, when she threw in a re-quest for a dream interpretation. It had come to her in 1932,before Hitler's rise, and when things were relatively quiet onthe international scene. Looking back, it seemed rather evi-dential of the hard times Britain was soon to have.

The dream follows: "My husband and I seemed to be in alarge dwelling, and looking out toward the sky we saw largeblack circles floating through the air. We thought this verystrange, and soon discovered that the circles looked like blackauto tires or large truck tires. Suddenly, out of the sky a bigblack machine, resembling the large caterpillar machines usedduring the World War, came down to earth. We said we hadbetter get out of the place, for we realized it was the inten-tion of this machine to crush people to death. Too, we real-ized that it meant troublous times, so we tried to get out ofits way as quickly as possible. We walked down to the riverfront, and there saw a British ship tied up at the wharf.Someone said it had fired on the lone watchman while in hisoffice on the wharf, but found out later that the watchmanhad fired on the British ship—which seemed to please us verymuch. We realized there were troublous times in the making,and I was very much afraid. We walked further down thelong wharf, and saw many more British ships."

It seemed to me, looking back on what had happened upto and through World War II, that this was a plain warningof the division in England before the war, with WinstonChurchill the lone watchman, giving and taking cross firefrom his embattled British colleagues. Or could it be Britainstanding alone, resisting the destruction from the sky, includ-ing clusters of rockets and massive bombers, until that loneship, Britain, had become many British ships—many allies?

Cayce caught the difficulties Britain would be in, but hisexplanation was rather general. "This is a prophetic vision re-lating to those peoples that were mostly shown [the British],as to the straits to which those peoples would pass, are pass-ing. The fear that was felt would be the natural tendency,

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knowing and feeling the relationships of that land [Britain] tothe whole world, as related to the self's own associations.

"The conditions seen, as from whence the aid or powercame, as if from on high, in the form of circles that increasedas they ballooned in their action through the heavens, indicatethe way, character or manner this people would aid them-selves, in the appeal to the spiritual than to the power offorce that was implied by the act of the lone watchman."

Certainly, on reflection, it could be said that Churchill andBritain put their faith in God, but it seemed to me a pro-phecy about a war, dealing with a dream as detailed as thisone, should have been more specific as to what the upshot ofit all was going to be on earth.

I mentioned my dissatisfaction, or disappointment, to oneof the A R. E's dream experts, Everett Irion. He looked atme with obvious surprise.

"Don't you see? Cayce was looking at the broad side of itFor in the last analysis, it was the spirit of the English thatmade them hold out, when practically everybody else hadcollapsed before the Germans."

"But why," I asked, "were these people of obvious Englishbackground pleased in their dream to see a British ship firedupon?"

Irion shrugged. "I would have to know more about theirown frame of reference, and what these symbols meant tothem It could very well have been that the firing on the ship,say by Churchill, the lone watchman, conveyed the feelingthat the British Navy, then downgraded by the appeasers, wasto be jolted by this 'attack' into some recognition of the reali-ties of the situation. This would certainly have pleased anyAnglophile." He laughed. "I'm trying to reason this; Cayce ofcourse saw it intuitively, and certainly the intuitive shouldhave a better grasp of the subconscious."

If a dream was prophetic, was the foreseen event thenfixed? After a dream which was clearly precognitive, mater-ializing a year later when she walked into a room and sawthe same people and furnishings she had envisioned in sleep,Gladys Davis asked Cayce to explain how it was that dreamscame to fulfillment "Are such conditions set at the timedreamed of," she asked, "and why would one dream of anygiven condition?"

Cayce replied that the law of cause and effect was immuta-

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ble, that as "thought and purpose and aim and desire are setin motion by minds," the result is certain and fixed, andtherefore foreseeable. "For its end, then, has been set in thatHe, the Giver of the heavens and the earth and those thingstherein, has set the end thereof."

The dreamer had tuned into a particular cycle of activity,Cayce suggested, because of her interest in the people in-volved. "Dream is but attuning an individual mind to thoseindividual storehouses of experience that has been set in mo-tion. At times, there may be a perfect connection, at othersthere may be the static of interference by inability of coordi-nating the own thought to the experience or actuality or factset in motion." There were different reasons for differentdreams. 'Those experiences that are visioned are not only ashas been given to some, to be interpreters of the unseen, butto others as prophecy, to others healing, to others exhorta-tion, yet all are of the same spirit"

Considerable emphasis has been placed in the Cayce read-ings on the psychic content of our dreams. In fact, as HughLynn Cayce observed from his own study, the dream statemay be the safest, quickest way for most of us to becomeaware of extrasensory perception, an agency of our own sub-conscious. Telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, all seemcommonplace in the dream world; all they require is theproper interpretation. And Edgar Cayce was that interpreter.

In December 1926 a woman came to Cayce with a disturb-ing dream about a friend she had not seen in years. In herdream, her friend, Emmie, had committed suicide.

Cayce went into trance and explained that the dream wastelepathic rather than prophetic or literal. "Such conditionshad passed through this mind—or it had contemplated suchconditions. They have passed."

A check was made of Emmie, and it developed that shehad seriously contemplated suicide at one time. But the crisishad passed.

It was an odd dream, since the dreamer had apparentlytuned into a thought that had been dismissed and buriedaway, and which was no longer in the conscious circuit of theother's mind. How then had the dreamer reached out anddrawn in this information? It was real enigma, even grantingthat ESP was a reality. Cayce was asked to indicate how thistelepathic message had originated. His explanation may wellapply to all psychic dreams: "Other dreams there are, a

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correlation between mentalities or subconscious entities,wherein there has been attained, physically or mentally, acorrelation of individual ideas or mental expressions, thatbring from one subconscious to another actual existent condi-tions, cither direct or indirect, to be acted upon or that areever present" As Cayce pointed out, time was only an illu-sion at best. "Hence we find visions of the past, visions of thepresent, visions of the future. For the subconscious there isno past or future—all is present This would be well to re-member in much of the information as may be given throughsuch forces as these."

In the normal frame of reference, it was difficult to gaugethe source of some telepathic dreams. However, if Cayce wasinfallible, as some suggest, then certainly evidence can be ad-duced for the survival of not only life, but of life interestedin what it has left behind of friends and family on this terres-trial plane.

One dreamer, back in September 1926, reported to thesleeping Cayce: "My mother appeared to me. She said, T amalive.'"

Cayce, still somnolent cut in, "She is alive."

The dreamer appeared a little more shaken by the inter-ruption than by the dream, but bravely continued on. Hiamother had then enjoined in the dream, "Something is wrongwith your sister's leg or shoulder. She ought to see a doctorabout it"

Psychic researchers, crediting the psychic quality of thedream, might accept it as a dramatization of the dreamer'ssubconscious, rejecting it as evidence of a surviving spiritBut not Cayce. In advising the dreamer to heed the dreamwarning, he stressed: "The mother, through the entity's ownmind, is as the mother to all in the household. Warning, then,of conditions that may arise, and of conditions existentThen, warn the sister as regarding same."

The brother knew nothing of any physical difficulties hissister was having. He checked, without telling her about theCayce reading, and she mentioned, rather surprised, that herleg and shoulder were bothering her.

Mother—or perhaps the subconscious self, tuned to the sis-ter's subconscious—had known what it was talking aboutAnd so had Cayce.

The dream state, when body and mind are relatively quies-cent, is apparently the best channel for psychic messages.

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Some people, who have no apparent psychic ability, waking,become surprisingly attuned in the sleeping phase. At onepoint, the Cayce home in Virginia Beach was virtually adream laboratory, establishing precognition for even the mostdubious who followed the dream readings.

One young woman alone, in four years, had eight readings,analyzing more than three hundred dreams, a large numberof these foreshadowing precognitive experiences with remark-able precision.

On June 6, 1925, this married twenty-one-year-old wom-an's dream record visualized a nameless girl friend (obviouslyself) at a dinner table making violent love to an old friend.Cayce warned of a return to an old admirer, and severalyears later, a checkup disclosed, the dreamer broke up hermarriage to marry her admirer. The admirer then walked outon her, making the warning most apropos.

According to Cayce, virtually everything is dreamed beforeit happens, and so it was hardly a surprise to him that he wasable to anticipate through her dreams practically everythingof major account that was to happen to this woman in thenext thirty years.

On June 7, 1925, she had a perfectly wretched dream. Shedreamed of a weak-minded child, though she had no childrenat this time.

Cayce was never more prophetic, and tactful. "Any condi-tion," he stated, "is first dreamed before becoming reality."

It took a while for this dream to materialize, and thewoman may very well have forgotten it. Then one day, sometwenty-five years later, one of her children, now an adult, be-came a mental case.

There was a method to her dreaming. She kept a penciland pad at her bedside, and her dreams increasingly re-mained with her as she awakened. On July 18, 1925, she hada dream that her husband wasn't coming home any more. Ithardly required a Cayce to sense trouble ahead on this one,though he did convey the warning. Five years later her hus-band stopped coming home—to her home, anyway. Theywere divorced.

More and more, as she kept a dream record, the woman'sdreams seemed clearly to be prophetic. On December 27,1925, for instance, she dreamed that she and her sister wereat her mother's bedside. The mother was unconscious, and

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both the dreamer and her sister were sobbing, "Don't leaveus."

It was again an almost literal warning, this time of hermother's death.

Although her marriage appeared tranquil on the surface,there was obviously considerable suppressed material for thesubconscious to brood over. For on July 17, 1926, shedreamed explosively of her relationship with her husband.She saw herself traveling on a boat with him. It was raining,and a flash of lightning struck the boat. The boiler blew up.

To Cayce, this was again a clear warning of an impendingmarital blowup.

By this time, this young woman was becoming so clearlypsychic in the dream state that admirers of Cayce wonderedwhether they had not found a potential disciple in the youngmatron. On November 17, 1926, for instance, she saw hercousin being married. It was literal as all that Cayce readthe dream as precognitive. The cousin was married severalmonths later.

Cayce was for everybody dreaming. As a clue to people in-terested in evaluating their own dreams, he suggested that thedream could be typed by its very nature. He was asked once,by a subject, "Are my dreams ever significant of spiritualawakening?" and he replied in rhetoric a bit more diffusethan usual:

"As experienced by the entity, there are dreams and visionsand experiences. When only dreams [without any spiritualmessage] these too are significant, but rather of the physicalhealth. In visions where there are spiritual awakenings, theseare seen most often in symbols or signs. In training yourselfto interpret your visions, the expressions of eye, hand, mouth,posture, or the like must be understood in your own lan-guage. When these are then symbolic, know the awakening[of the spirit] is at hand."

The trouble with dream symbols, of course, was that theyvaried with the individual outlook. So as Hugh Lynn Caycehas so aptly pointed out, each individual to interpret his owndreams—in the absence of a Cayce—must realize that thesymbol for one intellect is not always the symbol for another.

Out of the Cayce dreamology, though, certain commonsymbols appear to have almost standard reference:

Water—source of life, spirit, unconscious; boat—voyage of

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life; fire—wrath, cleansing, destroying; dead leaves—body ex-crement or drosses; mud, mire, tangled weeds—needed purif-ication or cleansing; naked image—exposed, open to criti-cism; and fish—an almost universal symbol of Christ, Chris-tian, or spiritual food.

A person, identified or otherwise, often represents what thedreamer feels toward that person; clothing, the manner orway in which one person appears to another, usually thedreamer.

Different animals reflect some phase of self, as the individ-ual dreamer feels about that animal. If he thinks about thefox as being tricky, and then dreams of a fox, he may regardhimself deep down inside as being a rather shady person, andthis may indicate great inner conflicts of which his consciousmind knows nothing. Different races, groups, associations in-fluence or color the animal connotation. For the Hindu, orthose steeped in Yoga or Oriental culture, the dreamed snakeis both a symbol of wisdom and sex. The bull, for some, maysymbolize the sex glands, and hence sexual activity.

The Cayce "dream book" flows on. Self-revealing dreams,stemming as they do from wish fulfillment, suppressed de-sires, and other worries and conflicts, are replete with sym-bolism. A gorilla may represent man's lower animal nature; amadman, unrestrained anger; a ship's captain, the steadyhelmsman—the higher self, sound principles; a house whereone once lived, may relate to a traumatic experience there; arough road, the experiencing of harsh travails.

Often we are not up to directly facing the ugly side of ournatures, hence the protective symbolism that makes it possi-ble for dreams to be unpleasant without startling us intoblood-curdling nightmares.

The following dream, self-revealing in nature, was signifi-cantly obscure. The dreamer wrote it down carefully, notmissing a single detail in the transfer from pillow to pad: "Apoliceman was leading a man who had his two hands tied upacross his chest. The policeman led him up to the gallows,about which a great crowd of people were gathered. Just asthey were about to slip the noose over his head he slippeddown a long slide, the policeman clinging to him. The mancrawled desperately and speedily on his stomach, through themilling crowd, thus escaping the policeman."

The dreamer elaborated on the prisoner: "I could see hisblack nude form as he crawled very quickly along the

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ground. Finally, he came into a yard of a brickhouse, stillcrawling on his stomach very fast. He continued in this man-ner until he bumped his head on the brick wall of the house.This threw him backwards and stunned him. As he lay thereon his back, an old woman came out of the house and re-garded him. She started toward him and as she did so, theman stood up and the back of him suddenly appeared to meas a nude Negro, with an animal tail attached. He resembledboth a Negro and an animal."

The dreamer was a forty-eight-year-old woman, whose sonwas about to marry a Southern girl. She felt she had nostrong prejudices against Negroes, but had dwelt consciously,in view of the impending marriage, on the lynching problemin the South, some thirty years ago.

The Cayce dream reading made the dark figure, the Negrowho at the same time seemed an animal, a symbol which wasturned inward for an examination of the self—actually, thecenter of nearly every remembered dream. What the Negrorepresented to the woman was symbolic only in reflecting herown hidden attitudes, dramatically revealing the prejudicesshe was concealing from herself as well as others.

"In taking on the animal form," Cayce explained, "the en-tity sees in itself a still more dreaded condition. In the openingpart of the dream the entity sees the dark figure as someonebringing trouble to itself by its own doing. This truth escapesas it were from the mass criticism, and then is halted by thewall. As it stands up, the entity recognized the self—or thelower nature of self. The woman is admonished [in the dream]to study 'all the elements of truth': even those about selfwhich become 'troublesome' and 'obnoxious.' "

As it developed, the woman admitted she was strongly dis-turbed within herself by the thought of sexual relations be-tween blacks and whites and yet this feeling made her darklyashamed of herself, so that she herself, dream-wise, becamethe Negro she secretly deplored. Once acknowledging thetruth, she seemed more at ease about the problem, to thepoint, anyway, where she no longer dreamed about it

The Cayce readings revealed a certain consistency in theinherent symbolism of dreams since, in the dominant whiteAnglo-Saxon culture, the average person in the mainstreamof society—at work, school, or play—is exposed to prettymuch the same attitudes and outlooks, whether or not he ac-cepts them.

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The symbolism of the dark animal figure, conveying animpression of sinister, unbridled power, cropped up withstriking frequency in dreams analyzed by Cayce, and asCayce saw them—correctly, the psychoanalysts now tellus—the figures revealed an unfavorable side of the individ-ual, which the conscious blocked, and the unconscious ob-scured.

This might be an apparent prejudice, as with the womanwho dreamed of the Negro, or suppressed animalistic sexurges, or greed, bad temper, envy, anything obviously nega-tive impairing the individual's own regard for himself. Amiddle-aged woman brought a typically nightmarish dream toCayce. She was considerably agitated, for the dream hadbeen violent, and perhaps prophetic: "My husband, hismother, and I were living together in a house in New Jersey. Iheard much shooting and excitement All of the windows ofour house were open and it was raining and storming outside.We rushed to close and lock them. Some terrible wild manseemed to be running through the town shooting and causinggreat trouble, and the police were chasing him."

Cayce was able to reassure the woman. She had no stormto worry about, no fireworks, no explosive shooting. All theexcitement, all the pent-up storm was in her. She had a rottendisposition, and unless she learned to curb it, was headed fortrouble. Or as Cayce put it: "The large man, the bugaboo,that comes to the entity in these emblematical [symbolic] con-ditions here presented, and as seen in others, is in self andself's temper. See?"

She saw.

Because the symbols must be seen in the dreamer's ownperspective, he may interpret them better than anybody elseif he understands the symbology. Some symbology, of course,is general. As the house was the body in a Cayce dream read-ing, a burning house could be anger, or it could be the end ofa marriage, if the house burned down, as it would then beall-consuming. One dream can express many different things.A Norfolk housewife, interested in the work of the A R. E.,dreamed that her home was burning. All she saw left was thenumber, 912. She had had other precognitive dreams beforethat had materialized—a girl friend's divorce, a relative's get-ting in trouble with the police.

The day after her dream, she walked into a shop to pick

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up a dress and puzzled by the significance of the numerals,she related what she had dreamed.

The number caught the proprietor's ear. "What did you6ay those numerals were?"

"Nine-twelve," she repeated.

He checked through some papers, and then his eyes wid-ened. "Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?" he saidin an angry voice.

The girl shrugged, "What difference would it make?"

"What difference? I would have won two thousand dollars,it's the winning number."

She explained that she didn't know about such things.

"You were supposed to come in for that dress yesterday,"he said accusingly.

He threw the suit across the counter at her. "Next timeyou dream of three numerals, tell somebody about it."

Weeks later, studying up on dreams, the girl wonderedwhether the rest of it was prophetic, too. Her own marriagehad just gone up with the flaming house.

As interpreted by Cayce, many symbols were of an obviousnature, easy to adapt to dreams, generally. Missing a train orbus—hurry up to get life in order; barbed wire entanglementor rough highway—difficulties along the way; one shoe, apoor foundation; right turn, the correct course; left turn, thewrong; beaver, an industrious person or job; mud, scandal ordirty linen; rabbit, timidity or sex; a wall a barrier to newideas, lack of open-mindedness. In the same vein, repairingan old house indicated changing concepts, crossing a streamor river the beginning of a new venture.

A baby or child, generally, meant a new start, or if asso-ciated in the dreamer's conscious mind with problems, itcould signify small problems. In Norfolk, in a tavern knownas Gigi's, the proprietress, Mrs. Sally Coty, had been dream-ing precognitively ever since she could remember. But whenshe saw children in her dreams, it didn't mean anything crea-tive, it meant problems, small problems, because her childrenhad always represented small problems to her.

