Theos-Talk Archives (August 1997 Message tl00218)

Hi folks--

My book is ready to mail off this week, two manuscript copies
with photos and a bunch of forms I filled out.  One of the
forms, a marketing questionnaire, asked that I provide a
one-page (double spaced) summary of the contents to be used in
preparing the back cover copy.  I'm not totally happy with what
I have, and am asking for last minute suggestions.  But it
can't be any longer!  (And I prefer not to debate the point of
view taken until after the book is out.)  Here goes, for anyone
who cares to play editor:

     Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) is widely acclaimed as the best-
documented psychic in history and a forerunner of the holistic
health movement.  This book describes and evaluates his
clairvoyant "readings," more than 14,000 trance discourses that
address medical, theological, historical and psychological
concerns raised by thousands of inquirers.  Cayce is revealed
as a pivotal figure in the transition from the esoteric and
metaphysical movements of the late 19th century to the
holistic, eclectic New Age movement of today.  The author
evaluates evidence for and against Cayce's relibaility in four
subject areas emphasized by the readings.  Cayce's medical and
psychological advice is shown to be well ahead of his time in
many respects, while his spiritual teachings are appraised as a
reconciliation of Protestant mysticism with New Thought and
Theosophy.  Although the medical readings provide intriguing
evidence for Cayce's ESP, his clairvoyant time travel into the
past and future illustrates the fallibility of information
derived through hypnotic trance.  The author contends that the
strengths and weaknesses of the readings reflect the knowledge
and interests of their recipients as much as Cayce's personal
opinions and beliefs.  Sympathetic but objective in approach,
this is the first book to focus on appraising the entire body
of the Cayce readings from a scholarly perspective.