Edgar Cayce Biography Quotes 6 Report mistakes

Early Life and Spiritual Disposition
Edgar Cayce was born in 1877 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, into a modest farming family headed by Leslie B. Cayce and Carrie Elizabeth Major Cayce. A sensitive child with a deep, lifelong devotion to the Bible, he was known for reading it repeatedly and for an inner life marked by prayer and vivid visionary experiences. Formal schooling ended early so he could help support his family, and he learned practical trades, most notably photography, which remained his primary occupation for many years. His mother, Carrie, accepted his unusual sensitivities without ridicule, while his father, Leslie, balanced encouragement with the expectations of rural life. This blend of religious seriousness, family duty, and a craftsman's diligence shaped the manner in which Cayce later approached his controversial psychic work.

Loss of Voice and the First Readings
In his early twenties Cayce suffered a severe bout of laryngitis that left him virtually unable to speak for months. A stage hypnotist briefly restored his voice during a performance, revealing that under trance his speech returned. A more enduring breakthrough came when a local practitioner, Al Layne, guided him into a deeper hypnotic state and suggested increased blood flow to the throat; Cayce reportedly described his own condition while entranced and improved afterward. The episode led to further experiments in which he, while asleep or in deep trance, would describe health conditions and treatments for others. A Bowling Green physician, Dr. Wesley Ketchum, took interest, documented cases, and helped publicize the unusual results. These collaborations, while controversial, established the pattern of "readings" that defined Cayce's life.

Marriage, Family, and Working Method
Cayce married Gertrude Evans, whose steadiness and calm presence became integral to his work. She conducted most sessions by posing questions while he rested on a couch and entered trance. Their household was a team effort: Gertrude moderated the pace and tone, while a meticulous stenographer, Gladys Davis, preserved the readings word for word. The couple raised two sons, Hugh Lynn Cayce and Edgar Evans Cayce, both of whom later played key roles in protecting the archives and interpreting their father's legacy. Cayce tried to keep photography as his main livelihood and to limit the number of readings, believing that overwork weakened his health and the quality of the information that came through.

From Medical Readings to Broader Themes
Cayce's earliest readings centered on health. He recommended a blend of approaches unusual for the time: gentle osteopathic or chiropractic adjustments, massage, hydrotherapy, castor oil packs, sunlight and fresh air, balanced diet rich in vegetables and whole foods, and prayer. Over the 1920s his circle widened. With Arthur Lammers, a businessman and seeker from Ohio, he addressed philosophical topics such as reincarnation, astrology, and the continuity of the soul. The readings also explored dream interpretation and biblical study, frequently stressing an ethical core summarized in phrases like "mind is the builder" and the primacy of service to others.

Moves, Institutions, and Supporters
Cayce's working life took him from Kentucky to Alabama and Ohio and eventually to the Atlantic coast. By the mid-1920s he settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which became the enduring home for his work. Through the support of benefactors, notably New York stockbroker Morton Blumenthal, a hospital devoted to the readings' therapies opened in Virginia Beach in 1928. The Great Depression, however, made the venture difficult to sustain, and it closed after a short life. In 1931, a new nonprofit, the Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), was founded to preserve the files, support study groups, and provide a more stable organizational base. The journalist and author Thomas Sugrue, who lived with the family while battling illness, later produced a widely read biography that brought Cayce's story to a broader public.

Daily Practice and Philosophy
In sessions, Gertrude's carefully phrased questions guided the content while Gladys Davis transcribed. Many clients were strangers to Cayce, yet the readings spoke in technical language about anatomy, diet, and therapies, and often linked physical troubles to emotional and spiritual tensions. He urged clients to cultivate patience, forgiveness, and purposeful service, and to pair any physical regimen with meditation and prayer. Study groups formed to apply the ethical lessons, and the readings on the Bible remained a constant thread, reflecting his effort to reconcile extraordinary claims with the faith that framed his life.

Public Attention, Skepticism, and Integrity
As word spread, Cayce became known as the "sleeping prophet", a label he never welcomed. Physicians, clergy, and journalists debated his work. Some doctors observed striking recoveries; others dismissed the methods as suggestion or coincidence. Cayce resisted sensationalism, preferring privacy and emphasizing that any unusual ability should be used humbly to help people. He struggled financially at times and maintained that he was, first and last, a Christian layman attempting to be of service.

Final Years and Death
The demands of the late 1930s and World War II brought a surge of requests. Despite advice to limit himself to a few sessions a day, he often exceeded those limits, and his health deteriorated. In late 1944 he suffered a stroke. Edgar Cayce died on January 3, 1945, in Virginia Beach. He was survived by Gertrude, Hugh Lynn, and Edgar Evans, who safeguarded his files and continued the organizational work.

Legacy
After his death, Hugh Lynn Cayce guided A.R.E., developing conferences, a library, and educational programs around the readings, while Edgar Evans Cayce contributed research and publications that analyzed the material. The archive of thousands of readings, preserved largely through the diligence of Gertrude and the accuracy of Gladys Davis's transcripts, remains the core resource for scholars and seekers. Cayce's emphasis on holistic health, personal prayer and meditation, and service to others anticipated many themes in later integrative medicine and spiritual self-help movements. Whether approached with belief, skepticism, or curiosity, his life intertwined practical compassion with a complex body of material that continues to invite study.

Our collection contains 6 quotes who is written by Edgar, under the main topics: Motivational - Wisdom - Contentment - Letting Go.