Before describing the remedies that Cayce used to treat elimination—none of them “shortcuts,” but real corrections—I would like to point out the parallel in philosophy and wisdom of the great doctor Bircher-Benner with Cayce, the simple man who gained his knowledge through his psychic ability. In both cases the men have died, but their work not only lives on but grows more alive and relevant every day.
The great health spa that Dr. Bircher-Benner founded in Switzerland to carry out his theories is more popular today than ever and the greatest celebrities of the world flock to it for rejuvenation.5 Similarly the Cayce health and medical readings are attracting more doctors, osteopathic physicians, therapists of all kinds, and patients to the clinic in Phoenix and to Virginia Beach. And I believe that we still have a gold mine of health information buried in the readings, from which we have only extracted a few nuggets.
How did Cayce cope with the problem of elimination?
In cases of extreme toxemia he recommended a controlled fast for complete bodily cleansing—either a three-day apple diet, a four-day grape diet, or a five-day orange diet, all of which will be described with instructions in Chapter 11.
Unless contraindicated, we always give daily colonic irrigation with these diets, followed by castor oil packs to improve elimination and stimulate the gallbladder, spleen, and digestive organs. Cayce was a great advocate of colonics:
Take a colonic irrigation occasionally, or have one administered, scientifically. One colonic irrigation will be worth about four to six enemas. (3570-1)
The subject of colonics and enemas will be described and instructions given in Chapter 11.
Cayce was also very sold on all forms of hydrotherapy and massage for elimination as well as circulation:
For the hydrotherapy and massage are preventive as well as curative measures. For the cleansing of the system allows the body-forces themselves to function normally, and thus eliminate poisons, congestions and conditions that would become acute through the body. (257-254)
To promote elimination through the kidneys Cayce advised drinking water—six to eight glasses a day:
. . . there should be more water taken into the system in a more consistent manner, so that the system, especially in the hepatics and kidneys, may function more nominally [normally?], thus producing the correct manner for elimination of drosses in the system, for, as we see, there are many channels of elimination from the system. For this reason, each channel should be kept in that equilibrium or in that balance wherein the condition is not brought to an accentuated condition in any one of the eliminating functioning conditions; not overtaxing the lungs, not overtaxing the kidneys, not overtaxing the liver, not overtaxing the respiratory system, but all kept in that equal manner. . .
Many patients who came to me from Cayce brought directions and instructions for “sweat” and ‘fume” baths. The fume bath is a light steam or vapor bath, using certain chemicals, oils, or drugs that vaporize easily. —H.J.R.
The lack of this water in system creates, then, the excess of those eliminations that should nominally [normally] be cleansed through alimentary canal and through the kidneys, back to the capillary circulation . . . [This brings about, at times,] congestion and weakened condition. (257-11)
Diet as Therapy
We find that those food values are best that make for the eliminating forces of the body through the alimentary canal; that is, leafy vegetables will make for the better eliminations—also, as a part of the diet (in the mornings or evenings), use either stewed figs, raisins, apricots, or pears occasionally. All of these will be found to be most helpful to the body in these directions. (480-24)
Many patients who came to me from Cayce brought directions and instructions for “sweat” and “fume” baths. The fume bath is a light steam or vapor bath, using certain chemicals, oils, or drugs that vaporize easily. We usually give it in an electric cabinet but we will give you directions for home use in Chapter 10. Cayce often recommended that Atomidine (“atomic iodine”)6, witch hazel or eucalyptus, and balsam or pine oils be used to make the vapor.
Elimination through the skin is very important, for the skin normally does about one-twentieth of the work of the kidneys. When the skin elimination is speeded up, it can take care of practically one-tenth of the work that the kidneys usually do for the body. Therefore, stimulation through the skin is important for elimination, for it can help kidney function and prevent kidneys from becoming overloaded. Fume baths are useful not only for the skin but also are used for inhalations, thus aiding elimination through the lungs.
A great deal of elimination takes place through the lungs, by means of deep breathing. When you take a good deep breath, especially if you exhale it completely, forcing the residual air out of the lungs, you bring about a complete change of air. By doing so, you not only drive oxygen down into the lower part of the lungs, but you also help to speed the elimination of carbon dioxide, which is the end product of fatigue. Protein waste is also eliminated through the lungs in the form of carbon dioxide. The bloodstream picks up some of the acid waste and turns it into gas, which is exchanged for oxygen in the lungs. Cayce placed great emphasis on deep breathing and even paralleled some of the breathing techniques used in yoga, incorporating them and combining them with stretching and bending exercises in the yoga tradition (see Chapters 6 and 7).
Circulation
The importance of good circulation is apparent even to the lay person when it is realized that cutting off blood to the brain for only a few minutes results in coma; a few minutes more (six to eight, to be exact) and the brain is permanently damaged. The frightening prevalence of atherosclerosis and its grim companions—stroke, heart attack, senility, and other death-dealing diseases-should warn us all to do everything in our power to maintain good circulation. Circulation and the glucose-carrying properties of the blood can be increased to an amazing extent by exercise, and this is what Cayce frequently prescribed—in fact, he did so in over 1,300 readings. Where serious pathology was present (and one must always bear in mind that many who went to Edgar Cayce were seriously ill individuals who had been through the medical mill and had been dismissed as hopeless by conventional medical science), he prescribed exercise equivalents—massage, hydrotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, and other manipulative therapies that required a professional expert to administer. Here is what he said about a good blood supply—a state that is so dependent on good circulation:
. . . there is no condition existent in a body that the reflection of same may not be traced in the blood supply, for not only does the blood stream carry the rebuilding forces to the body, it also takes the used forces and eliminates same through their proper channels in the various portions of the system.
(283-2)
Parenthetically, I must point out here that in discussing the blood supply, Cayce scored another bit of precognition: “The day may yet arrive when one may take a drop of blood and diagnose the condition of any physical body.” (283-2)
Today, a small sample of blood is fed into computers that analyze and diagnose and return a complete range of tests as Cayce predicted.
In his explanation of his preference for osteopathy, Cayce makes clear how important circulation is:
As a system of treating human ills, osteopathy . . . is more beneficial than most measures that may be given. Why? In any preventative or curative measure, that condition to be produced is to assist the system to gain its normal equilibrium. It is known that each organ receives impulses from other portions of the system by the suggestive forces [sympathetic nervous system] and by circulatory forces [the cerebrospinal system and the blood supply itself]. These course through the system in very close parallel activity in every single portion of the body.
Hence stimulating ganglia from