Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet

Rating:
Summary: Book works on many levels
Review: Despite some of the book's flaws, I really enjoyed reading it. The author, while making a number of minor mistakes, is a very skillful writer and the pages flew by (especially the first 300 pages).

One can approach this work on many levels, which can be a lot of fun to explore and think about. Kirkpatrick writes in a way that is generally neutral enough to explore multiple sides of a wide range of issues. Here are a few of the things i've been thinking about:

Period perspective: used as the core level of the book, i really enjoyed discovering what it was like to live in the early to mid 1900's. Survival was difficult in those times, and there were many deaths in Edgar's circles of friends, beginning with his best friend as a child and his grandfather. The oil prospecting stories were especially fascinating.

Personal perspective: Edgar was an interesting person, to be sure. he had character flaws, behaved contrary to Biblical principles at times, and deeply loved his family always. The people around him were colorful, to say the least. He was surrounded by well-meaning people, inventors, rich people, celebrities, poor people, [fools], manipulators, leaches, etc. How people's characters develop and interact is almost like a novel.

Historical perspective: the author takes great pains to place all of the readings into their place in history - when and where the Atlantis readings took place, for example. Like an historian, the author resolves a number of historical inaccuracies put forth by previous biographers.

Religious perspective: There is a chapter devoted to the many readings on Jesus' life, which together with the many life readings, basically began the New Age movement. I would have appreciated if the author had stopped somewhere and stated the huge difference here between the Biblical Jesus and the Source's Jesus. The Biblical Jesus is the incarnated God whose death brings Salvation (by paying the price for the restoration of the fallen relationship between God and his creation) by Grace (meaning God's work does this because of His goodness, and not by anything we can do) through Faith (in Jesus' death serving to pay for restored with God, and in His resurrection which gives us hope for spending eternal life with our Creator). The Source's Jesus is the first entity (we are all entities, many with multiple incarnations or manifestations), after some 30 reincarnations, to have aligned his will with that of God the Creator. The Source's concept of Jesus, while there are some similarities, drops the ideas of grace and salvation, and replaces it with works-for-salvation through multiple reincarnations. Readers should be aware of this fundamental shift in theology.

The Readings: the author takes great pains to put the readings (what Cayce's trance sessions are called) into historical and contextual perspective. There are many examples of Cayce's medical diagnoses, so much so that perhaps the book should have been entitled, "Edgar Cayce: Psychic Diagnostician" rather than Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet. Cayce is largely credited to beginning the holistic health movement, and this book explains why. Why Cayce is NOT considered the father of the field of polymer science is demonstrated by his complete bungling of the description of Plexiglass (polymethylmethacrylate, or PMMA). But of course, just the fact that he came up with the trade name was remarkable.

Religious Cult perspective: Hey, wanna start a religious cult?? You can use this book as a handbook! A cult needs credibility (here established by Cayce's association with celebrities and well-known historical figures, and by his apparently close association with mainstream Christianity), a way to discredit the Bible (explained to be only barely sufficient for proper godly alignment because of its many rewrites), a way to motivate your followers (with visits from other well-known entities including Jesus and Michael the archangel), and to control them (with authoritative instructions from the Source, Cayce's entity while in trance). Perhaps Cayce is why religious cults are almost exclusively an American phenomenon - is Cayce the father of the modern religious cult movements??

Antichrist perspective: was Cayce possessed by an evil entity who was floating a trial balloon for the antichrist? The first beast referred to in Revelation 13 was healed, "and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast" as a result of the healing. Thus, perhaps many truths in the readings (like the many medical diagnoses) were mixed with lies (like the life of Jesus and the many sensational historical figures identified as people presently reincarnated).

Strategic management perspective: there are some good examples on how partnerships and businesses fail. Edgar failed at oil speculation, treasure hunting, photo development (even though he was quite skilled at it), initial formation of hospital and university, and several inventions (though he was apparently successful in at least one invention).

