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Cayce was sometimes referred to "the sleeping prophet". He closed his eyes lying down, seemingly in a trance, as he did his "readings."
Edgar Cayce is primarily known for the thousands of readings that were given under an unconscious guided hypnotic state.
In the beginning the readings were medical, describing the nature of a sickness or diagnosis and a cure. He would be put under hypnosis, be given the name of the afflicted and ask to describe the sickness and a cure. Seekers sought Cayce's help only as a last resort. As the readings progressed, there were hints of controversial concepts of Karma and Reincarnation, until there were direct questions on these matters.
In the latter stages of the readings, there were mentions of life in Atlantis, former lives, life in Ancient Rome, future predictions, etc.. Adherents claim historical accuracy. Skeptics claim otherwise. For many thousands, the readings had a powerful impact on attitudes, beliefs , health practices, outlook on life, matters of faith, etc. and the readings provided an effective working concept of the principles of Karma and reincarnation with references to biblical quotes and principles.
In 1910 Dr. Wesley Ketchum submitted an article to the American Society of Clinical Research mentioning Cayce's abilities. With the publication of an October 9, 1910 New York Times article entitled "Illiterate Man Becomes A Doctor When Hypnotized," Cayce's career as a psychic and healer began in earnest. People began to visit him at his house in Kentucky.
The story about Cayce's illiteracy happens to be an urban legendUrban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. Urban legends perpetrate a type of folklore, endlessly circulated by word of mouth, repeated in news stories and distributed by email. People frequently recount such tales as having happened to a "friend of a — while having no formal schooling much past grammar school, he was quite well read, and was a smart man. He worked at a bookstore which specialized in texts on osteopathy and natural medicine. He was also an avid Bible reader.
Some of the abilities Cayce is reported to have had include:
To achieve what he said was the proper state of mind for his abilities, Cayce rested on a couch with his eyes closed, where he would sleep, as if in a tranceTrance is an altered state of consciousness. To simulate a trance, one mentalist said that you should slump in your chair and act as though you have drunk a bottle of gin. For more information, see hypnosis and ecstasy. Trance is also a type of music.. Once in that state he could reply calmly to questions asked by those present in the room. This sleep session was called a "reading". Over a period of 43 years 14,000 of his readings were recorded on paper by Gladys Davis, his assistant.
The great bulk of the early readings concerned medical diagnoses and associated treatments (where much of the prescribed approach was holistic). Later readings range through many issues, including the structure of reality, reincarnation, life readings, physical readings, karma debts, etc.
Cayce had difficulty adjusting to and believing some of the views that he was reported to have expressed during trance. For example, having been raised a devout ChristianChristian is: a follower of the faith of Christianity a popular first name and surname, especially in Northern Europe According to the New Testament, those who followed Jesus as his disciples were first called Christians by those who did not share their f (who read the BibleThe Bible (From Greek βιβλια biblia meaning "books", which in turn is derived from βυβλος byblos meaning "papyrus", from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) from start to finish each year of his life), for a long time he was reluctant to accept the views (expressed in trance) that reincarnation was a reality. He expressed the view (again in trance) that the EssenesThe Essenes (Issi'im) were a Hasid Jewish religious sect of Zadokites that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Many scholars today believe there were a number of different related groups that were referred to as Essenes. They were su (an early Christian group) had believed in reincarnation but that that view was expunged from the Bible following a papal council decision in around 500 AD.
Essene belief in reincarnation is debatable, as with ancient Egyptian religion.
During a hypnosis session, Cayce mentioned a former life as Ra Ta, an Egyptian healer-priest. As Ra Ta, he worked with Hermes-Thoth, who was reincarnated as Jesus Christ. Cayce's readings also mentions some of the former incarnations of Jesus Christ in the following:
His son, Evans Cayce, published a book in 1968, Edgar Cayce On Atlantis, a collection of his readings made in the 1920s.