Edgar Cayce and the Source of His Psychic Powers

Deepak Shimkhada, Ph.D.

Edgar Cayce, often referred to as the "Sleeping Prophet," was a renowned American
psychic who captivated the world with his remarkable abilities. Born in 1877 in rural Kentucky,
Cayce possessed an extraordinary talent for accessing information beyond the scope of ordinary
perception. He would enter a deep trance-like state and offer insights into a wide array of
subjects, including health, spirituality, history, and even future events.

Cayce's psychic powers seemed to stem from a unique source, as he claimed to have a
direct connection to the ākāśik records, an ethereal realm that supposedly contains the collective
knowledge and experiences of all human souls. In this state of altered consciousness, Cayce
could tap into this universal database and retrieve detailed information about an individual's past
lives, illnesses, and potential paths for healing and personal growth.

While Cayce's abilities were awe-inspiring, the origin of his psychic powers remained a
subject of fascination and speculation. According to Cayce himself, his gifts emerged during a
childhood accident when he fell unconscious and experienced a divine revelation. Following this
incident, he discovered that he could enter into a self-induced trance state, allowing him to
access higher realms of consciousness and provide readings for those seeking guidance.

Cayce's abilities garnered attention from various individuals seeking answers and relief
from their ailments. Over the course of his career, he conducted thousands of readings, which
were meticulously documented and stored by the Association for Research and Enlightenment
(ARE), an organization founded to preserve and disseminate his teachings.

Many books and articles have been written about him, but no concrete evidence has been
offered by any of the authors about the source of his psychic powers. In this article I will offer
my explanation for the readers to consider.

In school, Cayce played baseball like most boys of his age. There was nothing
particularly special about that. At least, not until one fateful day, while playing a game of
baseball at school, when he was struck by the ball at the tail end of his spine, directly on his
coccyx.

Fig. 1.
 This incident was recorded in Thomas Joseph Sugrue’s biography of Cayce in 1943,1
but wasn’t discussed in any real detail; it was only recorded that it caused the young Cayce
a great deal of pain and that he acted strangely afterwards. It would have been insightful to
learn more about the specifics of this strange behavior. But because Sugrue did not provide
details, we are left to imagine what these strange behaviors might have been.

Practically all the the authors have pointed this out, but no one has ever explained
the cause or source of Cayce’s psychic powers. When History Channel decided to produce a
documentary about Edgar Cayce in December 2022, I was invited to offer a Hindu
perspective on his powers. The incident that changed the course of Cayce’s life immediately
seized my attention. That, to me, was clearly the key to his psychic powers. When I made
the connection between getting hit in the coccyx and awakening the kunḍalini, I had a
moment of satori, or revelation. The accidental strike to Cayce’s coccyx had activated his
kunḍalini, and it was this that gave him the clairvoyance to diagnose health ailments and to
forecast stock markets and other events. These abilities sent him soaring to stardom—a
stardom which would also, ultimately, kill him.

Before we return to the subject of Cayce’s psychic powers, it is important to talk

about the placement of the coccyx in the body. In the Hindu Yoga System, the coccyx is the
exact location of the muladhāra chakra, the source of the kunḍalini. Those who practice
Kundalini Yoga know how to activate the sleeping energy of the kunḍalini, in the form of a
coiled snake, through a deep breathing exercise. Once activated, the energy of the kunḍalini,
like a snake, rises through each energy center, called chakra, until it reaches the head, i.e.,
the crown chakra, called sahasrāra.

Fig. 2.

1Story of Edgar Cayce: There Is a River, 1997. A.R.E. Press (Association of Research & Enlightenment).
See also Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick and Stephen Graybill (Audio Book).
Blackstone Publishing, 2019.
 After the ball game at school, Cayce went home complaining of the pain he had
suffered as a result of the strike. According to his biographer, the young Edgar diagnosed
his own ailment as he lay sleeping in bed that night, then gave instructions to his family to
prepare a specific cure for him. The rest, as they say, is history. Cayce’s ability to see things
while asleep became a pattern, as he would go on to make many predictions and diagnoses
in his sleep that were ultimately proven correct. Today, he is often described as an
“American prophet who was able to channel his higher self while in a trance-like state.”

Fig. 3.

Now, let us again return to Kundalini Yoga. Practitioners of Kundalini Yoga believe
that the seat of psychic power, in the form of a coiled snake, lies dormant at the base of the
spine (muladhāra). Once aroused, this energy rises up through the body to the crown
chakra, opening the gateway to the universe. So, there seems to be a direct connection:
once Cayce’s kunḍalini was activated by being struck at that very spot, he was able to tap
into the ākāśik records through his kunḍalini rising.2

2
For a study of Kundalini Yoga, see Serpent Power by Arthur Avalon (Sir John George Woodroffe), originally
published in 1918.
Fig. 4

In a trance-like state, Cayce came to believe that all minds are timelessly connected.
There are elements in him of a Hindu yogi, who is able to connect his mind to the ultimate
reality where all knowledge and information is stored as though in a supercomputer. The
ākāśik records are this supercomputer. If one knows how to open it, then, in theory, the
individual will be able to access the great knowledge. Like an enlightened Hindu master,
Edgar Cayce developed the ability to tap into those ākāśik records, ultimately making him
famous.

Lately, in the West, there has been a great deal of interest in trying to study yoga
from a scientific perspective. Is there any compatibility between science and yoga? Can
yoga’s psychic energy be measured by any scientific apparatus?

Indian and Tibetan yogis (lāmās/monks) have been subjected to various scientific
probes, including brain wave scanning via electrodes in the nation’s neuroscience
laboratories. Institutions like Maharishi International University and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison are conducting research on the relationship between meditation and
the brain, and there are more than 300,000 articles, books and websites dealing with the
subject. Many independent researchers such as Dr. Peter Bloomfield of Olive View-UCLA
Hospital are also conducting research on gamma waves.3

Writing for Lion’s Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time, an online journal, Daniel
Coleman and Richard Davidson observed, “All the yogis had elevated gamma oscillations
not just during meditation but even during baseline measurements of their everyday
neural activity. The study team had stumbled onto the key to what makes meditation so
special—a neural signature showing permanent transformation in the brain as a result of
meditative states.”4 This may be what happened to Edgar Cayce, even without meditating.

3
In 2018, Dr. Bloomfield reached out to me asking my help in conducting research using qEEG machines to
measure gamma waves while subjects were meditating. Unfortunately, the research couldn’t be conducted due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
4 Daniel Coleman and Richard Davidson, “How Meditation Changes Your Brain — and Your Life,”

[Link]
 Though some skeptics attributed Cayce's abilities to his subconscious mind or latent
psychic potential, many individuals found solace and healing through his readings. Edgar
Cayce's profound impact on countless lives and his tireless efforts to promote spiritual growth
and understanding have solidified his place as one of history's most influential and celebrated
psychics. His legacy continues to inspire and intrigue seekers of truth and seekers of mysteries
that lie beyond our conventional understanding. For this we owe our debt to Hindu yoga system.

Photos and illustrations are taken from Wikimedia, an open source.

Fig. 1. Portrait of Edgar Cayce, 1910. Photo source: Wikipedia

Fig. 2. In front of the building in downtown Selma, Alabama, where Cayce lived and worked
from 1912 to 1923. Photo source: Wikipedia
Fig. Diagram of chakra centers in the human body. Painting by an anonymous Nepali
artist,19th century. Photo source: Wikipedia
Fig. 4. Placement of coccyx in human body. Photo source: Open source