This Psychic Reading given by Edgar Cayce at the office of the Association, Arctic Crescent, Virginia Beach, Va., this 16th day of January, 1942, in accordance with request made by the self - [2650], new Associate Member of the Ass'n for Research & Enlightenment, Inc., through Miss [307] - also her mother, Mrs. [1409].

Present: Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Mrs. [2650], Mrs. [1409], Mrs. [2753] and Miss [307]. Born Sept. 11, 1907, Union, Hertford County, North Carolina.

TEXT

1. GC: You will give the relation of this entity and the universe, and the universal forces; giving the conditions which are as personalities, latent and exhibited in the present life; also the former appearances in the earth plane, giving time, place and the name, and that in each life which built or retarded the development for the entity; giving the abilities of the present entity, that to which it may attain, and how. You will answer the questions, as I ask them:
2. EC: (In going back over years from the present - " - '40 - changes - '37 - anxieties - '35 - '28 - developments - " etc., on back to birth date.)
3. Yes, we have the records here of that entity now known as or called [2650].
4. In giving the interpretations of the records as we find them here, choices must be made in the experience of the entity - and especially as to those experiences now that will be a part of this entity's knowledge in the next three years, - OFT changes and choices of activity.
5. Then, in choosing those portions of the records here, - these we choose with the desire and purpose that this information may be a helpful experience for the entity; enabling it to better fulfill those purposes for which the entity chose to enter this sojourn.
6. For, there is ever the choice by the soul-entity as to the environs, as to the path to be taken in its application of opportunities EXPRESSED in material consciousness. [Extracted for Study Group #1 lesson, GOD - LOVE - MAN.]
7. The first anxiety, the first awareness of which each soul should become cognizant or seek earnestly, is that God is conscious of thee. And the very fact of your own awareness should ever remind thee of this. If each soul would or could become aware of that, how much difference there might be in the choices made day by day!
8. For, the first awareness would be that TRULY in Him ye live, ye move, ye have thy being; thus the necessity of daily keeping before thee an ideal, - spiritual, mental AND material; realizing that the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof.
9. Peace, harmony, love, - Life and all its consequences, - are in Him.
10. What, ye may ask, is the purpose of all this:
11. He, the Father, being mindful, - which should bring to the consciousness the realization that He hath not willed that any soul should perish. Thus He gives opportunities to those children of His of whom He is mindful.
12. Then, take heart. Look about self. Be aware of the blessings, the opportunities He hath put in thy way. Use them to His glory, not to thine self-indulgence nor to the gratifying of selfish motives or purposes.
13. Such is thy purpose in the earth.
14. From that given it may be indicated that thou hast not always used that in hand to His glory, yet He hath continued to shower His blessings upon thee. Thus in thy application of that thou knowest to do, ever magnify thy virtues in thyself, in others. Minimize the faults that they be put far from thee.
15. Thou art aware of the physical consciousness that may arise from desire of body, of appetite, of that cultivated in thy daily experience. Thou art aware of the mental abilities of the body, the mind. So are there urges that stimulate these awarenesses in thy conscious experience. Thus all thou art is the result of what thou hast done ABOUT thy opportunities, thy ideals, here, now; and in those awarenesses in whatever realm of consciousness the soul-entity has been active.
16. As is experienced in materiality, one may never stand still. For, there is continuous growth, continuous passing of opportunities, - for good, for bad. Only good lives on. Bad disintegrates, for it is not of the eternal - but has been and is the application of that which is temporal in materiality. So this, too, will pass away. And as ye grow in grace, in knowledge and in understanding, the truths that may become realities of that being given thee will live WITH thee, constantly.
17. In the urges, then, - these arise from the activities, or consciousness, in those realms not of the earth-earthy. Thus we speak of same here as being astrological. Other words or terms might be as well applied, but from sojourns through the periods when absent from the body there is the awareness in other dimensions to which force or power is accredited, - in the realms of consciousness known as the planets of thine own solar system. Hence these urges are termed astrological.
18. As we find for thee, - Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars ALL become a part of thy awareness.
19. In Venus, - material love, filial love, parental love, spiritual love; all are a part of thy consciousness.
20. Mercury, - the wisdom, or mind, or abilities to have one's own way - as ye oft do in thy ability to persuade or to so depict conditions or places or things as to convince even those who wouldn't like to be convinced, that ye choose wisely. Are thy choices according to thy ideal? This ye alone may answer, ye MUST answer. For, as He hath given, ye must pay EVERY whit! For the law of the Lord is perfect, it may convert the soul. But the law is not taken away - it must be fulfilled every whit, every jot and tittle. Under what law choosest THOU to be aware, or to work? These are choices of men, as there are choices by man according to the concept of the spiritual law of the adherences to moral standard.
21. Know, as He gave, the letter of the law killeth, the spirit of the law maketh alive.
22. In Saturn we see the changes that have been, that will be a part of thy experience through the material plane.
23. We find in Mars the anger, the wrath, - that finds its level, even as does water in its material consciousness. And as such is the mother of strife, of vice, - yea, and the purifier also of that as may be assimilated in spiritual consciousness, - it is the purging spirit in the experience of man in the world today; in strife, in war, in greediness, in hate; and all is a part of thy material consciousness.
24. As to sojourns in the earth, - these are another source of urges, arising latently and manifestedly, or as the basis of thy life experience in this sojourn. For, as the emotions from the activities in other awarenesses in the consciousness of earth become manifested, by the opportunities in the desires, in the consciousness of flesh awareness, it is that ye have done WITH thy ideal in other experiences making the basis upon which ye will build in this, - save in that respect in which ye through thy mental ability make Him thy builder, thy companion. For He, being the way, the truth, the light, is indeed the Master Builder; and, set as the head, as the ideal in thy activity, may guide thy life, thy ways into the harbor of safety that is only in Him.
25. As to the appearances, then, from which these emotions arise, - not all may be given here, but those that today, now, or in the cycle of thine awareness, become the more oft - daily - in thy experience the sources of latent and manifested urges. For in these ye may find thine own image, - as in a glass darkly, yet in Him ye may bring to thy consciousness the good. As ye do to others, then, ye do to Him, thy Master.
26. Before this, the entity was in the land of the present nativity, but journeying westward with that purpose when the cry of gold carried so many to those activities in the western land.
27. There the entity's hopes were high, the visions of self-gratification - SPIRITUALLY designed - were well. But others had much to do with its undoing, or so ye determined.
28. But know rather, as has been given by Him, in whatsoever state ye find thyself - of mind, of body, of physical condition - THAT is what ye have builded, and is NECESSARY for thy unfoldment. If ye will but take Him as thy guide WHEREVER thou art, He will lead to that haven of rest, of harmony that is only found in Him.
29. The experience then brought disappointments, desperation, and the desire for gratification irrespective of material consequences. Later there was the awakening to the fact of being far afield, and there was the learning anew that He meant what He said, "Though ye be afar, if ye call I will hear - and answer speedily."
30. The entity gained, lost, gained. And those experiences are before thee.
31. Then the name was Esther Swindelley.
32. Before that the entity was in the Promised Land, during those periods when the Master walked in the earth, - when there were trials and tribulations for those who believed, and who walked in the straight and narrow way. Yet the entity, even as He, learned obedience through the things which she suffered.
33. Though the entity knew material hardships, though the entity engaged in those activities that were questioned by many, the entity aided especially some of those that had been closely associated with the Master.
34. For the entity then, as the sister of Bartholomew, the companion of Thomas, brought those periods of doubts and fears, and yet those activities and abilities to contribute to the mental and physical awarenesses of those that suffer in body and mind.
35. And the entity became then, as would be called today, a practical nurse.
36. Thus those abilities to adjust itself to the varied environs, - to minister to those who are ill in body and mind, - were portions of the activities of the entity through that experience.
37. Hence such opportunities will be manifested in the present experience. Be thou mindful of that lesson learned, and be thou faithful to the hope ye learned in that sojourn.
38. The name then was Eleiza.
39. Before that the entity was in the Egyptian land, in those periods when turmoils and strifes arose because of the judgments of those in authority upon the Priest, - during the periods of rebellion that arose with the banishment of the Priest.
40. The entity then was in the household of the King, and a sister of the Young King appointed to meet or to measure with the problems in the land.
41. Then the entity was haughty, yet later VERY, very great in its abilities to UNIFY those activities of the common people, as well as those of the Natives, and also those who became sojourners there from other lands - as had been the entity. Thus the entity was the little leaven that began to level the turmoils in that experience.
42. There ye learned patience. In other sojourns ye forgot.
43. Here, in this present experience, again learn patience, as well as hope and faith. For these are the basis upon which the really, truly spiritual, mental and material life may be builded.
44. The name then was Ar-Tek-La.
45. As to the abilities of the entity in the present, that to which it may attain, and how:
46. Thy abilities are efficient, and in Him sufficient, to accomplish that which may bring a life experience of joy and of worthwhileness through this sojourn. Of thyself ye may do little, but in Him ye may accomplish much.
47. In the home, and in the service as of direction in the Red Cross activities, ye may find the outlets that will bring not only the opportunities for bringing hope to those who have given their all for the spiritual life, but ye may also find in Him the Brother that brings hope and life to those who are weak - even the unworthy.
48. Let that mind be in thee, then, - first find thyself. Know thy ideal. Then press on to the mark of higher calling as set in Him. Thus ye will make the pathway straight for many. Do not attempt it only of thyself, but for Him; knowing that in Him all is possible.
49. We are through for the present.

    Copy to Self
    Copy to Ass'n file

BACKGROUND

1. 1/16/42 Background questions presented when coming for reading:
   QUESTIONS FOR READING
   1. Please advise me as to how my husband and I may better adjust ourselves in our marriage relations and each be happier and better satisfied. 2. Where have in former experiences I been associated with my husband, [...] and under what conditions? 3. Would it be best for me to stay in ..., Va. or return to the west coast? 4. Should I seek any work or depend on my husband for my support? 5. Would it be better for me and my husband to buy government bonds or invest in land, should we find it convenient to make investments? 6. What is my seal. 7. To what colors and numbers do I vibrate? 8. Please give me some advice that will help me to understand life and my relation to it. 9. I would appreciate a prayer.

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