Of course, all of these perspectives are possible to contemplate only because of the skillful way Kirkpatrick organizes and writes the book. It is entirely up to the reader to determine who Edgar Cayce was and what his place is in American history.

Rating:
Summary: I just love this book
Review: Edgar Cayce was an absolutely amazing person and I can't believe the life of sacrifice he led. What a blessing for us--and so many of us are blind to it--to have this prophet live in our country--in our state--in our times. It is almost like having Jesus Christ return but nobody recognize it. He led an extraordinary life--a fascinating life--as did the people around him. A true legend to be told and Sidney Kirkpatrick does a superb job of telling it. I can't wait to see the movie!!

Rating:
Summary: AMERICA'S SEER
Review: Edgar Cayce, one of America's well known clairvoyants, is given a thorough examination in this new biography by Sidney Kirkpatrick. Gone is the myth and legend of the man who has captured the hearts and minds of many New Age adherents. In its place, the reader is given an objective overview of this fascinating man whose mystical powers still baffle those of us today. Just who was this Edgar Cayce? What impact if any did he have on the lives of others and of our nation? While reading this book you will be astounded with the answers.

Journey with the author to Hopkinsville, Kentucky where the Cayce clan and related kin provide the foundation for this young seer. We find a family of tobacco growers, misfits and others who share some strange gifts that are known but kept under wraps. Into this environment comes Edgar Cayce who grows up in a conventional lifestyle of his time. Known as a quiet boy and prone to day dreaming there isn't anything extra ordinary about this child.

Kirkpatrick humanizes Cayce. We see the various facets of his life. He has a inferiority complex, a deep love of the Bible, struggles with his gift and is artistic. Cayce struggles throughout his lifetime to help others. We also meet the celeberties, entrepreneurs and government officials who also take an interest in Cayce. Their motivations in using this young man are not always pure or in the best interest of Cayce and the work he is called to do.

I found it fascinating to read the interviews from the entities that possess Cayce's body and give out advice. Even in the written word their presence is frightening and powerful. It is amusing to hear one of them chastise Cayce for not following its advice and its annoyance in answering the "stupid" questions of people who just don't get what is said.

The book also looks at the loves in Cayce's life most notably his relationship with Gladys Davis, his secretary, and a woman he met during his engagement with his fiance. You find a complex man tied up in some strange love triangles. This is an enjoyable work which puts him in the context of his time and also focuses on the investigation of spiritualism, clairvoyance and other mysterious phenomena of the day. You get a clearer historical perspective of what were the attitudes of the day. Oddly enough Cayce was praised and reviled during his day. America was both repelled and attracted to this seer.

Edgar Cayce:An American Prophet is insightful, funny and historical in its presentation of a figure who led an unconventional life during the early 20th century. You will enjoy his story and gain a better perspective on the life of America's greatest Clairvoyant.

Rating:
Summary: Wow, What an Amazing Book!
Review: I had heard of Edgar Cayce for many years but had never read anything about his life before I read this book. I thumbed-through the book, saw how detailed and precise it was with highly-substantiated information, read the praise about the book from previous authors of books on Cayce, and decided that this was the book for me.

The open channel that Cayce was to a higher form of consciousness was truly incredible. The accurate predictions he would make about others' lives and the cures he would come-up with for people who were given virtually no chance to live were indeed remarkable too. Oftentimes doctors would believe that his prescriptions for cures were totally ridiculous and those doctors would be proven wrong again and again.

With the documentation provided by Kirkpartick, one can only conclude that there truly is a higher form of consciousness that exists at all times. And Cayce clearly was very gifted in being able to constantly access this higher form of consciousness.

The gift was not without its downside, though, as Cayce continually experienced hardship in his own life in the areas of money, health, and a series of business partners who clearly took advantage of both him and his great gift to connect with "the source."

If you are at all interested in the arena of metaphysics I highly recommend this book to you.

Rating:
Summary: America's contribution to the Metaphysical world
Review: I love this book! I've been a student of the Cayce readings for 15 years and a member of the A.R.E and have read Sugrue's and Bro's biographies. Harmon Bro is a personal friend and both of the previous biographies are great works, but this one surpasses both of them. The detail is absolutely amazing and the devotion to the truth about this amazing man and his work is awe inspiring. Cayce came from very humble beginnings and went on to save many lives through the medical readings. He also brought the metaphysical world to our very fingertips with the life readings. All this in America, the land of great skepticism. Read this book and come away convinced for once and for all that we are much more that just a body!

Rating:
Summary: Impressed by Kirkpatrick and Cayce
Review: I'm normally not interested in books about psychics or psychic phenomina. But I happened to see Mr. Kirkpatrick interviewed on News 12, New Jersey, and was impressed by his sincerity and depth of knowledge. I was even more impressed when I read his book. Edgar Cayce comes to life in Kirkpatrick's hands--the psychic is not the card-board figure as portrayed in the "Sleeping Prophet," but a flesh and blood husband and father coming to grips with a gift beyond his (or anyone else's) comprehension. This book should be on everyone's reading list!

Rating:
Summary: I Do Not Bear A Message: I Am The Message
Review: Sidney R. Kirkpatrick's Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet methodically considers the facts in the life of a man whose story may be the best documented Fortean case study in modern history. Kirkpatrick writes well, and has clearly immersed himself in his subject.

Considering that Cayce's personal history ostensibly involved dowsing, ancestors with unusual powers, a lifelong relationship with fairies ("little folk"), visitations from message - bearing, heaven - sent angels, mysterious turbaned men who disappear after uttering cryptic warnings, devastating, unexplainable fires, remarkable medical diagnoses given while in a trance state, accurate prophesies about the future, unaccountable knowledge of past events in the lives of strangers, ghosts, and shadowy government conspiracies, Cayce's abilities, encounters, and experiences were extraordinary indeed. Kirkpatrick takes the reader on a cautious, careful trip through the first half of Cayce's life in the American South and Midwest, supporting his case with persuasive evidence gathered from a variety of respected sources over a period of decades. However, Kirkpatrick occasionally seems too willing to accept Cayce's more unusual experiences at face value, and offers little in the way of skepticism, disbelief, or alternative explanations; for instance, the role that multiple family tragedies and serious head injuries may have played in Cayce's childhood experiences and later development go almost completely unexamined. Therefore, the book has Cayce's stamp upon it rather than Kirkpatrick's: from time to time Kirkpatrick seems more like a mild - mannered Cayce apologist than he does an unbiased, objective biographer.

For discriminating readers, the real problem with both Cayce's story and Kirkpatrick's biography comes in the later half of Cayce's life, when people began asking 'the Source' - the voice which responded to questions put to Cayce while in trance - about astrology, reincarnation, and death. As in most of the 'New Age' channeling cases of the eighties, suddenly Edgar, his family, and seemingly everyone they know has been a notorious historical figure at some point in their karmic cycle, a Helen of Troy, a Hector, an Achilles, or a Queen of England, a Pharaoh, or an apostle of Jesus Christ: no fishwives or shoemakers here. Cayce's young son, according to the Source, has been both a Pharaoh and one of Christ's apostles; Cayce's attractive, hard working young assistant, Gladys Davis, has been not only a British queen, but, as such, was also Cayce's own royal mother. With this lengthy series of revelations, Cayce's and Kirkpatrick's credibility quickly wilts, as the Source's claims become increasingly overextended, outlandish, and absurd. Readers may find themselves listlessly awaiting their own favorite historical figure to mthe, be it Diana of Nemi, Bishop Pontopippidan, Genghis Khan, Ponce de Leon, Cromwell, Major Andre, or Catherine the Great.

