Venturing Inward. Hugh Lynn Cayce

       Cayce Leaves to Promote Hospital

       Great Million-Dollar Institution to Be Built by Selmian andHis Partner—Will Develop Psychic Diagnosis of Baffling Cases

      Edgar Cayce, on the eve of his departure for Nashville and New York this afternoon, spoke with confidence of the work which lies before him, in raising large funds with which he and his associate, David E. Kahn of Cleburne, Texas, and Lexington, Ky., propose to build a great hospital or sanitarium where the invalids of the nation, rich or poor, whose cases have baffled science, may receive treatment.

      In this humanitarian work, Mr. Cayce will associate himself with a corps of able surgeons and physicians, who have complete charge of administering the hospital. His work is to consist exclusively of diagnosing the troubles of those who have sought long and hopelessly for relief.

      Record of Cases

      Substantiating the claims of Mr. Cayce, as a discoverer of elusive and undreamed-of ailments, whose treatment alone is necessary to cure seemingly hopeless cases, are records and affidavits from many reputable men and women, who testify to the benefits received, when physicians followed Mr. Cayce’s diagnosis.

      As has already been pointed out, the dream of raising money for the hospital through readings on oil failed.

      When my father returned to Selma from Texas and began pulling together the pieces of his photographic business, his heart was not in it. Behind him was a twisted path of failure. The psychic information which he gave in the unconscious state seemed to be only partly accurate when dealing with the location of oil wells. He found that men who dealt in oil leases did not follow the rules laid down in Sunday school books. His friends had lost time and money backing him. For months on end he had been separated from his family. His photographic business was disintegrating.

      On the positive side of the ledger was a conviction that people wanted readings—that people needed him. As he had traveled about the country attempting to raise money for the oil ventures, he gave hundreds of readings on health problems. The recipients and their doctors had been amazed at the accuracy of the analyses and the results obtained from the suggested treatments. People continued writing for help and began coming to Selma to hear readings. And the friendliness he found in Selma was no small encouragement. In both business and church circles the Cayce’s were welcomed back.

      With an equivocal confidence in his readings and a necessity to earn a living, my father decided to resume his photographic business and at the same time offer whatever help he could to those who asked for readings. He set aside one room of his studio for the purpose and advertised for a secretary. The peculiar circumstances of taking dictation from a sleeping man and the speed with which the words were delivered so upset the average applicant that she couldn’t handle the job. One girl, when asked after a session to read her notes, could only gasp, “I forgot to write anything.”

      One young woman, Gladys Davis, was more successful from the beginning than any of the others. Each day my mother read old readings to Miss Davis, who practiced recording them in shorthand and transcribing her notes. From September 10, 1923, all readings were recorded, transcribed, and filed along with the correspondence pertaining to them. Through the years Miss Davis continued as the recorder and then custodian of these files. At a later date letters were written to the person who had requested the reading, asking for a report on its success. Similar requests for reports went to the doctors who were consulted. All of the data were kept in the case file. The files assembled through the years are far from complete and certainly do not constitute scientifically controlled experiments. However, they do contain a remarkably complete day-by-day record of Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings, consistent reports of evidence of accurate, distant clairvoyance, and thousands of statements on the help received after following the suggestions given in the readings.

      In the fall of 1923 Arthur Lammers, a wealthy printer from Dayton, Ohio, came to Selma and had readings. He urged Edgar to give up his photographic business and devote all his time to giving readings. Edgar visited Dayton to meet Lammers’ friends and discuss the matter further. Arthur offered to finance the family move to Dayton and open an office where readings could be given.

      Mr. Lammers did not confine his questions to physical bodies. He was curious about philosophical questions. He secured the first of what were to become known as “life readings.” Numerous books have been written on these readings dealing with reincarnation, the first of which was Gina Cerminara’s Many Mansions.

      The new sponsor became involved in business difficulties. He was unable to continue his financial help and interest in the work. A difficult period of a year and a half ensued. Thomas Brown, a Dayton manufacturer, and M.B. Wyrick, a Western Union official in Chicago, introduced Edgar to many of their business associates. David E. Kahn, now a New York businessman, introduced Morton and Edwin Blumenthal to the readings. The Cayce family moved from Dayton in 1925 to Virginia Beach, Virginia, a place designated in the psychic information many years before as the best location for the hospital.

      David E. Kahn, working with the Blumenthals, was primarily responsible for organizing a nonprofit association chartered in Virginia to study Edgar’s work. In 1928 Edgar Cayce’s dream of a hospital where his readings could be checked and followed became a reality.

      In July, 1928, the Virginia Beach News carried the following story: