3/44 Harmon H. Bro's article on the Physical Readings of
Edgar Cayce prepared for the ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND
ENLIGHTENMENT, INC., Virginia Beach, Virginia
P H Y S I C A L
Reading S
A STUDY OF THEIR SOURCE, CONTENTS, AND PURPOSES
AS A PERSONAL PREPARATION FOR THEIR USE
Prepared by Harmon H. Bro for the
ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND ENLIGHTENMENT, INCORPORATED,
Virginia Beach, Virginia
You have asked a busy man to help you with your illness. The
purpose of this study is to prepare you to make the most of
his assistance. Like the twenty-five thousand others who
have asked for physical readings in the last forty years, you
may have heard that he performs near miracles in diagnosing
and suggesting treatments for ailments beyond hope. And
yet - like most of the others - you may find when you have
finished with your own reading that the true miracle has come
in the growth of your own understanding. That very growth of
understanding, that larger comprehension of the source of our
strength, is the unfolding theme of this study.
Then first, what ARE these readings? How are they given, to
be so remarkably effective? Their history is the life-story
of the channel through which they are given - a tall
energetic man now in his sixties, named Edgar Cayce. And if
you have not read his fine biography by Thomas Sugrue, THERE
IS A RIVER (Published by Henry Holt and Co., N.Y.C., 1943.),
you might well lay down this paper to do so. You will need
to digest the book before getting your reading your reading.
For when you know the story of the first reading - given for
Mr. Cayce himself, when you know about the Dietrich baby and
Mrs. Cayce's recovery from tuberculosis, when you have read
the cases of the priest in Canada and the girl in Dayton,
when you have LIVED through the growth of this work, your
interest will will have been tested. You will then be quite
sure whether you wish to take all the steps expected of
you as a "member of a research organization": sending us a
history of your case when you receive your reading, carrying
out its treatments in full, and mailing us reports on the
progress of your condition.
If you decide to continue, then you will be wishing you could
come to Virginia Beach for your reading. We wish you could,
too. In years past Mr. Cayce had leisure, and somehow most
everyone found a way to talk with him about their reading.
That is the best kind of preparation, personal and
satisfying, because you can ask questions and sense the
integrity of what and whom you are dealing with. Perhaps you
would come to Virginia Beach on a Tuesday evening when Mr.
Cayce is teaching his Bible class, and realize from the start
the deeply spiritual - rather than spiritualistic - quality
of his work.
But things have changed. Probably you, like most others,
must have your reading while hundreds of miles away, Mr.
Cayce's "super-conscious mind" will not lose any details by
having to hunt you up in Los Angeles or Bar Harbor or Tampa
or Lansing. But you yourself may lose the experience of
having touched "infinity" while you heard your own reading,
if - like most of the hundreds who daily write, wire
and phone for aid - you cannot be at the Beach for
your appointment.
Here you would walk into his sunny study at ten-thirty in the
morning or three-thirty in the afternoon and pick out one of
the less squeaky chairs. There would be Mrs. Cayce, smiling
as she puzzled over the pronunciation of names in the day's
appointments, getting ready to "take" the readings. And
Gladys Davis would settle herself with a precious steno
notebook, laughing in her radiant way while helping you
feel at ease. There is a moment of quiet which you guess is
for prayer and then it will have started, for Mrs. Cayce is
giving the physical reading suggestion to her husband - who
has stretched out and quietly gone to sleep.
"Now you have before you the individuals as I name them to
you. In the order as I name them you will go over the body
carefully, examine it thoroughly, and tell me the conditions
you find at the present time, giving the cause of existing
conditions, also suggestions for help and relief of the
body, answering questions as may be asked."
Mr. Cayce repeats the suggestion in a slow, thoughtful
tone, and then after a pause speaks decisively of you, "Yes,
we have the body, [...], present in this room." It is a
moment few people forget.
Now it becomes clear why - if one cannot be at Virginia
Beach - it is so important to keep the appointment in exactly
the place arranged beforehand, and to keep it in prayer and
meditation. For Mr. Cayce actually goes to one's body in a
physical reading. In an undertone he names the state, then
the town, then the street address, occasionally commenting as
he goes:
#
3471-1. "Illinois - Chicago - Creiger Avenue - yes, that's
where the trees are."
Then it would be you he has in focus next. Experience has
taught us that it makes the reading harder for him if you
are doing something else at the time - having just made the
appointment to "give this fellow Cayce a fling and see what
he's worth." Would you expect a physician to trail you
around your home to make his diagnosis, or to find the answer
to his questions while you patter with someone else? It is
no surprise to hear at the beginning of a reading for a man
in Wyoming:
#
3601-1. "Come back here and sit down."
Or to an individual in Alaska:
#
3531-1. "Hurry up and get through talking!"
And to a man in his private apartment in New York City:
#
2524-5. "It is better to keep quiet than even to try to
read."
Meanwhile, as Mr. Cayce lies there speaking in his quiet,
firm voice, you are surely wondering where on earth, or
out of earth, all this information comes from. It is clear
that the clinical-sounding diagnosis proceeds from you SELF,
because the things he describes feel like you, act like you,
look like you - those pains in the head, the catch in the
lower abdomen, the occasional swelling of the knee joints
- you know them all too well. But how does this man get to
your body and know what to look for, how can he pick out the
root of the trouble more swiftly and surely than an x-ray?
The readings explain that the source of this DIAGNOSIS is
actually ourselves, and that it is accomplished not so much
by Mr. Cayce's great skill as by our own sincere seeking:
#
254-95, Par. 39-A: "When an individual seeks for personal
or bodily aid, the source is part and parcel of that
individual, and is read by and through the real desire
of the seeker himself."
#
294-202, Par. 11: "Who knows better than the individuals
themselves that which has hindered them from being
physically, mentally and spiritually in accord with
the divine that IS life manifested in the body?"
Anyway, what is clear is that this diagnosis, coming from
a man lying calmly still with his eyes closed, goes through
your whole body, and that while it stops long enough to
describe how you feel and where you hurt, it goes right on
to the main job: what CAUSES your trouble. The reading
always deals with the roots of an ailment; which is why, for
example, many insanity cases may hardly touch on the brain
but describe in detail an injury to the coccyx.
Is such a diagnosis thorough? It all may go by in such
swift, technical language that you can only be thankful
Miss Davis gets it noted down. But we who have worked with
these readings for years can tell you what we have learned.
The diagnosis is in a physical reading gives every bit of
necessary information about the causes of one's trouble. And
it is as individual as your own body. Here are some partial
examples of diagnosis which show their wide variation:
#
3526-1. (Deafness) "The pathological conditions have been
brought about, as we find, from a catarrhal disturbance
through head, in the antrum and in the areas about the ear
where such disturbing congestions have been produced as
to cause prolapsus of the Eustachian tubes. These have
gradually drained the oils or fluids, as it were, in
the inner ear. And there has been brought about this
inability of discerning sound."
#
3525-1. (High Blood Pressure) "Then, these are the
conditions as we find them with this body: the blood supply
is high in pressure. This is produced in greater part by
pressures that exist in the transverse and descending colon,
and by too much flesh for the body-functionings - as through
the abdominal areas. These are the sources, then, of the
disturbance - obesity, the plethoric conditions in colon,
and the effects they produce upon the general system."
#
3606-1. (Loss of Mental Control) "As we find, there are
disturbances that are gradually becoming more and more
aggravating to the physical and mental activities of the
body. These are very definite as to their sources. In times
back, jut before puberty, the body had an accident on skates
and the end of the spine - the coccyx first segment - was
injured. From this, as there came the menstrual periods,
disturbances arose and reflexes to the medulla oblongata
have been uncontrolled. These, then, are not in the form
of spasms, but the loss of control of the reflexes of the
body. To be sure, these occur the more often closer to the
menstrual periods; thus in a manner they are associated or
connected with same."
#
3400-2. (Migraine Headaches) "Yes. Here we find some
complication - the beginning of migraine headaches. Most of
these, as in this case, begin from congestion in the colon.
These cause toxic conditions to make pressures on the
sympathetic nerve centers and on the cerebrospinal system.
And these pressures cause the violent headaches, and almost
irrational activities at times. These, as we find, should
respond to colonic irrigations. But first we would x-ray the
colon, and we will find areas in the ascending colon and a
portion of the transverse colon where there are fecal forces
that are as cakes."
#
3539-1. (Neuritis) "In the activities through the body,
through first cold, then congestion, a catarrhal condition
has formed about the gall duct and liver. This has prevented
proper flow of the secretions that aid in assimilating fats,
especially, and proteins and such things. This has gradually
put a strain on the body, with the poor eliminations, until
we have at times extreme neuritic conditions through various
portions of the body; at times in hands, in shoulders, but
the more severe in the pains through the chest. These are
still neuritic. For these are affecting the pleura of the
lung itself, from poisons or toxic conditions around the
aorta artery."