Sadly, Cayce, his family, and his followers whole - heartedly embraced the Source's pronouncements concerning their past lives, love affairs, and relationships. As Cayce and many of those around him were financially destitute, barely educated, and often hungry, Kirkpatrick should have thoroughly considered what needs these attractive grandiosities may have filled, and how these compensatory beliefs affected their individual and collective psyches. Cayce and his friends and followers were almost all fervent Christians -- Cayce was a biblical scholar and lecturer -- but clearly they all desperately needed something greater and closer to home to believe in. It's not difficult to understand why Cayce had so many followers: not only did he medically heal hundreds of people during his lifetime, but the Source's metaphysical doctrine continually emphasized the universe as a wholly benevolent place, one composed of a rich, intricate fabric of meaning, spiritual guidance, and continuous second chances. In the Source's cosmology, there is no such thing as genuine evil, but only pathology, vulnerability, misunderstanding, guilt, and a world of imperfect souls struggling towards the Godhead.

Ultimately, there is enough hard evidence to make a case for the validity of much of the otherwise inexplicable anomalous phenomena in the first half of Cayce's existence. Due to the substantial documentation, many of the events in Cayce's life can be used as Fortean test cases to establish standards by which the other paranormal phenomena can be judged and weighted. As the lives of Carl Jung, Hilda Doolitle, and William Butler Yeats attest, subjective experience -- especially concerning paranormal phenomena -- should never be mocked or dismissed out of hand. However, some Fortean phenomena, such as the notorious events believed to have occurred throughout the life of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, appear to be the product of delusion, mental illness, or any number of other psychological factors, many of which are presently little understood, when compared to the Cayce evidence.

Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet will make an interesting object lesson for Forteans, including as it does detailed, well - supported information about the wide range of paranormal phenomena which dominated Cayce's life. Harry Houdini, Nicolas Telsa, Thomas Edison, and an American president also make brief appearances. Readers who credit all of Cayce's metaphysical divinations may also want to read the late Joe Fisher's harrowing The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts (2001) for another perspective on the validity and dangers of surrendering the human will to 'channeled' 'spirit guides' and the presumed souls of the dead.

Rating:
Summary: I Do Not Bear A Message: I Am The Message
Review: Sidney R. Kirkpatrick's Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet methodically considers the facts in the life of a man whose story may be the best documented Fortean case study in modern history. Kirkpatrick writes well, and has clearly immersed himself in his subject.

Considering that Cayce's personal history ostensibly involved dowsing, ancestors with unusual powers, a lifelong relationship with fairies ("little folk"), visitations from message - bearing, heaven - sent angels, mysterious turbaned men who disappear after uttering cryptic warnings, devastating, unexplainable fires, remarkable medical diagnoses given while in a trance state, accurate prophesies about the future, unaccountable knowledge of past events in the lives of strangers, ghosts, and shadowy government conspiracies, Cayce's abilities, encounters, and experiences were extraordinary indeed. Kirkpatrick takes the reader on a cautious, careful trip through the first half of Cayce's life in the American South and Midwest, supporting his case with persuasive evidence gathered from a variety of respected sources over a period of decades. However, Kirkpatrick occasionally seems too willing to accept Cayce's more unusual experiences at face value, and offers little in the way of skepticism, disbelief, or alternative explanations; for instance, the role that multiple family tragedies and serious head injuries may have played in Cayce's childhood experiences and later development go almost completely unexamined. Therefore, the book has Cayce's stamp upon it rather than Kirkpatrick's: from time to time Kirkpatrick seems more like a mild - mannered Cayce apologist than he does an unbiased, objective biographer.

For discriminating readers, the real problem with both Cayce's story and Kirkpatrick's biography comes in the later half of Cayce's life, when people began asking 'the Source' - the voice which responded to questions put to Cayce while in trance - about astrology, reincarnation, and death. As in most of the 'New Age' channeling cases of the eighties, suddenly Edgar, his family, and seemingly everyone they know has been a notorious historical figure at some point in their karmic cycle, a Helen of Troy, a Hector, an Achilles, or a Queen of England, a Pharaoh, or an apostle of Jesus Christ: no fishwives or shoemakers here. Cayce's young son, according to the Source, has been both a Pharaoh and one of Christ's apostles; Cayce's attractive, hard working young assistant, Gladys Davis, has been not only a British queen, but, as such, was also Cayce's own royal mother. With this lengthy series of revelations, Cayce's and Kirkpatrick's credibility quickly wilts, as the Source's claims become increasingly overextended, outlandish, and absurd. Readers may find themselves listlessly awaiting their own favorite historical figure to mthe, be it Diana of Nemi, Bishop Pontopippidan, Genghis Khan, Ponce de Leon, Cromwell, Major Andre, or Catherine the Great.

Sadly, Cayce, his family, and his followers whole - heartedly embraced the Source's pronouncements concerning their past lives, love affairs, and relationships. As Cayce and many of those around him were financially destitute, barely educated, and often hungry, Kirkpatrick should have thoroughly considered what needs these attractive grandiosities may have filled, and how these compensatory beliefs affected their individual and collective psyches. Cayce and his friends and followers were almost all fervent Christians -- Cayce was a biblical scholar and lecturer -- but clearly they all desperately needed something greater and closer to home to believe in. It's not difficult to understand why Cayce had so many followers: not only did he medically heal hundreds of people during his lifetime, but the Source's metaphysical doctrine continually emphasized the universe as a wholly benevolent place, one composed of a rich, intricate fabric of meaning, spiritual guidance, and continuous second chances. In the Source's cosmology, there is no such thing as genuine evil, but only pathology, vulnerability, misunderstanding, guilt, and a world of imperfect souls struggling towards the Godhead.

Ultimately, there is enough hard evidence to make a case for the validity of much of the otherwise inexplicable anomalous phenomena in the first half of Cayce's existence. Due to the substantial documentation, many of the events in Cayce's life can be used as Fortean test cases to establish standards by which the other paranormal phenomena can be judged and weighted. As the lives of Carl Jung, Hilda Doolitle, and William Butler Yeats attest, subjective experience -- especially concerning paranormal phenomena -- should never be mocked or dismissed out of hand. However, some Fortean phenomena, such as the notorious events believed to have occurred throughout the life of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, appear to be the product of delusion, mental illness, or any number of other psychological factors, many of which are presently little understood, when compared to the Cayce evidence.

Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet will make an interesting object lesson for Forteans, including as it does detailed, well - supported information about the wide range of paranormal phenomena which dominated Cayce's life. Harry Houdini, Nicolas Telsa, Thomas Edison, and an American president also make brief appearances. Readers who credit all of Cayce's metaphysical divinations may also want to read the late Joe Fisher's harrowing The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts (2001) for another perspective on the validity and dangers of surrendering the human will to 'channeled' 'spirit guides' and the presumed souls of the dead.

Rating:
Summary: Edgar Cayce : An American Prophet
Review: This book is an exceptional telling of a remarkable true story. In the 57 years that I have been active in working with the ideas and data that flowed through Edgar Cayce, I value this book as the deepest examination of the real person and history of Cayce and his contributions to: growth in saving one's soul and one's body and one's world. Kirkpatrick's skill and energy as an investigative journalist make solid and tangible the history and faith of a man possessed by a profound talent lived out in a life of faith and human struggle. This book is both an introduction and summary of much of that which is central in what Cayce taught. It serves this role by depicting in detail how Cayce lived in his own life the spiritual laws he presented. This telling does not canonize Cayce; nor does it psychoanalyse him. The credibility of this book that particularly touched me is based on detailed, explicit, documented investigative journalism.

Rating:
Summary: Quite long, in depth and vastly interesting
Review: THis book starts off very slow but like a nice Gravy it cooks nicely this way. It is very interesting and somewhat inspiring, as well as fascinating. It definitely satisfied the appetite I had for Mr. Cayce and his mysterious work. It is amazing after reading this book to see how unknown Edgar Cayce is these days. His accuracy is astounding. I wonder also why a movie hasn't been made about this American Prophet. SOme of this book is very hard to swallow but in all it is very enjoyable and easy to digest. I urge all Cayce wonderers or even Psychic fans to take a long peek at this amazing Biography.