God does not want you to suffer. He wants you to be happy. But joy is best savored after the sting of tragedy. Be strong. Endure. Good times will come again.”
Q: You make life sound like a wretched experience.
A: “For some it is. God bless them.
About the human condition there is much to be admired. The body is an intricate assimilation of blood, bone, and muscle; the brain has the capacity to read a book, watch a movie, and carry on a conversation all at the same time. Truly Man is a reflection of his Maker. Look what he has accomplished! As of today there are 1,003, 322 words in the English language making it possible to say precisely what a writer wishes to express. Among all animals of the world, Man has the remarkable ability to create his own reality. He is a tender lover and an awesome warrior, an inventor, builder, dreamer, and realist.
Man is destined for even greater accomplishments. He yearns and learns and advances with experience. He is a tutor and mentor, lifting himself and his society with every incarnation.
He has a sense of humor.
What more magnificent creature could any organism be than Man? Look at his cities of towering buildings, subterranean arteries, grids of power, and cross-country transports. He is an astounding success in so many pursuits, bending the world to his means, and now he reaches for the stars.
Every entity should be proud to be a part of the human species. He is aptly named Homo sapiens, from the Latin meaning wise or knowing man. He is a creature who is self-aware, rational and introspective. Through science, mythology, religion, and philosophy, mankind struggles to understand and control the environment. The talents of Man do not perish with the passing of his lifetime. To the next generation he bequeaths lessons through art and literature, thereby advancing society steadily.
Whatever his weaknesses on an individual level, Man is well suited to find his way home. He has extended his earthly lifespan and will continue to do so. Someday his heirs will live twice as long as entities today. They will conquer disease, overcome antisocial behavior, and master latent capabilities of the brain.
In the animal kingdom Man alone dresses himself, cooks with fire, and adjusts his environment for comfort with heat and cooling fans. He is a curious creature, constantly asking the names of things and wanting to know why and how. He is 98.4 percent identical to the chimpanzees, and yet Man has developed a brain twice as large as that of his primate cousin.
Man can talk.
Imagine the tribal reaction when a human burst into song for the first time 50,000 years before the present day. Surely a voice so pure and melodic must have held an audience in rapture.
Humans have explored ocean depths, Antarctica, and the highest mountains. They have walked upon the moon, and other heavenly bodies have been visited by manmade objects. In two hundred years, from 1800 to now, the population of Man has increased from one billion to over six billion. The human animal is the most numerous mammal on Earth.
Rejoice that you are man! Glory to God and blessed be we who are crafted in His image.”
Q: Is there another me living in a parallel universe?
A: “The idea of a parallel universe is the fancy of fiction writers who have seized upon probabilities and made them exact. As reported in a reading in June, 1941, even if there were a parallel universe; no two leaves of a tree are the same, no two blades of grass are the same, and no two systems have the same awareness; neither are they parallel. Can you conceive of the influences that would have to be the same to create a duplicate of self? Precisely the same friends, family, environs, all at exactly the same time; it would be a mathematical impossibility. You are unique in the universe, one of a kind and constantly evolving. His hand is upon you and builds no other similar.”
Q: Is a large earthquake due in California soon?
A: “There will be warnings prior to a devastating shake. Eruptions will occur around the Pacific in Japan, New Zealand, Chile, and Alaska, with ascending violence. Then California will be jolted, followed by Wyoming and Missouri. Scientists are on the verge of mastering earthquake predictions with a system that has not yet been fully appreciated. Several pending quakes will be recognized by a private enterprise before seismologists accept the premise of predicting upheavals by ‘singing’ rocks. That is to say, under increasing pressure, subterranean rock mass emits an increasingly shrill tone that can be detected prior to a shift of tectonic plates. Meantime, do not reside in rickety buildings. Do not build on shifting soil such as reclaimed dump sites that may liquefy under pressure.
Do not live for disaster. Be prudent, but live each day to the fullest. As already reported, do not encumber your life with fears of future disruptions.
The major faults in California are not tectonic plates, but human. Much-admired men will succumb to sexual intrigue and fall from grace in the eyes of the public. These are the very enticements that have destroyed the careers of great entities of the past.
In the activities of mankind there are too many variables to make accurate predictions. The flow of human opinions can swing widely on any subject thereby changing the dynamics of action and reaction. Compared with guessing the future of Man, predicting geological events is easier. As for earthquakes in California, keep an eye on the Pacific horizon.”
Q: Please define esoteric and exoteric religions.
A: “Esoteric means that which is for a limited or select group. It is information that might be understood by only a few people. Exoteric is unlimited, something that would be for a wide audience. Reincarnation as believed by the Essenes was an esoteric subject that the general population might not have understood. Therefore the matter was deleted from the Bible and subsequently eliminated from Christian teaching. The story of Adam and Eve is an exoteric explanation of the origin of mankind, widely repeated in many religions.”
Q: Explain what is happening in the Bermuda Triangle to cause so many ships and planes to disappear.
