This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce at his home on Arctic Crescent, Virginia Beach, Va., this 31st day of August, 1934, in accordance with request made by the self - Mr. [256], Active Member of the Ass'n for Research & Enlightenment, Inc.

Present: Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Mr. [256], Mildred Davis, L. B. and Hugh Lynn Cayce.

TEXT

1. EC: Yes, we have the entity, the soul-mind, and the mental and material mind of the entity now known as [256], with those experiences of the soul in the earthly sojourns with the developments and the environments in the present, and that which has been builded by the entity as to what the entity has done respecting that which has builded into what is now present in the earth.
2. In giving that which may be helpful for the entity in the present, well that the desires and purposes with the will of the soul through its earth's experiences be considered. Then we may draw those conclusions as to how, through what channel or in what ways and manners there may be added or taken from the experiences or activities of the soul-mind in the present for its advancement toward that goal which is sought by this soul.
3. In each appearance into materiality there have come those experiences, those opportunities, those things that were as hindrances as well as those that were the urges which carried forward the desires and purposes of the soul.
4. Then, in meeting all of these experiences, it has been outlined for the entity as to its activities under the varied conditions and experiences in the earth; and when these activities are drawn upon in the present, the purposes that prompted the soul to enter in this particular environ in the present must be adhered to - or the developments would come into those forms of skips - or the knowledge not be the growth from the internal as it should; for knowledge may not be put on as a cloak, but must be an internal or a soul growth towards that which has been determined or set as an ideal for an individual.
5. What, then, were the promptings for the soul's activity in this present experience? That there might be within the experience of self the clarifications as to who, as to when, as to how that which is the constructive and the universal force in the experience, makes for the attaining of each soul's ideal in the experience. For, as the soul is to glorify that which has been set as its ideal, the MANNERS of its manifestations into materiality can only be measured by the realms in which the activity assumes its manifested form into activities towards that which has partaken of that same realm or materiality.
6. Hence, as to putting into manifestation, not of self is the thought, is the purpose, is the will - if it would be a growth in self; but as to how it measures in the minds, in the activities of those whom the soul contacts in its daily experience.
7. Therefore, as we sow we reap; not only as we sow in ourselves but in that we make as a portion of our own bodies - as the varied forms of habits that infest, infect and act upon the motivative influences of the body - and what we act upon as our own activity towards that which produces motivative influences in the experiences of others; thus forming in their experiences their responses to what have been the promptings of the souls THEY contact as in the individual self.
8. What are the purposes, and how may they be applied, then, in the experience of this entity? There are varied fields of activity in a material world in which contact may be made; in individual activity that deals not only with the mental earthly beings but the soul-activity of others also. Thus, in these fields, in these realms of relationships may the entity, the soul, in its thoughts and purposes and desires of the mind and of the soul build that which will be as the body of the soul, as it passes from experience to experience.
9. Ready for questions.
10. (Q) Considering my detailed activity in school work and present material obligations, in just what direction and what definite steps should I take for my greater spiritual development?
    (A) As given and presented here, it is as to the contacts that are made in the daily experience that the individual, the soul, metes out here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept, that which is as the food to the mind and soul of others in forming that which expresses itself in materiality as the character, and expresses self in the individuality of the soul as its concept of the First Cause, or of the constructive influences in the life, or God. Then, as the entity metes out in the daily experience justice, mercy, truth, patience, understanding, brotherly love, these things in the immediate may build first to self then to others that the entity contacts - that which makes for the soul growth. For it does not spring up as a mushroom, nor does it blossom all at once, but as a growth in self and in the minds, the hearts, the souls of those whom the entity contacts day by day. For, as has been given, each day each body writes the gospel leaf by leaf to be read of those that may read, whether it be faithless or true. What, then, is the gospel of THY Christ, THY God, according to you?
11. (Q) What incarnations will be the source of the most compelling urges during the next few years?
    (A) The Persian, where the studies [as one of the Three Wise Men] were of the influence of stellar space or the sojourns of souls in the environs about the earth that made - and make - for the mental urges in the souls of men. Hence, as the entity studies those that seek for the minutia and detail of that necessary in the material things of life that the body and soul may be kept together in the materiality or in flesh, so may the body - in studying that which has been and is the motivative influence of those minds - instill that as Mind is the Builder, unless its promptings and its first and basic influence are in the spirit of fairness and justice and mercy to the fellow man, it may not grow in its maturity to a thing of joy or beauty in the life. Thus may the experience of a sojourn be applied in a concrete and definite way and manner in the present for the glorification of the Father, the Son, through the spirit of truth that abides with those that seek - as in those sojourns for manifesting the love of the Creative Forces for the fellow man. For, "Inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of my little ones ye do it unto me."
    Then, see in thy fellow man that thou wouldest worship in thy God; for He is the Giver of life, He IS Life, and as ye measure of thy faith, of thy hope, of thy purpose unto the least of thy fellow man ye measure same unto thy Maker. Would YE be glorified in the earth? Would ye be a channel of blessing to thy fellow man? Then glorify, in thine daily acts to those that seek His way, that THOU hast found good in thy Maker!
12. (Q) Explain these influences and just how I can make the most of them.
    (A) In the application of any influence in self, as has been pointed out, first determine within thine inner self as to what is the motivative influence. Not that thou mayest add one whit to thine stature, or that thou mayest purpose to do other than that He would have, if ye would grow in grace; but he that defies the living God falls away and is POSSESSED with those influences that wage destruction upon the souls of men. For only the soul is everlasting. It is in the beginning with Him, lest ye in thine thoughtlessness in the earth - or in thine premeditations with the spirits of darkness - drive same away from the face of thy Maker!
    Then, the urges are: "Let my purpose, my desire, my life in its manifestations only be as the will of the Maker would have it be," for the flesh is weak, yet it may be made STRONG by His might. Give Him, thy Maker, the right; not by just sitting still, but by manifesting in the lives of thy fellow man; the right to work with and through thee for thy OWN development!
13. (Q) How can I learn to interpret and understand such karmic relations and obligations as may require effort on my part in working out?
    (A) Each soul is a portion of the Maker. The soul-body may have indulged here, gormandized self there, thus creating that which is to be met IN Him. He, the Giver of life, thy brother, the Christ, HAS made a way for thee; for the life line still holds, when thou knowest within thine self thou art waging war within thyself. Though the conditions about you, about any soul, may be as torments - by the activities, the speeches, the obligations of others - they are only used as puppets, and are as nothing but that self may overcome those influences; and thus does the soul comprehend and understand that in Him, the Maker, the Christ, ONLY is light - and that self lost in Him may meet all karmic forces, and that which has been the easily besetting error or sin becomes as a stepping-stone for a closer walk with Him.
14. (Q) Are there any incarnations other than those in my Life Reading that are of importance in this experience?
    (A) When thou hast passed through '35, thou will have reached that place when those experiences in which thou joined in the Atlantean and American sojourn will become as influences in those periods of thy sojourn.
    These then will take on rather the nature that thou wilt be PRIVILEGED to meet the third - yea, the second degrees in thine own development here.
15. We are through for the present.

    Copy to Self
    Copy to Ass'n file

BACKGROUND

1. 8/14/29 He obtained Life Rdg. 256-1, 1/10/30 Ck. Life Rdg. 256-2, 8/16/32 Physical Rdg. 256-3, 8/19/32 Mental-Spiritual Rdg. 256-4.
2. 8/31/34 He was present, submitting further questions.

REPORTS

1. 8/31/34 GD's note: On waking, EC asked about the rdg. Mr. [256] said it was very deep. The rest of us present also thought it would take some studying to understand it.
   EC then proceeded to tell us of a dream he had during the reading:
   "I was traveling in the orient; I saw donkeys, camels, etc. On the side of the road there was a tent in which a brown-skinned man was sitting, dressed in faded purple and in a square turban with rounded corners. He had a long, white beard and mustache. As I passed, the man motioned me to a seat at a low table opposite him on which sat a keg of some drink - it looked like wine - and cups. He poured drinks. I can't remember drinking, but what the man said was what came through in the rdg., or at least I got that impression; or the rdg. may have repeated what the man said."
   EC asked those present if this rdg. was different from the usual one. All thought the rdg. was impressive but hard to understand. Mr. [256] said: "I'll have to spend a lot of time studying, now."
2. 10/12/34 He wrote: "My work at school has kept me very busy up to now and I have not had much time to sit down and think." [He reported on his mother's rdg. 403-2 and sister's rdg. 338-3.]
3. See subsequent notations on Life Rdg. in Reports of Reading 256-1.

Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation