This psychic reading given by Edgar Cayce at his home on Arctic Crescent, Virginia Beach, Va., this 25th day of March, 1936, in accordance with request made by the self - Mr. [370], Active Member of the Ass''n for Research & Enlightenment, Inc.
P R E S E N T
Edgar Cayce; Gertrude Cayce, Conductor; Gladys Davis, Steno. Hugh Lynn Cayce and Lucien Warner.
R E A D I N G
Born September 9, 1883, in Lewisburg, Tenn. Time of Reading 11:10 to 11:45 A. M. Eastern Standard Time. ..., Ala. (Life Reading Suggestion)
1. EC: (Going back over years to birth date - "'98 - '99 - Right sick then! - '89 - '88 - " etc., on back to birth date.) Yes, we have the entity, those records of same here - of that entity known as or called [370].
2. From those experiences as we find recorded here, that may become helpful in the present sojourn:
3. FIRST, know the laws. Not knowledge alone but that which the self, the will, applies in the experience in its relations one to another makes for that which is helpful in an experience.
4. And again, there should not be a shifting of ideals. While these are a portion of the experience of the entity through the sojourns in the earth, this unstableness HAS become - does become - the undoing. It brings strife, turmoils, fear, wonderment, the fruits of neglect and insincerity.
5. In giving, then, that which may be helpful for this entity in this experience, in this expression of that which is eternal in the experience of the soul-consciousness of the entity, we find:
6. Unless the ideal is founded in spirit, it must crumble, it MUST become dross.
7. The astrological aspects are only as inclinations. For, as may be seen, the entity has fallen far short of its opportunities and abilities oft. Hence it would not be in accord with the common or ordinary (as termed) astrological aspects in the entity's birth chart, or the POSITION of the planets or the groups, or the zodiacal signs. For THESE are but inclinations, as knowledge not applied may become rather the STUMBLINGBLOCK. For how readest thou, "He that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin!"? [James 4:17]
8. From the astrological viewpoint, then, we find Mercury,
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Mars, with Venus in a bad aspect with Saturn, and with Jupiter in the extreme. All of these we find are as inclinations; or the entity passing through those environs has, in what may be said to be the warp and woof of its inner experience, the seeking for the satisfying of indulgences within self to laud self; and this becomes a stumblingblock when the ideal and the purposes are forgotten.
9. In Mars we find those tendencies to easily become riled, to easily become self-centered and have that feeling as of someone else taking advantage of self.
10. Those influences in Mercury (of the mental) make the tendencies for sagaciousness; and the tendency to drive bargains that might to some become questioned, to some might become as expressions of an individual endowed with business acumen above the ordinary.
11. There is innate through the Venus influence with Jupiter that seeking. And though the entity may find that there will come hardships, turmoils, strifes (as such, in the physical, in the mental experiences, even in the sojourns), these may be met if there will be held that purpose, that idea that is the promise in Creative Forces: "For He hath not WILLED that any soul should perish, but has with EVERY temptation prepared a way of escape." [1 Cor. 10:13]
12. Hence as He that IS the Way, that IS the Ideal, came into the experiences in the earth that man in his wisdom - yea, in his foolishness - might find Him, so may ye - as every man, holding to that ideal - BUILD that way back to Him.
13. The relationships that arise from the influences in Venus have oft become stumblingblocks in the present experience of the entity, through that which is and has been at times accredited to a PHYSICAL development. But had not thy physical impulse an impetus arising from associations of an activity beyond material experience? or is it not in that as man calls the blood; but rather the power behind same, that has made the blood of that nature - WILL?
14. For Mind is the builder, and that entertained, that builded, that pattern set in same is that to which the body, the mind and the soul attains by this constancy held before same.
15. As to the appearances in the earth, then, that deal with those influences through which the entity, [370] as called in the present, is passing:
16. Before this we find the entity was nigh unto the land of the present nativity, or in the land of the present sojourn of the entity (or the land to which the entity came rather
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as a sojourner and in which there has been the greater activity).
17. It was during the periods when those portions of Alabama were settled by the French peoples that were of the Napoleonic War.
18. The entity then was among those peoples that settled in portions of Central Alabama, then in the name Ruel Dueten.
19. In the experience the entity, though young in years, made for MATERIAL ADVANCEMENTS. For as there were the advantages of a new land making for the abilities of expression of those who took thought or counsel for those things within self wherein development might come, during those periods the entity advanced in the mental and the material way.
