When Mrs. [5439] told me that Cayce gave what she called the “reading” while he was in a trance in Virginia Beach and she was in New York, I became really intrigued. Even now, with forty-five years of hindsight, it is very difficult to explain what made me stop in the middle of one of our busiest days to read the following, but I did. Cayce said:
Yes, we have the body here, Mrs. [5439]. Now, we find the body very good in many respects, physically and mentally. There are rather conditions of which the body physical should take warning, and by correction of what is minor in the physical functioning at present, bring about a better condition in the physical and furnish the channel through which the mental and spiritual may manifest; for the body-physical is truly the temple through which the mental and the spiritual and soul development must manifest, and in manifestation does the growth come. [Italics added.]
I reread the phrase “for the body-physical is truly the temple through which the mental and the spiritual and soul development must manifest,” finding in it an echo of my own deeply held conviction, one that I had dedicated my life to as a physiotherapist. I often reminded my patients that “the same blood that goes through your intestines and your feet goes through your brain.” My words were not as poetic and spiritual as the language Cayce used, but I meant the same thing.
. . . for the body-physical is truly the temple through which the mental and the spiritual and soul development must manifest, and in manifestation does the growth come. (5439-1)
The diagnosis began with an analysis of the blood supply. Cayce found that the emotion of fear was creating a condition that “must be eliminated” from the system:
... there are many channels through which eliminations are carried on. First, in the respiratory system. This not merely the deoxidization being thrown off through the breath, or through the clarifications of the bloodstream as it flows to the lungs for the oxygen necessary to carry on certain conditions . . . but also that of the whole of the exterior ... through the various pores of the system [and that of the lymphatic circulation].
Also that in the liver, or through the alimentary canal. These, at present, suffer the most—for as seen, the blood supply flows twice through the liver to any other portion of the system and in the left lobe or the smaller lobe of same, do we find those conditions as represent disorders as are affected by the splenic and this lobe, or portion of lobe of the liver—for the liver being both excretory and secretive in its functioning, then acts upon the system in a more than twofold manner.
The Cayce reading went on to explain how the breakdown in elimination in the woman’s respiratory system, liver, and kidneys had affected her nervous systems, creating “disorders—not disease” resulting in overacidity.
These . . . give rise to the expressions of dullness in head, fullness in throat, the misdirection in the mucus-producing tissue in bronchia, nasal cavities, antrum, and those conditions where soft tissue becomes involved. These are merely signposts not causes—not the reactions, even. Rather those warnings as to disorders, or distresses, as come to the physical [to the body].
After this accurate diagnosis of Mrs. [5439]’s symptoms and their cause, the entranced clairvoyant went on to a discussion of the mental forces at work on her.
Fear [is] the greatest bugaboo to the human elements, for in fear comes those conditions that destroy that vitality of that assimilated.
His advice to her hit with uncanny accuracy her most secret desires:
The mental developments should be in the direction of the directing play, writing play, writing book, writing song—for these may give an outlet of self to manifest that which the body, the mental being may hold as ideal. Find an ideal. Do not lose self in the individual nor in the self-centered interest, but rather in that the body, the body mental, the body spiritual may make an ideal. Ready for questions:
Fear [is] the greatest bugaboo to the human elements, for in fear comes those conditions that destroy that vitality of that assimilated.
(5439-1)
Do not lose self in the individual nor in the self-centered interest, but rather in that the body, the body mental, the body spiritual may make an ideal.
(5439-1)
(Q) What books can the body read to help improve her talents for writing?
(A) Tacitus, or Plato, or such—for the entity was associated with Plato, and the rise and fall of same would mean much.
(Q) Shall I write with someone else, or shall I write by myself?
(A) Fear enters here, when the entity attempts to write alone—but write alone, and keep that near self as the ideal, when doing so. Be not afraid to really express those children of the mental body as flow in, in meditation, for these—in use—will grow and will not destroy self, will they but be tendered by the love of the Creator, or of the body itself.
(Q) Is the body necessary to her husband’s business? Is it advisable for her to return to the business?
(A) Would be advisable that at least in the advisory capacity the body see much more of same than it has recently; but to return to same would be to smother self’s own endeavors, and self’s own personality, self’s own individuality would also suffer . . .
(Q) Will the business come back successfully without the body?
(A) With her advice, would come back! With her counsel, come back!
(Q) What attitude should she take toward her husband?
(A) Not merely of duty’s tolerance, but that of helpfulness; for one is as necessary to the other as is that of any condition where there are two poles. (5439-1)
I agreed with his interpretation that the range of symptoms came from a toxic condition, brought on, at least in part, by emotional causes and by improper elimination.
Mrs. [5439] did not present an exceptional or challenging health problem, and certainly the recommended treatment of massage and electrotherapy was well within our routine therapy.
I immediately knew that when we gave her the manipulation we would increase her circulation. The drainage therapy would relieve pressure in the head. In the massage we would pay special attention to the abdomen to stimulate the liver and spleen, and we would work the legs so as to normalize and stimulate circulation in the legs, and this would stimulate circulation in the whole body.
As for the excessive mucus, that will often appear when the diet is incorrect or where there is irritation. It is nature’s way of trying to heal or protect the tissues so they won’t become overly inflamed. Some foods are more mucus forming than others (see Chapter 5 on diet and nutrition).
Cayce’s recommended treatment called for electrotherapy with ultraviolet, infrared, Nile green, and then orange lights. We did not go in for chromotherapy or color therapy, but we did use the infrared and two types of ultraviolet (one pure ultraviolet and the other with the complete sun spectrum produced by the use of carbon-arc lamps). I was most interested in the use of the lights, which Cayce claimed would “equalize the circulation, relieving this condition in the central nervous system.”
In the reading I was intrigued by a number of concepts that not only struck a responsive chord with my own ideas but represented thinking that was not at that time generally accepted by the medical profession. Now, however, these ideas have become commonplace.
Dr. Reilly and the Opera Singer
I recall one amusing incident that taught me a good lesson in psychosomatic illness. For a number of years I had been taking care of Beniamino Gigli, the great Metropolitan Opera Italian tenor. When Gigli’s chauffeur brought him to me, he was overweight and suffering so severely