It is clear that the diagnosis often includes a description
of one's aches and pains, about which there can be no
fooling:
#
3535-1. (Anemia) "In the red blood supply there is
indicated a deficiency in red blood cells numbering nearly
twenty million. There is the inability of proper activity in
structural portions, then, and the lack of supply of lymph.
That is: he doesn't rest as well as he used to! The
circulation isn't as good - gets cold in the extremities and
the like. The energies in the lymph to supply leukocytes
tend to make those weaknesses wherein if there is any long
activity of walking, any undue exercise - especially as of
raising the hands above the head or the like, the body has to
rest because of shortness of breath and the feeling that all
the middle portion of the body is being drained out."
Such a diagnosis is priceless because there is no question
about its accuracy; twenty thousand other cases certify
it. Perhaps the neatest symbol of their reliability is
the occasional letter Mr. Cayce receives from a hospital or
clinic thanking him for his fine diagnosis of a patient just
admitted and enclosing "the usual diagnostician's fee"! It
is difficult to explain to these institutions that Mr. Cayce
has often never met the individual diagnosed.
But to be told what is wrong with your system is not enough.
You want to know what to do about it. So the reading
goes right on to suggest treatments. Describing the kinds
of treatments the readings suggest amounts to discussing
the many types of human healing. This information is no
respector of degrees and titles, nor of schools of healing,
nor of labels on bottles, nor of names for diseases. Each
person gets the suggestions he NEEDS. In your case this may
require the services of an M.D., but more likely those of an
osteopath. Or you may need a neuropath, or a homeopath, or a
physiotherapist; possibly a hypnotist, or perhaps a minister.
If you can handle the treatments yourself, you will not be
sent to anyone.
The physician, of whatever school, may be told what he would
find in x-ray or blood tests, or which spinal adjustments to
make, or what dosage to give, or how many colonic rinses will
be necessary. Is the reading correct in these suggestions?
Well, one doesn't give instructions to thousands for forty
years - instructions in minute detail - without either
getting into a great deal of trouble or a great many requests
for help! The answer is our daily mail bulges with requests
for readings, and that numbers of these requests are from the
very physicians who have administered readings in the past.
What will your reading tell you and your physician to do?
The corrective measures suggested are so varied that all
one can say in summary is that they usually employ simple
materials. As a rule, several types of treatment are to be
used together in each case. However, in the following cases
only one of the suggested treatments has been extracted for
an example:
#
3482-1. (Tuberculosis) "Also prepare a gallon and a half
oak keg, charred inside - do have it charred. In this would
be to put two vents, one for the inhaling of the fumes from
pure Apple Brandy. Hence this vent should not enter the
brandy, as only the gas from the brandy should be inhaled
from the keg into the lung. This would be done once a day,
or twice, or whenever there is felt the need of same. This
is healing for the lung."
#
3274-1. (Diabetes) "Do use the Jerusalem Artichoke at
least once a week in the diet, but only cooked in its own
juices - or mix the juices in which it is cooked with the
bulk of the artichoke. That is, cook it in Patapar paper."
#
3431-1. (Loss of Muscular Control) "Begin with the
use of the low Wet Cell Appliance carrying into the body
vibratorially the Chloride of Gold, in the proportions of one
grain of Chloride of Gold Sodium to each ounce of Distilled
Water - and use at least three ounces. The large nickel
plate, through which the Gold Solution passes vibratorially
to the body, should be attached to the umbilical and lacteal
duct plexus - which on this body will be four fingers from
the navel center to the right and three fingers up from that
point. The small copper plate would be attached to the 9th
dorsal."
#
3426-1. (Coccyx Injury) "After at least four or five of the
corrections have been made - not before, we would begin using
for one hour each day the Radio-Active Appliance to equalize
distribution of energies through the body. Use such periods
for deep meditation."
#
3601-1. (Skin Growth) "Use this mud as packs along
the spine, along the neck - the whole spinal rea and the
frontal portion of the body at just about the heart area."
#
3428-1. (Nervous Incoordination) "At least once a week we
would have a general hydrotherapy treatment, including first
a mild cabinet sweat followed by a needle shower, and then a
massage using this combination of oils:
Olive Oil (heated).............2 ounces,
Tincture of Myrrh..............2 ounces,
Calamus Oil...................10 drops.
