Edgar Cayce ( / ˈ k eɪ s iː / ; March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) was an American person who claimed to see things not normally visible. He said he could identify illnesses and suggest treatments while sleeping. During many recorded sessions, Cayce answered questions about healing, reincarnation, dreams, the afterlife, past lives, nutrition, Atlantis, and future events. Cayce stated he was a deeply religious Christian and did not believe in communicating with spirits. He is considered a key figure in the New Age movement, which includes many beliefs about spirituality and the future.

In 1931, Cayce created a non-profit group called the Association for Research and Enlightenment. In 1942, a well-known and supportive book about Cayce titled There is a River was written by journalist Thomas Sugrue.

Background

Cayce was affected by many different beliefs and ideas. During the Second Great Awakening, Thomas and Alexander Campbell started the Disciples of Christ, a church that aimed to bring back early Christian teachings and practices. Cayce was raised in this group.

Mesmerism influenced Phineas Parkhurst Quimby’s New Thought Movement, which encouraged the use of healers who used spiritual insight. One of Quimby’s patients, Mary Baker Eddy, later created her own religious movement called Christian Science. Spiritualism influenced Helena Blavatsky, who founded Theosophy. Blavatsky’s writings discussed topics such as reincarnation, Atlantis, Root Races, and the Akashic Records.

Homeopathy and Osteopathy were types of alternative medicine that were not based on real science during Cayce’s time. Cayce first credited his healing to an osteopath and later worked with one.

Life

Edgar Cayce became well-known locally after losing his voice but being able to speak during hypnosis. At first, he said his voice came back on its own without any clear reason. Later, he credited a local osteopath with helping him regain his voice. The osteopath hired Cayce as a medical clairvoyant, someone who could supposedly diagnose patients from a distance using supernatural methods. After facing financial problems, Cayce returned to working as a medical clairvoyant, teaming up with homeopath Wesley Ketchum. In 1910, Ketchum described Cayce’s readings in an article published in the New York Times. After a disagreement with Ketchum, Cayce moved to Selma, Alabama. Later, he worked with printer Arthur Lammers, which led him to Dayton, Ohio. The later years of his life were spent in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he managed an institute he created.

An article from the Birmingham Post-Herald on October 10, 1922, stated that Cayce had given 8,056 readings up to that point. He later recorded between 13,000 and 14,000 additional readings. Other abilities linked to Cayce included astral projection, prophecy, mediumship, accessing the Akashic records, Book of Life, seeing auras, astrology, and interpreting dreams.

Cayce was born on March 18, 1877, in Christian County, Kentucky. His parents, Carrie Elizabeth (Major) and Leslie Burr Cayce, were farmers with six children. Cayce was raised in the Disciples of Christ religious group.

In December 1893, the Cayce family moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where they lived at 705 West Seventh Street. Cayce completed an eighth-grade education, but his schooling ended in ninth grade because his family could not afford further education.

On March 14, 1897, Cayce became engaged to Gertrude Evans. In September, news reported that Cayce had accepted a job with John P. Morton and left for Louisville. He started an apprenticeship at a photography studio in Hopkinsville and became skilled in the trade.

In February 1900, a stage hypnotist named Hart, known as "The Laugh King," performed in Hopkinsville. He returned to the town in 1903. Years later, Hart was said to have hypnotized Cayce in an effort to restore his voice.

According to a newspaper article from 1901, on April 18, 1900, Cayce lost his voice and could only whisper. This condition forced him to leave his job as a salesman and work in photography instead. In May 1900, local papers reported that Cayce could only speak above a whisper unless under hypnosis, when his voice returned. In June, newspapers said Cayce was attending business college in Louisville. On February 12, 1901, news reported that Cayce’s voice returned on its own without explanation.

In April 1902, Cayce wrote a public statement saying his cured voice was due to treatment by "Osteopath and Electro-Magnetical Doctor" A.C. Layne. In May 1902, Cayce got a job at a bookstore in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He returned to Hopkinsville to visit his parents in September. The following January, he went back to the town for his sister’s wedding.

