Product Description

Only recently discovered, this new memoir delivers Cayce's important message to the world at crucial time: the dawn of the twenty-first century. In this personal, moving story, readers learn how Cayce felt about his amazing powers; the angelic presence that told him he would become a healer to millions; his extraordinary ability as a child to learn his school lessons simply by sleeping on his books. We're also given a "behind the scenes" glimpse at his many psychic readings. Throughout his life, Cayce was the voice people turned to for advice on issues as diverse as health and world issues. Now, Cayce speaks once more on these topics and delivers his ultimate message to humanity for the first time. My Life as a Seer brings to life the emotional frustrations, motivations, fears, and visions of the century's premier spiritualist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127818 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 413 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312971441
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
More than 50 years after his death, Cayce's diagnoses of medical conditions, conducted under hypnosis, remain controversial. Unfortunately, this disjointed collection of Cayce's writings and accounts from others fails to elucidate the life of the psychic. Contributing to the volume's unwieldy presentation is the variety of source material: Cayce's recollections from various points in his life, his father's flattering "biography," excerpts from Cayce's other biographers and newspaper notices. A number of appendixes mainly echo Cayce's own descriptions provided earlier in the book: for example, background on the Association of National Investigators in Virginia Beach, the first group established to sponsor Cayce's work, and the Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE), which is now directed by Cayce's grandson. Readers may wonder why editor Smith, who wrote a biography of Cayce's eldest son, Hugh Lynn, and is the founding editor of Venture Inward, a publication of the ARE, was not able to organize the book to highlight the questions that haunted Cayce from the time he discovered his psychic abilities as an uneducated boy in rural Kentucky to his role as head of a large organization. A profoundly religious man, Cayce struggled to understand his abilities within the context of his spirituality, all the while battling business setbacks, family crises and negative publicity. Despite the plethora of detail and documentation bogging down Cayce's life story here, readers will likely be moved by his commitment to pursue answers to his questions, surmount his many hardships and leave a legacy that continues to draw followers. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Cayce enthusiasts and those interested in psychic phenomena in general will find a treasure in these republished memoirs. A well-known psychic who did what were called "readings" (primarily diagnosing illnesses and prescribing cures) while in a self-induced trancelike state, Cayce died in 1945. These memoirs give the reader insight into Cayce's childhood, his values and beliefs, and how he viewed his gift. The person who emerges from these memoirs is someone who, despite his fame and an unusual ability, was quite ordinary and who found success in life somewhat elusive. Cayce's significance makes this a recommended addition to public and academic libraries alike.AJohn Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Libs., New York
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A confusing, disappointing journey into the life of America's most famous psychic. Cayce (18771945) was a pioneer in psychic phenomena. Convinced of the power of hypnosis, intrigued by reincarnation, Cayce became famous for putting himself in trances and giving ``readings''he would answer questions about individuals ranging from ``How best may I be of service?'' to ``Will it be possible to achieve the entity's ideal of purging Christianity of its theological errors and persuading organized religion and science to accept the truth as revealed through this psychic source?'' Published more than 50 years after Cayce's death, My Life as a Seer is the compilation of several autobiographical and biographical sources: a manuscript, ``Edgar Cayce's Memoirs,'' that Cayce dictated to his secretary in 1932; stories about his childhood that Cayce wrote near the end of his life; the two diaries he began; one lecture text; and a biographical essay by Cayce's father, Leslie B. ``Squire'' Cayce. The memoir is sandwiched between the editor's rambling, unclear preface and seemingly arbitrary appendices, including excerpts from the New York Times about Cayce and William Mosely Brown's 1928 address at the dedication of the Cayce Hospital. Such disparate records require the hand of a master editor, and Smith fails to knit his sources together into a cohesive whole. The preface provides little help; the reader unacquainted with Cayce's exploits will find little in the way of context or background. Instead, Smith devotes his energies to fleshing out hagiographicand unconvincingparallels between Cayce and Gandhi. The exploits recounted in the body of the memoir seem dated and quaint. Though the book is billed as ``New Age,'' today's New Agers will find little that resonates. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A rare glimpse into the mind of a great 20th-century mystic
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see inside the mind of a great psychic? To be able to access information about people and places that reaches far beyond the physical dimension? Edgar Cayce's biography, expertly compiled by a professional journalist and editor from Cayce's never-before-published autobiographical notes, a personal diary, and lecture records, allows us just such a rare glimpse. Cayce (1877-1945) is the world's best-documented psychic, with over 14,000 verbatim transcripts of 'readings' on topics ranging from health concerns, reincarnation, astrology, spiritual development, earth change predictions, and other metaphysical topics catalogued in the Library of the Association for Research Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, VA.

Edgar Cayce is also known as the "Father of Holistic Medicine," whose unorthodox naturopathic cures, while helping many regain their health who had been given up as hopeless by the medical establishment, once led to his arrest on grounds of practising medicine without a licence.

In "My Life As a Seer," we get to know the Edgar Cayce who struggled with self-doubts regarding his psychic gift, and with concerns about the impact which the information from his readings might have on those who sought his counsel. We meet Cayce the family man, a photographer by profession, whose deep faith sees him through a series of defeats, including the destruction by fire of his studio; the closure, for lack of funds, of the hospital he had spent years trying to build; an eviction from his home; and physical injuries suffered while being the target of a humiliating attempt to expose him as a fraud. Through it all, Cayce remained a sincere and humble man,who was motivated not by fame nor by riches (which eluded him all his life), but by an overwhelming desire to serve God and help his fellow human beings.

"My Life As a Seer," as grandson Charles Thomas Cayce says in the foreword, represents "the first account of Edgar Cayce's life told completely in his own words. He does not dwell on all of the personal aspects of his life, but focuses primarily on those experiences that marked him since childhood as decidedly different from anyone else in his world."

Reading this fascinating book is the closest most of us will come to talking with Edgar Cayce in this lifetime.

Ok, but I'd rather have it in paperback
Much of the Kirkus review was accurate, although, the point that New Agers will find little that resonates is probably the most compelling reason to buy this book. It isn't New Age mystical garbage---I wasn't levitating when I read this book.

Cayce is a fascinating character. Because of his deep faith, he wrestled with the concept of reincarnation and tries to reconcile a biblical explanation for what he experienced in the "life" readings. I found the final chapters of the book more interesting than much of the rest of the book. But it deserves better treatment overall than was given by Kirkus.