12/45 A.R.E. Bulletin article by Gina Cerminara, reprinted
April 1966 in The A.R.E. Journal [in re 254-63, Par. 4-A]:
THE LANGUAGE OF THE CAYCE READINGS
Anyone who has ever had a reading from Edgar Cayce knows that
the language in which it was couched was very often very hard
to understand. The involved phrases and odd expressions are
apparent even in the brief paragraphs that appear in the
Bulletin and the Weekly Reading Extracts; and a person coming
upon these passages for the first time might well wonder if
it is not a case of making the waters muddy so that they may
appear to be deep.
Such a suspicion is not unnatural; but any person who has
made a careful, impartial, and thorough study of the material
knows that it is quite unfounded. Through what one critic
called the "rambling, redundant, ambiguous, and evasive
verbal meanderings" there ran a current of high and genuine
import. Thousands of people whose physical health has been
transformed and whose psychological difficulties resolved by
the contents of the readings will testify to this fact.
But the question remains: Why WAS the language so odd? Why
the psychic double-talk? Why not come out and say, "this is
a spade" instead of pussy-footing around with, "this as we
find, has to do with not the consciousness in spirituality
(as commonly conceived) but rather the consciousness in
materiality, as condensed in what is known as, or called,
in the present, an implement of spading, or a spade."
To this question we can not give a complete authentic answer
because we are not in possession of all the facts in the
case. But we can draw some reasonable deductions from what
the readings themselves have offered as explanation, and we
can make an intelligent appraisal of all the facts as we know
them, in connection with the phenomenon of language in
general.
In the first place it must be recognized that Mr. Cayce was
NOT a medium in the usual sense of the word. It was his own
superconscious mind - highly developed and trained in past
incarnations in Egypt and Persia - which, when the ordinary
consciousness was laid aside in sleep, became active and was
able to attune itself with whatever source was necessary to
secure the information desired.
The sources upon which the soul-entity of Mr. Cayce should
draw were several. These - as explained by the readings
themselves - can be summed up as follows:
(1) the subconscious mind of Edgar Cayce himself;
(2) the subconscious mind of other individuals in the earth
plane. (When a life reading was given, the information came
in part from the subconscious of the one on whom the reading
was given; this was also true, to some extent, in the case of
the physical readings):
(3) the subconscious minds of discarnate entities in the
spirit plane;
(4) the soul minds of higher masters;
(5) the Akashic records;
(6) The Universal cosmic consciousness.
Now it seems fairly clear that - whichever source he used to
obtain his information, he was speaking from a point of view
infinitely vaster and more intricate than the point of view
of earth-plane man, and it is perhaps for this reason that a
language difficulty arises. The choice of words is often
labored; the phrases seem chosen from an odd and unusual
angle - much like a photographic study taken from an angle
and in a focus not ordinarily thought of.
Exactly what the language mechanism was has never been
explained by the readings themselves, except for very
fragmentary remarks to the effect that higher-dimensional
realities can not easily be expressed in three-dimensional
terms. This sounds reasonable. And piecing together what
the readings themselves have said with the linguistic
impressions one gathers on examining the readings, one
arrives at some fairly satisfactory conclusions.
These impressions can be summarized as follows:
(1) the readings sound like a man speaking in a foreign
language;
(2) they sound like a person from an ancient era trying to
speak to a modern era;
(3) they sound like a highly educated person - or an
academician - trying to make himself clear to the uneducated
- or the non-academic.
The first impression - that of a man trying to speak in a
foreign language - is very strong. One feels, primarily,
as if a highly cultivated and benevolent philosopher of a
very remote country, say China or Afghanistan, were
attempting to speak in English - and the English language
is notoriously difficult for foreigners. Native turns of
speech, awkward use of idiom, flagrant mistakes of syntax
and grammar, oddly combined with occasional perfection of
syntax and grammar are typical of the speech of foreigners
- who often use subjunctives and pronouns more accurately
than we do ourselves, and consequently sound stilted in
doing so.
Moreover the use of archaic expressions in the readings,
such as "oft," "babe," "wilt," etc., suggest that the
speaker is a foreigner not only in space but also in time.
These out-moded forms of English may hark back to Mr. Cayce's
early American incarnation; and characteristic ways of using
certain words, such as "same" and "self" (as, for example,
"the entity, remembering same, will make much progress,"
and "First analyze self") may be idiomatic in one of the
ancient languages, either Egyptian or Persian, with which
Mr. Cayce's soul-entity was once familiar.
The stiltedness of many passages in the readings give rise
to still a third impression - namely, that of an individual
educated far above the level of the person to whom he is
talking, and attempting to talk down to the level of the
second person. This offers both psychological and linguistic
difficulties. Ph.D.'s and professors, for example (to say
nothing of the writers of income tax laws and the
Congressional Record) are notorious for their use of style
incomprehensible to the majority. In some cases this may
be due to affectation, or to that kind of social ineptitude
that arises from many years of academic seclusion. But
generally speaking, there is among this type of persons a
genuine habituation to certain language constructions,
which they can depart from only with great effort. The
breadth, subtility and complexity of their thought is
something to which the uneducated are not accustomed. The
necessity, then, to make themselves intelligible to people
whose outlook is innocent of ideological or technical
preoccupations, and whose speech is rough and ready for the
simple purposes of making a living, is often a difficult
one.
The difficulty is self-expression which was obviously
experienced by the giver of information in the readings
seems quite comparable. They read like the speech of a man
who because of the habitual grandeur of his thoughts, is
clumsy when trying to speak at any level other than his own.
And, aware of his own clumsiness, he becomes repetitious in
the anxious effort to become clear.
Finally, it must be remembered that the readings were given
from a point of view of an enlarged consciousness - that is
to say, the source of information was conversant with many
dimensions, and needed to condense what he knew into
3-dimensional terms. This is a difficult thing for us to
grasp, because we are all so completely imbedded in a
3-dimensional consciousness that we can not conceive of
realities of 4, 5, 6, 7, and more dimensions. Yet both
mathematicians and physicists, occultists and clairvoyants,
assure us that higher dimensions DO exist; and the readings
themselves, as before indicated, often make reference to
the fact.
By way of learning to appreciate the difficulty involved in
compressing knowledge into narrower terms than those really
adequate to describe it, one might try a little experiment.
One might attempt to make a description of something, say
the American flag, without using any words that contain the
letter "r," on the assumption that you were talking to a
person whose version of the English language contained no
letter "r."
It seems a simple enough sort of assignment. Yet the moment
you began to refer to the most basic features of the thing
you would realize that you could use neither the words STARS
nor STRIPES. Your first task would be to find other ways
of expressing those ideas. Not even BARS could substitute
for STRIPES, and perhaps BANDS would be the closest available
equivalent. For STARS you might begin to say, "five-pointed
figures," and in the midst of it realize that FIGURES would
be incomprehensible to an "r"-less people; so you would
settle on "five-pointed symbols of heavenly bodies."
RED would be your next preoccupation. You could neither
say DARKER nor DEEPER shade of pink, but finally you would
approximate the idea by saying "deep pink" or possibly
(especially if you were familiar with the nail-polish ads
of the country) "passion pink."
Your difficulties are not, however, now at an end. You
cannot say there are THIRTEEN bands which ALTERNATE in
COLOR, nor can you remark that there are FORTY-eight stars
which represent FORTY-eight states of the United States of
AMERICA. Even COUNTRY would be unavailable to you.
Devising circumlocutions for all these tabu - or, in a sense,
non-existent words - you might finally emerge with a
description something like this:
"The flag of the United States of the Continent of the West
(that is, the land found by Columbus) consists of eight and
five bands of white and a tint that might be called deep
pink, passion pink, wine pink, that is to say, the tint of
blood, - a band of white and than a band of this tint. In
the top left of the flag is a field of blue on which we see
twenty and twenty-eight five-pointed symbols of heavenly
bodies, each to stand as symbol of the twenty and twenty-
eight states that make up the land."
This - as anyone who has ever read a Cayce reading will admit
- sounds extraordinarily like a reading - and its clumsiness
very likely arises from the same basic cause.
The readings, of course, need no apology. Their merit has
been proven so many thousands of times in so many
extraordinary cases that the genuineness of their
clairvoyance can simply not be questioned. But it has seemed
worthwhile to write this article in the interest of bringing
out into the open a matter which, to some people at least,
looms large as an obstacle to the full acceptance of the
readings. For general publication purposes, indeed, it has
become necessary to adopt careful editorial policies of
simplification or clarification, in order that the message
may be understandable by the majority; but even after this
has been done, under rigorous supervision of Mr. Cayce's
secretary, the language still retains a certain quaint
flavor.
In this connection it is well to remember, however, that the
substance, sincerity, or intrinsic value of a message can not
always be judged by the language in which it is clothed.
Some of the best writing in the civilized world, for example,
is now being done in the field of advertising. The most
poetic of prose - sensitive, direct, dynamic - is found
in advertising copy, and frequently the pages of
advertisements make more compact, interesting, and
instructive reading than the text of the magazine itself.
But oftener than not that magnificent writing is the cloak
for a lying message, a hypocritical appeal, and a subtle,
deliberate, and crassly self-interested playing upon the
reader's sensibilities.
By all means use all your faculties of discrimination and
critical judgement with regard to the Cayce readings. But do
not permit the clumsiness of the language to deflect you from
the genuine worth of their contents. - Gina Cerminara.
4/18/84 Dr. Gina Cerminara's Obituary -
OBITUARIES
DR. GINA CERMINARA
Author Gina Cerminara, 70, passed away on April 16, 1984 in
Ojai where she had resided since 1983.
She was the only child of Alma Cerminara and Angelo
Cerminara, prominent Milwaukee attorney and Italian consular
agent for more than 25 years.
A graduate of Riverside High School and the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, she began her professional career as
a teacher of Italian at Lincoln High School, Milwaukee.
Later she returned to the University where she obtained
her MA and PhD degrees in psychology and education.
Her first book, "Italian for Students of Singing," was
written as a result of her teaching Italian to music students
at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and with the idea of
fulfilling the specific linguistic needs of music students.
It went into two printings and became widely used in music
schools throughout the country.
She is perhaps best known for her book, "Many Mansions," an
in-depth study of the work of the famous American
clairvoyant, Edgar Cayce. The book has gone into 19
American printings and 11 foreign translations, including
Italian, French, German, Japanese, Finnish, and Sinhala (the
language of Sri Lanka).
"Many Mansions" was followed by two other books in the same
general area of parapsychology, "The World Within" and "Many
Lives, Many Loves," which have also appeared in various
languages. "Insights for the Age of Aquarius, A Handbook
for Religious Sanity," a general semantic and original
approach to the study of comparative religion, was her
fifth book. "The Mark Twain Proposition," a comic novel on
the race problem followed; and her final book, "Edgar Cayce
Revisited, and Other Candid Commentaries," - is a collection
of articles she had written through the years with
autobiographical notes throughout.
She was popular among her students wherever she taught. As
a lecturer she was known for her humor and engaging style
and she addressed audiences in Japan, Hawaii, England and
Ireland as well as in most of the larger cities of the
United States.
In her later years she became very active in humane work and
in 1975 founded the Animal Assistance League of Virginia,
of which she remained president until 1980.
She is survived by her aunt, Mildred Heuel and cousin, Robert
Heuel, both of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society
of Ventura County, Animal Shelter, 402 Bryant St., Ojai,
CA 93023 in her memory.
A memorial service will be held at 115 Taormina Lane, Ojai,
May 5, 1 p.m.
4/20/84 Memo to A.R.E. Staff members from Dick Peterson,
Director of Conferences Services:
Gladys Davis Turner and Staff members
FROM: Dick Peterson
RE: The Language of the Cayce Readings
DATE: April 20, 1984
One of our goals in several conferences this summer is to
help more conferees get directly into the Cayce readings -
first, as part of their conference experience, and second,
on a continuing basis at home through the Library Series,
circulating files, and other available sources.
One of the factors which prevents many people from working
directly with the readings is the nature of the language that
came from Cayce's source. Gina Cerminara had an excellent
article on the language, for example, which helped me greatly
when I started reading the readings. We also have an
excellent set of guidelines on "how to be your own
researcher" written recently by Marilyn Peterson.
I know that each of you has spent considerable time reading
the readings and has probably developed your own way of
working with the language and developing understanding of
more difficult passages. I'm not referring to complex
concepts, but to some of the complicated syntax, unusual
style, and periodically very long sentences. And even to
short segments that do not immediately convey meaning to an
inexperienced reader - and that's who I'm trying to help -
the individual not familiar with the readings and their
style.
Could you take a few minutes sometime in the next couple
weeks to jot down any ideas or suggestions you could share
with a new reader of the readings, especially related to the
language of the readings? Or if you prefer, after you have
thought about it, give me a call, and I will be happy to talk
with you over the phone or face to face to get your ideas.
Here are some questions you might consider:
When you approach an unfamiliar reading for the first time,
do you read large segments of it straight through for,
hopefully, an overview of the content and meaning? Or do
you find it more helpful to work with it phrase by phrase,
or sentence by sentence?
What do you do with phrases or sentences that you do not
feel you understand, although you seem to comprehend the
material around it?
Do you ever try to paraphrase a sentence or segment into your
own words?
Are you completely "comfortable" reading and interpreting
the readings now, or is there still some discomfort or even
struggle occasionally with certain passages?
Do you have any "helpful hints" you would share with a new
reader of the readings? Or like Cayce's source, would you
say, "Understand it!" and leave the individual to find his
or her own way?
I will really appreciate any ideas or suggestions you can
give me, and they will all be used toward the end of creating
more interest in and use of the readings by our members and
conferees. The first specific use will be in a lecture on
June 21 on "Reading the Readings: The Language of the Cayce
Source."
Please pass this request along to anyone not listed that you
think could be helpful.
Thank you for your assistance!
[signed] Dick
cc: All Members of Conference Services Staff (Please send
me your ideas, too!)
Marilyn Peterson
4/26/84 GDT's remarks at A.R.E. Staff Memorial Service
for Gina Cerminara who died April 16, 1984 at her home
in Ojai, California:
In April, thirty-nine (39) years ago, Gina Cerminara arrived
at A.R.E. in Virginia Beach on Arctic Crescent, with the
specific purpose of looking at the readings - the Life
Readings - to find something to justify her belief in
reincarnation. She expected to stay two days but stayed
two years. She rented a room in the Cayce home and shared
the kitchen with the others who were living there. Gina
named it KARMA HOUSE, because of the difficulties and joys
of working out things together. Harmon and June Bro came to
Congress in June and also stayed in the house until that
fall when Hugh Lynn returned from overseas.
Gina became Hugh Lynn's Associate Editor, and between the
times of studying all the Life Readings she handled many
assignments. She had lead articles in the A.R.E. BULLETINS
ALL through
1945-46, which you can read in the file copies
we have in the Foundation. I wish they all could get
re-published. They are full of quotes from the readings
with her commentaries: For instance:
August, 1945 - IS LIFE TOO SHORT?
Sept. 1945 - WHAT SHOULD WE EAT?
Oct. 1945 - ATOMIC POWER IS BACK - [Reprinted by popular
request July '56]
Nov. 1945 - THE CANDID CAMERA OF THE COSMOS
Dec. 1945 - WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR ME? & LANGUAGE
OF THE CAYCE READINGS [Reprinted in 4/66 ARE Journal;
also under Work Rdg. 254-63, Par. R8]
Apr. 1946 - HE IS YOUR BROTHER!
May 1946 - KNOW THYSELF!
July 1946 - ARCHETYPES AND AURA CHARTS
Oct. 1946 - THE FORGOTTEN VIRTUE - [Reprinted in 1954.
Humor in the Cayce Rdgs.]
Aug. 1962 - BOOKS ABOUT REINCARNATION in THE SEARCHLIGHT
Her book, MANY MANSIONS, published in 1950, has perhaps
helped more people get an understanding of reincarnation
than any other book ever written, and especially according
to the Edgar Cayce readings.
I wish everyone, who has trouble understanding the readings,
would STUDY her article of Dec. 1945, reprinted in the April
1966 A.R.E. JOURNAL, entitled THE LANGUAGE OF THE EDGAR CAYCE
READINGS.
Gina was, and is, very dear to me. I hope, and truly
believe, we will meet again.
5/23/84 Memo from Dick Peterson, Dir. of Conferences
Services, to GD:
Gladys, as I mentioned to you, I have been getting
suggestions from many staff members about ways of
approaching and working with the readings, in preparation
for a mini-conference June
20-23. Attached is my summary
of all the suggestions I have received. [See READING THE
READINGS:... below] I will use this as a handout in the
conference. Do you have any comments or other suggestions
you would like to make? Thank you for your consideration!
Dick Peterson (x 180)
THREE-DAY CONFERENCE [GD excerpted this from the 1984 EDGAR
CAYCE CONFERENCES Catalog]
Wednesday, June 20 (7:30 p.m.) to Saturday June 23 (noon)
Registration: Wednesday, June 20, 6:30 p.m.
Preregistered Tuition: $60
TREASURE HUNTING IN THE EDGAR CAYCE READINGS
Marilyn Peterson James Windsor Elsie Sechrist
Mark Thurston Gladys Davis Turner Dick Peterson
This conference is a first for A.R.E.! A program wholly
designed and devoted to your personal study of the
readings. Within the supportive structure of a conference
design and with study guide materials we have prepared for
you, a "treasure hunt" awaits you.
Of course, the treasure is different for different people.
What topic most directly stimulates your curiosity and
interest? Perhaps it is the question of how reincarnation
and karma work; or the nature of the human mind; or perhaps
it is a particular historical period - ancient Egypt, the
Palestine of Jesus' day, or the American Revolution.
We've picked some "sample treasures" and created clues to
guide you through a systematic discovery and study process,
but you may be more adventurous and select a different
treasure as your goal. Using the basic guidelines and
orientation we will give you, you can strike out on your
own. You will have the option during this mini-conference
to be a personal researcher on your own or work along with a
research group.
One of this week's highlights will be a special interview
with Gladys Davis Turner, Edgar Cayce's stenographer for
over 20 years, the individual most knowledgeable on the
readings and the stories behind them. Another highlight
is a panel interview with individuals who received Cayce
readings. Marilyn Peterson, Mark Thurston, and Dick
Peterson will present sessions on how they work with the
readings and what the conferees can do on their own after
the conference.
This mini-conference is a unique opportunity to work
creatively with the primary source of the A.R.E. in other
conferences, the speakers tell you what THEY have found in
the readings and how THEY interpret it. Here's the chance
to see and work with the readings YOURSELF. Coming directly
after Conference #7 ("New Beginnings"), it is a good
complement to that program on fundamentals and would round
out a full week at "the Beach." Consider registering for
both mini-conferences.
If you have spent only a little time in the A.R.E. Library,
you might wish to begin this conference with a special
library session at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20. If you
attend the "New Beginnings" mini-conference earlier in the
week or if you have used the readings in the Library
previously, the first session for you would begin at 7:30
p.m., Wednesday, June 20.
READING THE READINGS:
SUGGESTIONS FOR ENHANCING YOUR STUDY AND ENJOYMENT OF
THE EDGAR CAYCE READINGS
Your General Approach to the Readings
Clarify your purpose - Set a positive, receptive attitude -
Become attuned - Expect understanding and enlightenment
Keep context of reading in mind - "Know" the individual -
When possible, see correspondence and other supplements
In long segments, look for main ideas and feelings, the core,
"nuggets" - Allow your intuition to take over - Read a
reading or difficult segments several times seeking the
meaning
Read readings frequently to develop feeling for vocabulary,
rhythm, repeated Cayce phrases - Read as you might read
Shakespeare or the Bible
The meaning to you may differ from the meaning to someone
else
Do not interpret too quickly...but on the other hand, do not
struggle too long on a particular reading or passage - It may
not be for you now
Special Techniques for Enhancing the Flow of Words and Ideas
Read aloud, or "hear" the words spoken in your head - Try
different inflections of certain words or phrases
Write segments in "free verse" format
In your own copies, write key words or ideas in margin -
Use highlighting or underlining
Skip parenthetical clauses and modifying phrases - Add their
contribution later
Recognize incomplete sentences - May be followed by
restatement or clarification - Also be alert to dangling
phrases and modifiers with unclear referents
Grammatical "parsing" may clarify relationships among words,
phrases, and ideas
Rewriting in your own words or paraphrasing may help, but
stick with actual readings and its words if possible
Talk to or watch a "pro" working with the readings
Words and Phrases
Watch for similes, metaphors, and comparisons - Words may
have other than their literal meaning
Watch for "foreign-sounding" phrases and archaic words -
Also words like "thee" and "thou" - Consider possible
present-day equivalents
Try different inflections and meanings for "that"
Interpret some words and symbols as if they were in dreams
ABOVE ALL, READ WITH ASSURANCE AND EXPECTATION!!!
ANOTHER STAFF MEMBER'S COMMENTS, without signature
Why do we have to LEARN HOW to read the readings in the
first place? This kind of thing builds a thought form that
creates a barrier before a person even looks at a Cayce
reading.
It is unnecessary, complicating, and the statement "Talk to
or watch a 'pro' working with the readings" is reminiscent
of a secret school system where only the initiated or master
levels can understand or work with these readings.
These readings weren't given to people gifted with special
understanding; they were given to everyday people, a complete
cross-section of society. They were mailed out, and the
individual had to study his own case and come to his own
understandings.
Such a "handout" to conferees gives rise to all sorts of
classes and teachers and foolishness to keep people from
taking their own initiative; and it's their own initiative
upon which this work is based.
If we want people to read the readings we must get out of
their way.
When someone wants to learn how to swim, all the instruction
in the world can't teach him until he gets wet. And in the
end it's only his own application that makes it work. No
different with these readings. To present the foregoing
approach to, or attitude toward, the Edgar Cayce readings
is cultish - as if the staff here is a priesthood of some
kind.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND ENLIGHTENMENT
INCORPORATED
P.O. Box 595
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451
5/23/84 GDT to Dick Peterson in re A.R.E. Staff suggestions
for ways to approach and work with the Edgar Cayce readings:
Through the years I listened to Mr. Cayce talk to individuals
who came to him seeking help. I heard him make this
statement, in his waking state, hundred of times:
"IF YOU FIND SOMETHING IN THESE READINGS THAT ANSWERS TO
SOMETHING WITHIN YOU, HOLD TO IT! IF NOT, FORGET IT!"
GD's memo in re Language of Edgar Cayce Readings and their
source:
I wish people would stop saying or THINKING the "Cayce
Source"; or the "Language of the Cayce source." HE HAD MANY
SOURCES. [See
294-1, Edgar Cayce's FIRST READING describing
the various sources from which he obtained the information]
See subsequent series of readings on EC's psychic work,
beginning with
254-1 on
2/13/11, besides subsequent readings
in the [
294] series.
Also see
3744-3, Par. 11-A in re source of EC's information.
See also under
5756-1, Reports of
1/04/84 GD's answer to
Dr. Shealy about EC's "controls", spiritualistic
communications, etc., in which you will find this
paragraph:
"In Edgar Cayce's information regarding the Akashic Records
(from which he apparently obtained the Life Readings) he
explained that these records are NOT WRITTEN WORDS [THAT CAN
BE READ OFF] but are ACTIVITIES ON THE SKEIN OF TIME AND
SPACE, that may be read BY THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO DO IT, but
that THE CLARITY OF THE INFORMATION depends on the ability
of the one reading the records TO PUT INTO WORDS what he
sees."
6/01/84 GD's note: Now I think IT IS ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE
that Edgar Cayce, who had only a grade school education,
could interpret these records and put them into his own
words as well as he did. [Also you have to realize that
stenographic notes were taken and transcribed on the
majority of his readings by "yours truly" who dropped out
of school in second year high and took a business course
in stenography and typing - also bookkeeping. Fortunately
my best subjects while in school were English and Spelling.
So, I think, the best way to understand these readings is
to learn all you can about the man himself, through his
correspondence to and from the people who were involved in
the Work through the years. Scads of these letters are
available in the library with the readings and more being
added daily behind the Work Readings [[
254] series]. (In
other words, become familiar with EC's language while
AWAKE!).
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation