this psychic information could relate to the practice of medicine. Much of Edgar Cayce’s life was spent in giving 14,306 “readings,” as they came to be called. Over a period of forty years, two-thirds of these readings—9,604—were given for individuals who were ill; some seriously so. The remainder were for a variety of other reasons. The bulk of his work, then, had to do with what I’ve been trained in and involved with for most of my life—the care of those who are ill.
The full story of his life is well told by Thomas Sugrue in his book There Is a River,3 which is biographical in nature. Later on, Jess Stearn authored a best seller about Cayce, The Sleeping Prophet,4 which emphasizes more the importance of Cayce’s physical readings. Since then, literally hundreds of books have been published about this man or his work, which he stated was the work of the Christ.
Cayce died in 1945, but while he lived he was able to lie down on a couch or bed, loosen his tie and collar, and place his folded hands on his forehead. After a few moments, he would bring his hands down over his solar plexus, and enter a state that resembled trance or self-hypnosis. It has been called in recent years an altered state of consciousness.
In this state, he was able, upon suggestion by the conductor of the reading, to visualize, describe, and comment upon another individual who might be thousands of miles distant at that moment and a complete stranger to Cayce and those surrounding him. He was able to describe physical conditions which were present in that person’s body, in the bloodstream, the nervous system, or other parts of the person’s physiology; and then give suggestions, which, if followed, tended to restore that body back to a more normal condition of health. Each time Cayce “went to sleep” and gave such information for an individual, this, with the questions and answers, became a reading.5
Cayce’s clairvoyance, while in this condition, was substantiated time and again, and he subsequently became known nationally as The Miracle Man of Virginia Beach, Virginia,6 where he spent his last years. His abilities to be accurate in the unconscious state throughout his life brought a variety of people to see him and ask him questions. During the days of World War II, the mail brought literally thousands of letters pleading for help for servicemen who were embroiled in the war and had not been heard from. He was indeed an unusual man who apparently had direct contact with a source of information few people have had in recorded history.
Cayce’s strength—in this field of parapsychology—was his medical clairvoyance. He described the body differently than anyone else I had ever met or read about. Certainly he did not discuss it in the way I had been taught in my medical school training. He talked about “forces” in the body—meaning the energy in the bloodstream or the nervous system—the digestive activities, and all those activities that go on within the body. He talked about incoordination, about “overflow of nerve impulses,” about lacteal ducts, about the Peyer’s patches in the small intestine. It was a new education in how to help the body to become healed and to return to a normal balance.
It took me quite a while to look at this wonderful human body from a perspective different from what I had been taught.
One of the earliest readings in which castor oil packs were suggested by Cayce was for a woman who had applied for a reading because of a tumor of the upper bowel—diagnosed by x-ray as cancer, but stated in the reading to be an impaction. This reading was taken on August 17, 1927, and represented the beginning of a type of therapy which was continued throughout the life of this psychic individual, who, without a medical training or degree, found himself in the position of diagnosing illnesses and giving suggestions for therapy, without seeing the patient or often even knowing anything about the person, except the location of the individual.
In another reading (1836-1) Cayce described what he saw in the functioning of a sixty-two-year-old man who had epilepsy and advised what to do:
As we find, unless there are measures taken the conditions here may become very serious.
These are the conditions as we find them with this body, [1836]:
There having been a disturbance in the lacteal ducts, there has been a disturbance that causes an adhesion in this portion of the body; and at times a drawing in the side (right) just below the liver and gall duct area.
This disassociation causes a breakage in the coordinating of the cerebrospinal and sympathetic nervous system, until there are the tendencies and impulses for an overflow of the nerve impulse through the cerebrospinal system.
And these, unless some measures are taken, may form a clot or a break on the brain.
As to the general conditions of the body, these are gradually giving away to these disturbances, both from the physical reaction and from the anxiety in the self as well as those about the body.
Then, as we find:
We would apply, consistently, for at least ten such applications, the castor oil packs—about every other evening, when the body is ready to retire, for an hour; the packs changed about twice during the hour period. These would be applied over the caecum and the gall duct area, or the right side from the ribs to the point of the hip, extending lower over the abdomen in that area, see? Use about three thicknesses of flannel, wrung out of the hot castor oil and applied, then a pad put over same, and then the electric pad or dry heat put over same to keep it warm or as hot as the body can stand it, see? Do this every other evening for at least ten such applications, making a period of twenty days, see?
Also, each evening, for at least twenty to thirty days, we would massage the spine—downward; beginning at the base of the brain; one day using olive oil, the next day using cocoa butter. Massage all the body will absorb. Let this extend on either side of the spinal column, from the base of the brain to the end of the spine; gently, in a rotary motion, massaged into the body, see? Rub away from the head, always. Take about twenty to thirty minutes each evening to give this massage, see?
After the massage, as also after the castor oil packs, the body may be sponged off—the areas of the massage and the packs—with lukewarm soda water if desired.
In the diet—keep away from fried foods and from any hog meat of any kind—especially sausage or the like. (1836-1)
Cayce went on to assure the man that if he were to follow the directions, he would find assistance in eliminating the disturbance in his body.
Chapter Four
Healing as an Awakening in Consciousness
Edgar Cayce, in the years prior to his death in 1945, seemed to have an affinity for castor oil. In most quarters, though, it has been held with disdain, since its action on the intestinal tract, when taken in large doses by mouth, is sometimes explosive. Nevertheless, Cayce advocated it hundreds of times in his readings, offering the oil as an aid in bringing the body back to a state of normalcy. Most often, however, it was to be applied on the body, not in it.
One inquirer, seeking help for himself from the sleeping Cayce, asked if he should take the oil by mouth. The reply was that if you have a castor oil consciousness, take castor oil. This was a revelation to me. I was just beginning to understand that Cayce, from his unconscious mind, was dealing with illnesses from a perspective that I had not yet encountered. And it began to make sense. Cayce was approaching things from the standpoint of consciousness and need. What does that mean in a practical sense?
When I first started reading the Cayce material, a patient came to see me who was very definitive in his approach to remedies. He had a sore throat and he told me that penicillin always took care of his sore throats and that’s what he wanted. Before reading Cayce’s statement about consciousness and castor oil, I would have been a bit dismayed by the man’s wanting penicillin. However, the idea of consciousness gave me new insights. Perhaps this man had a penicillin consciousness! If so, he would respond to it. And he did.
What does penicillin consciousness mean? Perhaps it is better understood as a manifestation of faith. Why, for instance, am I a Presbyterian? I was born into the faith (by choice, of course, if we truly have that power before being born), and I