Cayce Search-for-God Group, Anyone?

[urodacus]

Self-hypnosis and the resulting deep delusion is not an integral or essential part of being a con man but it does help make you more believable to wanna-be believers when you believe stuff like that deeply and without question yourself.

[Zla'od]

In 1923, Cayce was asked "Why is it not possible to take a reading on a Negro?" He answered, "For the same reason that it would be impossible to teach a dog to talk." (3744-1) The quote goes on to discuss how blacks are lower in vibration or soul-evolution. Incidentally, Cayce's racism is important for understanding the Ra-Ta / Egyptian readings. See the second article at http://web.archive.org/web/199908301405 ... edu/cayce/

In 1933, Cayce praised Nazism as "a new ideal in the hearts, in the mind of the people" of Germany; approved of the one-party system as "the best for Germany at present," dismissed fears that Hitler might invade other countries as "propaganda," and blamed the Jews for their "rebelliousness and their seeking into the affairs of OTHERS" that has "brought them into their present situation" (3976-13).

Cayce people sometimes argue that Hitler only became evil later; these people need to read Mein Kampf (pub. 1925). Sometimes they say that Cayce was merely being influenced by the prejudices of those around him--a line of argument which basically admits that nothing he says is trustworthy.

Are you not ashamed, Miles from Neihu?

PS Here's another link, this one to an article by Harmon Bro (whose perspective is completely different from anything yet mentioned): http://web.archive.org/web/200102072315 ... armon.html

[MilesFromNeihu]

In 1923, Cayce was asked "Why is it not possible to take a reading on a Negro?" He answered, "For the same reason that it would be impossible to teach a dog to talk." (3744-1) The quote goes on to discuss how blacks are lower in vibration or soul-evolution. Incidentally, Cayce's racism is important for understanding the Ra-Ta / Egyptian readings. See the second article at http://web.archive.org/web/199908301405 ... edu/cayce/

In 1933, Cayce praised Nazism as "a new ideal in the hearts, in the mind of the people" of Germany; approved of the one-party system as "the best for Germany at present," dismissed fears that Hitler might invade other countries as "propaganda," and blamed the Jews for their "rebelliousness and their seeking into the affairs of OTHERS" that has "brought them into their present situation" (3976-13).

Cayce people sometimes argue that Hitler only became evil later; these people need to read Mein Kampf (pub. 1925). Sometimes they say that Cayce was merely being influenced by the prejudices of those around him--a line of argument which basically admits that nothing he says is trustworthy.

Are you not ashamed, Miles from Neihu?

PS Here's another link, this one to an article by Harmon Bro (whose perspective is completely different from anything yet mentioned): http://web.archive.org/web/200102072315 ... armon.html

Greetings, Zla'od,

Taking the mass of the Cayce readings (Cayce gave what, over 12000 psychic readings?) for thousands of different people, he helped many people. The Cayce info saved lives, brought relief when all other avenues had failed. And brought understanding. People are still studying, and gaining from, the mass of information. He is often credited with being the father of holistic medicine. This does not mean he was infallible, well, I mean this does not mean that the information was infallible. There was a book called THE OUTER LIMITS OF EDGAR CAYCE'S POWER (or something very similar), published a while back that gave a rundown of the failures, such as Cayce's efforts to strike it rich with oil prospecting. Then there was the failure of Atlantis to rise again around the turn of the century. Bit of a disappointment, that.

Still, I find a lot of idealism in the readings, and in the SFG books. Cayce said things like there are no races, humanity is all one. And that a person could be different colors in different incarnations.

I looked for the reading about Negroes and dogs. Found it! But then Cayce did give at least one reading for a Negro: 709-1. So there was a problem in the assumption behind the question "Why cannot a reading be given for a Negro?" At least one reading HAD been given for a Negro, and judging by the reading numbers, it must have been quite some time earlier. So the question was screwed up. Ask a psychic a wacko question and you get a wacko answer. Surprising?

I have not had time to look into the question about support for Nazism, which is serious, and takes me aback. I'll be back later.

But in general Cayce used his talents to do tons of good. He started out embarrassed by his oddness, sort of a reluctant conduit, and was always concerned that no one be injured by following his advice. He never made much money, and was sometimes hungry. I have only been hungry when I decided to fast. If I help one person even modestly, I am happy for days.

So, no, I'm not ashamed. I still find the great mass of the Cayce material to be worth study. But I'll get back to you on the Nazism thing. I admit it does not sound good.

