Edgar Cayce’s books have sold
multiple millions of copies, all of them stressing the importance of
health. The Edgar Cayce methods of healing involve a health program and
philosophy based on the spiritistic revelations (called "Readings") of
medium Edgar Cayce (1877-1944). By following the health suggestions
given in these occult readings, it is claimed that one will maintain
optimum health. The health suggestions combine natural therapies, such
as castor oil packs, with "proper" mental attitudes and "proper"
spiritual (occult) "attunement."
While Edgar Cayce channeled
the information concerning healing, specific programs based on it have
been developed in conjunction with the official Cayce organization, the
Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) in Virginia Beach,
Virginia. A significant number of medical doctors have been converted to
Cayce’s methods, which are also promoted by various Cayce clinics,
referral programs, and dozens of ARE symposia on New Age medicine
offered over the years.
Based on known scientific
data, most if not all of Cayce’s methods have been discredited. If they
work, they work for reasons unrelated to the given theories. For
example, the treatments work far better for those who have adopted
Cayce’s occultic worldview, suggesting psychological and occultic
components to healing. Even leaders in the Cayce methods of health such
as Dr. Harold J. Reilly have admitted that the methods usually work only
for those who believe in Cayce’s occultic philosophy.
The major problem with this
approach is that Cayce’s "Readings" are not based upon the findings of
scientific medicine. Rather, they are integrated with reincarnation
philosophy, healing by "vibrational" correspondences, [alleged psychic
connections between the body and the universe, or the body and a
patient’s "medicine"] and other New Age occultic ideas. Because the
"Readings" teach that "health" is promoted by a "proper" mental and/or
spiritual attitude, people who use Cayce’s revelations as part of a
health program often end up with an occultic worldview.
Spiritistic revelations on
any subject should not be trusted, because any truth given is always
mixed with serious spiritual or other error. The dangers of the Cayce
methods involve conversion to occultism and the fact that the treatments
suggested by the "Readings" may be ineffective, false, or dangerous.