Massage these oils into the spine itself, also in the
areas especially of the ribs, around each rib, around the
breast-bone or sternum, around the collar-bone, especially
over the areas of the 9th dorsal, 11th dorsal and 12th, and
throughout the sacral areas."
#
3482-1. (Respiratory Disorder) "If there is a change in the
climatic conditions, go where it is warmer but higher. Where
there is pine and such environs would be well, such as near
Asheville - but rather than in a colony be in the country."
#
3539-1. (Neuritis) "Then begin with good osteopathic
adjustments, giving special reference to the 5th and 6th
dorsal and throughout the sacral area. The 3rd cervical also
should be partially adjusted, not at each treatment - but a
relaxing treatment one time, and an adjustment the next time.
Have five or six of these."
Such extracts present a view of the range and types of
treatments suggested. Where do the suggestions come from?
The readings themselves have an explanation of these
"suggestions for help and relief" in their insistence
that Mr. Cayce serves as but a "channel" through which an
individual sincerely seeking may obtain help. Which prompts
us to ask - if Mr. Cayce is but the channel, where DOES the
information come from? the readings remind us that the Bible
speaks of being "willing rather to be absent from the body,
and to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians -5:8).
One has only to witness a reading to be convinced that Mr.
Cayce is in a very real way "absent from the body". And
the readings then confirm our surmise that the information
necessary to help individuals does come from a Universal
Consciousness, from the universal wisdom of the Creative
Forces, or - as we usually say - God.
#
294-202: "First, then, in dealing with the whys and
wherefores of the fact that the greater portion of that which
has been given has proven beneficial to others in correcting
and meeting the ills in their physical being - let's turn for
the moment to the individual entity, Edgar Cayce.
"Consider the fact that there was first his study, meditation
and prayer upon His word, which brought that desire, that
hope, that purpose to give self as a channel through which
help might come to those who would in Him seek for the
betterment of their physical forces and conditions. Then
consider his vision, the spoken word: 'ASK! WHAT SEEKEST
THOU! WHAT DESIREST THOU TO DO?' Then: 'THY PRAYER HAS
BEEN HEARD.' The desire was that thee might be the ability
to help others who were ill - especially children...
"As to discourse upon the sources of the information for
human ills, then, and how or why such may be helpful to
others: First there are those influences that arise in the
minds of those who hear such. Then there is set in motion
DESIRE, PURPOSE, AIM. Those that seek, then, attune
themselves to that promise which was made to this entity,
Edgar Cayce. The entity when in that state, that condition,
when the physical self is laid aside, becomes the channel.
Then only SPIRIT-MIND, as may attune itself with the purpose
of the seeker, may give that which may be helpful.
"From whence comes the individual entity's ability to cope
with the problems?
"Are ye not all children of God? Are ye not co-creators with
Him? Have ye not been with Him from the beginning? Is there
any knowledge, wisdom or understanding withheld if ye have
attuned thyself to that Creative Force which made the worlds
and all the forces manifested in same? Thinkest thou that
the arm of God is ever short with thee because thou hast
erred? 'Though ye be afar off, though ye be in the uppermost
parts, if ye call I will HEAR and answer speedily.' Thinkest
thou that He speakest of another, or to thee? Open thy mind,
thy heart, thy purpose to thy God and His purpose with thee.
"As to why this or that type of information may be indicated
to individuals through this channel... An individual who
understands the pathology of a physical body is taken where
he is, and is supplied that information which if applied in
that condition existent will be helpful in his relationship
to that which he worships."
It seems a breath-taking assumption that the information
given in your own reading CAN in part come directly from the
all-comprehending consciousness of God. But how else might
one explain such a tremendous depth of knowledge? The
readings may on occasion tell an individual about the doctor
who has just moved in down the street from his home and not
even hung out his shingle. Or tell a woman in Baltimore
that raw milk can be obtained within two blocks of her house.
Or tell a lieutenant in Texas that there are three Elliott
machines in Austin. Or tell a man that he can get the right
mud for his skin either in Kentucky or in the northwest
cow pasture of his own ranch in Wyoming. To summarize this
unusual explanation of the source of the information which
suggests TREATMENTS in those physical readings we may say:
#
294-202: "Hence those who seek in sincerity, in hope, in
purpose, to KNOW, receive - only to the measure that they
manifest their hope, their belief, their desire, in a
God-purpose through a promise made to a man."