A: “The 500,000 square miles enveloped in the area from Puerto Rico to Miami to Bermuda, the so-called Bermuda Triangle, encompasses very deep and cold trenches of the Atlantic Ocean. The current flows fast, sweeping from south to north. If a ship sinks or a plane crashes, as it sinks to a depth of as much as ten thousand feet, the ocean currents strew evidence over a vast region. Therefore there is little or no physical evidence found. In the same waters lurk many sharks that devour human remains. The overall impression is that planes and water-craft and human beings have simply vanished.
The causes are varied. In the area being described, cold air and warm air collide. Fog can appear suddenly in a dense cloud that reduces visibility to zero. From the depths of the sea huge bubbles of gas may break loose and rise thousands of feet to the surface. It is flammable methane that may cause an airplane to explode. At the moment gas bubbles rise, the water loses buoyancy and a ship can sink instantly. Freak waves a hundred feet high have been generated by weather, geologic conditions, and thermal currents bursting onto the scene.
A similar set of events occur in the Devil’s Triangle off the Pacific Coast of Japan, with similar results— planes and craft disappear without a trace.”
Q: Then the cause of disappearances is not from anything left from Atlantis or aliens from other planets? What about reports of compasses which swing inaccurately in the region?
A: “After ten thousand years, most things left from Atlantis have been covered with barnacles and rotted by salt waters. The loss of compass readings is not confined to the areas discussed here. Magnetic north has to be calculated by oceangoing travelers and sometimes they get it wrong. Magnetic north changes naturally from time to time.”
Q: There’s nothing occult happening in the Bermuda Triangle?
A: “As viewed from here, there is nothing occult happening in the area. Occult or psychic influences fall in the same category as conspiracy theories, old seafaring myths, and superstitions. Man is easily spooked when out of his element; panicked sailors have been known to jump into the sea when terrorized by
ghosts aboard.”
Q: How many readings did you give in your earthly incarnation?
A: “A total of 14,246 readings were transcribed and retained at A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Many other readings preceded the readings that were recorded by stenographers; those have been lost.”
Q: Is the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel accurate?
A: “The account of the Tower of Babel is accurate to a great degree. Constructed of sun-dried and kiln-baked mud bricks, with bitumen as mortar and to make the structure impervious to water, the Tower is called a ziggurat by present-day archeologists. At the time of building, seven or eight centuries after the Biblical flood, the world population was fewer than tens of thousands of entities, many of whom were descendants of Noah struggling to establish order out of a demolished past.
It has always been the nature of Man to blame the Creator for widespread destruction. As already indicated, God does not plot to make Man suffer. Natural disasters are not the handiwork of God. The flood was the aftermath of the sinking of Atlantis and a massive wave called today a tsunami, foretold to Noah by his angel friends who warned him to build an ark. That much is Biblical history recognized by most major religions.
Migrating together after the Biblical flood, citizens of the known world spoke the same language with a minimum of words, and they numbered less than tens of thousands. On the plain of Shinar in Babylon, construction of the tower began as a refuge in the event of another flood. The first building continued for forty-three years. Frightened and clustered together, future generations added to the building until it reached seven levels high, the tallest manmade structure in the world until completion of the Eiffel Tower 3,500 years later.
Many times the tower was struck by deadly and destructive lightning. The Mesopotamians took this as a sign from an angry God. Eventually they abandoned Babylon and migrated to other lands. Separated and isolated by distance, from the original one language known as Sumerian came Gothic, Celtic, and Persian: languages known now as Indo-European. Today there are three thousand languages and billions of people speaking them.
It should not surprise self that dispersal developed many languages. American dialects vary from New Orleans to New York to Chicago and Georgia. Exposure to national radio and television has reversed our linguistic isolation. We are moving once again toward one language, which will be accomplished in a few thousand years.”
Q: Will the Bermuda triangle shift as ocean currents shift?
A: “The so-called Bermuda Triangle has never been set except by the imagination of Man.”
Q: Will troubles between the Palestinians and Israel be resolved soon?
A: “This is a dispute that goes back so far many of the participants cannot remember why they are fighting. Fueled by widespread unemployment and ancient rivalries, settlement of differences will not occur until both sides accept concessions from the other. The contention is as much economic as societal. Peace between the contenders for at least one full generation, and possibly two or three, will be necessary to end the fighting. When today’s child looks upon his ancestors with bemused detachment, peace will become final. Meantime, raids and retaliation continue.
The sad side of human relations is Man’s love of warfare. Young men eagerly volunteer for military service at the first sign of trouble. During sporting events fans scream for the murder of their opponents. This does not happen in cooking classes and flower clubs. Man is drawn to warfare, particularly when the participants are impoverished and idle with nothing else to do but fight. To make matters worse, nonparticipants cheer them on. The combatants are idealized and death makes them martyrs thereby luring new young recruits into the forays.
Man loves contention and glamorizes fighting. When there is no war, Man plays combative sports like football or soccer.