"I dream of a child, and the next day, I know I'm going tohave trouble, a little trouble—like the health authorities orthe liquor authorities coming in to complain about some-thing."

She tried to close off her dreams, but it wouldn't work.

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She, too, had had a dream about a number once, but it wasin New York City, when she had a store on MulberryStreet, and she knew what to do about it. She was in a stateof emotional strain when the dream came. She was going intoa hospital for major surgery, and had been told that her hos-pitalization insurance did not apply. She needed more than athousand dollars, and had nowhere to turn for the money Onthis particular night she had dreamed of a number—4-11-66—and was musing about it, when she looked outthrough the wmdow of her store onto the street. There,standing idly, where she had never seen him before, was aman named Charlie, a runner for the Italian lottery, whichwas big in the neighborhood.

She went to the door. "What are you doing out thereCharlie?"

"I have the day off," he said.

She took out three one-dollar bills. "Here," she said, "arethree numbers, will you play them in the lottery for me?" Sheconsidered his appearance a "sign."

The lottery was decided at the end of the week, and thiswas a Monday.

"I'll be back Thursday," Charlie said.

She didn't care to explain she was going into the hospital.Take it now," she insisted.He finally agreed.

"That weekend," the dreamer recalled, "my brotherphoned me at the hospital, and said, 'Charlie's looking foryou—he's got $1,500 for you.'" The numbers had comethrough.

While Cayce is gone, dreams live on at the A. R. E. Afterattending a dream seminar at Virginia Beach, a young mankept a record of his dreams, interpreting them according tohis own frame of reference and standard symbols mentionedby Cayce. What he did with one dream, apparently anyonecan do with his own dreams, perhaps opening up a newrealm of insight into one's life. The following dream was ana-lyzed months after the study project. The young man, in hisearly twenties, saw himself standing at the ocean, fishing. Thewater was clear but turbulent. Standing next to him on thesand was a small figure, a replica of himself, weeping Hislarger self caught a fish, an orange-hued flounder, and gave itto the smaller self, who promptly stopped crying. But theflounder flopped out of the smaller figure's hands, landing in

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a clump of bushes, and the small self began to cry again. Thedream's larger self poked through the bushes for the fish, butas he parted the foliage, discovered the fish being eaten bytwo animals, a white rabbit and a beaver. The beaver ran off,vanishing; the rabbit leaped into the ocean, swam about for awhile, then returned tired and bedraggled.

After writing down the dream, the young man studied eachsymbol separately, passing over some whose meaning was notreadily clear, then coming back to them in a day or two.After two days of intermittent study, he had compiled a listof symbols, relating each symbol to his own feeling about it,hoping in this way to find out what was stirring in his uncon-scious mind.

He began with ocean. "I have read that water means spiritor source of life, or the unconscious." Then:

Fishings—act of seeking in the spiritual realm.

A fish—something out of the spiritual realm.

The self (larger)—myself as I am now in the physical.

Smaller self—could this be my childhood? was I starvedor hungry in childhood? (sobbing over not get-ting the fish).

Crying—wanting something, stopped crying with fish.

Fish got away—lost something which started smaller selfcrying again.

Beaver—work like a beaver.

Rabbit—timid.

This was the first listing. Reworking his dream, the youngman began to form a discernible pattern:

Ocean—whatever the ocean stood for—spiritual sourceof life or the unconscious—it was beautifullyclear, but turbulent.

A fish—a fish was the symbol used by early Christians;could this mean Christ, or spiritual food?

The self (larger)—I seem to be seeking, or fishing, as Iam now doing in real life, for direction for mylife and solutions to my problems.

The self (smaller)—this isn't a child. It is an exact du-plicate of me. Can this be the part of me whichneeds spiritual food, small, undeveloped, a partof me that is crying out and is satisfied when

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given the fish? Maybe this is not my childhood(as first thought), but rather part of me as I amnow, which needs help.Fish got away—somehow my spiritual food is gettingaway.

Beaver—when I think of a beaver, I think of workMaybe this is my job.

The dream could not be properly analyzed without know-ing more of the young man's situation. He was working in afactory at the time, making parts for missiles, was troubledabout making munitions that might be destructive one day,and had taken to hanging out with bad company, using pro-fanity carelessly and drinking at bars after work Conse-quently, a bickering relationship had developed at home witha young wife.

In a very real sense, it then became apparent to the non-psychic dream interpreters, that the beaver (his work) wasactually eating up his spiritual food.

Like many essentially idealistic, puritanically schooledyoung Americans, he blocked out sex symbolism—and thesymbolism was rather obvious in the white rabbit He hadwritten subsequently that he had raised them as a boy."Sometimes I liked them. A lot of times it was hard worktaking care of them."

What he apparently meant, it developed from questioning,was that he was intrigued by the rabbit's sex habits, and hehad apparently learned something from watching them. Hissex attitude—the rabbit—could be consuming his spiritualfood—the fish.

Reviewing the dream, and the thought process connectedwith its interpretation, it would seem, offhand, a great deal ofbother for one dream. However, the dream, with its interpre-tation, did have something to do with reshaping the youngman's life. It got him thinking about himself, about the warn-ing he had apparently received, and he acted on it. He quithis job (the beaver ran away), and got another he consideredmore constructive.

He took stock of his marriage, the sex habits that endan-gered that marriage (the rabbit swam around for a while)and attempted to reform. Dreaming had awakened him, andperhaps saved his marriage.

Only recently—1965—the A. R. E. held its first seminar

THE DREAM WORLD "**

on dreams. It was supervised by Dr. W. Lindsay Jacob, aPittsburgh psychiatrist, who has helped patients by analyzingtheir dreams; and Dr. Herbert B. Puryear, a clinical psychol-ogist at Trinity University in San Antonio. Both had studiedthe Cayce dream readings, both found dreams an invaluablechannel for resolving the inner conflicts of the emotionallytorn. Just as Cayce had pointed out the relevance of alldreams, Dr. Puryear, too, observed, "No dream comes fromnowhere." The emotionally disturbed dreamed recurring] y ofbeing engulfed by water, or of violent accidents, or evenatomic attack; the last often characteristic of a broodingdepression bordering on the suicidal.

What Cayce had said about dreams forty or fifty years be-fore, science—and advanced science, at that—was now pos-tulating. "The physical, psychical, and spiritual are reflectedin different kinds of dreams," Dr. Jacob pointed out. Flyingsaucers, for instance, could mean something beyond our com-prehension, a wheel an expression of spirituality, a camel thesubconscious, an automobile the dreamer's own body; hishigher-self, a clergyman, judge, law officer, or an old manwith a white beard. They all had significance for the studentsof dreams.

About thirty persons of various ages joined in the dreamseminar. The young and eager seemed particularly with itSome college students, who had hitchhiked across the countryto participate, lyrically reported a series of dreams withindreams. This was a device, expert Everett Irion passed on, toapprise the subconscious of a psychic message, usually pre-cognitive. Other dreams revealed the students involved inego-releasing conflicts to better understand themselves. Thiswas the new generation that accepted the psychic as readilyas travel to the moon, and their enthusiastic openness appar-ently induced significant dreaming.

Much was learned in the seminar about dreaming. Whenthe dream was unpleasant, the subconscious would oftenblock off all dreaming. A youthful-appearing grandmother,who ordinarily dreamed regularly, suddenly could not re-member her dreams, no matter how many conscious sugges-tions she gave herself, or how diligently she put pad and pen-cil at her side. While others in the dream class cheerfully sataround and recalled their dreams, she had nothing to reportNevertheless, during the night, when each sleeping memberof the seminar was under personal observation, her eyeballs

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were seen moving under closed lids, a telltale sign of dream-ing. Just as the eyelids stopped quivering, she was awakened,so that her dreams would be fresh in her memory, but shecould only shake her head. She could remember nothing. Theclass good-naturedly accused her of blocking. Everett Irion,conducting the class, tried to get her to recall the last dreamsshe had, thinking they might provide a clue. Searching hermind, she finally recalled a fragmentary dream she hadshortly before the seminar began, a week previously. Andthen she remembered still another dream. Obviously, she hadbegun blocking, as soon as the seminar opened, not wantingto discuss her dreams with anybody, nor touch on a situationthat might have been stirring her subconscious. Only recently,she disclosed under group questioning, she had been goingthrough a bit of an emotional crisis. Her granddaughter, whohad been living with her for some time, had just been takenback by the mother, and the grandmother was heartsick andlonely. She was yearning for the child, so much so that shebroke into sobs just talking about it

The dreamer was a Mrs. Belva Hardy, a youngishmiddle-aged type, and a well-known teacher of music. Shewas interested in dreams, generally, and quite willing to ex-plore her own with me. She remembered both dreams wellnow. The most significant vision came the night she checkedinto A. R. E. headquarters for the dream seminar. She calledit the Porpoise Dream. Two porpoises were playing in thewater, in a setting similar to the Marine Land of the Pacific.They were leaping and gamboling about and talking togetherthey were extremely happy. Meanwhile, Belva was standingon the bank, watching. Suddenly somebody came by with astraw hat turned upside down—passed the hat in front of herand asked her to give some food to the porpoise. Shedropped three kernels of corn into the hat and said, "Be sureto bring it back because I don't have much."

Even to a neophyte, the meaning seemed apparent. Evi-dently, Belva's dream subconscious had been triggered by theapproaching dream conference, and her subconscious haddredged up the problem. It was obvious who the porpoiseswere, and she, Belva, was on the sidelines.

Next, Belva dredged up her fragmentary dream: "A youngcouple is silhouetted some distance from me. The young ladyis dressed m blue. The dream said, 'Don't bother to wrifc this

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one down—there is more coming.'" She was already block-ing.

After this fragment, Belva went dreamless four straightnights. Everett Irion pointed out that if dream material is ig-nored or suppressed, the individual does not dream for awhile.

In some detail, Irion had clarified the symbology of thePorpoise Dream. The Pacific signified peace; corn was thehighest spiritual food, the three kernels representing Father,Son, Holy Ghost, and when Belva said, "Be sure to bring itback," this very clearly meant that she wanted the child back.

The obvious interpretation had also struck her. The twoporpoises were her daughter and granddaughter. Their re-union was an extremely happy one, and they were enjoyingeach other. She should cut her own ties, and bless the situa-tion. This would free her mind, including the distracted sub-conscious, and prepare her for whatever was best for her.

Belva got the message. She sat down and prayed, and herprayers were for what was best for the child. Permeatinggood will, she subsequently visited her daughter and the childin California. The daughter reacted with similar warmth andunderstanding. When the conversation got around to thechild's schooling, the daughter suggested, surprisingly, thatthe girl might do better in an Eastern school. "I had brokenmy hold on the child," Belva observed, "and now I found hercoming back to me—this time for her own good and not tofill my own little needs." At last report, the child was withthe grandmother again, and Belva was dreaming good soliddreams every night She had nothing to keep from herself.

AT LAST, ATLAN.TIS

Just as man has gazed fascinated into the sea, atavisticaliypeering into his past, so has he engaged in a resdess quest forAdantis. In the ocean, said naturalist Rachel Carson, hefound from whence he had sprung, and in Adantis, a dreamof a superior, culture, prefacing the brief few thousand yeanof recorded history with which he measures his meager prog-ress.

Since Plato first described the Lost Continent of the Atlan-tic twenty-five hundred years ago, more than two thousandbooks have been written about a legendary land that nobodyhas seea There have been books to prove Adantis, books todisprove it. Some have been by erudite scientists, others bydreamers in search of a Shangri-La.

While oceanographers, geologists, and ordinary sea-diverehave been fanning out over the Adantic for centuries in theunderwater quest, Edgar Cayce merely went to sleep, andsaw visions of a magic continent which went through threeperiods of breakup, the last some eleven or twelve thousandyears ago.

Waking, Cayce didn't know anything about lost continentsand when his first mention of Adantis was called to his atten-tion, he rubbed his eyes and said in that gende way of his,"Now I wonder where that came from, and if there's any-thing to it?"

At various times, Cayce's Adantis, just like Plato's Adantis,

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AT LAST, ATLANTIS 22J

boasted a technical culture, which eventually deteriorated toa point where the last denizens were victims of their own de-structiveness.

Cayce's readings on Atlantis, continuing for a span oftwenty years, were given before the first atom bomb wastouched off, before it was known that man finally did havethe power to blast himself back to the Dark Ages, or turn theclock back to the Stone Age and life in a cave by bleakcampfire. Could it be that it had all happened before?

"If we believe in evolution," the Geologist pointed out,"then we must believe in some sort of superior society exist-ing before our skimpy recorded history, since obviously wehaven't come very far since the time of Moses, Plato, Aris-totle, or Christ."

There was an anthropological gap, from about seven thou-sand to thirty thousand years ago, when anything could havebeen possible for all we know. Whole cities and successionsof cities had been buried before, as many different layers ofTroy revealed—so why not a whole country or continent?From magnetic grains, from fossil remains, from layers ofearth crust, we know the earth goes back millions of years,and yet we have no certain knowledge of what happened onlyyesterday, geologically. Had some cataclysm, destroying mostor nearly all of humanity, also destroyed the records of thathumanity? And could it not happen again, at presumably anytime, now that man had the weapons of his own destructionat hand? Or perhaps the tilt of the global axis, sending bil-lions of tons of melting glacial ice down on us from the Pole,would suffice?

Cayce's and Plato's Atlantis corresponded in many details,though Cayce had never read the two dialogues, in which thegreatest mind of antiquity passed on the story of the islandempire beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

Cayce had seen three periods of destruction, the first twoabout 15,600 B.C., when the mainland was divided into is-lands, and the last about 10,000 B.C., when a group of threelarge islands, along with some lesser, were swallowed up ov-ernight, as Plato had suggested.

Though the precise oudines of Adantis, before its breakupinto the islands mentioned by Plato, were never given in aCayce reading, he indicated that it extended from what isnow the Sargasso Sea area in the west to the Azores in the

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east, and compared its size to "that of Europe, including Asiain Europe; not Asia, but Asia in Europe."

Before the last holocaust, waves of Atlanteans had, accord-ing to Cayce, dispersed in all directions, accounting for thesuperior, and often strangely familiar cultures, in such diverseareas as Egypt, Peru, Mexico, Central America, and in ourNew Mexico and Colorado, where they presumably became acolony of mound-dwellers.

Before the final breakup, which centered near the Bahamas,the culture of this superior people, eroded by greed and lust,had disintegrated to a point, Cayce said, where their destruc-tion, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah after them was inevi-table.

Cayce even gives us a picture of the destruction, whichPlato doesn't. "With the continued disregard of those thatwere keeping all those laws as applicable to the Sons of God,man brought in the destructive forces that combined withthose natural resources of the gases, of the electrical forces,that made the first of the eruptions that awoke from thedepth of the slow-cooling earth, and that portion now nearwhat would be termed the Sargasso Sea first went into thedepths."

Cayce says cryptically that archives dealing with the exist-ence of Atlantis, concealed in three areas of the world, willeventually be revealed: one of these areas is Egypt, where theancient Egyptian priests assured the Greek lawmaker Solon,the source of the Plato tale, that they had the account fullypreserved.

Of course, since Plato's story has been discounted throughthe centuries, even his reference to a continent—clearlyNorth America—beyond the Atlantean islands being disre-garded as part of an allegorical myth, it is hardly likely thatthe same breed of historians and scientists would heed an un-lettered clairvoyant dipping into his subconscious to elaborateon one of the most engrossing tales ever told.

Even the Geologist, gradually committed to Cayce and hiswonders, found it hard to swallow Atlantis at first. But afterdelving into the scientific research of others, he began hisown research, taking him at one point to the waters aroundB.mmi, where Cayce forecast that the first of the sunkenremnants of Atlantis would dramatically reappear. As theOeologist investigated, the scientific evidence began piling up.

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If Cayce was right in his clairvoyant medical cures, whyshouldn't he be right about other things? The information wascertainly coming out of the same bottle, so to speak.

Cayce had observed that the lowlands of the Continent ofAtlantis, before this presumed breakup into islands, paralleledthe present Atlantic seaboard, and the Geologist pointed outthat ocean troughs parallel to New England, seventy to ahundred miles at sea, showed from their ancient sedimenta-tion that they had once been above surface. And what of themid-Atlantic submarine ridge, spectacularly rising in spots, asit may once have dropped? "Sedimentary material from adepth of two miles on the ridge, revealed the exclusive pres-ence of fresh water plants," the Geologist noted, "evidencethat this section of the ridge was once above sea level."

Curiously, as recently as 1966, there was some confirma-tion of a gently sloping plane extending into the North Atlan-tic, and scientists at the Oceanographic Institute at WoodsHole, Massachusetts, theorized it was a likely abode of theearliest humans in this continental area some twenty thou-sand years ago. However, oriented as they were, they visual-ized this slope as easternmost North America, not western-most Atlantis.

To some, the Azores, eight hundred miles due west of Por-tugal, represent the eastern marches of the last of the Atlan-tean islands. And they have been acting up lately, just astheir counterparts may have once before.

Recent activity in the nine islands of the Azores is a strik-ing reflection of the instability that may have dropped Atlan-tis in the Atlantic thousands of years ago. Quiet for centuries,the Azores began erupting in 1957, curiously close to theyear 1958, which Cayce saw as the forty-year beginning oflarge-scale breakups around the globe.

As perhaps with Atlantis, the 1957 quakes and volcaniceruptions created migratory waves, as they broke up islandsand destroyed thousands of homes. In February of 1964,there was another four days of nightmare quakes, and thou-sands of refugees fled the isle of Sao Jorge, hard hit by athousand tremors.

The '57 quake recalled early scenes described by Cayce.The Geologist picked up a report by one of the refugees, Ber-nadette Vieira, who with her family fled Sao Jorge and settledin Santa Clara, California.

Bemadette's experience was most graphic: "She ranscreaming down the village street as a volcanic island arosefrom the sea between Sao Jorge and nearby Fayal Island.

"On that day the earth shook, and stone-walled houses top-pled. Hundreds of persons were killed. Hot ashes fell likerain. Crops were ruined, and livestock was killed.

"The volcanic island sank back into the sea as quickly as ithad risen."

In the '64 quake, panicky residents feared the tremorsmight activate two dormant volcanoes on either tip of SaoJorge. "The ground is trembling almost continuously," aPortuguese news agency reported, "the people of Sao Jorgefeel like shipwrecks on a raft." In one community of thou-sands, only three houses were left standing. Telephone andtelegraph communications were cut. The air smoldered withsulphur fumes. A hastily assembled flotilla carried doctors,ambulances and blood plasma to the stricken island in re-sponse to the SOS:

"Important damages. Many ruins. Request all navigationavailable in proximity proceed southern coast this island ren-der assistance."

There was more: "If the volcanoes erupt," the Geologistread aloud, "they could split the island and cause it to crum-ple into the sea." The Geologist brought out a map, showinghow the Azores archipelago, strangely scattered in midocean,stretched for four hundred miles, with its chain of craggycoastlines, volcanic mountains, crystal-clear crater lakes andlush subtropical vegetation.

Whatever a mainland had in fresh water, fauna and flora,these islands surrounded by seawater, also had, plus a legacyof volcanic instability.

"Could it really be," I asked, dubiously pointing to theloop of rocky isles, "that this was once Atlantis?"

The Geologist shrugged. "Why not? What's left is due westof the Pillars of Hercules, where Plato fixed the original is-lands. Geologically, where any phenomenon occurs in thepresent, it also occurred in the past, as part of normal evolu-tionary change. All that had to vary was the degree ofchange. Instability is an obvious feature of that area."

The Azores have caught the fancy of even the Russians."In 1963," the Geologist pointed out, "a leading Russian geo-logist. Dr. Maria Klionova, reported to the Academy of Sci-ence of the USSR that rocks had been dredged up from

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depths of 6600 feet, sixty miles north of the Azores, whichgave evidence of having been exposed to the atmosphere atapproximately 15,000 B.C.—just about the time Cayce fixedfor the breakup of the Atlantean mainland."

Similar evidence had turned up long before. "In 1898," theGeologist said solemnly, "the crew of a ship laying underwa-ter cable near the Azores was grappling for a line in watertwo miles deep. As the grappling hooks scraped the oceanbottom, they turned up unfamiliar particles of lava, whichfrom its peculiar glassy structure could only have solidified inthe open air."

Reflecting the instability of the ocean bed in this area, aBritish freighter reported sighting a steaming volcanic islandjust south of the Azores before the turn of the century, butthe island had disappeared before geologists could get back toit. On a smaller scale than Atlantis, land has dramaticallyvanished in various parts of the world. "In 1883," the Geolo-gist noted, "the island of Krakatoa, near Sumatra, blew upwith a loss of thousands of lives. In 1916, Falcon Island, eastof Australia, disappeared without a trace, reappeared in1923, then disappeared in 1949."

The floor of the ocean often rears up violently. "After a1960 earthquake had leveled the Moroccan town of Agadir,"the Geologist noted, "soundings revealed that nine milesoffshore the sea bottom had buckled up 3300 feet in onegreat convulsive thrust" In August 1923 the Western UnionCompany, searching for a displaced cable, discovered that theAtlantic floor had risen two miles at one point since the lastsoundings twenty-five years before.

Cayce's Atlantis broke up into five islands, the three largestbeing Poseidia, Aryan, and Og. His most striking predictionconcerned Poseidia. For in June 1940, as noted by the Geo-logist, he made a forecast that should soon materialize, if hewas clairvoyantly on the beam.

"And Poseidia," he said, "will be among the first portionsof Atlantis to rise again. Expect it in sixty-eight and sixty-nine ['68 and '69]. Not so far away."

And where to expect it? The Geologist had the clue in stillanother Cayce reading. "There are some protruding portionsthat must have at one time or another been a portion of thisgreat Atlantean continent The British West Indies or the Ba-hamas, and a portion of the same that may be seen in thepresent, if a geological survey would be made, notably in the

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Gulf Stream through this vicinity, these [portions] may yet bedetermined."

Eagerly the Geologist combed through scientific literatureon the geology beneath the Gulf Stream. Rather wide-eyed,he read of a submerged stream valley 2400 feet below thewaves between Florida and the Bahamas, of giant sinkholessubmerged six hundred to nine hundred feet off the tip ofFlorida, of mysterious bumps picked up by depth sounders inthe Straits of Florida. The bumps appeared about the size ofhomes; only these "houses," if they may be called that, aretwo thousand feet below on the ocean floor. Geology ap-peared to be getting ready for Atlantis. "Before Cayce's deathin 1945," the Geologist said, "the scientific assumption wasthat the ocean basins were huge bathtubs into which detritus[debris from disintegrating rock] was sluiced for many eons.However, through a new instrument, a sub-bottom depth pro-filer, it has been discovered that in great areas, the accumula-tion of sediment is remarkably small, especially on portionsof the ridges, as would happen if there had been continentsvery recently where the ocean floor is now."

Current research confirms relatively recent sinkings oflarge land areas near Florida and the Bahamas. The NationalFisherman featured an article, "Huge Sunken Piece of Flo-rida Identified South of the Keys," referring to a 1300 squaremile plateau submerged south of the Florida Keys. GeologistL. S. Kornicker described a submerged chain of islands andlagoonal basin ten miles south of Bimini in the Bahamas, atdepths of forty to fifty feet Whatever happened occurred atthe approximate time of the Atlantis debacle. "Kornickersuggests," the Geologist said in a bemused voice, "that thefeatures of the submerged area were formed eight thousandor more years ago when sea-level was about forty-eight feetbelow its present level."

With some excitement the Geologist stumbled upon an ob-scure Cayce reading discussing how the Atlanteans con-structed giant laser-like crystals for power plants. "The re-cords of the manners of the construction of same," he read,"are in the sunken portions of Atlantis, where a portion ofthe temples may yet be discovered, under the slime of ages ofseawater, near what is known as Bimini, off the coast of Flor-ida."

Columbus reading about the continent beyond the Pillarsof Hercules could not have been more excited than the Geo-

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logist reading about Bimini, presumably a residual of thewestern perimeter of Atlantis. There was no rest now, untilthe Geologist could organize an underwater party to makesoundings off Bimini. After extensive preparation, he foundhimself flying sixty miles due east from Miami to Bimini. Thepilot of his seaplane, learning of the mission, excitedly toldhim of large clumps of rock visible on his daily run at a cer-tain angle. From the pilot, the expedition got the general lo-cation of two of the more conspicuous clumps. Scuba-divingin the crystal, azure-blue waters north of Bimini they cameupon a scattered pile of lime-encrusted granite boulders, eachabout five to fifteen tons. Their spirits soared, but they fellagain. The rocks were rough-hewn and looked as though theyhad come from a quarry. And they had. A ship carryinggranite ballast had been driven on the shoals and wreckedthirty years before.

But our scientists weren't that easily discouraged. Theychanged course, tacking in thirty-five-foot depths southeast ofBimini, and after two fruitless days, they saw on its side inthe coral sea a beautiful round white pillar about sixteen feetlong. Could this be one of the pillars of the sunken templesof Atlantis, suddenly exposed in relatively shallow water byan upward thrust of the sea-floor? Examination of a pillarfragment revealed that it was of purest marble. But it stillcould have been washed off the hulk of a battered freighter.The Geologist realized—reluctantly—that it would take an-other expedition, armed with heavy salvage equipment, toraise the column and determine its origin. Still, the partymade a number of depth-borings, which the Geologist tanta-lizingly refuses to discuss until their message can be clarified,perhaps in the very near future, when Poseidia, or some partof it, would rise again—Cayceites hoped.

Meanwhile, what evidence was there that a highly civilizedman lived from 7500 to 30,000 years ago, dispersing overwide areas from a central base? In the Pueblo Valley, south-east of Mexico City, the Mexican anthropologist Juan Arme-nia Camacho turned up pieces of bone decorated with carvedfigures, estimated at thirty thousand years. "These bits ofbone," the Geologist stressed, "indicate that civilized manwas in the New World much before anybody believed, exceptfor Cayce, who put the flesh where Camacho put the bones."

Mexico is alive with a tradition of age-old visitations by agifted people from the East; this led the pyramid-building

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Aztecs to be on the lookout for a returning White God, andmade them vulnerable to the blandishments of Spanish Con-quistador Hernando Cortez and his rapacious horde.

Almost every native group in Central and North Americahave inherited stories of ancient floods, with formidable land-ing parties arriving from the East, In Mexican lore, the Geol-ogist pointed out, "there is a record of an early landing froma land called Aztlan, apparently an ancient variation of At-lantis. The Mayan Book of Chilan Balam, a record of thisadvanced culture, gives a detailed account of a great catas-trophe to the East The Delaware, Sioux, and Iroquois tribeshave a legacy of a great flood, and the almost extinct Man-dan Indian of Missouri held special memorial services abouta great war canoe, symbolizing the ark which traditionallybrought their forebears from the East during a Great Flood."

The press was always from the East "Curiously," the Geol-ogist said, "none of these visitors or invaders were from theWest, always the East, always the Atlantic." He looked overat me innocently. "Have you heard of the Welsh legend inwhich a small bird rides on the back of a larger one as itattains great height, and then flies higher when the larger birdbecomes tired?"

I shook my head.

"Well, the Iroquois have exactly the same folk tale."

The Geologist had assembled many indications of a centralsource of civilization on both sides of the Atlantic—and At-lantis. "We all know about the great pyramids of Egypt," hesaid, "but how many know that the archeologists have beendigging up even more extensive pyramids of similar design inMexico?"

He plucked from his bulging files a commentary of ancientcivilizations in the Americas, from the New York Times inDecember 1961, author William Luce noting: "Thirty-twomiles from Mexico City is an archeological site so old thateven the Aztecs knew virtually nothing about it This is Teo-tihuacan, the site of the Pyramid of the Sun. A ruin five hun-dred years before the arrival of Cortez, the pyramid has beenreconstructed into a structure as tall as a twenty-story sky-scraper. The 216-foot climb to its top is a fine way to end atour of ancient Mexico. . . . Never excelled in Mexico as ar-chitects and engineers, the Teotihuacans also were mastersculptors and painters."

The author posed the great enigma. "The ruins raise as

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many questions as they answer. Who the people were whobuilt them, where they came from, why they built them andwhat happened to them are questions that will be luringscholars and tourists for some time."

The Geologist had marshaled his evidence. On both sidesof the Atlantic were almost identical calendars more accuratethan those developed in Europe for hundreds of years. "Theaccuracy of the mathematical calculations, as reflected inboth the architecture and astronomy," the Geologist pointedout, "was equally remarkable in both Egypt and the earlyMayan civilizations."

In the Yucatan, in southern Mexico, in Peru, were land-marks of a culture that was old when the conquering Span-iards arrived. "Pizarro and his men found two thousand milesof well-paved road in Peru, along which were dotted remainsof many fine hotels. Where did they come from?"

There was an amazing similarity of place names; for exam-ple, names of five cities in Asia Minor about the time ofChrist, and five cities in Central America:

Asia Minor

Choi

Colua

Zuivana

Cholima

Zalissa

Central America

Chol-ula

Colua-can

Zuivan

Colima

Xalisco

The Geologist frowned as I compared the brief lists. "Theimportant thing to remember, is that the New World commu-nities were already named when the first European explorersarrived."

In studying the Cayce readings, the Geologist saw nothingabout Atlantis inconsistent with what had been adduced fromthe ocean floor, common artifacts on both sides of the Atlan-tic, and the Plato account "According to Cayce, Atlantis wasone of the oldest land areas, also one of the places whereman first made his appearance. The early continent occupiedthe greater part of what is now the North Atlantic, and ourpresent Eastern seaboard was then the Coastal region, aswere parts of Europe. At the time when the poles shifted,and Lemuria in the Pacific was submerged, the Atlanteanswere achieving great technological advances. Several thou-sand years later, misuse of the laws of natural power caused a

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stupendous upheaval that split the continent into five islands.The major Atlantean mass plunged into the Sargasso Sea inthis first cataclysm. The remaining populace continued todeteriorate until, finally, eleven thousand years ago or so, Na-ture seemed to rebel at the iniquity, and the remaining islandswere swallowed up in the last of the giant cataclysms."

Cayce mentioned Atlantis originally in November 1923, inan early life reading originally dealing with a previous incar-nation. "Before this," he said, "the entity was in that faircountry of Alta, or Poseidia proper, then this entity [the sub-ject] was in that force that brought the highest civilizationand knowledge that has been known to the earth's plane.This, we find, was nearly ten thousand years before thePrince of Peace came." Cayce's description of the lastbreakup differed from Plato's in the implication of what thelarge-scale mass movements were all about Plato's sourcesaw the Atlantean migration as part of a great invasion, re-pulsed by an Athenean military that could hardly have copedwith a major power. More plausibly, the Cayce version im-plies that the Greeks drove off a group of stragglers, just oneof the many homeless contingents island-hopping their way tonew homes.

The first wave of migration, in the second breakup, mayexplain the Basques, a hardy race of unknown origin, and un-related language, living in the mountain fastnesses of north-ern Spain. "With this," said Cayce, "came the first egress ofpeoples to that of the Pyrenees." It was so long ago that allconnections with a motherland were gradually eradicated."Later, we find the peoples who enter into the black, or themixed peoples, in what later became the Egyptian dynasty,also those peoples that later became the beginning of theInca, that built the wall across the mountains, and with thesame those of the mound-dwellers."

Into agrarian Egypt, the newcomers may have carried thearts of medicine, embalming and architecture, and fanningout in the opposite direction, carried the fruits of their cul-ture to Central America and Peru, where the early natives,like the first known Egyptians, mummified their dead.

The first Atlantean disturbances or upheavals came twen-ty-eight thousand years ago, but not till 17,600 b.p. (BeforePresent) was the continent actually broken up. "What wouldbe considered one large continent," Cayce said, "until the firsteruptions brought those changes, producing more of the na-

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hire of large islands, with the intervening canals or ravines,gulfs, bays, or streams."

Structurally speaking, it wouldn't have taken much tochange the face of the Atlantic. Only a slight warping of theearth's crust—barely one-eight thousandth of its diameter—could have caused large portions of the ocean floor to rock tothe surface, while larger portions sank.

The upheaval affecting the continental land mass was vis-ualized as the unhappy result of a merger of destructiveman-made forces with those of nature, as might happen if apowerful nuclear bomb were to upset the equilibrium of theearth in the area of a major fault By current standards, itmust have been indeed an advanced civilization that couldblow itself up. If one is to believe Cayce, the misuse of solarenergy brought about the debacle. And there is evidence, theGeologist reported, to support the idea that man was suffi-ciently advanced technically to utilize the etheric or cosmicrays of the sun as a primary source of power. "Very ancientmaps of Greenland and Antarctica have been found, showingthese areas in an unglaciated state," the Geologist pointedout, "and the experts think that ancient cartographers, fromthe subtle rise and fall of its mountain topography, mighthave mapped the area from the air."

As a factor in harnessing the power of the sun, Caycementioned a firestone whose magical power apparently re-sembles the laser beam, which was not produced for somethirty years after the Cayce reference. The sleeping Cayce'sdescription of the stone reminded the Geologist of the powergenerated by filtering the rays of the sun through the ruby.The concept would have been dismissed as fanciful until re-cently. "The activity of the stone was received from the sun'srays," Cayce said. "The concentration through the prisms orglass acted upon the instruments that were connected withthe various modes of travel [trains, ships, etc.], as the remotecontrol through radio vibrations or directions would in thepresent day."

The firestone, or ruby of its time, was housed in a dome-covered building with a sliding top. Its powerful rays couldpenetrate anywhere; just as the laser beam, it could be eithera death ray or a constructive energy source. It was hard toconceive that which Cayce put into words: "The influences ofthe radiation that arose in the form of the rays were invisibleto the eye but acted upon the stones themselves as set in the

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motivating forces, whether aircraft lifted by gases or guidingpleasure vehicles that might pass along close to earth, or thecrafts on or under the water."

All over Atlantis, stations were set up to produce thispower, then something inadvertently went wrong and thebreakup followed. "These, not intentionally, were tuned toohigh and brought the second period of destructive forces, andbroke up the land into the isles where later there were furtherdestructive forces." Cayce gave a detailed description of thestone source of all this energy: "A large cylindrical glass, cutwith facets in such a manner that the capstone made for thecentralizing of the power that concentrated between the endof the cylinder and the capstone itself."

As Plato suggested, the collapse came with a disintegrationof moral values. Cayce describes the last days: "As citieswere built, more and more rare became those abilities to callupon the forces in nature to supply the needs of bodilyadornment, or to supply the replenishing of physical beingsas hunger arose. There was a 'wasting-away' in the moun-tains, the valleys, then the sea itself, and the fast disintegra-tion of the lands, as well as of the peoples, save those thathad escaped into those distant lands."

It seemed incredible that so advanced a people could gohungry and lack for clothes.

The Geologist smiled wryly. "Think of the millions starv-ing today all over the world—India, China, Russia." Hemused a moment. "And if our population keeps up at thepresent rate, we may have our own food problems in anotherfifty years. As it is, our big deal, domestically, is the anti-poverty program, and we're the richest country in the world."

In one of Cayce's trance recalls, the Geologist saw not onlyindications of Atlantis, but of Cayce's gift of prophecy.Cayce had picturesquely described a meeting in 50,000 B.C. ofmany nations on Atlantis to deal with hordes of huge beaststhen overrunning the earth. These beasts, said Cayce, wereultimately coped with by "sending out super-cosmic raysfrom various central plants."

It sounded like the sheerest fantasy. But Cayce had madeone tangible statement subject to scrutiny, in 1932: "Theserays will be discovered within the next twenty-five years."

Marking time, in 1958 the Geologist turned to the Ency-clopaedia Brittanica and found two references to recent dis-coveries of potential death rays. Only the year before, experi-

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mental physicists at the University of California had reporteda successful effort to produce antineutrons. "With the discov-ery of the antineutron," the Encyclopaedia reported, "alsocame the theoretical possibility of a source of energy hun-dreds of times more compact than any previously existing.Antineutrons could in principle be combined with antipro-tons to build up 'antimatter.' When antimatter came into con-tact with ordinary matter all of its mass would be convertedinto energy rather than only a fraction of it, as is the casewith nuclear fission and fusion reactions."It seemed extremely complicated.

"Not at all," said the Geologist with a smile. "The antineu-tron beam passes over you, and you become a mass of invisi-ble energy." The process was not reversible.

But there was another ray, more in keeping with the fire-stone described by Cayce. The radiating force was "achievedby storing up energy in a small insulating crystal of specialmagnetic properties, so that the crystal passes on more energythan it receives." In other words, the laser. And already, assuggested by Cayce, the ruby has been used as the crystal toconvert matter into boundless energy, by amplifying lightwaves from the sun.

Despite the "evidence," the Atlantis material appeared toofanciful to be true. Since Cayce tuned in on the collective un-conscious, perhaps he had somehow tuned in on some de-lightful fable concocted by some inventive or capriciousmind.

"It was real in somebody's mind, and so it became equallyreal in Cayce's subconscious," I suggested.

The Geologist shook his head. "That won't wash. Other-wise, Cayce would have been guilty of producing every falsemedical diagnosis ever made by some confused practitioner;diagnosis, whatever it was, was certainly real to that mindprojecting it"

Even climatically, Cayce apparently knew what he wastalking about when he looked back those "10,600 years be-fore the Prince of Peace came into the land of promise."Yucatan, a haven for the fleeing Atlanteans, had a differentclimate then. "For rather than being a tropical area, it wasmore of the temperate, and quite varied in the conditions andpositions of the face of the areas themselves." It was this sortof thing that reassured the Geologist about Cayce's uncon-scious insight "The major climatic change that led from the

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cold glacial climate to the present earth climate occurredclose to 11,000 years ago," he observed complacently. "Astudy of pollen from cores taken from the Mexico City re-gion more southerly than the Yucatan, establishes that thearea was once cooler and dryer than now."

He turned to Cayce's description of the physical changes inthe area. "In the final upheaval of Atlantis, much of the con-tour of the land in Central America and Mexico was changedto that similar in outline to that which may be seen in thepresent"

The Geologist had an explanation for this, too. "Thismeans that since migration took place before the finalupheaval altered the Gulf of Mexico to its present outline,these migrations must have been to points at present subsidedin the Gulf." He turned back to Cayce again. "The first tem-ples erected by Altar and his followers were destroyed at theperiod of change in the contours of the land, those of the firstcivilization following have been discovered in Yucatan buthave not been opened."

This hardly seemed likely. But the Geologist wasn't sosure. Almost casually, he said, "We might have this evidenceof Atlantis if we could only understand the significance ofunique stones discovered in Yucatan back in 1933."

Cayce had apparently foreseen the archeological activitythat would turn up some relic of the gigantic firestones thatthe Atlanteans had used for a seemingly unlimited powersource. "In Yucatan there is the emblem of same," the sleep-ing Cayce had said. And as if to guide archeologists to thestones, he cautioned, "Let's clarify this, for the pattern maybe the more easily found. For these pattern stones will bebrought to the United States. A portion is to be carried to thePennsylvania state museum. A portion to be carried to theWashington museum or to Chicago."

It may only be coincidence, but in November 1962, Fatemagazine reported, "Three elaborate, sealed Mayan tombsover two thousand years old have been discovered by Univer-sity of Pennsylvania museum archeologists on the YucatanPeninsula of Guatemala."

Atlantis was obviously not legendary to the man who put iton the map—Plato. "The brilliant, sophisticated mind thatconceived The Dialogues and The Republic," the Geologistobserved, "was the same that referred plainly in the Timaeusto the mighty power which was aggressing against the whole

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of Europe and Asia." Writing four centuries before Christ,Plato was dealing with a reality that was anything but ob-scure, the nameless fear of the Atlantic beyond the protec-tive Strait of Gibraltar. He referred to an impenetrable At-lantic which not even the hardiest mariners dared brave, forfear of being mired, until a series of intrepid navigators setout for India two thousand years later.

Not only Solon told the story of Atlantis. Socrates, too,had given a similar account, Plato recalls, "by some coinci-dence not to be explained."

Obviously, Plato thought it more than coincidence.

In the Timaeus, Plato mentioned the repulse of the invad-ing Atlanteans. In the Critias, named for his grandfather, towhom Solon reported, he describes the legendary Atlas, asthe first king of Atlantis. The Atlantean story, the Egyptianpriests said, had been set down "in our sacred registers aseight thousand years old." As Solon lived about 600 B.C., thatwould put the final destruction between ten and eleven thou-sand years ago. Like other peoples, the ancient Greeks had alegend of a cataclysmic Noah-like flood. From their ar-chives, safely sealed in some pyramid perhaps, the Egyp-tians remembered many such disasters.

The Atlantic itself indicates Greek influence, Atlanticusbeing the Latin for the Greek, Atlas. Plato again casuallypicked out something which confirmed his reliability, thereference to the "continent" beyond the Atlantean Islands."Obviously," the Geologist pointed out, "he was referring toa continent we all know well—North America."

Perhaps, reading his Plato, Columbus got the idea that be-yond the Pillars of Hercules, beyond the Atlantis of Plato, hewould find the true continent, which could only be India, forwhat other continent was there?

It might be pertinent to briefly review the Plato story, be-ginning with the Egyptian priest advising Solon: "As forthose genealogies which you have recounted to us, Solon,they are the tales of children. You remember one delugeonly, whereas there were many of them. You do not know thatthere dwelt in your land the noblest race of men which everlived, of whom you and your whole city are but a remnantThis was unknown to you, because for many generations thesurvivors of that destruction died and made no sign. Forthere was a time, Solon, before the greatest deluge of all,when the city which now is Athens, was first in war and was

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preeminent for her laws, and is said to have performed thenoblest deeds and had the fairest constitution of any.

"Many wonderful deeds are recorded of your State in ourhistories. But one exceeds all the rest. For these histories tellof a mighty power which was aggressing against the whole ofEurope and Asia. This power came forth out of the AtlanticOcean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; andthere was an island in front of the straits which you call thePillars of Heracles. The island was larger than Libya andAsia [Asia Minor] put together, and was the way to other is-lands, and from the islands you might pass to the whole ofthe opposite continent [America] which surrounded the trueocean. For this sea [Mediterranean] which is within theStraits of Heracles is only a harbor, having a narrowentrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surroundingland [America] may be most truly called a continent

"Now in Atlantis there was a great empire which ruledover the whole island and several others, as well as over partsof the continent [America], and, besides these, they subjectedparts of Libya as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far asTyrrhenia. The vast power gathered into one endeavored tosubdue our country and yours and the whole of the landwhich was within the straits; and then, Solon, your countryshone forth magnificently, for she was first in courage andmilitary skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And whenthe rest fell away from her, forced to stand alone, after hav-ing undergone the extremity of danger, she triumphed overthe invaders, and preserved from slavery those not yet sub-jected, and liberated all the others dwelling within the limitsof Heracles. But afterwards there occurred violent earth-quakes and floods. And in a single day and night of rain allyour warlike men sank into the earth, and the island of At-lantis in like manner disappeared beneath the sea. And that iswhy the sea in those parts is impenetrable, because there is aquantity of shallow mud in the way, caused by the subsidenceof the island."

In still another dialogue, Plato gives a colorful descriptionof Atlantis: "And there were temples built and dedicatedto many gods, also gardens and places of exercise, some formen, and some for horses. There was a race-course a stadiumin width, and in length extending all round the island forhorses to race in. Also there were guardhouses at intervalsfor the body-guard, while the most trusted had houses within

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the citadel, and about the persons of the kings. The dockswere full of triremes and naval stores, and all things werequite ready for use.

"For many generations, as long as the divine nature lastedin them, the people were obedient to the laws, practising gen-tleness and wisdom in their intercourse with one another.They despised everything but virtue, thinking lightly of goldand other property, which appeared only a burden to themNeither were they intoxicated by luxury, nor did riches de-prive them of self-control. They saw clearly that worldlygoods are increased through friendship with one another, andthat by excessive zeal for them, the good is lost and friend-ship perishes. By such reflections of a divine nature, all thatwe have described increased in them. But then this divineportion began to fade away, and they, unable to bear theirgood fortune, became unseemly, and began to appear base.Yet to those who had no eye for true happiness, they stillseemed blessed at the very time they were bursting with un-righteous avarice and power."

With the statement that this wickedness had apparently an-gered the Gods, the Plato fragment broke off, presumablylost in the shuffle of the years. Undoubtedly, the greatest phi-losopher of his time had little idea of what he was stirring upwith his tale of a Lost Continent, but Cayce was another mat-ter. After portions of Atlantis rise, said Cayce, then comes aperiod of upheavals that "must in the next generation cometo other lands." That reading was in December 1943, andWebster defines a generation as the period when "father issucceeded by child, usually taken to be about thirty-threeyears." And so in another ten years, in 1976, Atlantis may nolonger be a mystery. And the Geologist? He wants to bearound Bimini when fresh land surfaces, or will it be theAzores? Time—and Cayce—may yet resolve one of the moreintriguing riddles of man's past

Chapter Fourteen

REINCARNATION

The expression "down-to-earth" was coined for Eula Allen.She came from the State of Washington, where she once bredand raised horses. She had married and raised a family, andwas a grandmother several times over. She lived in a bigcomfortable house with her husband, retired Naval Com-mander Harold Allen, farmed the fields around her house,counseled friends far and wide, and wrote about the thingsthat Edgar Cayce had once planted in her consciousness.

I had an immediate sense of ease with her, the feeling ofrelaxation that comes with knowing, intuitively perhaps, thatone is meeting an honest human being. Her blue eyes twin-kled brightly through clear panes of glass, a friendly smileformed on her lips, she gave me her hand, and the clasp wasas dry and firm as a man's.

I stole a look around the room as she guided me to a com-fortably upholstered chair. It was oversized, yet warm, with awarmth that came together from many sources—the jars andbottles of every color and description, glinting in the sun thatslanted through the windows, the burnished woodwork whosemerging grains seemed vitally alive, the books and magazinessprawled colorfully across tables and chairs. It was the livingroom of people who obviously enjoyed living.

Eula, I presumed, was in her sixties, but she was the age-less type, who would be as sprightly in mind and spirit tenyears from now as she had been ten years before. She was

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tall, with a straight back, and a direct demeanor. It seemedhard to believe that anybody so down to earth could believe inthe esoteric.

"Was it Edgar Cayce who convinced you of reincarna-tion?" I asked.

She laughed out loud. "Edgar Cayce saved my life," shesaid with emphasis.

"Is that why you accepted reincarnation?"

"Not at all," she said easily, "Mr. Cayce never forced hisbeliefs on anybody."

I wondered how she had met Cayce.

She smiled. "Like so many other people, I imagine. I wastired, rundown, a bag of bones, I could hardly get around. Iwas forty-two at the time, had recently had a baby, my hus-band was at sea, and I came down with an acute kidney infec-tion. The doctors at the Norfolk naval hospital told me thekidney would have to be removed, and when I refused sur-gery they said they wouldn't take responsibility for what hap-pened."

She was living in a furnished room at the time, and afriendly landlady had introduced her to a woman who hadregained her health through a Cayce reading. That woman,Mignon Helms of Virginia Beach, had never been ill a daysince.

Eula had an adventurous mind, and the thought of healingforce operating through the unconscious mind of a strangerintrigued her. "I knew enough of life to know that there wasno limit to the power of the mind, and for that reason per-haps I had refused surgery, feeling that it wouldn't get at thereal difficulty, and yet would leave me maimed."

She had had an experience of her own with her son Bruce,that made her ready for any form of mental healing. Fifteenyears before, Bruce, then twelve, had been critically ill withrheumatic fever. The pulsing of the heart could be heardacross the room. Eula had never considered herself religious.Her family was among the first white settlers between WallaWalla (Washington) and Lewiston (Idaho), and there hadbeen no church background. But as the boy lay on the table,she prayed. She visualized God, and she visualized a perfectheart, keeping the picture of that perfect heart in her mindall through the ordeal. The crisis came, as the doctor watchedgrimly, and then the boy's breathing suddenly grew less la-bored, his temperature dropped, and he relaxed into normal

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slumber. The doctor stood up with a tired sigh. "I don't knowhow," he said, "but hell make it."

Eula hesitated. "I prayed. Doctor, do you think it helped?"

He looked at her curiously. "I can't think of anything elsethat helped," he said. "You saved that boy's life."

And so what Cayce did made sense to Eula Allen.

After Mrs. Helms got through her description of howCayce had helped where the doctors had failed, Eula asked,"When can I see this man?"

"You must ask for an appointment," Mrs. Helms replied,"but you don't have to see him. Just say where you will be atthe appointed time."

Eula Allen blinked. "But I would like to be there," shesaid, finally.

The reading was fixed for the 18th of February, 1941, withMrs. Helms present, along with Gertrude Cayce and the inev-itable Gladys Davis.

The sleeping Cayce never once mentioned the infected kid-ney. He said that Eula was anemic, running on nervous en-ergy, and described a strain and heaviness in the lumbar andsacral areas, the region of the kidney, an aching that ex-tended up to the mid-back. "In these areas of the nervoussystem, there are engorged or enlarged ganglia [nerve centersfrom which impulses are transmitted], and these, rather soreto the touch, spread into the muscular areas of the body."

The organs themselves were sound, except as they werelacking stimulation from a blood deficiency due to impededcentral nervous impulses. "Hence, the organs are not diseasedbut at times dis-eased."

He recommended small quantities internally of olive oil,three pellets of Adiron daily, one with each meal, and the useof an electric vibrator before bedtime for a half hour, alongthe spine, especially over the areas of the neck and head, be-tween the shoulders, and across the ninth dorsal vertebra,through the lower lumbar and sacral areas.

Even though the treatment seemed sketchy, Eula Allenfound a strange confidence in the man who let her out thedoor with a kindly smile and warm handshake. "I've knownyou before," he said, squeezing her hand gently.

Back in her room, Eula reviewed her last medical report.The kidney was swollen to the size of a small cantaloupe, andher general health depleted. The condition had been chronicfor fifteen years, periodically recurring, but acute now for six

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weeks. Pain in the back intense, temperature high. Surgeryrecommended.

But she put her faith in Cayce, and the electric vibrator. Inthree days, the kidney swelling was reduced to normal, andshe was out of pain. She continued the treatments, and in sixmonths gained forty pounds. She hadn't felt this well sinceshe was twenty-five. And she kept remembering, oddly, whatCayce had said, "I've known you before."

In time, her curiosity got the better of her, and she wantedto know what he meant It was strange, but she had had thesame feeling about him. And so for the first time, really, sit-ting down, chatting with Cayce, she heard about reincarna-tion. "Does that mean," she asked with a worried frown,"that I may come back as an animal?"

Cayce laughed. "Certainly not, that's transmigration, andyou may not even have to come back at all, if you becomeperfectly developed in this life." Even with the confidence shehad in the amazing healer, it was hard for her to get used tothe idea of reincarnation. Cayce didn't press her. She at-tended his Bible classes and listened. "The soul is eternal," hesaid, "and God's arm isn't short You go out and you comein again." Reincarnation involved only highly developedhuman souls, not animals.

For more than a year she thought it over, then decided tohave one of Cayce's life readings. These were designed to de-lineate past lives, which had most influenced this one, reveal-ing attitudes, inclinations, and personalities presumably car-ried over from earlier existences in different bodies. Althoughthe Cayce health reading had convinced her of his subcon-scious link to the Universal Mind, reincarnation was still adifficult thought, even for one believing in survival, and Eulawasn't sure of that, either.

Eula discovered, as Cayce spoke, that she had had previoussojourns in Ireland, Rome, Syria, Peru, Atlantis, (where somany sojourned) and in our own Wild West before the CivilWar. But what interested her most at this time, she being of apractical turn, was the insight into her own temperament asseen through these so-called incarnations.

"The material appearances have been quite varied," Caycesaid, "yet very sincere, very stern in most activities. Thus, theentity is qualified to interpret almost any phase of the indi-vidual experience, and others will listen."

With a secret smile, I recognized that I had chosen Eula as

an interpreter of the Cayce record, and had listened avidly, ifsomewhat confused, for hours. I had been much impressed atthe same time by her openness and candor, amused by hertwo-fisted characterizations of some of the trustees of theCayce legacy. They would not have been so amused.

Cayce, even more amusingly, had warned Eula. "The en-tity should be guarded not as to what it would say or as towhether it would say, but as to what and how and when itsays. Just remember that others listen and recall, 'Ye shallgive an account of every word that is spoken.' For in speak-ing thy words are given power.?

I could vouch for Eula's eloquence, but obviously this wasno reflection of reincarnation. But she had still other distinc-tions. "The entity may be expected to be associated withmany who have had, or will have much to do with the chang-ing of policies, local, state, national and international."

That seemed quite an order for a grandmother, even oneas articulate as Eula.

I looked up from the life reading which Eula had put be-fore me. "I see where you're running your own State Depart-ment"

She regarded me rather sharply, but said nothing.

"Are you actually advising the Great Powers on the prob-lems of the day?" I smiled.

"People from all over the world come to my home—India,China, Washington, but who they are and what is a privatematter."

A thought struck me. "Why, if people have lived otherlives, don't they remember anything from them?"

"But they do," she said. "It's just sometimes that they don'tremember that they are remembering. Jesus said, 'I'll bringall things to thine remembrance,' but he didn't say how." De-spite the subject matter, she still gave the impression of beingdown to earth.

"What do you remember?" I asked.

"Well, Mr. Cayce mentioned that in an Irish incarnation Iwas a Rosa O'Deshea, who came to the New World at anearly period." She looked at me calmly. "Though 1 have noIrish strain in me genetically, I have always felt terribly senti-mental about Irish music, poetry, and folk tales. Also, theprivations I went through in coming to this country stood moas good experience in the rough ranch life in WashingtonState in this life."

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I like Irish music, too, particularly "When Irish Eyes AreSmiling," without any tangible link to the Ould Sod."YouH have to do better," I said.

Eula's eyes flashed, and she said with some asperity, "Idon't have to convince you of anything."

I peered into the reading. "It says here that the 'entityshould be guarded, not as to what it would say or as towhether it would say, but as to what and how and when itsays.'"

"That's right," Eula said.

"But what good is it all, the life reading or a belief in rein-carnation, except for the pleasant euphemism that death isnot the end?"

Again an expression of exasperation crossed Eula's nor-mally benign countenance. "Remembering, even subcon-sciously, teaches us; it provides opportunities for us to go onand learn."

Speaking of a sojourn which carried the entity—so bothCayce and I thought of Eula—from Palestine, where shestudied at the feet of the Apostles to bondage in Persia, themystic had related: "From that sojourn there are great latenttalents as a teacher, a leader, an instructor, a director. All ofthese abilities are a part of the entity's present experience.Yet, there was so little of the home life in that sojourn. Itwas for that the entity returned in the present experience."

Certainly, Eula had been a good homemaker, marriedtwice comfortably, four children, the last bora to her whenshe was forty years old. The children were grown, the twogirls marrying well, one son a lawyer, the other an engineer.As a housewife, her cup runneth over.

Had she done any teaching?

She hadn't stopped teaching, in class and out, even with allher household functions.

It still seemed a most trivial basis for proving out reincar-nation. "Weren't you ready to accept reincarnation whenEdgar Cayce's health reading led to your cure?"

"It certainly made me more amenable. If his subcon-scious was right, where the professional medicos' consciouswas so wrong, why shouldn't this selfsame subconscious beequally accurate and the professional theologians equallywrong?"

But this had only predisposed her, she insisted, to givingthe whole subject an honest, open appraisal. "What sense

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does anything make," she said, "unless we are here to learn?"

I shrugged. "Many would argue that it makes no sense."

"Everything else does," she shot back, "all life has arhythm and plan, the seasons, vegetation, the movement ofthe tides and the planets. There is an order about everything,so why not man? And certainly the integral part of man isnot his body, but his spirit"

I again invoked the anatomist, who had opened up a ca-daver, and asked his students to pick out the soul.

Eula sniffed. "That man was a fool. I could point at thesame body, and ask, 'Is this the man we knew?' Withoutspirit and mind, he is only a slab of meat, and even the doc-tor would admit man is more than that"

Yes, Eula was sure she remembered, and remembering,made progress. In her life reading, she had asked, "What isthe meaning of the pulling sensation in my fingers andhands?"

"These," Cayce replied, "should come more from the tend-encies that are a part of the experience, the writing, see?"Ah, Eula was to be a writer.

"I always felt an inclination that way, and Cayce told methat I should get myself published."

Even for an established writer, this was often more easilysaid than done.

But Cayce was determined.

"How can I best apply my understanding for the benefit ofothers?" she had asked.

"Put it on paper, and publish it"And what had been published?

Two books had already come out of Eula, based on theknowledge of the universe she had gained from the Caycereadings. One was Before the Beginning, a summation of thespiritual creation; the other, The River of Time, of physicalcreation as visualized by Cayce.

The books had been received only perfunctorily by theCayce press. But, surprisingly, they were now so popular theycould hardly be kept in stock.

It made some things clear about herself that she had neverunderstood before. As a child, upset by the gambling ofranchhands on her grandfather's spread, she had boldly bro-ken up the games, barging in on the players and destroyingevery pack of cards 6he could get her hands on. Now, sheunderstood why. She was reacting from having once been a

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dance hall shill. Subconsciously, at least, she was remember-ing, and trying to do something about it.

Still, I wondered how deep this belief in reincarnation cut

"Are you afraid to die?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Death is like stepping out of an oldcar, into a new one."

"Then why were you so concerned about your son's pos-sible death of rheumatic fever?"

"I didn't believe in reincarnation then, and besides, evennow, I would be deeply affected by the suffering of anybody Iloved, not necessarily by their death, if I thought they hadlearned something in this life before they went."

"How about all the innocents—children—that Stalin andHitler exterminated? Why should they have suffered?"

"It makes no sense unless you do accept reincarnation, forthen one accepts the law of compensation, karma, carryingover from one life to another. Edgar Cayce frequently spokeof people paying in one life for that done in another, profit-ing equally from the good they had done. In one of my pre-vious lives, as a Roman, Cayce said that I commanded a fleetmanned by galley slaves. Even before my reading, everytimeI saw a picture of slaves, my stomach would turn over. Itstirred up all kinds of unconscious memories. Now it makessense."

"I still don't understand all this suffering as being part ofGod's will."

She looked at me sharply. "God sets up certain laws defin-ing the order of the universe, and these can't be changed."

"But certainly God is more merciful than a mere sinner,who would not want anyone to suffer."

"God's law cannot be changed," she said.

"Then why pray for your son?"

"We have access to God's law, and the way things shapeout depends on our own attitudes in accordance with thislaw."

Ironically, for a reincarnationist like Eula, God's lawrepresented virtually the same thing to detached scientists, anendless cycle of matter and energy, capable of entering intoan endless variety of physical combinations in perpetuity."We are all part of God," she said, "and God is part of us.There is no conflict, no punishment, merely opportunities todevelop." She looked up at me with a disarming smile. "Whyshould everything we have had so much trouble experiencing

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be taken from us, when nature is so economical in other re-spects?"

There was no questioning Eula's sincerity, and if her beliefin reincarnation helped her be a better, more productive per-son, that was a plus sign indeed for reincarnation.

"Why do you now find it so important to believe inreincarnation—wouldn't being just a good Christian, believ-ing in the message of God through Christ be sufficient to getyou into Heaven?"

She gave me an almost pitying glance. "Don't you knowthat Christianity embraced reincarnation for three hundredyears, until the Roman influence expunged it after the Em-peror Constantine recognized the Church? What do you thinkthe early Christians were thinking of when they asked Christwhether he was Elijah, who had come before? They werethinking of reincarnation, that's what."

Her mood changed suddenly, and she regarded me with aconcerned air. "If you thought of reincarnation as rebirth, Ithink you could understand it better. Just as the earth has aconstant rebirth so does the spirit Don't you rememberChrist saying that 'Unless man is reborn again, he cannotenter the Kingdom of Heaven'?"

"Wasn't that a reference to baptism?"

Eula threw up her hands. "Christ was not interested inshow but substance, that is at the heart of everything he saidor did."

It seemed time to get back to earth. "In one life," I said,"you lived in the good old U.S.A., and rather recently, whichis quite a shift from all these glamorous lives in Persia, India,Palestine, Rome, Greece, Egypt, and Atlantis, lives with nopossible way of being checked out,"

"First of all," Eula said, "let's get things straight. As a souldevelops, the chances are that development will be faster inadvanced cultures, and since Cayce only dealt with mean-ingful past lives, he drew on lives in growth-making civ-ilizations."

"So what did you learn in the Wild West?" I asked.

She snorted. "See for yourself." She pointed to a well-worncopy of the life reading spread out before us. "Back in theGold Rush days, on the Barbary Coast, I was a dance hallgirl, even a prostitute, I guess."

Cayce had put it quite picturesquely. "The entity was inthe earth when there were those journeyings from the East to

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the West—Gold! In '49 the entity, with its companions, jour-neyed to the Western lands. Hardships were experienced onthe way, yet the entity was among those associated inthose acts with those in their relationships to such con-ditions—rowdiness, drink, spending. Yet the entity was oneto whom many, many came for counsel."

As in her Irish life experience, Eula had a specific identity."The name then was Etta Tetlow. Records of these may befound in some of the questioned places in portions of Califor-nia, even in the present." Then came the provocative conclu-sion, "In activities, with all types of that early land did theentity have connection."

I had seen no specific reference to a dance hall experience,prostitution, or the Barbary Coast for that matter.

Eula smiled. "Well, that last remark would appear to speakfor itself. What kind of woman deals with every kind ofman?"

"How about Etta Tetlow—dance hall girl?"Eula gave me a sly smile.

"Three years ago, in 1963, I was in California doing somelecturing on Cayce—Pacific Grove, I believe—when awoman sauntered up and said, "Hello, Etta.' "

Eula winced. She had never been able to stand that name,Etta.

Somehow, in a book on reincarnation, Eula's incarnationas Etta Tetlow had been brought to the woman's attention.Browsing one day through colorful old posters, she foundsome dating back to the boisterous days of the Barbary Coastin San Francisco. The posters listed the entertainment at oneof the local dance halls. One name stood out—Tetlow.

Eula did not take this incarnation lightly. Even before thisreport of an Etta Tetlow in California, she was concerned bythe shadiness of her past-life past. Troubled, she sought outthe waking Cayce. "If I was a prostitute," she said, "howcould I ever hope to touch the hem of the Master's robe?"

It occurred to me that the Master, so generous to sinners,could hardly have minded. But Eula apparently thought hemight.

Cayce received her gently. "Why so concerned? You knowbetter now, don't you?" He pressed her hand. "Make it asteppingstone, instead of a stumbling block. We come back tolearn."

Eula's main purpose in this life, Cayce had said, was to

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build a family, and she looked proudly on her thirteen grand-children scattered around the country. One was top man inhis Air Force group, another had won rare distinctionscholastically as a naval architect, still another was a cham-pion swimmer. The son with the pulsing heart had taken hisheart through World War EL He, too, had been skepticalabout reincarnation, and still might be, for all Eula knew.When he was twenty-two, before going off to war, his skep-ticism had driven him to a life reading. Cayce correctly fore-cast he would be a lawyer, but said his job in this life, be-cause of his karmic past, was to prevent people from gettinginto trouble, not sitting in judgment on them. He had goneagainst this precept, becoming a county prosecutor in north-ern California, and then things had started to go wrong in hislife. _ ,

Eula was a bit vague on what had gone wrong. "It's hislife," she said, "and I don't like to get too personal with it"

"Didn't the public like him as prosecutor?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, they even wanted to put him up as judge."

"Then what went wrong and how did it relate to hisbecoming a prosecutor?" I looked at her rather curiously."After all, somebody has to be a prosecutor, so it can't be allthat wrong."

She laughed. "Yes, but somebody else may have reached adifferent point of advancement from past experiences."

At any rate, she had recalled the Cayce reading to her sonwhile he was debating the judgeship. "You know," she saiddarkly, "you were told never to sit in judgment."

He looked thoughtful for a moment "I know," he said.

'Then you know what to do."

He turned down the post

And what had happened to his life since?

"Both personally and professionally it started to get backwhere it had been. He was now heeding the law, the Divinelaw, which Cayce had interpreted for him."

Just as she and Cayce shared the feeling they had knowneach other in the hazy past, Eula felt she had been ac-quainted with me. "I was in some sort of supervisory capacitywith you then."

"You still are, at this point," I said.

She smiled. "Haven't you felt at ease, as though we've beenthrough some experience together?"

As a matter of fact, I had been drawn to her instantly, but

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put it down to the curious empathy we do seem to have forsome people at sight

"But what is that," she said, "but a vaguely rememberedpast?"

Again I saw no evidence. "Don't you think the life we livenow is the one that counts, even if there is reincarnation?" Ihad chanced across a sentence in Life is for Living by EricButterworth: " 'The life you once lived can only be found inthe life you now express.' "

"Naturally," Eula agreed, "but if there is a Cayce aroundto show you the twist in the road, that is all the better."

At first glimpse, reincarnation had seemed wishful thinkingon the part of those shrinking from the apparent oblivion ofdeath. Before the glory of the Resurrection, the concept ofreincarnation was not a difficult turn in the spiritual road toeverlasting life. My own faith in the moral lesson of Christwas implicit; yet, like others, I found myself shying from theimplicit message of rebirth. Yet, had not St. John quotedHim, in a statement parenthetically absolving all on earth ofguilt in the Crucifixion? "Therefore doth my Father love me,because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. Noman taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I havepower to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Thiscommandment have I received of my Father."

He had power to take it up again. And what He did, oth-ers could do with the Father's help. Was that not the messageof Christ—that, and a cry for universal love, mocked throughthe ages?

Had Edgar Cayce, as his readings suggested, trod the bitterroad with the Master, absorbing a message that made his owngift possible, as all gifts were made possible, with God's ac-quiescence?

Was Cayce's unique gift, scorned as Another's had beenscorned, a steppingstone in the ultimate revelation of whatlife was all about? Were the truths in his miraculous healingmanifested to bring credence to the broader spiritual truth ofpurposeful life? Did Cayce's subconscious, merging with theUniversal Consciousness that was the Father, Creator, andCreation, come along at a time when a troubled world,stifling in the limited horizons of materiality, was ready, eveneager, for some sign of its place in a universal plan?

There was nothing accidental, nothing left to chance in theCreator's grand design; so Cayce believed as he pictured

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reincarnation as an instrument, not an end in itself. "Eachand every individual," he said once, "follows out that lineof development in the present earth plane as it has receivedfrom the preceding conditions, and each grain of thought orcondition is a consequence of other conditions created byself."

It was difficult for me, as for others, to conceive of a spiritwith a volition of its own. How did the spirit find its way toanother body, where did it rest and restore itself, why did itkeep coming back? "Must each soul continue to bereincarnated in the earth until it reaches perfection, or aresome souls lost?" That was the puzzler put to Cayce.

Cayce had a ready answer. "The soul is not lost; the in-dividuality of the soul that separates itself is lost. Thereincarnation or the opportunities are continuous until thesoul has of itself become an entity in its whole or has sub-merged itself."

"If a soul fails to improve itself, what becomes of it?"

"That's why the reincarnation, why it reincarnates; that itmay have the opportunity. Can the will of man continue todefy its Maker?"

Constantly, Cayce minimized the ego, aware that manycultists mistakenly became enveloped in grandiose past livesat the expense of this one. Like Butterworth, he felt the pastcould only be expressed in the life lived now, otherwise nolife became important

"The real purpose, as should be for each soul, is the mes-sage of love of the Savior for the children of men. Thatphase of Christian experience [reincarnation] is questioned bymany, yet there is this period when the fact needs stressingto answer many questions. But that this is to be the primaryfact—reincarnation—no. That is merely the plan as He dem-onstrated."

Believing in Cayce—and reincarnation—Cayce's followerswere constantly inquiring whether he would come back, inwhat guise and how soon. One corporate lawyer, who hadmade a fortune astutely following the Cayce readings dealingwith real estate and finance, had tried to establish somearrangement whereby Cayce, on his slated return in anotherbody, could profit through the clairvoyant gains he hadachieved for the lawyer in this life. The slumbering Cayceseemed cool to collusion of this sort. Others queried Cayceabout his next sojourn, after reading a newspaper article de-

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scribing how a reincarnationist had attempted to leave hismoney to himself after death. The article revealed the utterfrustration of the reincarnationist's plan, oddly reminiscent ofa scene from the Broadway musical, On a Clear Day YouCan See Forever: "Arthur M. Hanks, who made a fortunepeddling flowers in, the Los Angeles financial district, left nowill because he believed he would return through reincarna-tion, and claim his life's savings. He has been dead sevenmonths now, and today Judge Joseph P. Sproul opened theway for relatives to divide the flower peddler's $100,000 es-tate."

With this springboard, intimates of Cayce put the questionto his Universal Consciousness: "You will give at this timeinformation which will help us to understand the lawsgoverning the selection by an entity of time, place, race,color, sex, and the parents at any rebirth into the earth plane,especially the possibility of Edgar Cayce, present in thisroom, bringing through in his next incarnation memory ofthis life." Then came the stickler. "If possible we would liketo be advised as to how proof of such memory can be es-tablished by leaving a record or money now that may becalled for during the next appearance."

Cayce examined each phase of the question. The times ofreincarnation—or rebirth—varied, according to the develop-ment of the entity, and "as to the manner or the character ofthe removal from the material experience. As to race, color,or sex, this depends upon that experience necessary for thecompletion, for the building up of the purposes for whicheach and every soul manifests in the material experience. Oneincarnation naturally merges into another. 'As the tree falls,so does it lie,* saith the Maker and Giver of life. So does thelight, so does the nature of an individual. For the beginningin the next experiences are ever tempered by how sincerethe purpose was of the entity in the experience before. For in-deed, as has been given, whatsoever ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Just as a leaf fell prematurely, so could human life becut off. "They who have done error suddenly, they who areadvanced, they who have not met a whole expression, may gosuddenly, as you count time."

I was rather disappointed, as Cayce's following may havebeen, in his failure to program a future of his own. If hecould see for others, why not for himself? "As for the entityEdgar Cayce," I read finally, "this depends then as to when

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that experience has been reached in which the union of pur-poses of entities in materiality has created that expression,that phase, to which the entity's development may reach tofind expression through same." As for the time of his return,Cayce was vague. "It may be perhaps a hundred, two hun-dred, three hundred, a thousand years, as you may counttime in the present. For how gave He? The day no manknoweth, only the Father in heaven knoweth, and it is pro-vided you so live, as He gave, that 'I may sit upon the righthand and my brother upon the left.'"

Ostensibly, the session had produced littie of practicality. Icould almost sense the disappointment of Cayce's audience inthe next question. "Would you suggest any way that a recordmay be left by an entity?"

Cayce got to the heart of the matter, playing on a word todiscard one point and make another. "By living the record,"he stressed. For as one lived deeply, developing spiritually, sohe developed the faculty of remembering. "For when the pur-poses of an entity are the more in accord with that for whichthe entity has entered, then the soul-entity may take holdupon that which may bring to its remembrance what it was,where, when, and how. Thinkest thou that the grain of cornhas forgotten what manner of expression it has given? Thinkthou that any of the influences in nature that you see aboutyou—the acorn, the oak, the elm, or the vine, or any-thing—had forgotten what manner of expression? Only manforgets."

And why just man?

"Only in His mercy such was brought about As in Adamthey forgot what manner of men they were. For 'God's Bookof Remembrance' may be read only by those in the shadowsof his love."

As he did in the conscious, Cayce showed no interest sub-consciously in the prospect of money in this life or another,and coolly disregarded this as incentive to remembrance. "Itwas almost," a witness said, "as though he were refusing toparticipate in any little game of clairvoyance, as he had oncerefused to submit to the tests of psychic researchers intent onreducing his gift to their own meager measurements."

Cayce's own remembrance was remarkable. His referencesto Atlantis, Lemuria and other lost civilizations could be dis-missed as speculative, but other phenomena could not be soeasily scouted. He frequently lapsed into languages that were

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clearly recognizable—French, Italian, Spanish, German, andothers that were unrecognizable. These ventures into tongueshe had no knowledge of in the waking state were triggered bythe subject matter or subjects. Once he read for a man inItaly, who had deputized a friend here to sit in on the read-ing. The friend, of Italian extraction, asked a question, andthe answer came back in fluent Italian. Another time, readingfor a German, Cayce branched off into idiomatic German,bespeaking intimate knowledge of the Teutonic.

Cayce clearly had not responded to the satisfaction of hisfriends as to the nature of his next return. However, in adream a short time before, he had visualized himself as beingborn again, and gave time and place. As happened so often inhis life, a significant dream came during a great emotionalcrisis. He had been arrested in Detroit for "practising med-icine without a license," and had been subjected to the ig-nominy of public trial as a charlatan. On the train back toVirginia Beach, he had one of his most singular dreams. Hehad been born again in a.d. 2100 in Nebraska. "The sea," herecalled, "apparendy covered all of the western part of thecountry, as the city where I lived was on the coast. The fam-ily name was a strange one. At an early age, as a child, I de-clared myself to be Edgar Cayce who had lived two hun-dred years before. Scientists, men with long beards, litde hairand thick glasses, were called in to observe me. They decidedto visit the places where I said I had been born, lived andworked, in Kentucky, Alabama, New York, Michigan, andVirginia. Taking me with them the group of scientists visitedthese places in a long, cigar-shaped metal flying ship whichmoved at high speed.

"Water covered part of Alabama; Norfolk had become animmense seaport. New York had been destroyed either bywar or an earthquake and was being rebuilt Industries werescattered over the countryside. Most of the houses were ofglass. Many records of my work as Edgar Cayce were discov-ered and collected. The group returned to Nebraska takingthe records with them to study."

There were other dream details. In one city, virtuallycompletely destroyed, Cayce stopped to ask the workmenwhere he was. They looked at him in surprise, and to his sur-prise, replied, "New York."

From this dream many have fashioned a dreary prophecyof ultimate doom, pointing out that Cayce's prediction of

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gathering destruction from 1958 to 1998 implied that this wasonly the "begirining" of holocausts that were to continue inde-terminately.

However, Cayce was not quite so pessimistic. Interpretinghis own dream, he likened his period of personal trial to thetests that others would face, rocked with doubts of the ul-timate purpose of the Creator. "And the vision was that theremight be strength, there might be an understanding, thoughthe moment may appear as dark, though there may be peri-ods of misinterpreting of purposes." And there could well be,he indicated, challenging times for mankind. But in the end,was a promise given in the Bible. "Though the very heavensfall," Cayce paraphrased, "though the earth shall be changed,the promises in Him are sure and will stand—as in that com-ing day—as the proof of thy activity in the lives and heartsof thy fellow man."

Cayce himself, in the conscious state, found support forreincarnation in the Bible, though modern theology spurnedit. "Reincarnation has so long been considered a part of theeastern religion," he said once, "that we have cause to consid-er it foreign to Christianity. However, I doubt if anyone whohas really studied the Bible could say that it was not con-tained in that Book Throughout the ages, the question hasbeen asked, 'If a man die, will he live again?'"

The unschooled psychic, who loved to intersperse his Biblereading with homely poetry, observed, "One of the poetsgave, 'Dust thou art, to dust returneth was not spoken of thesoul.' It has been generally considered that if a man live again,it is his soul that lives." Cayce pointed out that the Bible wasreplete with references to rebirth. "There are many instanceswhen the Master said, 'Ye must be born again.'" Again, Hesaid to Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, andthou hearest the sound thereof, but cans't not tell whence itcometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born ofthe Spirit"

His own readings helped Cayce to understand much thathe could not understand before. "We may read much in, orwe may read much out, but did He mean what He said whenHe said to Nicodemus that 'Ye must be born again?" Did Hemean it when He said to the Scribes and Pharisees, 'BeforeAbraham was, I am.' Did He mean it when He said that Johnthe Baptist was the incarnation spiritually of Elias? He said

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Cayce turned to where the disciples asked Jesus, "Who didsin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" AndJesus answered, 'Neither hath this man sinned, nor his par-ents; but that the works of God should be made manifest inhim.'"

To Cayce, this clearly reflected a prevailing belief inreincarnation. "Now it wouldn't have been possible for theman to have sinned in this world, as we know the world, justin being born blind. They must have believed that the manlived before, else they wouldn't have asked such a question."Another time, as Cayce recalled, as they came down from theMount, Peter and John asked the Master, "Why then say thescribes that Elias must come first?" And Jesus answered,"Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but havedone unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also theSon of Man suffer of them." Then the disciples understoodthat He spake unto them of John the Baptist

Again, as Cayce quoted, "For all the prophets and the lawprophesied until John. And if ye will receive it this is Elias,which was for to come."

Cayce turned to Paul " The first Adam brought sin intothe world, but the last Adam brought life.'" He did not pushhis own interpretation. "Whether that's figuratively speakingor not, is for us to determine within our own experience."

Even after his first life readings, Cayce did not immedi-ately accept reincarnation; he considered it alien toChristianity. "I was taught the Christian way of thinking, thata man only has one life, and as a man dieth so is he."

But as he began to look at the Bible with new eyes, so didhe look around him, and into himself. "Always there waswithin me a feeling that did not find answer in what was or-dinarily given as the answer for such feelings. How is it thatsome people we meet we immediately feel as if we hadknown all our lives, and others we have known for years inthis life and still do not feel close to them or understandthem? I don't believe anyone can answer that unless there ismore than just this life. Nothing lives again unless it dies,even the grain of wheat in bringing forth that which willpropagate its own self."

His own readings often proved out reincarnation forCayce. In one reading, he told a woman that she had livedten thousand years ago in what is now New Mexico, and hadmade certain hieroglyphics still to be found in that location.

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"Later," Cayce said, "the woman wrote me that she hadgone there with friends, and had found the marks just asindicated." Cayce had never been to New Mexico and neitherhad she—in this life. "When she saw those indications, some-thing answered within her so that she knew she had livedthere and had made those marks."

Just as some felt they had known one another before, sodid the pattern of relationships in this life often reflect a pre-vious association. "If the information [in the reading] tells usthat we were associated with certain individuals during cer-tain periods in the earth's plane, and we see in the present anexact replica of the description of former associations, we arebound to see the consistency of it."

At a church forum, Cayce once submitted to questioningon reincarnation. "Do you think," someone asked, "thatwhen a soul enters the earth plane it knows what sort of en-vironment it is coming into, and the conditions it will have toface?"

Cayce drew on his subconscious knowledge. "It must knowthat it is entering the environment which is necessary for itsown development It knows that this is its opportunity to passthrough that experience necessary for this development."

Weren't these past-life readings keyed more to the ego thananything else?

It was something Cayce had thought often about. "Wehear the question, 'What good will it do me to know that Ilived as John Smith during the Revolution, or was a first set-tler, or that I was among those in the French Revolution, ora wine seller in such and such a period?' Well, our soul, ourentity is what it is today from how it has reacted to variousexperiences in the earth's sphere."

"How does the spirit find the body?" another asked.

"I do not believe that a soul enters until the breath of lifeis drawn. The soul doesn't enter at conception."

For reincarnationists, the following colloquy was en-lightening:

"Is the soul sent here, or does it come of its own desire?"

"Comes of its own desire," Cayce said, "for desire remainsthroughout all development of man, or of the soul, whetherwe speak of material, mental, or the soul portion. Desire goesright through, and is possibly the motive force behind thesoul, for without a desire to do a thing we can't get very far."

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"If the soul knows so much, why does it have to do allthese things over again?"

"It's very much like we have in a school. We go over andover a lesson in mathematics until we know not only that it isrote, but that we can get an answer by doing that We haveto know the principle of the thing, or the basis of it Mangoes over and over his lessons, and necessarily under such dif-ferent environment that it builds that which is lacking, thathas kept it from understanding its relationship to its Maker."

"Do you believe that every human being has a soul?"

Cayce then advanced a unique concept of man's re-lationship with God. "I believe that every human being has asoul, that which makes it akin to the Creator, that which isgiven an individual that he may become a companion to theCreator. As we see in the forces all about us, Nature herselfdesires companionship. So does God. He gives us theopportunity to be his companion, by giving us a soul, whichwe may make a companion with Him, but we have to do themaking."

Chapter Fifteen

THE CATCE BABIES

The pretty blonde was browsing through the Book Room oc-casionally picking up a volume and thumbing its pages. Shewas pretty and supple enough to be in the chorus line of aBroadway show, and she had a demure, yet sensuous way ofmoving, showing her trim tailored slacks to advantage.

The A. R. E. receptionist caught my look of enquiry.

"She is a Cayce baby," she said, "Rae Denny Horton."

The girl looked over and smiled.

"Cayce baby?"

"Yes, she had a reading from Edgar Cayce when she was achild."

The gjrl's smile broadened. "Two readings," she said, "thefirst when I was two years old.""Did you toddle in for it?" I asked.

Her good-natured smile seemed part of her personality. "Iwasn't even there. My mother sent in for it She believed inEdgar Cayce because he had helped her healthwise, whenthe doctors had failed, and so she got life readings for bothmyself and my sister."

"You believe then in reincarnation?" I asked.

The girl looked surprised. "Of course," she said, "it ex-plains practically everything that has happened to me, asEdgar Cayce made so clear." When she was two, he had saidshe would have a talent for dancing, music, the theatre. Shehad turned to ballet when she was three years old, before she

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could possibly know about the readings, and, discountingmaternal influence, had gone on to win a dance scholarshipin her hometown of Norfolk, enabling her to study in NewYork. Her mother's suggestive force hardly gave the daughterher flair.

At twelve, her dancing won unusual recognition. Afterclasses at a New York ballet school, she was recommendedfor a professional start in New York. Her family explainedthat she was only twelve. '"We thought she was older," wasthe disappointed rejoinder. "There would be too much red-tape with child authorities unless she was fourteen."

How had Cayce picked out her special dancing ability?

Mrs. Horton plucked her readings out of a library file. Hereye ran down a mimeographed page. "The inclination to everbe the actress at all times will necessitate judgments as to thetraining of the activities, especially in the vocal direction aswell as in the ability to dance."

She had not studied any musical instrument, and only aftermarriage had she sought voice training. She was divorcednow, with three children, and thought she might sing profes-sionally. She was still young enough, in her late twenties, topursue a career, vocally, since she did have professional ex-perience, having studied at the Pasadena (California) Play-house and worked at a big club in Brooklyn.

Scanning the readings, a sentence caught my eye. "Afterthe twelfth to the fourteenth year, she will take care of all therest of the family, if needs be."

Had Rae taken the job at fourteen?

She shook her head. "Odd, that sentence never struck mebefore." Her family had been well off, and there had been noneed to work, though a job, rejected at twelve, was availableat fourteen.

How much had she been influenced by the readings?

"I never thought of them until recently, yet looking back, Isee how the whole pattern of my life, including my marriage,was anticipated."

"Personality has a lot to do with shaping our lives," I said,recalling the Greek axiom that character is fate.

She smiled. "Edgar Cayce certainly caught my personali-ty." My eye turned back to the reading. "A very demure,meek entity; and then one almost wild at times in itsdetermination for its own way." The stress on wild had beenunderlined in Cayce's voice even in trance.

I appraised the slim, cool-looking figure, with the sunnyface. "True?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid so, at times."

Her finger picked out a paragraph in the life record. "Asto the appearances in the earth, as indicated even from thetemperamental abilities of the entity, many have been theappearances. These that are given here, though, are thos«iindicating the greater urge in the early development of thisentity in the present sojourn."

She looked over at me. "Do you know what that means?"

I shrugged noncommittally.

As her life developed, Rae felt somewhat confused as ateen-ager. She was a pretty girl, and quite comfortable aboutbeing a girl, she thought, but the feeling came over her attimes that she would be much happier as a boy.

Was this the "greater urge" mentioned by Cayce? Itseemed hardly likely. I regarded her lithe, sinuous figure withdetached appreciation. "You make a strange-looking boy," Isaid.

"I seem to have a lot of masculine traits. I was lessemotional than my husband, for instance, and I realize nowthat I resented his trying to run things."

"That's the new breed woman—aggressive, dominant,omniscient"

"I also have a practical masculine turn of mind. In school,I just didn't learn anything, even a geometrical problem, byrote. I had to know why."

And what had all this to do with reincarnation?

"There," she said, picking out a well-thumbed passage inher reading, "there, I was a Frenchman in that incarnation,and entertained the king and his court." In that life, I read,her name was Cheveaux, and she was a man, of course.

That was one of the things that intrigued me: the way theentities kept changing sex. Conceivably, it could lead tohomosexuality, if there was a karmic overload from theopposite sex. However, that was obviously not Rae Horton'sproblem But Cayce did say something about masculine in-fluence. "And in the present life those experiences and ex-pressions will be seen as a part of the entity's development, inthat masculine thought will be a manifestation in the earlyportion of its experiences, the desire to know the whys oflife."

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I looked over at Rae. "You saw this reading by the timeyou were eight, and you've read it a hundred times."

"You will notice," she said determinedly, "that I had aGreek life, and was a singer and dancer in that experience."Because of this experience, Cayce had noted, "And throughthe present life, in the early portion, the entity will find thedesire for the activities which keep the body in perfect formand activity."

From the looks of her, Rae hadn't passed out of the "earlyportion" yet

"I've always loved to drape myself in flowing Grecian cos-tumes, just as I love French perfume.'*

"That's a common failing," I said.

"Perhaps because these are common backgrounds.'*

But Atlantis was her major preoccupation. "I feel a strongaffinity for Atlantis at all times. I've read about everything Ican on it, both in the Cayce readings and in articles andbooks."

"I suppose," I said rather drily, "that you had an Atlantisexperience, too."

No, but her ancestors came from there. "The entity was inthe Egyptian land, of the Atlanteans and the extremists,"Cayce said. "Yet in those periods of perfecting the body forspecial service, the entity—among associates and companionseven in the present—aided many in bringing greaterinterpretations of body and mind as related to the spiritualaspects of life. The name then was Is-So-El."

"Well, Is-So-El," I said, "what do you think that meant,'associates and companions even in the present'?"

Is-So-El laughed. "Haven't you felt an immediate rapportwith some people, as though you had special reason for feel-ing close, or just the opposite, for that matter, raising thehackles on your neck?"

"I always blamed an overactive thyroid."

"The fact remains," she smiled, "that Cayce was rightabout practically everything else about me."

She had a health reading at the age of five. She was paleand sickly, and her hair was falling out. Cayce prescribedCalcios, a substance taken with bread or crackers, and in acouple of weeks the girl's hair had started coming back. Shecertainly had no problem now, the blond tresses falling thick-ly over her shoulders.

She regarded me pleasantly. "Cayce was so right about my

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health. So why would he be right about one thing, and notthe other, since it was all from the same unknown source?"

I could only shrug. "Perhaps Cayce was infallible onlywhen the motivation was right, when people needed helpdesperately, and couldn't get it elsewhere."

"But the life readings were as helpful as the physical, inunderlining people's personality weaknesses, and setting upguides for future behavior."

"These life readings are downright suggestive. They couldhave made a dancer out of almost anybody, or a girl who al-ways had to know why."

As she flipped the pages of the readings, her eye fell on afollow-up in the back. She had never seen it before. It hadjust been taken out of the A. R. E research file. When shewas ten, a dancing teacher had reported she was the only onein the dancing school to do acrobatic work on her toes. Atthe same time she had won a prize for her dancing on a tele-vision show, and at eleven, just after her scholarship award, ateacher observed, "It is very seldom that a good ballet dancercan also be a good acrobat"

Rae finished the report with a smile. "I wonder if dancingin ancient Greece was more fun than Brooklyn," she said. "Itcouldn't have been any worse."

Rae Denny Horton's reading had not appeared to chart herlife with any great detail. Still, other readings told subjectsthey would become architects, tailors, and doctors, because ofinfluences carried over from past lives, and they had becomearchitects, tailors, and doctors. The architect had been abuilder, a carpenter, an architect in previous incarnations, ac-cording to Cayce, and the aptitudes had been brought overinto this one as a sidelight; the main purpose of course al-ways being development. Cayce had said that the best way ofgetting to heaven was on the arm of somebody you werehelping.

It was intriguing to consider the possibility that peoplewere mechanically inclined, writers, musicians, healers, asthey subconsciously remembered what they knew of thesefields. In doing something perhaps subconsciously familiar,they often touched off a chord stirring around uneasily in theback of their consciousness. The World War II soldier, stop-ping off in Bavaria, suddenly saw himself a Crusader in thevery spot he was now enjoying a beer, remembering with astart that Cayce had once put him in the Crusades.

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It was certainly a complex pattern, however you looked atit, for it visualized a broad master plan that embraced eachand every body and mind in the universe, each with its ownlittle niche. Only God in his omnipotence could handle sucha program. Yet, as even the atheistic Einstein recognized,there was a definite order in the world, call it what you will,and man, like the rest of nature—the planets, comets, theseasons—had a place in this order. Life was orderly, even ifman's life wasn't. As the Hindus had noted, life sometimesseemed like a tree. Buds died, prematurely whisked away bythe wind or rain, before they could leaf. Others becameleaves, and fell off at varying stages. Still others lived throughtheir season, then inevitably dropped off, as the experienceended—only to begin again in the spring, the same tree hav-ing different leaves, with perhaps different impulses, and allagain inevitably dying.

Still, what did trees have to do with people, except to forma provocative analogy? How was it that Mozart at five pro-duced the music of mature genius; or Josef Hoffman playedthe piano at two and a half? Commenting on child prodigies,the talented Alan Jay Lemer, author of Brigadoon, My FairLady, Camelot, expressed the view these prodigies must havesurely lived before to have been so gifted. "They rememberedthrough the subconscious," he felt, "the source of all in-spiration."

My attention was drawn to a newspaper article describinga six-year-old Turkish boy whose paintings had been the rageof European art galleries for four years. "Bedri [Baykam]started painting when he was only two years old," the Chris-tian Science Monitor reported. "He has turned out more thanone thousand water colors and over five thousand drawings,but he has never had a painting lesson in his life."

And what did Bedri paint? Turkish scenes, Saracen, pastelsof the Middle East and the Holy Land? Bedri, untraveled andunlettered, unable to read or write, daubed his colors into de-lightful representations of the American Wild West. "One ofBedri s favorite subjects," the article went on, "is cowboys. Ina sequence of a few sketches, which have tremendous move-ment, he is able to tell a whole story."

It would have been interesting to have known what anEdgar Cayce would have said about Bedri. For another.Cayce had said once, "There is the natural interest towardthings of the artistic nature and temperament There are the

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abilities to use the voice, as well as playing almost any mu-sical instrument"

The subject, growing up, had displayed ability, but had notdone very much with it, though in a previous life, said Cayce,he had been a better than middling composer named FranzLiszt

Success didn't necessarily follow; musical progress was sub-ordinated to the broader need of learning humility and serv-ice. It was a most comforting concept reincarnation.

Very few who received a Cayce life reading ever arguedwith the aptitudes he saw as part of the personality pattern,but not all accepted the underlying concept. One housewifetold Cayce after a life reading for her husband, "Most of thethings you said about my husband I know to be true, charac-ter, abilities, and practically everything about his physicalcondition as we know it, but I have wondered what the catchis, and I find it, reincarnation I"

There were many "Cayce babies," and it was interesting tofollow-up some, in view of Cayce's prognoses. I sat across theluncheon table one day from a young man who had a lifereading when he was but four hours old. Just after birth, thesuggestion was planted with the sleeping mystic: "You willgive the relation of this entity and the universe, and theuniversal forces, giving the conditions which are as personali-ties, latent and exhibited in the present life; also the formerappearances in the earth plane, giving time, place and thename, and that in each life which built or retarded thedevelopment for the entity; giving the abilities of the presententity, that to which it may attain, and how."

That was twenty-three years ago, and the parents had care-fully kept the reading from the boy, so that it would not in-fluence him. It was not until his sophomore year in collegethat he had taken a look at it He was now taking graduatework in a Western university, and planning to be a physician.He was a young man of even disposition, but obviousdetermination. He came from a family of moderate circum-stances, but had already showed a remarkable facility formaking money in the stock market through using in-formation gained by chance or from friends. He was in morethan a dozen stocks, was constantly buying and sellingthrough two brokerage houses, and had established creditwith a couple of banks. Some of his stocks had multiplied adozenfold. As a sidelight, too, he kept a patch of land near

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his college, which he worked as a garden. In all, he appearedto be an unusually productive, versatile young man. I wouldhave said offhand that he was bound to succeed.

Still, what could Cayce have said of an infant but fourhours old? Together, the young man and I went through hisreading. "A very determined individual," Cayce had said,"yet not high-tempered, but having his way."

That had been my impression.

"In the experience before this," the reading continued, "afarmer, a wide-awake, high-minded individual."

The young man smiled. "I found that odd, becauseoriginally I wanted to be a farmer before I wanted to be adoctor, and used to love working on my uncle's farm, not tomention the little farming I do now."

It was just as well that he switched, for Cayce had put itfirmly, "In this experience the entity should be a doctor, andshould, and will be, a very betraveled individual." He en-visioned an "unusual career" as a doctor.

The youth had made up his mind to be a doctor, before heknew about the reading; he had already been to Europe.Cayce was checking out

"He will be an observer of little things," Cayce had said."He will be wealthy, which will come from listening, takingadvantage of the opportunities." As a boy of thirteen, with anewspaper route, he had overheard one of his customers onthe telephone telling a friend to buy into the stock of a fer-tilizer firm. It sounded good to him and he received permis-sion from his father to put $250 of his savings into the com-pany. In a few years, this investment was worth more thanthree thousand dollars, and the boy's aggregate stock holdingsadded up to more than ten thousand dollars, after paying hisown way through four years of college.

I was sure he would be wealthy, if that was what he want-ed.

"Teaching also is indicated in the experience. Thus theunusual opportunity of education, by travel as well as by thatof association and of pedagogy." He was already teaching,while working for his doctorate in psychology, and had re-ceived a full scholarship, financing study for both his Mas-ter's Degree, which he had already obtained, and the doc-torate.

Here was a prediction not yet subject to validation, sinceonly time would tell: "Entering at this particular period

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(born October 1942), there will be in the affairs of the earththose activities similar to those as the King of Sweden, inkeeping peace in the earth."

I asked the young man if he knew what this meant Heshrugged pleasantly, maintaining the "even-temper" of thereading. "It's very nattering," he said modestly, "but I willhave to wait and see, I guess."

I couldn't remember what the King of Sweden had beenlike, but as a perennial neutral he had quietly interested him-self in discussions aimed at ending the conflict raging in1942.

There was more. "The entity will be one of strong body,and should be allowed to engage in all characters of sports,not as an activity for pay but as developing of body, ofmind."

The young man smiled. He had been too busy to partici-pate much in sports, but had been on the college wrestlingsquad. "I've never been in a hospital," he said quietly, "neverhad a real illness in my life."

I looked down the page. "Beware of activities that have todo with the digestion, and the throat These are weaknesses inthe karmic forces influencing this body."

He seemed to be enjoying his lunch, and his throat wasclear. "It may yet happen," I said.

He gave his even-tempered smile. "IH just have to watchfor that"

There was a word for the parents who had requested thoreading. "Educate, put then in the way of the entity thosethings that may have to do with every form of those activi-ties, spiritual, mental, and material, that may be helpful inbringing to those in the material plane the consciousness ofhealth-giving force in the experience of those that suffer."

Had the parents thrown subUe suggestions of a career hisway in the green formative years? "They never did adviseme, one way or the other," he said, "and I understand it now;they wanted to see how it would turn out"

There was little of counsel in the reading except boraunder Libra [October] he was told when choosing a com-panion, presumably a wife, to pick one bora in January orOctober. He had not yet been confronted by a decision, andbeing a rather level-headed young man didn't go around ask-ing girls their birthdays.

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There was one last word of advice. "Beware of politics forthis entity: though there will be opportunities for same."

The young man shrugged and looked away. "I'm not sure Iknow what that means."

He had a number of previous lives, one in his own family,another as a physician at the time of Christ, again as a farm-er. Lives in Sweden, China, Egypt had given meaningful ex-periences.

And that was it

The young man smiled evenly. "The reading seems to haveworked out well, as far as analyzing my life goes, but Ihaven't made up my mind on reincarnation. It's almost toopat a way of explaining everything we don't understand. Theneed is there, and the concept supports it"

"You haven't been influenced then by previous incarna-tions as a doctor and farmer?"

"I just don't know. Some day, the message may come as itdid to my father. But I'll have to find out for myself."

"Then how did Cayce pinpoint your strong and weakpoints?"

He frowned. "That I don't know, either, except thatclairvoyantly, he may have been able to look into the future."

We shook hands, and I knew, without a Cayce, that herewas a young man destined for success. He had an inner calmand resolve beyond his years.

The next day, the father called. "How did it go?" he asked.

"You know," I said, "he doesn't believe in reincarnation."

"We've never imposed our beliefs on him He's a mostdetermined young man." He laughed. "When he was a boy,eleven or twelve, another boy his age borrowed his bicyclewithout permission, bringing it back without the chain. I hap-pened to look out the window, and saw him standing over theboy, with the chain in his hand, forcing him through sheerwill to put it back. He never got flustered or upset but theother boy obeyed without a word."

I recalled the boy hesitating over the warning on politicalactivity.

The father chuckled. "I don't blame him," he said. "Youknow, he was always politicking in school. In high school, hewas elected president of the student body, campaigning allover town, and it stirred a certain amount of criticism. In col-lege, he was president of his class, but his campaigning again

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stirred opposition, and even friends ganged up on him. Hewas a disillusioned young man before it was over, broodingover the frailty of human friendship. He's never run for anystudent office since."

But what had it to do with reincarnation?

"There is some aptitude remembrance, in his flair forfarming, in his ambition to be a doctor, and in other qualitiesfrom the past; the ability to listen and evaluate, have cer-tainly stood him in good stead. He's been self-supportingsince he was a teen-ager."

It still seemed nebulous grounds for reincarnation.

"In one of the previous lives mentioned by Cayce," the fa-ther said, "as a four-year-old boy he saw his grandfatherkilled by a horse. The horse caught his foot and fell, and therider, tossing the boy to safety, was crushed under the an-imal. It was an unforgettable experience."

He had been born again to the same family, apparentlypermissible in reincarnation. And there was remembrance,remembrance that he consciously knew nothing about"When my boy was four, we had been out for a walk, whenwe saw a horse rear up with a girl on it There was nothingto get alarmed about but my son, normally stolid, stoodtrembling, his whole body in a sweat as though having anightmare. The horse soon quieted, but the boy kept staring,rigid with fear. Then taking hold of himself, he advanceddeterminedly and put his hand on the horse's forehead, strok-ing the animal as though he was trying to overcome hisobsession." The father had never seen fear in the youngsterbefore or since. "There is no doubt in my mind that the oldmemory came surging in, and then he determinedly tried torid himself of his fear."

Granted reincarnation, signs were apparently all an in-dependent researcher could hope to find, unless he had apipeline to Universal Knowledge. Remembrance was one ofthese signs, of course, but again a Cayce was needed. Ayoung woman, morbidly fascinated by circuses, left in apanic every time they trundled out the lions and tigers intheir steel-barred cages. Without knowing of this idio-syncrasy, the sleeping Cayce told her that she had been aChristian in an earlier life in Rome, and had been fed to thelions. No wonder she was scared. For another girl born lame,just as the Biblical child was bom blind, Cayce explained thatduring the reign of Nero she often sat and laughed in the Col-

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osseum, as the Christian martyrs were killed or maimed by thewild beasts. I read elsewhere in Cayce of people who had usedthe sword cruelly in one life being plagued in this by unex-plained fear of all cutting instruments, including an inoffen-sive bread knife. And I recalled Eula Allen saying that themillions who had perished in war must have killed others inearlier wars. From Revelation, I suddenly remembered: "Hethat ieadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kill-eth with the sword must be killed with the sword." I had al-ways considered this in the framework of one life, but it cer-tainly didn't work out that way; wickedness so often went un-noticed, even rewarded. It was that kind of a world.

But karma, the reincarnationist's debit and credit ledger,changed all this. It was the load we carried from one life intoanother. "Karma," said Cayce, "is the lack of living to thatwhich ye know ye should do. As ye would be forgiven, soforgive in others. That is the manner to meet karma." A pos-itive attitude could also help. For a woman lamed byrheumatic fever in childhood: "The attitudes that have beenheld by the body have been and are helpful, yet these con-ditions being karmic, must be met by the body, in adding tothe being and the soul of the body, patience, kindness, broth-erly love, long-suffering, and the like."

Again, even with the opportunity to work off karma, itseemed a paradox that a merciful God should subject hiscreatures to an apparently endless cycle of punishment "Weare taught to turn the other cheek and forgive," I told onereincarnationist "and this in God's name. Am I to assumethat we have learned this lesson better than our Maker?"

The reincarnationist smiled. "If you don't accept reincarna-tion, does injustice and bloodshed then disappear? At leastwith reincarnation, there is a purpose, an aim, a hope fordevelopment The life snuffed out today has a chance in theendless tomorrow." He eyed me rather sardonically. "It seemsto me that the Maker who gives his creatures another chanceis more merciful than one who lets the world spin aroundlike a top."

With it all, I neither accepted nor rejected reincarnation.Thinking of all the inexplicable phenomena I had witnessedover the years, of people somehow predicting the future, ofclairvoyance, of telepathy, it would have been absurd to haveclosed myself off through either the inadequacy of my un-derstanding or of the evidence. I didn't understand how

EDGAR CAYCE—THE SLEEPING PROPHET W

electricity worked, nor did anybody, and yet it worked. TheCayce readings could hardly be taken as proof of reincarna-tion, since they were valueless as evidence, unless they couldbe proved out with something tangible. For instance, Caycehad advised a young man of twenty-three, obsessed withwanderlust, that this expression was a carryover from a pre-vious life in Peru, before the Incas. "In that land now knownas Peru, the entity was then among those that ruled in theland and was subjugated by the Incas that took possession ofthe land from those that ruled." There was a little more, trac-ing the wandering spirit. "The entity lost through this ex-perience, for in that of bringing the wreck of the peoplesfrom the desire to rule brought destructive forces to othersand to self. In the urge seen from this experience, the entityfinds that self becomes wandering in body, mind, and in de-sire." In other words, he was a sort of Ulysses. That was allvery nice, but when Cayce predated the Incan civilization hewas again off in a subconscious dream world of his own."How," I asked Gladys Davis, who was busily inventoryingthe Cayce readings, "how can anything so esoteric asreincarnation be indicated out of anything so apocryphal as acivilization we have not even an indication of?"

Edgar Cayce's secretary, rummaging on her desk, came upwith a copy of Science News for April 9, 1966, billed as TheWeekly Summary of Current Science. On the front coverwere two shadowy figures, captioned "Undersea Pillars." Iturned curiously to the article, as Gladys said casually,"There's something there about the Incas that might be perti-nent."

The article dealt with information that seemed right out ofa Cayce reading: "Strange carved rock columns, shown onthis week's front cover, some with writing on them, havebeen sighted by cameras six thousand feet under the sea offthe coast of Peru. (Photo credit: Duke University)

"This unknown Atlantis of the Pacific lies too deep forexploration from a surface ship, said Dr. Robert J. Menzies,director of ocean research at the Duke University MarineLaboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina. A mobile deep-divingvehicle is needed for precise observation. Two upright col-umns, about two feet or more in diameter, were sighted ex-tending five feet out of the mud. Two more had fallen downand were partially buried, and another angular squarish blockwas seen, said Dr. Menzies. The pieces were sighted from a

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surface ship carrying apparatus for lowering cameras to with-in a few feet of the ocean floor. The oceanographic cruise ofthe research vessel Anton Brunn lasted for six weeks off thecoasts of Peru and Ecuador in the waters of the Milne-Edward Deep, a deep trench that drops off to almost 19,000feet in places. The cruise was sponsored by the National Sci-ence Foundation."

There was more, indicating that just as Cayce had said,there may have been a counterpart of Atlantis named Lemu-ria in the Pacific, "The sunken columns," the article con-tinued, "are located about fifty-five miles off the city of Cal-lao, the port of Lima, capital of Peru. This is near the Ringof Fire, the zone of earthquakes and active volcanoes thatencircles the Pacific Ocean. The area had once been coveredby at least six hundred feet less of seawater, about eleventhousand years ago at the time of the great glaciers of the IceAge, said Dr. Menzies. The area is now slowly sinking."

So Lemuria, or whatever, was still subsiding. Theoceanographer had come across the mysterious sea pillars ac-cidentally, while foraging around for specimens of a smallmoll us k. His expedition had found sixty thousand specimensof sea animals and taken a thousand underwater photographsbefore it stumbled across the sunken ruins. "We did not findstructures like these anywhere else," he reported. "I havenever seen anything like this before."

But what of our friend who had lived before the Incas inPeru? Near the pillars there had been other discoveries. "OldInca ruins have been found around that area, and civ-ilizations predating the Incas by many years are now believedto have existed nearby." That was not Cayce, but the ScienceNews. And still, this reference to a pre-Incan civilization wasbut a sign. Yet perhaps, this was all that was needed. For wasit not written in the Book, in Job, clearly the story of man-kind and its tribulations, was it not said: "For we are but ofyesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earthare a shadow."

Chapter Sixteen

THE RECKOTOHO

Edgar Cayce gave his last reading on September 17, 1944,and it was for himself. He was tired, frazzled, worn out AsGladys Davis said, there was no place to put another patch.His own readings had repeatedly warned that if he "read"more than twice a day, he would disintegrate. But with thewar on, and thousands appealing for help, he could not re-sist doing as much as time—and his waning strength—wouldallow. In the months before his death, thousands of requestsfor readings had piled up, arriving at the rate of fifteen hun-dred a day. People were concerned not only for their ownhealth but for the welfare of loved ones in the far corners ofthe earth. Cayce's own two sons—Hugh Lynn and EdgarEvans—were on the battlefronts, and the compassionateCayce could not turn from anybody. As his fame spreadthrough books and articles, he undertook seven or eight read-ings a day, but, even so, the most desperate appeals had totake their place, and this generally meant a five or six monthdelay. Often the sick worsened and died before Cayce couldget to them, and this knowledge, as well as the work, wore onhim. He felt weak and inadequate. Working around theclock, he couldn't catch up with his backlog in three or fouryears. As he helplessly looked at the huge mailbag, crammedevery day with fresh appeals, he would lie down with a sigh,and pray that something would come through. In time, theman who seemed to know everything when asleep, could no

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longer go to sleep. His weary body and mind would no long-er respond to his suggestion, and so he had to put the read-ings away for a while, and hope for a renewal of strength.Just before his last reading, he visited biographer TomSugrue at Clearwater Beach in Florida, which the readingshad picked out as ideal for convalescence. Sugrue had askedfor help on an article on the human aura, and Cayce, thoughhis own aura was dimming rapidly, could not refuse. He alsohoped that he would rest up enough to get on with the work."He had no more power to refuse me anything," Sugruecommented later, "than he had to refuse anyone else."

As it turned out, he was too restless to relax, even withSugrue, whom he loved. He had taken his correspondencewith him, responding with counsels of patience and goodcheer, compensating in this way for not giving the readings.It struck Sugrue that Cayce was hastening his own end. "Isuggested that he spend his time fishing and gardening, exceptfor when the readings were given, but in the letters he re-ceived were stories of misfortune and suffering. Each was acry for help, and had it gone unanswered, he would haveheard it among his flowers or on the pier, fishing. His heartwas heavy and his mind numb with the burden of his help-lessness. Though at first, he stayed asleep longer than ever,pushing himself, he could not even dent the pile of requests.It was this more than anything that broke him."

The night before he said goodbye to Sugrue, he had adream that was manifestly prophetic. "I was on a train goingto Florida," he told the writer. "I had retired, and I wasgoing to live there." Only the evening before, looking out atthe sea, he had remarked what a beautiful place it would beto rest. But as both Cayce and Sugrue knew, only death couldretire the man who had said in sleep: "Mind is the builder.Knowledge not lived becomes sin."

Even without the last reading, he knew what the answerwas. The end was near, but he felt only regret that this lifeexperience was to be interrupted when he was needed sobadly. He called on his friend, Dr. Woodhouse, in VirginiaBeach, and the doctor said, "You know as well as I what iswrong with you." He was clearly disintegrating, as that read-ing had warned.

Mrs. Cayce had framed the questions for that final read-ing. "How can the body best free himself of worry and anx-iety concerning the office routine?"

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"Get out of the office," came Cayce's reply.

In the hills near Roanoke, Virginia, there was a nursinghome where the readings sometimes sent patients. "Thiswould be preferable to anyplace where there would be anx-ieties from others outside. Commence soon." "How longshould I stay?" the next question was put .

The answer was to the point "Until you are well or dead."

Like more orthodox therapists, he had never followed hisown advice, and it was rather late in the day to begin. Butrestless, at home, with each day's bag of mail staring at himaccusingly, he went to Roanoke anyway. He now neithercould sleep to read by, nor to rest. The vital energies wereslipping away. In April of 1926, nearly twenty years before,he had had a dream which symbolized the way he would die.In this dream, he visualized himself immersed in a tub of hotwater, and scalding to death. He interpreted this dream in asubsequent reading. In resisting physical pain one day, hisbody would become protectively immersed in water, anddeath would follow. When he died, the cause was diagnosedas pulmonary edema. Two weeks before the end, a physicianhad warned, "The danger lies in his strangling to death."

In late November, as thin as a wraith, but still wearing asmile, he returned home to spend his last days, looking acrossthe lake where he had fished so often On New Year's Day,1945, he told visitors cheerfully, "It is all arranged. I am tobe healed on Friday, the fifth of January." His friends under-stood what he meant, when they arrived on Friday for hisfuneral. He would be elsewhere, wherever this healing wouldoccur. The night before his death, as his wife reached acrossto kiss him goodnight the man, whose gift had always beenhis obsession, looked at her reflectively, and said with ten-derness, "You know I love you, don't you?"

A lump came to the throat of the woman who had madehim her whole world through forty years of marriage. Shenodded silently, unable to trust her voice.He smiled gently. "How do you know?""Oh, I just know," she managed.

"I don't see how you can tell—but I do." His mind trav-eled down the years when his work had been the consumingpassion of his life. "You know," he said, "when you lovesomeone you sacrifice for them, and what have I ever sac-rificed because I love you?"

She hushed him as though he were a child, closed his eyes,

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and, kissing him lightly, stole from the room. He died thenext night January 3. He was sixty-seven.

Gertrude began to fade rapidly. She told her friend, LydiaJ. Schrader Gray, that she felt as though one of her vital or-gans had been bodily removed. She had two sons at war tolive for, but she felt that Cayce was gently pulling her to hisside. Three months after Cayce's death, on April 1, 1945, ona beautiful Easter Sunday morning, Gertrude Evans Caycefollowed her husband hopefully beyond the divide. TheCayce family lived, as it believed. On March 30, the day be-fore his mother's death, Hugh Lynn had written from hisArmy post in Germany: "It makes me deeply happy to knowhow ready you are to pass through that other door. There is60 much beauty in your living, that I cannot be sad at thepossibility of your joining Dad. You held up his righthand—sometimes both hands—here, so it does not surpriseme that he may need you now." And the son designated tospread the Work showed his readiness for the task. "We havecome, Mother," he saluted, "to an understanding of karma ina way that we have for a long time been explaining to others,and I find that your life represents so much that is fine andbeautiful that I cannot allow my selfish desires to mar thisperiod of waiting and wondering. My prayers are that youwill not suffer. I know that you must realize how much lovehas been, is, and always will be yours."

In death, there has been no deification of Edgar Cayce atVirginia Beach. Long before Stalin's successors, Cayce hadde-emphasized the cult of the personality. The supreme lawwas: "Thou must love the Lord thy God with all thystrength, and love thy neighbor as thyself." But the A R. E,Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment, is stillrun by a voice from the dead—Cayce's. More than fortyyears ago, when there was no widespread acknowledgmentof extrasensory perception in any form, the sleeping Cayceplotted the growth of the Work. "For such work must ofnecessity first appeal to the individual and through in-dividuals, groups, classes and then the masses, as it gains cre-dence necessary for recognition by the general public."

Just as Cayce foresaw, the A R. E's work after his deathbegan with an inventorying of his readings, branched out to alibrary offering help to researchers. "The institution," Cayceblueprinted, "should be built around a place where the re-cords of that accomplished through these sources [Cayce's

280

clairvoyance] are kept" The chief aim, he stressed, was notthe revelation of psychic phenomena, but of "better un-derstanding of the purpose of life." He was most specific."First, put the information in an orderly manner, so that anyphase of human experience may be had from that alreadygiven." In suggesting how the Information should be si-phoned to the outside world, he mentioned a number of per-sons who should one day be received. On three occasions, Inoted with interest, my own surname cropped up. "Choosefrom among those," Cayce directed, "that are gifted in theputting together of data so obtained into scientific matters, inthose of story, verse or fiction, and let the same then be givento the hundreds of channels or outlets."

As he had once advised Tom Sugrue how to plot his best-seller. Starling of the White House, he now counseled others,"Let it be known that that being dispensed comes from suchsources, as is verified by those who found in their lives theanswer to their problem—and such then becomes then moreworthwhile to readers, whether of Snappy Stories or of Sun-day School lessons."

In 1956, through an unexpected gift, of the sort that thesleeping Cayce would have understood, the A. R. E. was ableto buy back Cayce's old hospital in Virginia Beach—knownas the White Elephant—reopen the vaults and begin theanalysis of some fifteen thousand readings which apply morethan ever today in their broad understanding of the nature ofthe universe. Today, at A. R. E., the files have beenlaboriously classified by categories—cancer, arthritis,homosexuality, reincarnation, Atlantis, etc., as recommendedby the sleeping psychic. Doctors, archeologists, scientists,oceanographers, and cultists have all found their taskseasier—for Cayce stressed simplicity. "Be able at a glance,from whatever phase of human experience, to have the in-formation in the setting it was presented to that individual.Whether it pertain to marital relations, separating the siltfrom the gold, or adding to a body that vibration necessaryto alter the very fires of nature within the individual itself."It was difficult, perhaps impossible, however, to help thosewhose intellectuality would not permit them to grasp thatwhich was intellectually inconceivable. "Do not attempt tocast pearls before swine," said the Scripture-minded mystic,"nor give to those who read such as of the fiction of theday."

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Many of course did consider reincarnation a pleasant fic-tion. It was an interesting Cayce concept, though I wasn't atall sure it made life easier to consider still another life on thisplane. Reincarnation presupposed some sort of order in aworld apparently predisposed to disorder. Still, it was difficultto accept God and believe with the hedonists that there wasnothing but the everlasting present and sensual gratificationin that present Theirs was a world without plan, or-ganization, a schemata of any kind. And yet the lowliest bu-reaucrat, in the pettiest assignment, governed his minusculeactivity with some table of organization. Were we to supposeGod less capable?

Despite myself, I was intrigued by the small boy whoclimbed on the Cayce lap, and mentioned their being togetheron the Ohio during an Indian massacre. That boy, grown tomanhood, was serenely unaware of what he had said thatday. If regressed, under hypnosis, would his subconsciousdredge up a previous life, coinciding with Cayce's own lifereading for himself? And would this be evidence forreincarnation? I didn't know, but I supposed some wouldthink so.

Inherently, the value of Cayce seemed to rest in therecognition that his glimpse into the divine purpose of theuniverse could be shared by all ready to count themselves aninfinite part of that infinite universe. Cayce dealt with themundane and the bizarre, the trivial, and the universal. In hisprophecies, he stressed a lesson of courage and resolution inadversity, so that to man at one with Nature even disasterwas a manifestation of God's superior, if often unrevealed,purpose. Predicting widespread destruction in New York andCalifornia, he still did not take a dark view of the forecastdestruction, nor did he think it would help to move around toavoid it As anybody might in the circumstances, a con-cerned religious had asked, "Should California or VirginiaBeach be considered at all, or where is the right place thatGod has already provided for me to live?"

Cayce suggested that his questioner look inside himself forthe well-being he was rightly concerned about "As indicated,these choices should be made rather in self. Virginia Beachor the area is much safer as a definite place. But the work ofthe entity should embrace most all of the areas from the eastto the west coast in its persuading not as a preacher, nor asone bringing a message of doom—but as a loving warning to

282

all groups, clubs, art groups, those of every form of club, thatthere needs be, in their activities, definite work toward theknowledge of the power of the Son of God's activity in theaffairs of men."

Essentially, as was especially evident in his healing, theCayce message was one of faith, in self and God. God wasnot some vague, remote indescribable entity. He was a friend,a companion. He worked through God, and God workedthrough him. His will was implicit in every wonder thatCayce performed. The sleeping Cayce saw body, mind, andspirit not only as a flowing, electrically vibrant current ofblood, lymph, and nerve impulses, but as an entity of faith,hope and charity. The mind, become negative, reacted indis-ease, which, neglected, became disease.

He did not push anything at anybody. Reincarnation,Atlantis, Lemuria, these were no stranger than his travelingthrough space to pick out a jar on a drugstore shelf hundredsof miles away, or his description of how a rabbit serumshould be prepared against cancer years before medical re-searchers turned up a similar concept Not dissimilar fromone who had trod the earth two thousand years before, heapplied the wisdom of a connected universe to virtually everyfacet of human thought and behavior. During the war, as somany had, a worried mother consulted him, psychically, be-cause of her concern that her only son, in the Army, mightbe killed or injured in battle. The mother, already helped bya Cayce health reading, expressed her anxiety over the safetyof her son, then stationed in the U.S. "Please give advice,guidance, and help to this confused mind, and answer thequestions, as I ask them."

Cayce put the problem on a spiritual plateau, indicatingthat the over-all cause had to be considered in weighing themother's private concern. "To be sure, there is built withinthe consciousness of the entity [the mother] an aversion tostrife, to war, and to all phases of military activity. But in anhour of trial, when there are influences abroad that wouldchange or take away that freedom which is the gift of thecreative forces to man, that man might by his own innate de-sire be at-one with God, there should be the willingness topattern the life, the emergencies, the exigency as may arise,much in the way and manner as the Master indicated to eachand every soul. According to the pattern of the life as Hegave, one should ever be able and willing, even to lay down

THE RECKONING

283

the life, that the principles may live as he indicated, that offreedom not only from the fear of servitude, but that thewhole earth may indeed be a better place for an individual,for those that are to come to reside in."

In the Christ story, Cayce saw clearly the tribulations ofevery son of man on the terrestrial plane, climaxed on earthwith the Crucifixion. "When He withheld not His own son,how can ye ask Him to withhold thine." There was practicaladvice. He suggested the mother revise her attitude so thather courage and resolution, her faith, would be transmitted toher son, encouraging rather than depressing him. "So livethen, so think, so act in thy conversation, in thy convocationwith thy fellow man, that others may know, too, that theLord walks with thee. Instill that hope, that encouragementin the mind and in the heart of thy son, that he, too, maylook to the Lord for strength, for purpose, for sureness; andthat in the peace which is to come there will be the needs forhis activity among the children of men, that the way of theLord may be sure in the earth." The earth was the house ofthe Lord, and Christ, too, had showed anger when it became"a den of those who took advantage of their fellow man." Hestressed how Christ's travail could reinforce the woman's ownstrength. "He, too, brought that knowledge to those that seekHis face, that He knows the heartache of disappointment, theheartache of fear, even as He prayed: If it be possible, let thiscup pass from me—not my will, oh God, but Thine bedone."

After listening to the message she had requested, themother, apparently missing the prophetic reference to herson's postwar activity, very humanly asked, "Is there anyother branch of the service where my son could serve, thatwould be less dangerous?"

The sleeping Cayce recognized that she had not got themessage. "No portion of the service is dangerous," hestressed, "if he is put in the hands of God. Look upon thatcondition which disturbs—not from a material angle—butfrom the standpoint of a mental and spiritual blessing to oth-ers in the opportunity offered."

There is probably nobody more concerned than a motherabout her only son. "Could he be transferred to some postcloser to his home?"

"This may be, but is it best? Rather than making the en-viron by doubts and fears, isn't it better to put it all into the

28-1

hands and upon the heart of thy Elder Brother, in the handsof thy God?"

"Is it best for him where he is?" she persisted.

"Consider well the Master's answer, No man is in this orthat position save by the grace of God."

"Could he better serve in some defense work outside themilitary service?"

For a brief moment, the sleeping Cayce appeared to losepatience. "If it had been, would not this have been the place?If what has been given is studied, these questions will beanswered." And then came the sharp enjoinder. "Fill theplace better where ye are, and the Lord will open the way."The stressed words were Cayce's. "Only as we are able torealize consciously that we live and move and have our beingin Him, can we put it all into His hands, and leave it there,doing our duty as we see it from day to day."

The son eventually went overseas, and saw battle servicewithout harm. However, there was a family loss. The father,for whom similar concern had not been shown, died suddenlya year later, at the height of the war. Perhaps Cayce hadforeseen this event when he counseled, "Fill the place betterwhere ye are."

The greatest of the American psychics conveniently left aguide on psychic development for those with some of thisability, or for researchers interested in its development Intrance once, he pointed out that the psychic force, travelingthrough the subconscious, functioned through certain glands."In the body we find that which connects the pineal, thepituitary, the Leydig, these may be truly called the silvercord." The force was more active in women, whose consciouspowers were not as highly developed perhaps, permittinggreater development of the subconscious. The higher levelssubconsciously would be attained only through a spiritualoutlook, an avoidance of the material—a lesson that psychicswho have striven for notoriety might well heed. "One fed uponthe purely material will become a Frankenstein that is with-out any influence other than material or mental," he warned.

He saw nothing unusual in the psychic force, pointing outthat it was as much a part of the natural talent, as the powersthat man drew on to create the ability to fly; it was similar tothe inspiration for great works of art, poetry and mathemat-ics, as in the Einstein theory of relativity, that came to thegreat mathematician "mystically."

THE RECKONING

285

Not everybody should develop as a psychic channel, onlythose capable of providing more understanding of the in-dividual's relationship with the creative forces. The potentiali-ty of a gift like Cayce's was endless. Cayce pointed out manytimes that Christ, performing his wonders, had said that withthe aid of God others could do the same. Cayce, in humility,felt that he himself was merely a reflection of the unlimitedscope of human potential, in the continuous struggle to get intune with the universe he lived in—boundless man trying tofind himself in a boundless universe.

In his own apparent boundlessness, there seemed no limitto Cayce's ultimate service, in practical and spiritual areas.As more and more doctors poked into the Information, as re-searchers worked out of his legacy of readings, it appearedprobable that the Cayce fight against infection and diseasewould mount through the years. In a small way, I had adramatic experience myself with the wonders of Cayce'stherapy. I had developed an irritating hardening of the rim ofthe outer ear, an excrescence the size of a small pea. It inter-fered with sleep at night, and became increasingly annoyingto the point where I consulted a doctor. He scanned theoffending area under the magnifying lens, and said, "Actinickeratosis, a prelude to skin cancer. Nothing very serious, asit's usually localized and can be removed. However, youmight check with a dermatologist." The condition had result-ed from too much sun.

Instead, I checked with Gladys Davis. "What would Caycehave prescribed?" I asked.

There was no hesitation. "Castor oil. Rub on a little morn-ing and night, alternating with camphorated oil, if you want"

In a spirit of experiment, I did as suggested, while keepingthe name of a skin man in the back of my mind.

I put it down to imagination at first, but after twenty-fourhours there was a comforting sense of relief. At the end ofthree days, applying the oil, my probing fingers told me thatthe thickening of the skin was greatly reduced. At the end ofa week, the crustiness was distintegrating and there was nopain. The actinic keratosis, soothed by the camphorated oilmornings, and the castor oil at night, had vanished in sixweeks.

What Cayce had done as a mystic might be repeated byanother one day, though there was only one Shakespeare,Nostradamus, Da Vinci and Plato, as though to show what

EDGAR CAYCE—THE SLEEPING PROPHET

286

man was capable of. Nonetheless, Cayce pointed up thepotential of the psychic in more than one way. Once, for in-stance, he gave a demonstration before the psychology classof a Kentucky school. One of the students, taking advantageof this priceless opportunity, asked the Universal Mind aboutfunds being mysteriously drained away from her father's busi-ness in Mississippi. Cayce described the thief, and how thethefts were being managed. Soon, he heard from the student'sfather. On the basis of Cayce's information, they had grabbedthe thief and saved the business. It was trivial, but then lifewas made up of trivia, and it appeared easier to accept thepsychic on this level.

Whenever there was an unusual earthquake, particularly inCalifornia, I thought of Cayce. On June 27, 1966, a moder-ate tremor—5.6 on the Richter scale—hit the Paso Roblesarea, 175 miles south of San Francisco, and left visible frac-tures in the earth along a twenty-mile section of the San An-dreas fault. The western side of the fault had moved northseveral inches. And the unusual feature—for Californiaquakes—was that even after the quake the surface cracksseemed to be growing. "I must emphasize," said Louis Pakis-er of the National Center for Earthquake Research, "that thisis a very rapid movement."

For many, including the Geologist who had a specializedinterest, Cayce's upcoming earth changes were perhaps hisgreatest revelation. However, only the future will tell how ac-curate the prophet was in his X-ray-like probing of the centerof the earth, and its forecast axis tilt Even now, little isknown of the axis on which the earth turns. But, pro-vocatively, bolstering Cayce, some geologists profess that thepolar points have wandered through millions of years oftime, continually altering the topography and climate of thesmall speck of the universe known as Earth. From earth bor-ings, from cores and sedimentations, the scientists have es-tablished the ages of mountains, lakes, deserts and other areasof the globe. Striking discoveries by recent deep-sea and pa-leo-magnetic research have made possible recreation of per-iods millions of years ago, in which it has been surmised lifewas somewhat similar to our own. More strikingly, most ofCayce's readings on prehistorical life were given in the 1920sand '30s. And all these, available before his death, precededthe scientific finds that have confirmed major aspects of theprehistorical portrait of the changing earth as he gave it The

THE RECKONING 287

Geologist was principally impressed that where recent re-search often modified, or repudiated, long standardized con-cepts of geology, it tended rather to strengthen Cayce's psy-chic readings, a trend that seems to be intensifying with time.

The Cayce key year 1958 has passed, prefacing someearthly fireworks as he suggested, and now 1968, or '69, willsoon arrive to test Atlantis rising, though Cayce explainedelsewhere that the rise would be gradual, and might notbreak the surface immediately. After that, who knows? Per-haps the break-ups could be prayed away, as Cayce so oftensuggested, without such ever materializing. And yet even as asource of destruction was possibly gathering momentum inthe crust of the earth, under his very feet, man could stilllook overhead hopefully for eternal salvation. For as Cayceread so often from Matthew: "Immediately after the trib-ulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and themoon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall fromheaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Andthen shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, andthen shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall seethe Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with powerand great glory."

All one needed was faith—a faith that Cayce had comealong to bolster in a time of need.

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HOW DID EDGAR CAYCEACCURATELY ANTICIPATE A CURE FOR CANCER?

HOW DID EDGAR CAYCE ACCURATELYPREDICT TWO WORLD WARS ANDTHE YEARS THEY WOULD BEGIN AND END;

RACIAL STRIFE IN AMERICA;THE DEATH OF JFK, AND HUNDREDS OFOTHER RECORDED EVENTS?

NOW! DARE WE BELIEVEHIS PROPHECIES FOR THE FUTURE?

'.!;; ;'i5--.i;i:u,.:ii:; in :m !.\:v.\ w

SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK.

THE END OF COMMUNISM IN RUSSIAWITH A.LIBERATED SOVIET-IN ALLIANCEWITH THE U.S.A.—BECOMING"THE HOPE OF THE WORLD."

THE RESURRECTION OF THE LOSTCONTINENT OF ATLANTIS.