Do the readings always provide a remedy for a disease, one
asks in willingness to be further startled? They answer in
terms of the Bible:
II Peter 3:9. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance."
I Corinthians 10:13. "...God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it."
And the readings DO suggest for every condition for which
one may seek help. However one may have gone so far along in
life without dealing with the disease that only relief may be
achieved, and not complete recovery. As in this case:
#
3516-1. "We find here a life well spent, yet there is
the desire and purpose to hold onto same - even under the
distresses of general disintegration. The body and soul
are here being held together by will, and by the prayers of
others. There may be help if there is still held that desire
for life and activity. There is no healing of that which is
spent. There may be ease."
But even that ease is very real. In this case it came from
the use of ultra-violet light through a green glass:
"This would be over those areas of the ribs, in the back,
that there may be the greater flow and formation of the
elements in the blood to create greater quantities of
leukocytes in body blood plasm. For as the body wastes there
is the greater necessity for more of the plasm that may cause
coagulation in affected areas. Use the ultra-violet light
with the green glass for at least a minute, once a day..."
But, you say, if we can attune ourselves to God through such
readings for information about our diseases, why not just get
cured at the same time and be done with it? The answer seems
to be that we have to meet diseases for reasons, for our own
growth. If the healing were done for us, if we had to exert
no effort of understanding, achieve no realization of the
source of our strength, what would be our soul's gain? We
would have well bodies but keep our troubled souls. For
the readings, along with their marvelous accuracy and
helpfulness, propound a hard teaching - "All sickness is
sin." The recognize, of course, many expressions of sin,
which they see basically as SELFISHNESS. The source of
one's trouble may be just the sin of resentment.
#
1523-9. "For there have arisen the acute conditions not
only from physical reactions but mental conditions that have
been as resentments, which have been builded into the mental
forces of the body. There are the physical effects upon
organ centers - now finding reflexes in various portions
of the body. These are indicated in the reactions from
the toxic conditions of a cold, as well as the poisons from
gum conditions that have settled in joints, as in hips,
shoulders, head and neck."
Or the sin which causes a disease may be at the other end of
the scale, reflecting mistakes of a past life to be met now,
in what the readings call "karma". This individual, for
example, is losing the power of voluntary movement:
#
3485-1. "For here we have an individual entity meeting its
own self - in the conditions in regard to the movements of
the body, the locomotories, the nerve endings, the muscular
forces. What ye demanded of others ye must pay yourself!
Every soul should remember not to demand of others more
than ye are willing to give, for ye will pay - and, as
most, through thy gills!"
But the problem of karma in disease is another study in
itself. We may simply summarize the readings' concept of
the CAUSATION OF DISEASE in the following words:
#
3395-1. "Q. Is the ill health which I have been
experiencing the past years the result of mistakes of a past
life or is it due to something amiss in the present life?"
"A. Both. For there is the law of the material, there is
the law of the mental, there is the law of the spiritual.
But whatever is brought into materiality is first conceived
in spirit. Hence, as we have indicated, all illness is sin,
not necessarily of the moment, as man counts time, but as
part of the whole experience.
#
254-114, Par. 7-A: "For all disease is sin. Then what
is necessary is to eliminate sin in the lives of the
individuals. It requires oft the use of mechanical means of
various forms, it is true; because that entity, that soul, is
in that consciousness, and not in the consciousness that the
Lord thy God is One."
At about this point in explaining to people the probable
contents of the reading they are going to get, we usually
hear an earnest reminder, "This is all interesting and
informative, but, you know, all I want in my reading is just
to be told how to get well." And that is exactly why we are
asking you to read this study. YOUR reading may be one which
tells you that to get well you must first set your house in
order, getting your ideals straight, knowing why you live,
knowing in Whom you believe. As this one did:
#
3359-1. "Begin with the spiritual attitude. First know
in self what ye believe about spiritual things. Know who is
the author of thy faith. As was given by the lawgiver, don't
look somewhere else. Don't call on heaven, until you have
set your own heart and mind aright. For lo, thy redeemer
liveth in thine own activity. As ye find in self the manner
in which ye would treat others, ye will find in self help,
physically and mentally. This will change thy whole outlook
on the purpose of life...
"Find that, and ye will begin then with the correct
attitude... Don't commence taking these medicines we suggest
first. If it takes six months or a year to get yourself
spiritually correct, don't take a dose of the medicine until
you are spiritually correct. It will do you more harm than
it will good."
It is to prepare you for such suggestions for treatment (or
to warn you away!) that we ask you to study a bit before
your reading. If you wish to get rid of an itch or cramps
or headaches by paying a man in Virginia Beach to do it for
you, now is the time to stop. If you are unwilling to face
yourself and see what you really look like, turn back now.
For your reading may well say:
#
3400-1. "Are you living the purposeful life that you would
have others to see? This is not a questioning of you. The
question is already in yourself. For each soul gives account
for deeds done in the earth! To whom do they account? The
divine within their own selves! And then do you wonder that
you have aches and pains, troubles and worries? You are
meeting your own self."
Even if your reading does not say that, the very experience
of having a reading is likely to make you take a long look
at yourself from a new perspective. Be very sure before
proceeding further that you are willing to do something about
what you learn. Or you may be worse off than when you began:
#
2828-5. "The information will not do it for you. Did the
Lord prevent Abel from being slain? Did He prevent Cain from
slaying? Did He not say, 'it is in thine own self to do'?
So it is with individuals who may be warned or directed. It
is within yourself to do or not to do."
#
3433-1. "Q. If carefully followed, how long should it take
for this treatment of my leg to have effect?
"A. A year or two years or seventy years - what's the
difference! Is it building to use the time for constructive
activities or for the gratification of self? If it is for
the gratification of self, you'd better let it alone. If it
is to be for constructive influences in the lives of others,
begin. But begin by praying about it and making the promises
- then do KEEP the promises to your Maker."
By now, by the time you have mused this far on the contents
of these readings, Mr. Cayce will have come to that part of
every reading when he says, "Ready for questions". These
are the questions about your condition which you have written
on your appointment slip. As a rule, most of them - if
they refer to your chief trouble - are answered in the
main part of the reading, and Mrs. Cayce simply checks them
off. Occasionally one has the experience of hearing these
questions taken up and answered in their exact order in which
they were written, before Mrs. Cayce has a chance to ask
them! The prime value of these questions is in the detail
which they secure on the original source or the special
treatment of an ailment, even though all the NECESSARY
information is given in the body of the reading. But while
this "larger consciousness" has your body in focus, it is
also possible to ask about other conditions, from baldness
to your period of receptivity. It is a reassuring part
of a physical reading to be able to ask questions you have
formulated about your own physical condition. The measure of
the answers you will receive is again shaped by the sincerity
and purpose of your asking.
As Mr. Cayce wakens from his unusual nap he will probably ask
his wife sleepily, "Did you get it?" The reading is over.
Your body has been in the focus of a consciousness a good
deal bigger than it has often faced. You may feel a bit
worn out, perhaps, but in some way cleansed and lifted by
the experience.
It is time - if you were sincere in asking for the reading
- for you to take Miss Davis' transcript of it and begin
doing EVERYTHING the reading suggests, in just exactly the
manner it describes. We cannot urge you strongly enough
to do just this part for a week, taking a couple of
doses of that, skipping the other because it must be
sent for, and postponing something else. As one
reading humorously remarked:
#
3429-1. "These disturbances may be eliminated, as we
find...But if you do it haphazardly, you will get only
haphazard results! You must be consistent (and what woman
is consistent!). You must be persistent (and most women are
persistent!). Do be consistent and persistent in the use
of these suggestions we will make, and we will correct these
disturbances with this body."
Nor should you start out and fizzle, unless you choose to
suffer:
#
3433-1. "...fume baths...Glyco-Thymoline
packs...massages...osteopathic corrections...Gold
administered vibratorially...Unless all will be
done, don't begin any of it!"
In other words, DO NOT ASK FOR A READING UNLESS YOU ARE
MIGHTY SURE YOU WILL USE IT!
The task of securing a physician's co-operation and
collecting the materials recommended is not always an easy
one. Happily, the experience of having the same treatments
and materials turn up often in many years helps us to direct
you to the people and articles you need. You will begin
the treatments, looking for instant improvement, wondering,
questioning, worrying... The readings must often remind us
all to have FAITH - faith in promises like these:
John 16:23. "Verily, verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye
shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you."
Matthew 21:22. "And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Then if questions
arise after a few weeks or months that you cannot honestly
answer, ask for a check reading, to see if you are properly
administering the treatments. But DON'T ask for one if you
haven't done what has been suggested:
#
3381-2. "As we find, there has been little or nothing done
about what has been given the body! The reading itself won't
help! It is the application consistently, persistently,
conscientiously, prayerfully, that will help the body."
We have seen HOW a physical reading is secured, here at
Virginia Beach. We have considered WHAT a physical reading
is likely to contain. And now, finally, suppose we ask this
question - WHY is a physical reading given?
To get you well? In part. But well for what? You may
apply, inhale, eat, relax, sweat and be adjusted all you
wish, but unless you want to get well for a good purpose,
you may as well stay sick. As the readings put it:
#
1807-6. "Do use the period of treatments as the period of
prayer and meditation. Do keep the attitude of body-mind in
those of more creative influences. Not only be good, be good
for something! Do think of others - not altogether of self,
but as to how the body may contribute most to that which is
not only pleasure, but of creative forces and influences in
the lives of others - also! This will change the general
attitude, and if the applications are made, we will find
better accord and better co-ordination for the body."
Indeed, out of the long experience of securing and applying
readings, we would say that you cannot get well physically,
unless you make some progress spiritually:
#
3439-1. "A gentle massage to quiet the body would be well,
with prayer - and not by those who do not live what they
pray. Do not merely pray that John will be well, but well
for what! Do not pray for the body to be well for what
it can do for itself, but to be well for those whom he
has aided and also hindered."
#
3480-1. "For if ye would be forgiven, if ye would be
healed, ye must forgive others, ye must heal others, in
mind as well as in body."
Those documents never weary of stressing the spiritual
element in recovery from illness. Indeed about seventy-five
percent of the thousands of physical readings contain
religious and spiritual truths to be applied right along with
high-colonics, glyco-packs, massages and apple diets. One
individual, to take an unusual example, had colitis and
cancer of the rectum, so severe that the reading said,
"...operative measures will immediately make of the entity an
invalid. Rather, one chance in a million of its ever being
on its feet again, with untold suffering." And yet this is
what the information recommended:
#
3388-1. "All of these have been a strain and a drain on the
system; yet the diet, with the mental and spiritual attitudes
has helped. Do not disregard these attitudes - keep them
- they will be worth more to the mind and soul than all
the medics that may be applied...the greater help may come
through the holding of the correct attitude. Not that
there should be a DENIAL of the condition existing, but the
continual affirming and the RELYING on, and the realization
of the ability of the Christ-consciousness to make whole.
"If this is seen and applied in the life by dealing with
others, thee may come help. Not by bragging, not by
boasting, not by denying, but rather by edifying all with
whom the body comes in contact, and then living day by day
in those things and in those ways that the spirit, or seed
of the spirit of truth is manifested.
"Be patient, be gentle, be kind. Do not find fault with
others. Be longsuffering with those who despitefully use
you, and you will find that these attitudes will continue
to bring greater help to the body. Do these things if the
body wants to live the longer. Do these if he wants to have
less pain the longer. If he wants to be very scientific
materially, forget it!"
And it further appears - as many a parent knows! - that
no matter how ill you are, the desire to be able to forget
your tired, aching body in the service of others can do more
to heal you than all the attachments, doses, tappings and
thumpings, rubs and sympathy others can supply. Begin to
look out for someone else, and your body begins to look out
for itself:
#
3421-1. "...causing the inability for rest or even a
concerted activity - unless the body finds itself needed
for someone also. Then the body finds, as this occurs, the
disturbance is retarded, or it fades - in the attempts of the
body to exercise itself in help for others."
Thus you see, the purpose, the WHY of a physical reading is
a good deal more than simply to get you well. You might say
- as one girl did - "It woke me up to a lot of things." And
you may indeed find "a lot of things" when you can answer
in your heart the one question the readings most frequently
ask - taken from the 103rd Psalm: "Who healeth all thy
diseases?"
#
3511-1. "For who healeth all thy diseases? It will require
then that there be such an attitude in mind, in purpose, in
hope, and in relationship to others, that each cell of the
body may become attuned to the divine within. Each cell
must become expectant, that there may be the renewing, the
revivifying of the relationships that the soul-entity bears
to the Creative Forces!"
#
3384-2. "For all healing, mental or material, is attuning
each atom of the body, each reflex of the brain forces to the
awareness of the divine that lies within each atom, each cell
of the body."
Is it any wonder, then, that the readings tell people to get
acquainted with some of the ideas of Christian Science and
Unity?
#
3430-1. "We find the better association would be with a
nurse or a constant companion, almost all the while - or in
regular periods, at least; one such as a student of Unity, or
Christian Science. You see, these groups have something on
the church - that the church has left out ordinarily. They
trust in the divinity of the Christ, wholly set as a central
theme of the mind. And this is needed in this particular
entity individually, so that the personality may take on
- NOT the extremes of either - but the universality of the
Christ-consciousness in the individuality and personality of
this entity.
"Pathologically there are lesions in the lacteal duct area
and in the 1st, 2nd, and a portion of the 3rd cervicals.
These need physical applications. To be sure, such
applications would be contrary to the teachings of either
of these groups, yet if there would be help there must be
the consideration of ALL phases. Remember, the Christ in
person used water, clay, spittle and other ingredients for
application in physical conditions. These groups would do
well to learn this, or at least those who act as healers."
And is it any wonder that the readings so often send us to
the Bible for strength in meeting our distresses?
#
3512-1. "Do not begin the physical applications until the
spiritual body has been renewed. Begin with this: Read the
30th chapter of Deuteronomy, knowing that it is meant for
self. Read Exodus 19:5. Then study, know by heart, but most
of all by application personally, the 14th, 15th, 16th and
17th of John. Apply it; not just as theory, but in the
hopes, in the words, in the acts, in the wishes, in the
desires of the body."
For the readings remind us that our bodies are the temples
of the living God, to be cared for with healthy respect and
understood in that larger perspective:
#
3492-1. "For thy body is the Temple of the Living God. Use
it as such... Sacrifice therein thine own appetites and
offer to Him those praises, those honors due for that which
He has given to thee... We would make these material
applications we have given thee. But don't do it until you
have prayed very oft, or it will do more harm than good!"
#
3545-1. "As those lessons are learned, there may come
healing even where physically there is apparently no help.
For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Yet spirit
and mind may build the flesh to beauty, to health, even when
racked with pain.
"For when man has learned that the physician must be the
physician to the soul as well as to the body, he will have
begun to find the meaning that the Great Physician gave to
His ministry in the earth. As He indicated, which is easier
to say - 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee', or 'rise, take up
thy bed and walk'?
"LEARN the meaning of such!"
Perhaps you have some time to wait before you get your
reading. Part of that time might well be spent in
considering these ideas about the source of strength, the
source of the health you seek. If it seems long before your
turn - well, have you prayed? Prayed just to recover, or to
be able to serve? Has your praying been so full of asking
that you have not had time to listen for the voice, that
small voice, which guides, which reminds, which comforts,
which points the way?
You came seeking one who could do miracles. Yet the readings
tell us that the miracle is really in the seeking, in your
own heart and its new purposes. You have asked a busy man to
help you with your illness. He will serve you. And you will
be helped, if - IF you are seeking the aid of God.
#
294-202: "The results through the years
Speak for themselves.
As to whether there has been
A remitting of human ills,
This has come to those
Who have in their seeking,
Put God first."
R E L A T E D P U B L I C A T I O N S
BOOKS
THERE IS A RIVER - The Story of Edgar Cayce. By Thomas
Sugrue. An inspiring biography and thorough survey of this
work - "the first thing to read". Published by Henry Holt &
Co., 1943...........................................$3.00
A SEARCH FOR GOD - Thoughtful essays compiled from
the readings of Edgar Cayce by the Department of
Study Groups of the Association.....................$1.00
PRINTED BOOKLETS
EDGAR CAYCE, HIS LIFE AND WORK - Mr. Cayce's own account
of the development of his ability, and a statement of the
program of the organization which studies and presents
his work. (This booklet contains application blanks for
membership in the Association, necessary before reading
appointments can be made)...........................$ .25
MEDITATION - A compilation of ideas given through Mr.
Cayce on the need for meditation, with helpful suggestions.
(This is the first chapter of the book A SEARCH FOR
GOD.)...............................................$ .50
MIMEOGRAPHED BOOKLETS
PHYSICAL CASE STUDIES - Complete reports on cases
of individuals helped by information secured in the
physical readings. Each............................$ .25
Appendicitis, Arthritis, Common Cold, Epilepsy, Intestinal
Fever, Scleroderma, Streptococcus.
ONENESS OF ALL FORCE - A compilation of
extracts presenting the basic philosophy of the
readings............................................$ .50
LIFE READINGS - A study - similar to PHYSICAL
READINGS - of readings on vocational guidance
and self-analysis, helpful in preparing for their
use.................................................$ .50
Send orders to: THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND
ENLIGHTENMENT, INC., VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA
6/08/44 See
3901-2.
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation