Christian County – Edgar Cayce
It is 2 a.m. and you are cramming for a biology test that starts in seven hours. You’ve known about the exam for weeks but, hey, that football game at the corner hangout wasn’t going to watch itself.
Three things are happening at this moment: you are skimming material that you will forget right after the test, you are out of energy drinks, and you are exhausted. “There has to be another way,” you mumble.
Probably not. But there have been reports of folks absorbing knowledge from their textbooks while in a trance, no less. And the story just gets more interesting from there. Meet Kentucky’s Edgar Cayce.
Edgar Cayce
Christian County native Edgar Cayce learned early in life that he had psychic abilities. After facing his father’s wrath for lackluster school performance around age 12, Cayce heard the voice of what some call a winged woman (others an angel, etc.). The voice assured him that help would arrive if he would just rest.
Cayce wasted no time putting his head down on his spelling textbook and falling into a trance-like state. Afterwards he reportedly knew every word in the book.
This was a gift, or talent, or both, of Cayce’s that would stay with him throughout grade school. Cayce described the ability as seeing “pictures of the pages from the books in (his) mind’s eye.” And it was only the beginning.
Cayce would go on to become a great clairvoyant, conducting tens of thousands of psychic readings and making predictions that are still followed today. My introduction to this respected clairvoyant began last month during my visit to Hopkinsville and the Pennyroyal Area Museum. That’s where we return in this week’s un-Tucked.
Edgar Cayce exhibit in Hopkinsville
The Cayce exhibit at the museum is tucked inside an alcove off the main exhibit hall. A large couch like the one the Cayce would recline on when he entered a trance to give reading sits alongside one wall. Large photographs of Cayce and his beloved wife, Gertrude, hang over the couch. A rack of paperbacks written by or about Cayce stands nearby.
I spent nearly 45 minutes in the exhibit following the 40-year career of Cayce from its earliest beginnings through his death in 1945. Visitors are invited to peruse exhibit photographs and artifacts, or grab a book off the rack, relax, and read.
It’s a quiet space, perfect to reflect on the life and work – referred to by Cayce and his colleagues specifically as “the Work” — of this native son who has often been referred to as the “father of holistic medicine.“
The Work
The psychic abilities that Cayce exhibited as a child grew as the reportedly shy (and religious) teenager became a man. He would become known as “the sleeping prophet” for his uncanny ability to diagnose medical conditions and prophesize while in a deep meditative state.
Cayce needed only minimal information about a person (their name and present location, for example) to give a “therapeutic reading” and prescribe a remedy.
Later in his career, Cayce settled with his family in Virginia Beach where he helped to establish a psychic hospital (the Hospital of Enlightenment) with support from medical professionals, including academics from Washington and Lee University and chemist Dr. Sunker A. Bisley. It was with Bisley that Cayce worked in 1931 to develop the absorbable iodine drug, Atomidine.
Cayce would also pen or co-author dozens of books, including guides focused on Cayce’s belief in reincarnation. All of Cayce’s 14,306 readings are on file at Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment, or A.R.E. which Cayce founded in Virginia Beach in 1931. Topics ranging from meditation to auras to the totality of the astral plane are found in the psychic readings, although Cayce advised against reliance on psychic ability alone.
Life’s true purpose, he said, is to become more spiritual. (Cayce is said to have remained a devout Christian throughout his life.)
Cramming for tests (& family stories)
Cayce’s ability to memorize his spelling text happened after he was visited by an angel. Now, I’m no expert on how these experiences work, but unless you have had a similar experience — or just feel lucky — I would crack the books.
Speaking of luck: I am very fortunate to have an acquaintance who is a distant cousin of Cayce’s. Let’s call her Jess, for the sake of anonymity. I asked Jess for any family stories she could share about Cayce. One that came to mind right away was an attempt years ago by some family members (herself included) to memorize their textbooks by putting them under their pillows before bed.
“Didn’t work,” she said with a laugh.
Jess has, however, opted to actually read several books over the years about the man she refers to as “cousin Edgar.” Her favorite, she said, is Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick.
Does Jess believe in the Work? Generally, yes.
“(Cousin Edgar) was generally received as a true clairvoyant,” she said. “A few folks thought he wasn’t for real, but I believe most of his thoughts and principles.”
Still curious?
Check out a copy of Kirkpatrick’s book from your local library, or purchase a copy from your local bookseller. Another recommendation: There Is a River (1942) by Thomas Sugrue.
