Countless others have formulated both scholarly and expeditionbased theories of Atlantis and in recent years, a virtual avalanche of new Atlantis speculations have been made. In a later chapter, these will be summarized along with research that has been done on Cayce’s specific statements on the lost land. But this chapter has sought to provide a background of the early scientific speculations on Atlantis as well as summarize the psychic information that various people have presented. As we show in the next chapters, Cayce’s visions of Atlantis are fully in line with the story Plato related but have major differences with other psychically derived material.
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Edgar Cayce’s Story: How the Father of American Holistic Medicine Envisioned Atlantis
Conditions, thoughts, activities of men in every clime are things; as thoughts are things. They make their impressions upon the skein of time and space … They become as records that may be read by those in accord or attuned to such a condition.
Edgar Cayce explaining the Akashic Record (1936) Reading 3976-16
Cayce’s story of Atlantis has entranced countless people, starting in the 1920s, when the first of his psychic readings on Atlantis took place. His story of Atlantis is quite different from the material of other psychics as well as from Atlantis theorists. For example, Cayce was quite specific about one area: where a portion of Atlantis would be found and even when it would be found—the Bahamas, in 1968 or 1969. As we shall see in a later chapter, that prediction may well have been realized. Another important reason Cayce’s story is so different is the nature of his psychic readings wherein the Atlantis material was detailed. Most of the Atlantis readings were not about Atlantis per se. They concerned the past lives of specific people who came to Cayce for help in understanding their present lives.
There is one other fundamental difference between Cayce and the many others who have speculated about Atlantis. Cayce was, of course, a psychic. But he was unlike all the other psychics who have lived, and he was quite different from the other psychics who had visions of Atlantis, in this important way: Virtually everything Cayce said during his psychic readings was written down. Cayce’s complete readings have been made available for researchers on a searchable CD-ROM and are also available on the Internet for members of the A.R.E. Thus all of Cayce’s psychic statements are amenable to validation. What other psychics—or skeptics—can make the same claim?
Cayce’s Life
Edgar Cayce (pronounced, KAY-see) was born on a farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on March 18, 1877. As a child, he displayed unusual powers of perception. At the age of six, he told his parents that he could see and talk with “visions,” sometimes of relatives who had recently died, and even angels. He could also sleep with his head on his schoolbooks and awake with a photographic recall of their contents, even visualizing the pages of books. However, after completing the seventh grade, he left school—which was not unusual for boys at that time. But because of his unusual abilities, the young Cayce became well-known in the Hopkinsville area.
Edgar Cayce. Source—Edgar Cayce Foundation.
When Edgar was twenty-one years old, he developed a paralysis of the throat muscles, which caused him to lose his voice. He was a clerk in a small bookstore in Hopkinsville at the time, and the problem threatened his job. Doctors were unable to find a physical cause or a remedy for Cayce’s condition, and one night he found himself at a demonstration by a stage hypnotist performing in Hopkinsville. The hypnotist asked for volunteers and, because he was a local celebrity, the young Cayce was urged by the crowd to go to the stage. Under hypnosis, Edgar could speak, but after he emerged from the trance, the paralysis returned.
After hearing from friends that he had talked during the trance, Edgar turned to Al Layne, a Hopkinsville hypnotist and osteopath. Cayce asked Layne to hypnotize him and then, during the trance, suggest to Cayce that he could diagnose the problem and perhaps even suggest a remedy. Layne complied with Edgar’s request. The entranced Cayce detailed a circulation problem in his throat area and asked Layne to suggest that the blood flow to Edgar’s throat area be increased. When the suggestion was given, Cayce’s throat quickly turned bright red. Then, while still under hypnosis, Cayce recommended specific medication and manipulative therapy, which eventually aided in restoring his voice completely.
Layne was astonished by the results. Realizing the potential of Edgar’s ability, Layne suggested that Edgar try the same hypnotic method to help others. Layne’s own stomach problems were the focus of Edgar’s first health reading for others. Following the suggestions outlined in this reading, Layne’s decade-long stomach problems disappeared. Doctors around Hopkinsville and Bowling Green, Kentucky, quickly took notice of Cayce and began testing him by having the entranced Cayce diagnose their own patients. They soon discovered that all Cayce needed was the name and address of a patient to “tune in” telepathically to that individual’s mind and body. The patient didn’t have to be near Cayce, he could tune-in to them wherever they were. The physicians were stunned to find that Cayce’s ability to accurately diagnose physical problems and recommend a treatment was remarkably effective.
When one of the young doctors working with Cayce submitted a report on his strange abilities to a clinical research society in Boston, the reactions were amazing. On October 9, 1910, The New York Times carried two pages of headlines and pictures. From then on, people from all over the country sought out the “Sleeping Prophet,” as he was to become known.
Cayce established a set routine for entering his hypnotic state. He would first loosen his tie and collar and then untie his shoes. Next, he would recline on his back on his couch and fold his hands on his solar plexus. After a few moments of deep breathing, his eyelids would flutter and his breathing would become deep and rhythmical. This was a signal to the conductor of the session (usually his wife, Gertrude) to make contact with his subconscious by giving a suggestion. Unless this procedure was timed to synchronize with his breathing, Cayce would move beyond the trance state and simply fall asleep. However, once the suggestion was made, Cayce would proceed to describe the patient as though he or she was sitting right next to him.
Cayce usually began by locating the individual, stating, “Yes, we have the body.” Then he would scan the patient’s body, similar to an x-ray scanner, seeing into every organ. He verbally described the results of this scan emphasizing the problems that were seen. When he was finished, he would say, “Ready for questions.” However, in many cases his mind anticipated the patient’s questions, answering them during the main session. Eventually, he would say, “We are through for the present,” whereupon the conductor would give the suggestion to return to normal consciousness.
If this procedure were in any way violated, Cayce would be in serious personal danger. On one occasion, he remained in a trance state for three days and had actually been given up for dead by the attending doctors. In addition, Cayce had no recollection of what had transpired during the hypnotic session after he wakened. This fact necessitated that everything he stated during the trance state be written down. At each session, a stenographer (usually Gladys Davis Turner, his personal secretary) would record—word for word—everything Cayce said. Oddly, during a trance session, Cayce would even occasionally correct the stenographer’s spelling. It was as though his mind were in touch with everything around him and beyond.
All individuals who had a reading were identified with a number to keep their names private. For example, the hypnotic material for Edgar Cayce himself is filed under the number 294. His first “reading,” as they were called, would be numbered 294-1, and each subsequent reading would increase the dash number (294-2, 294-3, and so on). Some numbers refer to groups of people, such as the Study Group, 262; and some numbers refer to specific research or