Doug Simpson at The Zoo Fence

Edgar Cayce’s Earliest Psychic Readings

Edgar Cayce, the Edgar Cayce who was destined to become America's legendary mystic, began attending Sunday School classes around the age of ten. The lesson being taught on that first day was the story of creation from the book of Genesis. Edgar was mesmerized. He asked his father for a book with the entire story of creation in it, and soon received a gift of his own personal Bible. Edgar’s life-long love of, and expertise in, the contents of the scriptures had commenced. Edgar quickly vowed to read the entire Bible at least once each year for the rest of his life, a promise he faithfully kept. But at age ten, he considered himself ten readings in arrears. Edgar was fourteen years old when he completed his fourteenth complete reading of the Bible. He was quickly regarded as the local Biblical expert, and began teaching adult Bible classes while still a teenager.

Edgar was fourteen when he experienced his first vision. One night, as Edgar was almost asleep, his room suddenly lit up like the sun peeking through a crack in a cloud-covered sky. Standing at the end of his bed he noticed the figure of a woman, and in his semi-conscious state assumed it was his mother and called out to her. The light and the figure of the woman disappeared. Edgar hopped out of bed, and went into his mother’s room to see what she had wanted, and was advised that she had not been in his room, and to go back to bed. Edgar was not snuggled back in bed for long when the bright light and the lady reappeared. Edgar assumed it was an angel, and never forgot the words that the lady-in-the-light said to him: “Thy prayers are heard. You will have your wish. Remain faithful. Be true to yourself. Help the sick, the afflicted.”

The next day in school, all Edgar could think about was the visit from the angel, and when he was called upon to spell the word “cabin”, he spit out an incorrect spelling. Edgar was sentenced to remain after school, and write out the word cabin five hundred times on the blackboard. This was only the beginning of his problems! One of the volunteer teachers at the school that day was his uncle Lucian Cayce, and the tale of his spelling incompetence arrived home before he did. His father declared: “You will certainly know that lesson before you go to bed this night.” Hours later, after much studying and numerous swats from his increasingly irritated father, Edgar could hardly keep his eyes open, but still could not remember the spelling lesson. Edgar begged his father for a five minute nap, and his frustrated father agreed, and left the room.

Edgar had a plan. In his head he had heard “Rely on the Promise.” and assumed it was a message from his angel. Edgar also recalled an incident that occurred when he was five, but did not understand at all at the time. Back then. Edgar had fallen asleep with his head on a storybook, and upon awakening he was able to recite the entire story word for word. Edgar took his five-minute nap with his head resting on his speller. Smart move! When his father returned, Edgar could spell every word in the speller, and could tell his father the page number and the location of the word on the page. After a few more good swats from his father, Edgar was sent to bed. From that day on, Edgar had no further problems learning his lessons.

The next remarkable event in Edgar Cayce’s most unusual life started at school one day at recess, not too long after the episode with the speller. The students were playing a ball game they called old sower. Edgar was hit by the ball along his spine or the back of his neck, and remembered none of the events that took place from that point on until he awoke the next morning. It was reported that during the remainder of the school day, Edgar's behavior was totally out of character; his sister had to lead him home from school; and at the dinner table his behavior was so disruptive that he was sent to bed immediately. A little later, in bed, Edgar volunteered what could be considered as his first psychic reading. He gave instructions that a poultice should be made up, and that it should be applied to the back of his head near the base of his brain. The delirious Edgar advised those in the room that he was suffering from shock, and that he would be fine in the morning if the poultice were applied as instructed. The family, now well aware of Edgar’s unexplainable talents, was wise enough to heed these instructions, and the poultice was applied as directed. Edgar’s night was far from restful, but he awoke the next morning perfectly normal, just somewhat bewildered to find his room crowded with concerned relatives and neighbors.

In 1900, at the age of twenty-three, Edgar lost his voice, and for over a year could only speak in a whisper. The doctors called it aphonia, and the suspected cause was an unusual reaction to a drug he had been given for recurring migraine headaches. A hypnosis stage entertainer in town for some performances, claimed that he could cure the ailment if Edgar would allow himself to be hypnotized. The experiment was attempted in front of a group of witnesses, and it worked fine, sort of. While under hypnosis, Edgar spoke normally, but after he was brought out of the trance, his voice was gone again. A second attempt brought an identical result. These hypnotic experiments with Edgar were covered by a reporter for the local newspaper, and news of Edgar’s rare ailment managed to make its way to a noted physician in New York. The physician, a Dr. Quackenboss, who had never personally witnessed Edgar’s rare medical condition, made a trip to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to see Edgar. He hypnotized Edgar, but could not cure the problem either. Dr. Quackenboss then questioned Edgar about the other unusual incidents that had occurred in his lifetime, and took special interest in the story about how Edgar learned his lessons by napping on his books.

Careful study of his notes back in New York caused Dr. Quackenboss to suspect that Edgar was what the medical books referred to as an auto-hypnotist, and he suggested in a letter that Edgar’s annoying condition might be removed by putting himself to sleep as he did while studying, and to have someone make the suggestion: “You see yourself, tell us what is the trouble and what to do about it.” This experiment took place in the Cayce home in 1901, and was Edgar Cayce’s first psychic reading in his self-induced, self-hypnotic trance state, and it was a success. After being instructed to wake up, Edgar could once again speak normally. His mother wept, openly. Of course, no record of this first reading was made that day, but for the rest of Edgar Cayce’s life he would periodically lose his voice again, and need to go through a similar revitalizing process. The first reading that was taken for Edgar Cayce himself, that was also recorded and kept in the readings files, was one such voice restoration process, nine years later.

TEXT OF READING 294-2 M 33

This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce in Hopkinsville, Ky., this 1st day of December, 1910, in accordance with those in charge.

1. ACL [DS: He was Al Layne, a Hopkinsville hypnotist and unlicensed osteopath.]: You are now asleep and will be able to tell us what we want to know. You have before you the body of Edgar Cayce; he is before you now.

2. EC: Edgar Cayce, yes we have had him before.[No copy of earlier readings.]

3. (Q) Examine his throat and tell us what is the matter with it, if anything. (A) The muscles of the vocal cords here, you see, produce a partial paralysis to the vocal chord, especially to the left side of the vocal box. You see the chords here are taut from the box or sound here, as the air is expelled from the lungs and drove in and thrown out. We have a nervous effect of the nerves and muscles all over the whole body; we have a tightening or a sensation in the nerve force to contract it and of the muscles of the vocal chord or box here.

We have caused, all along in the front part of the body along the larynx to the vocal chord, to the right end here in front, as this muscle is taut then the voice sounds as if it is loose here or not contracted by the nerve forces and muscles; together this leaves one side that does not sound and produces a whispering sound. This comes from the same trouble we have had before from the pelvis.

4. (Q) What will we do to remove that now? (A) Just circulation here will remove it; that is the only thing that will do it. From suggestion to the body forces the circulation through it here and as the circulation passes along it takes that away; puts new life to it; makes the supply to the nerve force go, you see.

5. (Q) Increase the circulation and watch that and see the condition removed; that congested condition. Increase the circulation; is that removing now? (A) Circulation is beginning to increase.

6. (Q) Watch it increase now; watch that remove. All that congested condition will be removed away by the circulation. Passing off now, is it not? (A) Passing off now.

7. (Q) Watch it move clear on; it will become normal, will be in its normal condition. Watch it now and when that becomes perfectly normal tell us. (A) Have to remove the trouble first.

8. (Q) What is the trouble now? You see the trouble is away. Now the trouble is gone. Now the vocal chords are perfectly normal, are they not? (A) They are perfectly normal now.

Al Layne was most impressed with the results of their first reading together in 1901, not reading 294-2 above, and asked Edgar if he would do a reading to diagnose and remedy a stomach problem he had lived with for many years. A somewhat reluctant Edgar eventually agreed to return the favor to his new friend. There is no copy of this reading, but again it proved to be a success. A delighted Al Layne commenced a routine of requesting readings for some of his patients when their problems were not obvious to him. Word of Edgar’s successes quickly spread around Hopkinsville, and other requests for medical readings followed. Edgar was understandably concerned that his readings could result in injury or death to someone, and was usually hesitant to comply with most requests. On the other hand, Edgar never forgot his first vision in his bedroom a decade earlier, and could not turn down a request for a reading for anyone in dire need.

