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The Essential Edgar Cayce
A complete guide to the work of the remarkable twentieth-century seer Edgar Cayce, featuring Cayce's most intriguing and influential readings, and a biographical introduction to his life.
Edgar Cayce is one of the most mysterious men of the twentieth century. Sometimes called "The Sleeping Prophet," he was prone to pick up taglines that reflected the sensationalistic side of his work rather than its real depth and meaning. The core of his life's work was actually being an intuitive healer and Christian mystic.
More than one hundred books have been written about his teachings and his life story. Yet no book has combined insightful commentary with lengthy, verbatim selections of the full range of his contribution to holistic healing, practical spirituality, and the psychology of the soul.
The Essential Edgar Cayce gives the reader an understanding of each major area in which Cayce helped pioneer the modern holistic living movement, as well as the contemporary popular approach to spirituality that weaves together the best of Eastern and Western religious traditions. The book's substantial introduction frames Cayce and his life's work, and is followed by eight topical sections in which commentaries by Mark Thurston guide the reader through some of the seer's most significant readings.
Here is a truly integral portrait of the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating spiritual figures.
Edgar Cayce is one of the most mysterious men of the twentieth century. Sometimes called "The Sleeping Prophet," he was prone to pick up taglines that reflected the sensationalistic side of his work rather than its real depth and meaning. The core of his life's work was actually being an intuitive healer and Christian mystic.
More than one hundred books have been written about his teachings and his life story. Yet no book has combined insightful commentary with lengthy, verbatim selections of the full range of his contribution to holistic healing, practical spirituality, and the psychology of the soul.
The Essential Edgar Cayce gives the reader an understanding of each major area in which Cayce helped pioneer the modern holistic living movement, as well as the contemporary popular approach to spirituality that weaves together the best of Eastern and Western religious traditions. The book's substantial introduction frames Cayce and his life's work, and is followed by eight topical sections in which commentaries by Mark Thurston guide the reader through some of the seer's most significant readings.
Here is a truly integral portrait of the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating spiritual figures.
287 pages, Paperback
First published July 8, 2004
About the author
Edgar Evans Cayce
270 books339 followersThe origins of life, in the metaphysical sense, began with the creation of the celestial beings. According to Edgar Cayce’s readings of the Akashic Record, first came the Son, the Logos, or the Word -- as indicated in John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Out of the Word or this central primordial expression of life, all else was created. Again in John’s Gospel: “All things were made through this One.” In Cayce’s readings: “We have first the Son, then the other sons or celestial beings that are given their force and power.” Evil and the forces of what humanity has called the Devil developed as a result of rebellion against the flow of creation, the harmony of the original ideal that all life was to follow. Cayce puts it this way (note: the emphasis and parentheses are Cayce’s)
Edgar Cayce has been called the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. For more than 40 years of his adult life, Cayce gave psychic "readings" to thousands of seekers while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and revealing lives lived in the past and prophecies yet to come.
Edgar Cayce has been called the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. For more than 40 years of his adult life, Cayce gave psychic "readings" to thousands of seekers while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and revealing lives lived in the past and prophecies yet to come.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 6, 2026
Cayce is not easy to understand.
February 15, 2018
I bailed out on this one early. Thurston is a great writer and the task he set for himself with this book daunting. But this was not quite for me. Happy I got a context for Cayce's work and so now better appreciate what he set out to do.
January 31, 2021
I truly loved this mans life work, let's get that out of the way. My issue is with the presentation, I think. It was overall a nice overview and introduction to the world of Cayce. 3/5 stars.
May 5, 2021
The readings themselves are pretty difficult to muddle through.
December 14, 2025
Good overview of his work with readings related
Good overview of his work with readings related. Helped me get a basic understanding of
what his work was about.
Good overview of his work with readings related. Helped me get a basic understanding of
what his work was about.
May 8, 2016
Thurston does a good job of explaining and clarifying Cayce's often awkward and abstruse readings. My rating is more indicative of appreciating his distilling the material into something approachable than of my enjoyment of the book in general.
This is definitely a pro-Cayce book. Thurston is connected with the Cayce Foundation and fully on board with the idea of Edgar Cayce as a legitimate prophet and seer. I remain skeptical and suspect his readings were more along lines of a self-hypnotic synthesis of materials he read while conscious, a kind of unconscious and unintentional plagiarism. What I do find interesting is that Cayce was reportedly disturbed by some of his own material because it clashed with his Christian leanings. Apparently some of his harshest critics are Christians who don't like that what Cayce said/did flies in the face of their ideas of what is acceptable dogma and behavior: the old "if it's not something we do ourselves or can find spelled out in what King James decided we should abide by, then it's obviously demonic or malevolent" objection.
Really, I have no opinion as to whether Cayce was psychic, psychotic, faking, or somewhere in the intersection of all three, but I doubt his intentions were malevolent. The one consistent thing about his readings is that he seemed sincere in both his desire to be helpful. Sure, he wanted to make a living, too, but doesn't everyone?
There are quite a few people who emerged from similar backgrounds in the early 20th century to either start new religions or write prolifically about religion and metaphysics: Edgard Cayce, L. Ron Hubbard, Paul Twitchell, Ernest Holmes, Darwin Gross, Nona Brooks, Frank Robinson, etc.
Almost all were born into working class families in small towns; were not particularly well-educated formally, but were avid readers and became prolific writers; either studied to be clergy or clergy of traditional Christian denominations in the immediate family. That so many of these were born in Kentucky or Maine seems particularly weird trivia; one doesn't think of rural Kentucky or Maine as a particularly yeasty environment for fermenting arcane ideas or religious innovations. I can't decide if there was something specific going on in the US during the late 1800s-early 1900s that fostered this crop of outliers or if it was just a period when it was particularly easy for people to get publicity for their material -- an era when radio and cheaper printing processes made it easier to get heard or published, but before it got so cheap and easy that one idea was simply a drop in an ocean of ideas. (In other words, pre-internet since now anyone with an idea, an internet connection, and a free blog page can be "published.")
This is definitely a pro-Cayce book. Thurston is connected with the Cayce Foundation and fully on board with the idea of Edgar Cayce as a legitimate prophet and seer. I remain skeptical and suspect his readings were more along lines of a self-hypnotic synthesis of materials he read while conscious, a kind of unconscious and unintentional plagiarism. What I do find interesting is that Cayce was reportedly disturbed by some of his own material because it clashed with his Christian leanings. Apparently some of his harshest critics are Christians who don't like that what Cayce said/did flies in the face of their ideas of what is acceptable dogma and behavior: the old "if it's not something we do ourselves or can find spelled out in what King James decided we should abide by, then it's obviously demonic or malevolent" objection.
Really, I have no opinion as to whether Cayce was psychic, psychotic, faking, or somewhere in the intersection of all three, but I doubt his intentions were malevolent. The one consistent thing about his readings is that he seemed sincere in both his desire to be helpful. Sure, he wanted to make a living, too, but doesn't everyone?
There are quite a few people who emerged from similar backgrounds in the early 20th century to either start new religions or write prolifically about religion and metaphysics: Edgard Cayce, L. Ron Hubbard, Paul Twitchell, Ernest Holmes, Darwin Gross, Nona Brooks, Frank Robinson, etc.
Almost all were born into working class families in small towns; were not particularly well-educated formally, but were avid readers and became prolific writers; either studied to be clergy or clergy of traditional Christian denominations in the immediate family. That so many of these were born in Kentucky or Maine seems particularly weird trivia; one doesn't think of rural Kentucky or Maine as a particularly yeasty environment for fermenting arcane ideas or religious innovations. I can't decide if there was something specific going on in the US during the late 1800s-early 1900s that fostered this crop of outliers or if it was just a period when it was particularly easy for people to get publicity for their material -- an era when radio and cheaper printing processes made it easier to get heard or published, but before it got so cheap and easy that one idea was simply a drop in an ocean of ideas. (In other words, pre-internet since now anyone with an idea, an internet connection, and a free blog page can be "published.")
October 28, 2011
I am thoroughly enjoying this book and highly recommend it to anyone who believes they live on this earth for a purpose and that possibly there is more to life than just our flesh and bones in brain.
September 16, 2009
Mark Thurston sums up some of the Edgar Cayce’s important readings on various subjects. Great general introduction to the teachings of the man regarded as the great mystic of modern times.
October 21, 2011
Enjoying this intriguing book.
December 25, 2012
Wasn't interested enough to finish the book, unfortunately. I'd like to say its my short attention span, but perhaps I just did not gel with the style of writing the author used.
June 28, 2013
While I did enjoy reading about Edgar Cayce I have one very troubling question: if Cayce was psychic and knowing, why was he so devoutly Christian?
September 26, 2013
This is the clearest book I've read on Cayce's readings. Mark Thurston presents all the salient points beautifully.
October 24, 2014
Kind of a rehash of everything.
January 22, 2016
Interesting review of some key readings of Cayce.
April 21, 2013
The teachings of Cayce are now and will always be very valuable to me.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews