Venturing Inward. Hugh Lynn Cayce
possibilities which are locked away from the conscious mind, for it has at its disposal all subliminal psychic contents, all those things which have been forgotten or overlooked, as well as the wisdom and experience of uncounted centuries which are laid down in its archetypal organs … the unconscious can serve man as a unique guide, provided he can resist the lure of being misguided.”1
The direct approach to the unconscious, which allows it to speak for itself under controlled conditions, has provided some of the best material for study. The worth of this approach, like the worth of a garden, may be judged by its fruits, and the fruits have been good. An outstanding historical example was Sigmund Freud’s early studies of Anna Q., a patient of Josef Breuer. In a conscious state and under hypnosis she was allowed to talk about her symptoms, and each in turn disappeared. Freud visited Professor Jean Baptiste Charcot to observe his work with hypnosis. Later Freud turned from hypnosis to dream analysis and free association as ways of exploring the unconscious. The discovery that this hidden area of the mind to some extent could “explain itself” led to the development of Freud’s monumental work in the psychiatric field.
As already mentioned, one of the major approaches to the unconscious mind which will be considered in this book is the mass of data which came from the unconscious of one man. Of special interest will be the material which seems to involve clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, and descriptions of other than three dimensions. All of these subjects lie in the province of psychical research, which explores the unconscious as it attempts to measure and evaluate mental and spiritual powers apparently operating beyond the five senses. My personal experiences involve many of the different approaches which are used. Among the most widely publicized are hypnotism, experiments with mediums, drugs, card guessing and matching, spontaneous cases of extended perception such as warning dreams, hunches, visions of the dead, etc., investigations of so-called haunted houses, and automatic writing. As will be seen, such invasions of the unconscious frequently awaken “a sleeping giant” like the ogre in Puss in Boots, capable of becoming an elephant, a lion, or a mouse.
Obviously this book can be only a very limited examination of the psychic phenomena I have observed. Some brief historical references have been included in order to make comparative reference to my father’s experiences and data. This book is not a psychiatric study, though it deals frequently with abnormalities in mental activity. It is not an examination of the vast and complex world of symbology, so obviously associated with the language of the unconscious mind, though the stories related here contain much symbolism. Nor can this be a psychological analysis of complexes and frustrations, interpreted through various tests and measured evaluations of responses to either individual or group stimuli. It is not a documented laboratory study. If there seem to be contradictions and confusing explanations, it is because of my inadequate observations. There is no pretense here that all the answers have been discovered. I will be content if the importance of the direction of the search is suggested.
This is a compilation of my studies and observations of people who through psychic experiences have found themselves in touch with this seemingly boundless unconscious. In spite of the dangers, the fraud, the self-deception, the ever-present question of insanity, my conviction has grown through the years that in or perhaps through this unconscious lies a thread of light, hard to find and harder to follow, which leads to higher realms of mental and spiritual awareness.
This book is addressed to thousands of people who have had spontaneous psychic experiences which seem to transcend normal sense perception—hunches, warning dreams of coming events, and flashes of telepathy. It is also directed to the many individuals who are confused because of having dabbled in some psychic experiment. They have attended a séance or tried automatic writing or a Ouija® board. The directions given them have been just exciting enough to lead them on. Can it actually be a dead grandfather, an East Indian guide, or an alien being who spoke so flatteringly of one’s place in the New World Order? Also there are within orthodox churches many sincere people who are asking questions about the many psychic abilities and experiences described in both the Old and New Testaments. Can modern psychic research offer helpful explanations of such happenings? Are these same kinds of events taking place today? And last, there is a small but important group of students of the paranormal who may find here a few bridges from one area of mental and spiritual phenomena to another. The searching of this last group is not so much concerned with the magic-like powers of the unconscious exhibited through psychic phenomena, but rather with achieving some small insight into the true nature of man. Through focus on controlling matter, we have acted like a person who has entered a small room, shutting himself away from the grandeur of the stars, the majesty of the forest and mountains. Plato described this as being chained in a dark cave, forced to observe only flickering shadows on a wall. William Blake puts it in those haunting words from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man infinite. For man has closed himself up till he sees all things through the narrow chinks of his cavern.”
Mystics, sages, and philosophers of many ages have directed us to move outward through love, service, and sacrifice. It is these very people who have simultaneously ventured inward beyond the barriers of individual and mass fears and conflicts to find the indwelling source of inspiration and energy from which direction and control for outer expression may be achieved. This book is predicated on the belief that a better understanding of the functioning of the inner world, the unconscious mind, can bring insight into the true nature of humankind. And further, that such understanding can be clarified through examining some of the historic and contemporary practices of venturing inward.
1C.G. Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, Bollingen Series II (New York: Pantheon Books, 1953, p. 114)
Part I
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The Edgar Cayce Story
1
A Helpful Unconscious
“SON, THE DOCTORS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO OPERATE ON YOUR EYES.” It was Dad’s voice breaking through dark, aching layers of bandages on my head and face. For a seemingly endless number of pain-filled days I had been lying in bed suffering from burns, shock, and the blinding flash from a partially-filled box of flashlight powder into which I had dropped a lighted match. As a six-year-old boy, I was undergoing my first experience with real physical pain.
The silence seemed to press down. Someone coughed nervously.
“Dad, you’re a good doctor when you’re asleep,” I answered; “Why don’t you tell them what to do?”
A story I had heard told many times by members of my family came back to me. My mother had contracted tuberculosis. She had suffered terrible pains in her chest and had begun to grow frail and weak. Her brother had died of this disease, and the doctors had expected her to die, as well. Dad, who had no medical training, had given “a reading” which included directions for inhaling brandy fumes. The inroads of the disease on the lung had been stopped. A special diet had helped restore her health. The story always ended, “Edgar told the doctors what to do in a reading. There has never been any trouble with the TB since then.”
I knew about readings. My father would lie on a bed or couch and seem to go to sleep. Gertrude, my mother, would sit near him, and when he began to breathe slowly and regularly, as a sleeping person does, she would give him the name of someone who had asked for help. The individual might be there in the room or off in a far part of the country or even abroad. It was important, though, for the individual to be in the place agreed upon at the time the reading was being given. Gertrude would ask my father to look over the individual and report the physical condition, making suggestions for curing whatever might be wrong. This he would immediately do, describing any deviation from health. A stenographer would write down exactly what my father said so that a transcript could be given to the individual or to his doctor. These reports were called readings. Ever since I could remember, all kinds of people had been coming to Dad seeking help.
My father gave a reading on the condition of my eyes. Medicine to be taken internally, a special diet, and new solutions for the external bandages were recommended. From