[Battery9]

As a Christian, it's often so silly how my fellow believers will frown on something like this.(not saying anyone in this thread is Christian) It just boggles my mind that my religion, about something that happened 2000 years ago, can still run countries, but that they can't understand that someone can feel as passionate about something else. It must be soooo super annoying!

[Confuzius]

As a Christian, it's often so silly how my fellow believers will frown on something like this.(not saying anyone in this thread is Christian) It just boggles my mind that my religion, about something that happened 2000 years ago, can still run countries, but that they can't understand that someone can feel as passionate about something else. It must be soooo super annoying!

Cayce was a devout Christian.

When one of his visions taught him the existence of reincarnation, he really struggled with it since it is not a widely accepted Christian belief. Only after a lot of reflection did he conclude that reincarnation and Christian doctrine could be harmonized.

[Chris]

Perhaps psychic abilities can't be replicated on demand, within a controlled environment.

That leads to something called unfalsifiability, in which any claim can be made without proof.

By the way, I can touch objects and they turn into gold. But not when a skeptic is watching...

[Nuit]

Perhaps psychic abilities can't be replicated on demand, within a controlled environment.

That leads to something called unfalsifiability, in which any claim can be made without proof.

But only if you refuse to poke your head out of your scientific paradigm ...

ps re the gold, could you mail me a couple of oz's? I'm a little short this month.

[milkalex]

only Americans and maybe nigerians can come up with something like that

[Nuit]

In defence of Cayce, charlatan or not, he seemed to live a fairly humble existence and wasn't in it for the money.

He also wouldn't have been alone in holding racist views, 90 years ago. Such opinions were widespread.
Heck, I even remember overhearing my grand-pappa telling my father that they'd just "got a nigger for a milkman. Nice fellow.", and that was around 1980.

I'll let Miles follow up on EC's support of the Third Reich.

[Zla'od]

What makes you think Cayce's readings helped anybody? All we have is anecdotal evidence--basically thank-you letters of people who wrote back, or notes taken by his secretary. The same sort of evidence could be amassed on behalf of almost any worthless patent medicine (which Cayce often recommended) or religious sect.

Yes, the Cayce people (including sons Hugh Lynn and Edgar Evans--the authors of the book you mention) acknowledge that Cayce was sometimes wrong. The picture they paint is one of a Cayce who is basically reliable, but whose psychic ability can be compromised in various ways. It is hard--especially so many years after the fact--to decide between this picture and the rival skeptical view, which assumes Cayce to have been lying or deluded about his psychic abilities.Harmon Bro (who knew him) used to assure me that at first he was skeptical as well, and tested him in various ways, but that Cayce was right so often that it became boring! (This put me in the uncomfortable position of deciding how much confidence to place in the ability of Harmon Bro to conduct a competent investigation.)

However, this problem would not apply to several areas. First there are the prophecies, many of which predict massive earth changes (and in one reading, the second coming of Christ) on or before the year 1998. Unfortunately, these have become an embarrasment (except perhaps to John Van Auken, who has no shame). Then there are the readings which contain scientific or historical claims, such as the age of the pyramids, or the existence of a tunnel under the paw of the Sphinx leading to the Hall of Records (of Atlantis). These have not fared particularly well, either, except in the sense that they have attracted an audience of conspiracy-minded New Agers.

It would be easy to view Cayce's medical readings in this category, since they conflate several then-popular forms of alternative medicine (such as naturopathy, osteopathy, and electrotherapy). I would add that both the medical readings and the past-life readings are extremely repetitive--just as Cayce recommended the same handful of cures again and again, so did he also assign the same set of past-life eras again and again.

So granting that the sleeping Cayce was sometimes (often?) wrong, and that his views were molded by the time and place in which he lived, how can we trust him on anything? If he was wrong about Hitler, what makes you think he was right about Christ? You will probably quote me Cayce telling me to apply it in my own life, to see whether it is helpful, but this method does not actually work very well at distinguishing truth from falsehood. After all, all religions do this--Tom Cruise and John Travolta will solemnly affirm that they have found Scientology to be helpful--and surely they cannot all be right.

Cayce gave a number of readings for blacks (double digits, if memory serves). Possibly his views evolved. Possibly he did not know they were black when he gave the reading (he only had their letters to go by). Heh heh--if you search the readings for the n-word, you'll find him describing psychic phenomena with the phrase, "Now THERE'S the n----- in the woodpile"!