Cayce married Gertrude Evans on June 17, 1903, and she moved to Bowling Green. By June 24, newspapers reported that Cayce entered a trance to help diagnose a patient who was not present. Cayce denied being a spiritualist, stating he was an active member of the Christian Church. An article from 1904 mentioned Cayce’s refusal to charge for medical readings. In 1904, Cayce claimed he created the card game Pit and sent it to Parker Brothers.

Cayce and Gertrude had three children: Hugh Lynn Cayce (1907–1982), Milton Porter Cayce (1911–1911), and Edgar Evans Cayce (1918–2013). Layne shared details about Cayce’s trance readings with professionals at a boarding house (one of whom was a magistrate and journalist), leading state medical authorities to force him to close his practice. Cayce then left to earn osteopathic qualifications in Franklin.

Cayce and a relative opened a photography studio in Bowling Green, but it burned down on December 25, 1906. His first son was born on March 16, 1907, and another fire destroyed the studio later that year. In January 1908, Cayce asked the Nashville Banner newspaper about the phase of the moon at a specific time in 1864. In 1908, Cayce declared bankruptcy.

Wesley Harrington Ketchum was born on November 11, 1878, in Lisbon, Ohio, to Saunders C. Ketchum and Bertha Bennett. He was the oldest of seven children. Ketchum graduated from the Cleveland College of Homeopathic Medicine in 1904 and practiced medicine in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, until 1912. In 1913, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, via San Francisco, and opened a new practice. He returned to California in 1918 and worked in Palo Alto until the 1950s. Ketchum retired to southern California around 1963 and settled in San Marino. In 1964, he wrote The Discovery of Edgar Cayce, published by the A.R.E. Press.

Ketchum was a homeopath who worked with Cayce from 1910 to 1912. After declaring bankruptcy, Cayce found work at the H. P. Tresslar photography firm.

In the fall of 1910, Cayce gained more attention for his medical readings. On October 9, 1910, The New York Times published an article titled "Illiterate Man Becomes a Doctor When Hypnotized."

On October 20, 1910, local papers in Hopkinsville announced Cayce’s return to town, with his father managing the "business end" of his hypnotic readings as part of a stock company Cayce had set up. In November 1910, the local paper advertised Cayce’s photography studio.

In 1911, the Kansas City Post reported that Layne supposedly cured Cayce of an illness by consulting Cayce’s own reading

Legacy

Gina Cerminara wrote the 1950 book Many Mansions, which discusses the work of Edgar Cayce. In 1963, psychic Ruth Montgomery shared Cayce’s predictions about a major event called a "polar shift." In 1967, journalist Jess Stearn wrote a biography of Cayce titled The Sleeping Prophet. A book about Cayce and Atlantis was published in 1968. Also in 1968, Curt Gentry’s novel The Last Days of the Late, Great State of California described a large earthquake in California that Cayce had predicted in 1941.

In 1970, David Kahn’s book My Life With Edgar Cayce was published after his death. That same year, a book about Cayce’s readings on the Dead Sea Scrolls was released. In 1971, Cayce’s two sons, Edgar Evans Cayce and Hugh Lynn Cayce, wrote The Outer Limits of Edgar Cayce's Power. In 1974, Cayce’s predictions were included in a book titled California Superquake: 1975-77. In 1978, Cayce’s followers reported working with Stanford Research Institute, a group that studies psychic abilities and is not connected to Stanford University. During the 1980s, New Age author Lori Toye promoted a map called "I Am America," which was inspired by Cayce’s ideas about changes on Earth.

Religious historian Mitch Horowitz says Cayce helped spread important ideas in New Age spirituality, especially the belief that all religions share common values. He noted in 2019 that Cayce combined Christian teachings with ideas from Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, such as karma and reincarnation, and the idea that humans are connected to the divine. Cayce also emphasized the power of the mind, stating that "the spiritual is the LIFE; the mental is the BUILDER; the physical is the RESULT," which connected his ideas to New Thought, Christian Science, and mental healing practices.

Reception and controversy

Cayce shared unproven historical ideas during his trance readings, such as the belief in lost lands like Lemuria, Mu, and Atlantis. He also supported the outdated theory of polygenism, which claimed that five human races (white, black, red, brown, and yellow) were created separately and at the same time in different parts of the world. Cayce believed in the existence of aliens and Atlantis, stating that the red race developed quickly in Atlantis. He also claimed that "soul-entities" on Earth mixed with animals to create beings, such as giants who were as tall as 12 feet (3.7 meters). Cayce predicted "Earth Changes," which included dramatic events like a polar shift that would cause Atlantis to rise from the ocean.

In his 2003 book The Skeptic's Dictionary, Robert Todd Carroll, a philosopher and skeptic, wrote that Cayce was responsible for some less serious ideas about Atlantis. Carroll mentioned Cayce's belief in a giant crystal that could capture energy from the sun to power Atlantis and his claim that the United States would rediscover a death ray used on Atlantis in 1958.

In the 1930s, Cayce incorrectly predicted that North America would face major destruction, saying cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York would be among those destroyed. He also predicted that the return of Christ would happen in 1998.

Scientists and skeptics argue that Cayce's reported psychic abilities were not real or were made up. Evidence of his claimed clairvoyance came from newspaper articles, personal statements, and books, not from scientific testing that can be checked by others. Martin Gardner noted that many of Cayce's trance descriptions matched ideas from books he had read by authors like Carl Jung, P. D. Ouspensky, and Helena Blavatsky. Gardner suggested that Cayce's trance readings included small pieces of information from occult books, mixed with some new ideas from his own mind.

Michael Shermer wrote in Why People Believe Weird Things (1997) that Cayce, who did not finish high school, gained his knowledge by reading widely and created detailed stories from what he learned. Shermer said Cayce had a tendency to imagine things from a young age, such as speaking with angels and seeing visions of his deceased grandfather. Magician James Randi noted that Cayce often used phrases like "I feel that" and "perhaps" to avoid making strong claims.

Investigator Joe Nickell also criticized Cayce's organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, for promoting unscientific ideas.

Health experts criticize Cayce's unusual medical advice, such as his support for unscientific diet plans and homeopathic treatments, which they call quackery. Science writer Karen Stollznow wrote that Cayce promoted the unscientific ideas of food combining and the alkaline diet. He believed that eating 80% alkaline-forming foods would help maintain a balance in the body. He also claimed that certain foods should not be eaten together, such as milk with citrus fruits, coffee with cream or milk, and sugary foods with starchy foods. Cayce also believed that even healthy foods could harm the body if a person was in a bad mood.

Timeline

• 1901 – Report about losing his voice
• 1902 – Moved to Bowling Green
• 1903 – Married Gertrude Evans on June 17
• 1904 – Opened a photography studio in Bowling Green
• 1909 – Moved to Alabama
• 1910 – The New York Times published an article about Cayce titled "Illiterate Man Becomes a Doctor When Hypnotized"
• 1910 – Returned to Hopkinsville to work as a medical clairvoyant
• 1911 – Report about his voice being restored through his own medical clairvoyance
• 1912 – Moved to Selma, Alabama, where he worked for the Cayce Petroleum Company to find oil in Texas and went on a national lecture tour
• 1917 – The Association of National Investigators Inc. (ANI) was founded in May
• 1923 – Met Arthur Lammers
• 1925 – Moved to Virginia Beach in September
• 1929 – Cayce Hospital opened in February
• 1930 – Atlantic University was chartered in May
• 1931 – ANI, the hospital, and the university collapsed
• 1931 – Association for Research and Enlightenment Inc. was established
• 1935 – Cayce, his wife, and son were arrested in Detroit. Cayce was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and given probation
• 1942 – Cayce's biography There is a River was published in December
• 1943 – An article titled "Miracle Man of Virginia Beach" about Cayce was published in the September issue of Coronet
• 1944 – Cayce suffered a stroke in September
• 1945 – Cayce died on January 3
• 1999 – Cayce's autobiography My Life as a Seer; The Lost Memoirs was published posthumously