The key to peace between Palestine and Israel is gainful employment and the prosperity that will result. Well-to-do and well-fed citizens do not jeopardize families and property with military hostilities.
Peace begins in the home. Loving families do more to promote world peace than any statesman or military alliance.
Remember: in Him is the light and the light is the light of the world.
By whatever faith you seek the Father, pray earnestly and you will be heard. Reserve time each day to meditate, and thank the Creator for all that He has given to you. Blessed be those who honor God. He is everywhere. You will be heard.”
(Long pause…)
Q: Do you have anything you’d like to add, Mr. Cayce?
A: “The ills of mankind will be cured when entities love one another. Each to another and all of them together can change the course of coming events with mutual respect. Be not negative in your outlook, but gaze upon your fellow man with a positive attitude. Look for the best and not the worst in every encounter. Know that you are having a direct and indelible effect on each life you touch. Therefore treat them gently and be forgiving. Love thy neighbor and that love will come back to you in countless folds.”
Q: You are answering everybody else’s questions. May I ask a couple of personal questions?
A: “Personal aggrandizement is not the purpose here.”
Q: Will this writing project be a success?
A: “Success in what regard? Spreading a message? Remuneration? As indicated repeatedly, temporal questions are not the purpose here. How strong is the anchor and what gale can you withstand? The greater success brings a greater storm. Be careful what you wish for.”
“The twenty-first century will be a pivotal hundred years for America. The Age of Overindulgence is past and yet Americans refuse to give up their grand lifestyles. No new taxes, the people demand; no cuts in social and medical services. A financial crisis looms and weak-willed politicians refuse to meet the problem realistically. The result is inevitable: mounting inflation as the government borrows from foreign powers and meets domestic shortfall by printing more currency.
There will be shortages in petroleum, particularly automotive fuels. Prices will continue to rise. Industry will falter. Plastics will give way to fabrics derived from cotton, ramie, and bamboo.
The higher cost of transport will add to the cost of food.
Two centuries of abusing the environment will begin to tell. Salt domes in the Gulf Coast area will show signs of leaking radioactive waste. Western caves used as nuclear dump sites will seep pollutants that have a half-life of thousands of years. Aquifers will be poisoned by agricultural chemical runoff. Fouled farmlands will be abandoned due to contamination. All of these calamities will be the result of attempts to maintain the lavish living of citizens who continue to insist on holding the status quo.
Water will become the most precious commodity, ascending in price and descending in availability. Rationing will be more commonplace. Desalination of seawater will become imperative. Conservation will become law with severe penalties for wasting liquid resources.
The necessary changes in public attitudes will begin in elementary school as children are taught to resent past extravagances of their elders. ‘Waste not want not’ will be a catch phrase displayed on billboards, in classrooms, and emblazoned on T-shirts and theater screens. Young people will be recognized for their reclamation and recycling efforts. Public opinion is like a mighty seagoing vessel; it does not turn quickly. But it will turn.
Meanwhile, Man will survive.”
Q: What is life like on other planets inhabited by man?
A: “Life on other planets is much like it is on the Earth plane. Some globes are larger and inhabitants weigh more, others are smaller and humans weigh less. The biosphere is similar to Earth. In some worlds oxygen is richer while elsewhere other gases are more prevalent. It is comparable to the polluted city air of Los Angeles where millions of entities continue to live and work. Other worlds have rarefied air identical to that of the Rocky Mountains. Multicellular organisms produce their own food from inorganic matter by photosynthesis, taking in carbon dioxide and returning oxyge
n as a waste product, which in turn is breathed by the animal kingdom.
Temperatures vary depending on the distance from the solar sources comprising the central axis around which planets orbit. Only if the mean distance of the planet and its sun is similar to the 93 million miles that separates our earth from its sun will the planet receive amounts of light and heat comparable to ours. The fragile envelope in which life can exist may range from the cold of Earth’s polar extremity to the heat of equatorial regions. The diameter of the Earth’s sun is approximately 865,000 miles and its mass is 330,000 times that of Earth. On some other worlds the sun may be larger or smaller with distances that compensate for the increase or decrease of solar effects. Man is a resilient creature capable of adapting to radical environments, as he has done on the Earth plane.
The social accomplishments and failures are similar to those of Earth. On the planes where human life has existed much longer than on Earth, with a few exceptions, many societal problems have been resolved. The density of population depends almost directly on the availability of resources. Human vices seem to know no intergalactic limits. Greed, ego, envy, and hatred generate crimes, hence a judicial system to deal with them.
In the same manner as Earth, there is affection, familial affinities, and the beauty of art and music. For the more fortunate there is abundance, serenity, good health, and happiness. In the case of more mature societies, uncivilized and dangerous entities are not allowed. The lifespan may be hundreds of years in Eden-like environs. Or, in radically less-advanced societies, the humanoids are primitive, given to wars and dissension.
The Return of Edgar Cayce Page 8