Edgar Cayce’s First Miracle Reading

After Edgar Cayce realized in 1901 that he could give medical readings, he proceeded with much reticence and caution because he truly did not understand how he was able to diagnose medical problems he had never heard of, after going into a self-directed hypnotic trance. His primary concern was that he might harm or cause the death of some innocent person. Most of his earliest readings were for family members, friends, or residents of Edgar’s hometown of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, who had caught wind of his unusual, unexplained abilities. Approximately twenty-one months after Edgar had given his first psychic reading for his lost voice, he was put in contact with a well-to-do Hopkinsville resident by the name of Charles H. Dietrich, whose almost-six-year-old daughter Aime had regressed from being a bright two year old into a yet-undiagnosable state of arrested mental development and constant convulsions.

With the assistance of Al Layne, a Hopkinsville amateur hypnotist and unlicensed osteopath at the time, an initial reading and a few follow-up readings for fine tuning, were given to diagnose the cause of and remedy for Aime’s unexplained condition. The notes from these readings were retained by the Dietrich family but at some point in time they were lost or thrown out. Years later, Edgar asked Charles Dietrich for a letter for his files outlining Aime’s medical problems and their resolution, and the grateful Charles responded with a detailed sworn affidavit, which has been retained in the Edgar Cayce files since 1910.

REPORT OF READING 2473-1

R1. 10/8/10 Father’s affidavit:

Edgar Cayce Jr. [DS: Edgar’s father’s name was Leslie, so he was not truly Jr. Leslie had a brother named Edgar, and when the local post office got tired of delivering mail to the wrong Edgar, Edgar inherited the Jr. notation to keep the post office happy.]
Psychic Diagnostician
Hopkinsville, Ky.

Cincinnati, Ohio

State of Ohio
Hamilton County S.S.

Personally appeared before, Gerrit J. Raidt, a notary public in and for said county, C. H. Dietrich, and after being duly sworn, deposes and says that: –

Aime L. Dietrich, born January, 7th, 1897, at Hopkinsville, Ky., was perfectly strong and healthy until Feb. 1899, when she had an attack of La Grippe, followed by two violent convulsions, each of twenty minutes duration. Dr. T. G. Yates, now of Pensacola, Florida, was the attending physician. Convulsions returned, at irregular intervals, with increasing severity. She would fall just like she was shot, her body would become perfectly rigid, the spells lasting from one to two minutes.

This went on for two years, or until she was four years old. At this time, she was taken to Dr. Linthicum in Evansville, Indiana, and Dr. Walker, also of Evansville, was consultant physician. They said a very peculiar type of nervousness was all that ailed her and proceeded to treat her accordingly, but after several months treatment, with no results, the treatment was stopped.

In a few months, Dr. Oldham [D.O.] of Hopkinsville, Ky. was consulted and he treated her three months, without results. Later he took her for four months more treatment, making seven months in all, but without results. She was now six years old and getting worse, had as many as twenty convulsions in one day, her mind was a blank, all reasoning power was entirely gone. March 1st, 1902, she was taken to Dr. Hoppe of Cincinnati, O., who made a most thorough examination. He pronounced her a perfect specimen physically, except for the brain affection, concerning which he stated that only nine cases of this peculiar type were reported in Medical Records, and every one of these had proved fatal. He told us that nothing could be done, except to give her good care, as her case was hopeless and she would die soon in one of these attacks. At this period our attention was called to Mr. Edgar Cayce, who was asked to diagnose the case. By auto-suggestion, he went into a sleep or trance and diagnosed her case as one of congestion at base of the brain, stating also minor details. He outlined to Dr. A. C. Layne [Al C. Layne, D.O.], now of Griffin, Ga., how to proceed to cure her. Dr. Layne treated her accordingly, every day for three weeks, using Mr. Cayce occasionally to follow up the treatment, as results developed. Her mind began to clear up about the eighth day and within three months she was in perfect health, and is so to this day. This case can be verified by many of the best citizens of Hopkinsville, Ky. And further deponent, saith not.

Signed – C. H. Dietrich.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, on this eighth day of October, A.D. 1910

Gerrit J. Raidt, Notary Public, Hamilton Co., O.

It would be a gross understatement to say that the Dietrichs were thrilled, not beyond words, but rather into a state of everlasting praise for the talents of one Mr. Edgar Cayce. Mrs. Dietrich went to the local press with her story, and Edgar’s fame spread far beyond the Hopkinsville area. Aime went on to graduate from college at the top of her class.

Edgar would never forget the Aime Dietrich case, and it did wonders for his faith in his mysterious talents.

Edgar Cayce Becomes A National Celebrity

This is the third article in a series of three articles about Edgar Cayce’s interesting and sometimes unimaginable discovery of his psychic abilities and connections with the Divine. If you have not previously read the first installment, titled Edgar Cayce’s Earliest Psychic Readings, and the second article, titled Edgar Cayce’s First Miracle Reading, I respectfully recommend that you do so before you continue reading this article. These articles appear above this article.

Wesley Ketchum, a homeopathic M.D. from Edgar’s hometown of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and later a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, was the individual most responsible for Edgar Cayce attaining national celebrity status. Before we look at how this honor came about, I will present to you snippets of details from a couple of the outstanding medical cases that Edgar Cayce and Dr. Ketchum solved together.

George Dalton was a 240-pound, well-to-do railroad and building contractor from Hopkinsville who, in late May of 1907, or possibly 1906 as no documents have been located to confirm the year, took a nasty fall on a construction site and broke his right leg both above and below the knee. A battery of medical experts decided that Dalton would never walk again and that amputation of his leg would probably be necessary. Dalton placed his fate in the hands of Dr. Ketchum, who tracked down Edgar for an emergency reading. No copies of the actual reading have survived the years, but the excerpts that follow are from a talk Dr. Ketchum gave in California in November of 1962. “It was on the 30th day of May, 1906 or '07, … I went down and consulted Cayce. He laid down and went to sleep and told me what to do … Cayce had said to bore a hole in there (the knee cap) and nail it down. That was rather radical treatment for those times. It just wasn’t done. They had used splints, but not metal screws up to that time. So, after I got the picture in my mind I went down to the old blacksmith and told him what I wanted. He made a nail like a large roofing nail, with a large head on it, made out of iron. Dr. Anderson and I and the two girl nurses went down there and bored a hole in the knee and nailed it. Then we put the leg in traction, with a pulley at the foot of the bed. … He took that nail to his grave with him, about 30 years afterward.” [5779-1, Reports, R1.]

In the second case that amazed and bewildered Dr. Ketchum, he was also the patient. For two and a half years the good doctor had suffered sometimes severe abdominal pains which he feared was appendicitis. A number of physicians were consulted and treatments prescribed, but the problem always returned. Dr. Ketchum might have consulted Edgar earlier than he eventually did, but over that time span Edgar lived in Alabama, earning his living as an award-winning photographer. Reading 4135-1 is in the Edgar Cayce archives, but it is crammed with medical terminology so we will again rely on a public address given by Dr. Ketchum on October 11, 1911 before the American Association for Clinical Research in Boston, Massachusetts. “At this time it would have taken but little suggesting until I would have undergone an operation, which was not necessary, but when we are suffering, physician and layman alike want relief. In March 29th, 1909, … On the … above date he [DS: Edgar Cayce] came to my office at the suggestion of my friend, who came with him. He laid down and went into one of his usual naps. Now he had been told nothing pertaining to whose case he was to tell about, and as I had tried everything suggested by seven men and no relief, of course I had little faith in anything. But I was willing and anxious to have him try. My friend said ‘Go over this man carefully, (giving my name) he is here in this room. Tell us what you find.’ [DS: Edgar said] ‘yes, we have him here. A little over twenty-eight moons ago this man wrenched his spine, as a result of which we find an impinging on the vertebral end of the nerves at the last dorsal and numbers one and two lumbar vertebrae. We now find pain and irritation at the opposite pole, or in the inguinal region, worse on the right side, through the sympathetics. We also find some irritation of the bladder. As this was caused mechanically it will require mechanical treatment of manipulation to relieve it.’ My wife, upon being told, immediately recalled the time when I wrenched my spine while feeding my horse. It had only troubled me a few days and had completely passed from memory until it was recalled. … After three or four mechanical treatments my pseudo-appendicitis cleared up entirely …" [4135-1, Background, B1.]

In 1910, Dr. Ketchum presented a paper at a medical conference in Pasadena on his work with Edgar Cayce. This paper was presented a second time in September at the Clinical Research Society’s annual meeting at Harvard University. On October 9, 1910, the New York Times published a feature article on Edgar Cayce, which was picked up by numerous big-city papers across the country. The article is too long to reprint here, but you can view the original article on the New York Times website at http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9C06EFD71239E433A2575AC0A9669D946196D6CF or you can read it on the Edgar Cayce website at http://www.cayce.com/nytimes.htm. The Cincinnatti Times-Star on October 10, 1910, the Seattle Times on October 15, 1910, the Kentucky New Era on October 15, 1910, and the St. Louis Dispatch all ran similar articles. Edgar, the quiet Kentucky country boy, was now a national celebrity.

Edgar Cayce’s Story of Stonehenge

The Edgar Cayce archives contain approximately 2,500 past-life readings for some 2,000 individuals, and four of these past-life readings revealed informative details of incarnations near Stonehenge. The name Stonehenge does not appear in any of the readings, but instead they refer to the altars near what is now the town of Salisbury in England, which is eight miles from Stonehenge. The four readings we are going to look at here tie Stonehenge to a migration of refugees who were descendants of Biblical King Hezekiah, the thirteenth King of Judah. These refugees were escaping the onslaught of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and sailed to the coast of modern-day England. Stonehenge is about thirty miles from the English Channel.

Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was erected by more than one civilization. Our migrants from the Holy Land may not have been the first civilization to settle in the vicinity of Stonehenge, but they did perform some of the construction at the site, and their contribution was for religious purposes.

Reading 3581-1 gets us started. Similar to the Bible, each paragraph in an Edgar Cayce reading has been assigned a number. I have included the paragraph numbers in this article so that those readers who have access to the Edgar Cayce readings can easily locate the excerpts quoted. “23. Before that the entity was in the English land during those periods when there were those journeyings into that land from the Holy Land, when the children of Hezekiah prompted many of those even in authority to leave the Holy Land because of Nebuchadnezzar’s activities. 24. The entity was young in years when it came into the coasts of England where altars were set up to tie up the meanings of ‘The Lord thy God is one. ’ … 25. The name then was Jeheuh. The entity gained greatly.”

Reading 3590-1 mentions Salisbury. “16. Before that the entity was in the English land during those periods when there was the breaking up of the tribes of Israel. 17. The entity was a granddaughter of Hezekiah the king, and among those who set sail to escape when the activities brought the rest of the people into servitude in the Persian land. 18. Then the entity was among those who landed and set up the seat of customs as indicated in the altars built near what is now Salisbury, England. These were the early traditions carried into those activities. 19. The name then was Elemeshia. The entity gained in the ability as a leader, in the ability to influence others, the ability to control the activities of individuals in such a way as to make for the forming of moral habits and ideas in their material experiences.”

Reading 3645-1 adds more details to the uses of Stonehenge. “16. Before that the entity was in the Holy Land when there were those breakings up in the periods when the land was being sacked by the Chaldeans and Persians. 17. The entity was among those groups who escaped in the ships that settled in portions of the English land near what is now Salisbury, and there builded those altars that were to represent the dedications of individuals to a service of a living God. 18. Thus the entity aided in giving the records and teachings that may help others in the present, in giving to others that helping hand – who may be as a record keeper. 19. The name then was Mayra.”

Lastly, we have reading 5384-1. “9. Before that we find the entity was in the English land in the early settlings of the children of Israel who were foregathered with the daughters of Hezekiah in what is now Somerland, Somerhill or Somerset. There the entity saw group organization for the preservation of tenets and truths of the living God, … 13. The name then was Ruth.”

I realize that the information in the Edgar Cayce readings cannot come close to answering all of our questions about the origins of Stonehenge, but some important facts are provided. One civilization near Stonehenge was comprised of refugees from the Holy Land who were relatives and subjects of King Hezekiah, and who had sailed from the mainland to the coast of England to escape the conquering King Nebuchadnezzar. These immigrants did build altars on the Stonehenge site to worship their one God.

Edgar Cayce on The Sources of Psychic Information

The date was July 1, 1934. The setting was Virginia Beach, at the Cayce residence. The special occasion was the Third Annual Meeting, which they referred to as a Congress, of the Association For Research And Enlightenment. Over 50 members were present. At each annual meeting, after the business affairs had been dispensed with, Edgar would enter his deep-trance state and give a reading on a topic chosen by the membership. Much of reading 5752-6 is reproduced below. Similar to the Bible, paragraphs in readings have been assigned a number, which I do not delete. Items in square brackets – thus, [DS: … ] – have been inserted by me for clarification purposes.

“1. GC: [DS: GC is Gertrude Cayce, Edgar’s wife. Gertrude acted as the conductor for the majority of Edgar’s readings. The conductor served a crucial purpose, not only by asking the appropriate questions to elicit the desired answers, but also to prompt the in-trance Edgar at precisely the correct time as he descended deeper and deeper into trance. The reading conductors had learned through experience that there was an exceptionally narrow window of opportunity for the commencement of the instructions to Edgar as to the purpose of the upcoming reading. If they waited too long before giving the prompt to begin, Edgar would proceed into such a deep trance state that he could not respond, and often remained in that deep trance state for eight to twelve hours. No one could bring him back out of this extra-deep trance. He would eventually awake on his own, totally refreshed, as if he had enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep.] You will give at this time a discourse on the Sources of Psychic Information.”

“2. EC: [DS: EC is Edgar Cayce] Yes, … In giving that which may be helpful or beneficial to those that are gathered here, let there be first given that psychic is from without to the within – or the movement upon that which makes for responses with the individual as to make the individual aware of the fact that there is taking place that which produces a change, if the individual will be moved by same. Hence as life is spirit, spirit is God, the true source of psychic force must come from that which is OF that force that may make aware in the experience the individual, the soul, the fact of His presence abiding ever.”

“3. … He is in thine own heart, and thy spirit beareth witness with His Spirit that ye are – or not – the children of God.”

“4. … That there are then as many sources for the activity of the force that may make manifest the God-influence as there may be ideas or activities in the experience of any soul must be evidenced by the EXPERIENCES of all.”

“5. … As to how such manifestations of psychic soul forces may manifest or become conscious to an individual, in the material world ye say it is through that which makes for awareness in thine own PARTICULAR realm of experience, or through thine senses; yea, through many more. For, as all force IS OF Him, as ye seek ye may know.”

“6. As to how, when and where that experience may be thine depends upon what, where and when ye look within; …”

“7. Then, the source is FROM on High, if the seeking is from the soul within. …”

“8. … seekest thou that ye may lord thine self above thine brother, above thine neighbor, the answers come only from those sources, those souls that have forsaken His way.”

“9. … Seek to know Him, and that thou receivest in thine experiences – as ye approach through all those channels that may attune themselves to the throne of grace – will be the knowledge and understanding that, ‘As ye do it unto the least of these, my little ones, ye do it unto me.’”

“10. What seekest thou? The Spirit of thyself in thine own carnal self? Each may be found. …”

“11. What are the sources of psychic information? What seekest thou? What art THOU willing to give for thine own soul? …”

“12. They that love His coming will only approach in such a way and manner that though the heavens fall, though the earth may pass away, His word, His promise in them shall NOT pass away. Only in such an attitude, such an understanding, may the Spirit of Truth come in unto thee. Seek ye not lower, if ye would FIND that which will bring rest unto thy soul!”

It seems apparent to me from this reading that true psychic abilities are not gifts from God, but are actually abilities earned through the progression of our souls through many incarnations where we have understood and followed the teachings of Jesus, the immaculately conceived son of God.