Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation

During forty-three years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) gave more than 14,000 psychic dissertations, called readings, on a variety of subjects. In 1901, at the age of 24, Edgar Cayce gave the first reading for himself, diagnosing a health condition, but it really wasn't until 1923 that the subject of reincarnation was explored in a reading given to a printer from Ohio. (Interestingly enough, the concept had been mentioned in a prior reading given as early as 1911, but no one among Cayce's associates was familiar with the idea, so the reference wasn't recognized as such for decades.) The printer had already obtained successful readings for two members of his family when he asked for a horoscope reading. Toward the end of that reading the sleeping Cayce spoke the curious sentence: "he was once a monk."

That statement opened the door to a whole new area of research and investigation - the topic of reincarnation.

Cayce had already proven himself repeatedly with the health readings - somehow he was able to tune into an individual at a distance, describe what was wrong with that person, detail how she or he had gotten sick, recommend treatments and specific medical procedures, and sometimes even refer his client to specific physicians that the sleeping Cayce had no knowledge of while awake. The accuracy of his information would eventually give him such nicknames as "the miracle man of Virginia Beach" and "the sleeping prophet." There was no doubt that his psychic information was helpful and accurate when dealing with health, but the readings matter-of-fact reference to reincarnation seemed foreign to his fundamental Christianity. Cayce prayed about it, did much soul-searching, and obtained readings on the topic. He was advised to read the Bible once through from cover to cover while keeping the idea of reincarnation in mind. The underlying philosophy that emerged was one that focused upon the oneness and the purposefulness of life. In time, Edgar Cayce found that the concept of reincarnation was not incompatible with any religion, and actually merged perfectly with his own beliefs of what it meant to be a Christian. Eventually the subject of reincarnation was examined in extensive detail in over 1,900 Life Readings.

Just what is reincarnation? It is the belief that each of us goes through a series of lifetimes for the purpose of spiritual growth and soul development. Cayce's approach does not include the concept of transmigration, which states that it is possible for human beings to be born again as animals. From the standpoint of the Cayce material, souls only occupy human bodies through their spiritual growth and developmental process.

In essence, the Cayce approach to reincarnation provides a philosophical setting to the past focusing on practical ways of dealing with this life: living, growing, and being of service to one another in the present. For him it wasn't nearly as important to who individuals had once been, or even what they had been doing, as it was paramount that they focus on the present and the opportunities and challenges that faced them in this time, in this place, right now.

In terms of remembering your own past lives, the Edgar Cayce information provides a variety of approaches. In fact, oftentimes individuals who received readings would ask about such things as memorable dreams that were on their mind, personal traits and talents that they had always been drawn to, and even intense positive or negative relationships with other people in their lives - Cayce described how each of these things could be tied to past-life memories. With these things in mind, in order to remember your own past lives the Cayce readings recommend such things as personal inventories of your talents, abilities, likes, and dislikes; working with meditation and dreams; taking part in imaginative past-life reveries or self-hypnosis, and so forth.

From Cayce's perspective, the reason for believing in reincarnation is not so that we can dwell upon the past or brag about the possibility of once having been someone famous, instead it is to enable a soul to understand the consequences of previous choices and to know that each individual is ultimately responsible for shaping and creating his or her life in the present. From the Cayce readings' perspective, the past merely provided a framework of potentials and probabilities. An individual's choices, actions, and free will in the present would determine the actual experience lived this time around. Rather than being a fatalistic approach to life, it is much more one of nearly limitless opportunities.

Kevin Todeschi is the Executive Director and CEO of Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment, overseeing activities of the Cayce work worldwide. A prolific writer, he is the author of twenty books, including Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records, Edgar Cayce on Soul Mates, and Family Karma: The Hidden Ties that Bind.

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