Astrology Explored

September 22, 2007

The Association for Research and Enlightenment’s website says this about their founder:

“For forty-three years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce demonstrated the uncanny ability to put himself into some kind of self-induced sleep state by lying down on a couch, closing his eyes, and folding his hands over his stomach. This state of relaxation and meditation enabled him to place his mind in contact with all time and space. From this state he could respond to questions . . His responses to these questions came to be called “readings” . . .”

Edgar Cayce had been giving readings on health for about twenty years before the first reading on astrology was given in 1923. “Upon awakening from the first reading, Edgar Cayce was initially surprised and a bit fearful of the answers he had given. In fact, up until that time in 1923, he thought horoscopes were fake.”

Eventually the helpfulness of the information itself convinced Cayce that astrology was useful. At a time when astrology was practiced mainly as a fatalistic divinatory tool, Cayce’s readings described astrology as roadmap of “the inclinations of man . . . ruled by the planets under which he is born”. As such, astrology was a guide to identify the conditions a human choose before birth to facilitate the growth of the soul. This was a radically different idea of popular astrology which in the early twenties was represented by popular horoscopes printed in newspapers. However, he was quite firm in his assertions that though people are inclined to act in the manner described by the planets, no influence could over ride the free will of the soul. As a tool of self development, astrology gave a clear understanding of individual challenges in this life and the times for opportunity for growth.

The Universal Mind that Cayce accessed for this information was not bound by the limits of information of the times. Cayce correctly refered to the planet Pluto as Septimus, the seventh planet, ten years before it was discovered. He referred to an eighth planet “Octurus”, incorrectly identified as Arcturus, the fixed star, in the transcription of the readings. This planet may or not be the body called Sedna or the one called Eris, both recently discovered. Cayce identified planets closest to the Midheaven and Ascendant as having the strongest influence on personality, which was confirmed by Michel Gauquelin’s statistical work (though it must be noted that Gauquelin found the planets within a certain number of degrees on either side of any of the angles to be stronger than those in succedent houses.) Cayce stated the families share astrological influences, one that was partly confirmed by Gauguelin in his work. Gauquelin found that parents and children were likely to share a planetary position at one of the angles.

Cayce’s readings can be hard to digest, and for some astrologers, hard to accept. For instance, there is an insistence that a horoscope can only be correctly calculated for the “soul birth”, which may or may not happen upon first breath of the individual. Since no method was mentioned on how to calculate this “soul birth”, it is impossible for astrologers to test this theory. However, the esoteric teachings of Edgar Cayce are worth of review and consideration.

For further reading:

Astrological Revelations by John Wilner

astrology, zodiac, horoscopes, Edgar Cayce