20. Hence in the present there may be found those activities wherein the entity deals with those that are of the soil, or those who PRODUCE those things from the soil; as a storekeeper, as a political advisor, as one who would direct activities. THESE are the inclinations and the OPPORTUNITIES for the entity, as it were, to undo much wrong done in those experiences.
21. For each experience is PURPOSED for a growth, but does each seed in the earth grow to its best each time it is sown? or does it fall under this or that environ and thus become ruled by those thoughts of man that have been given the CHARGE to subdue the earth and the fulness thereof? [Gen. 1:28] that ye (man) may know the ways of the Creator, that ye may prepare thy soul for companionship with Him.
22. Hence in thy dealings with thy fellow man in the present, HOLD FAST to that which is set in Him, and know that "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." [Gal. 6:7] And, "With what measure ye mete, it will be measured to thee again." [Mat. 7:2] And, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." [Mat. 7:12]
23. For these are not merely sayings, but may become EXPERIENCES of those that WILL but apply them in their dealings with their fellow man. Not by words, but by deeds.
24. Before that we find the entity was in that land, that experience, when the Master walked in the earth.
25. The entity then was among the Roman soldiery; NOT of those that were of the crowds that made for the crucifying, but those that came to FILL the places of those that rebelled and drew away because of the experiences in the activities of those at that time - then in the name Pontuos.
26. In the experience the entity fought most within self, for the activities that were ABOUT the entity convinced his mental mind of those experiences; yet the needs or desires
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of the flesh made for those things that produced the subduing of the better influences towards those CONVINCING experiences of the body.
27. In the latter portion of the sojourn, when the entity became associated with those to whom the entity had been sent, to persecute, down at Joppa [Acts 9, 10] (for THERE the entity was among the Roman guards who were to subdue those that were among those gatherings of the church and of the nobler women), the entity succumbed to not only the deeds of mercy, the deeds of charity, the deeds of kindness shown to those roundabout, but to the beauty of body, the sincerity of purpose, the fearlessness even in those galling ways in which the soldiery acted in the presence and TO those that were of the faith.
28. Hence the entity became an outcast; for renouncing its Roman allegiance, it became then one undecided; yet strong sufficient to meet even those in the arena later in its experience, as not a fighter of beasts but of men.
29. In the present those experiences become as a background or portion of that sought. Hence the tendency in the entity's associations to question those that are teachers or ministers of various groups of individuals, to bring up arguments, and - most of all - to seek as to what the relationships of the fair sex are to those of the various groups and these are sought in the entity's experience. These may be well, but they may also become stumblingblocks if they are used for self's own indulgences.
30. Before that we find the entity was in the land now known as the Egyptian, during those periods when there were turmoils and strifes, and the banishment of the Priest.
31. The entity was among those who chose to be sent with the groups following the Priest into what is now the Abyssinian land.
32. With the return of the Priest to Egypt, the entity sought the office of ministering to those peoples in Abyssinia; later becoming an emissary to same, when there had been the establishing of the schools (as would be termed today), the hospitals, the various arts that made for not only the material associations of man with man but through same the offices of the preparations of the MIND for a greater expression of the Creative Forces in man's relationship with same.
33. The entity lost in the latter portion; gaining through a portion, but when the activities were turned for self-aggrandizement and self-indulgences, these became as stumblingblocks to the entity.
34. The name then was Ish-Pht-El.
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35. As to the abilities of the entity in the present, and that to which it may attain, and how:
36. First, find self, self's relationship to that which is stable and is creative in thy experience. Know what is thy ideal. And hold to that.
37. Do not find FAULT with thy brother, for in doing so ye weaken thine own ability for resistance. Rather be patient, be kind, be gentle; showing forth those things in thy daily relationships with others that bespeak of those forces, those influences, thou didst experience as the Roman soldier. Fight the good fight for 'the faith.' Study to show self APPROVED unto that which IS thy ideal, rightly dividing the words of truth, keeping SELF unspotted from that thou dost question in another. [2 Tim. 2:15] [Jas. 1:27]
38. Ready for questions.
39. (Q) How may I reconcile my domestic situation with my life outside of home? (A) As indicated, know in what thou believest and hold fast to that. Do not find fault, for when thou findest fault in thy relationships with others, the greater fault is within thee. Keep CLEAN thyself, and thou wilt make for GREATER relationships in EVERY way and manner.
40. We are through for the present. Copy to Self " " Ass'n file