Jesus and the Essenes
The Edgar Cayce readings give the impression that there was scarcely a moment of Jesus’ life that went untouched by the influence of the Essenes from the first moment of that life. A pattern evolves which suggests that by their own psychic faculties, the Essenes not only had foreknowledge of the arrival of the Christ but they were also aware of the dangers that would surround His life. Apparently, these dangers existed even before Herod’s edict. On June 23, 1936, while doing a second Life reading on a man of fifty-eight, Cayce told him:
“Before that we find the entity was among those who came under the activities during those experiences when the Master walked in the land of promise. For the entity lived in the days when there were the preparations for the activities of the Master, many of which were in the hands, as it were, of the entity, because the entity then was that man, the keeper of the inn, to which Joseph made application for a place for the birth of the Master of men. Much of that as has been recorded as we find is not so well, nor in keeping with what the entity did then, as Apsafar, who was of the Essenes, though of a Jewish descent, though a combination of the Jewish and the Grecian. For the entity then made a study of those peoples, knew of those things that had been foretold by the teachers of the Essenes, and made all preparations as near in keeping with which had been foretold as possible.
“While among the entity’s stables was indeed the place of rest, it was because of the very rabble, the very act of those that were in authority—both as to the Roman as well as the various groups—that were, in their discussions, making for the very things that would hinder or prevent those experiences that had been foretold. The entity did this rather for protection than because—as has been said—there was ‘no room in the inn.’ But this was meant to be implied, or conveyed, that they had been turned away. Yet in the entity’s activities it was really for the protection. For the entity, too, had seen a vision; the entity, too, had heard, had known, of the voices that were in the air. The entity, too, had seen the star in the east. The entity, too, had known of those experiences that must befall those that were making all the preparations possible under those existent conditions for Him that should come as a teacher, as a shepherd, as a savior.
“Hence the experiences of the entity were as of those that are ever present in the entity’s inner self. And when there is sorrow, when there are cares for others, these become rather as an appealing experience in the entity’s activities. These are innate and are built from those experiences in that land about Bethany, in which the great development, the great experiences, came. For the entity was in that position where it stood rather not as one that made for a spy, either upon the Jewish or the Roman or those of its own peoples, but rather as a counsellor to those that sought to overcome those oppressions that were of a political as well as of a religious nature, owing to those conditions existing between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Romans and those teachings that were gradually being presented from the Grecians—or the entity’s peoples—for the correlation of the philosophies that were of the Grecians and those activities with the Teacher, the Nazarene.
“Hence the entity, though in years, came to know the experiences, and there did the entity know its present companion or wife. Their relationships then were rather as father and daughter in the experience, for she stood watch. In the experience, then, there comes in from those activities the very nature of the religious influence, but the adherence to any particular sect or any particular denomination, as ye term, or any particular group, seems to have a drawback to the entity because of those very experiences of contentions that arose during that sojourn.
“First know thine own ideal, as thou didst find in thine studies as the innkeeper upon the gateway to the city of learning. As thou didst keep in touch with those from Carmel’s gates, so in thy dealings with thy fellow man in every walk of life thou mayest become as the gateway to understanding for many. Yet carry with these the basic forces as make for that as ye heard in thy declining years in the Bethany land, for thou wert present when he was raised from the dead, the friend Lazarus, as well as a friend to those that suffered through the experiences and the oppressions of those in authority.”
This man’s wife, who had been his daughter at the first Christmas, had the remarkable experience at that time of being the second person to hold the Infant Jesus. The midwife had been first, and then she passed the baby to this girl while attending to Mary. The daughter kissed the baby on the forehead. As was probably the case with most Essenes who lived outside the monastic communities, the information that this girl acquired about Jesus over the next thirty years came mostly over the grapevine; but when He began His ministry, she was one of the first to join Him. She was among the women who consoled Mary at the time of the Crucifixion and she became one of the first martyrs.
The Life readings of Case 1151, who was a man of forty-eight when he began to consult Cayce in 1937, offer a uniquely broader view of events of those times. Cayce told him:
“It was in those years when there was the establishing of the Julian calendar and when changes were wrought as to times. Hence, the record will be measured here from that in which time was counted later. In that portion of the land now called Rome, then a portion of Heliopolis, the entity was the son then of one Antonius and Josie and came in the activities of the Roman experience, educated in the ways of those people that were both for the Roman and the Grecian forces. And those things that became a part of the experiences were the lessons which had been taught by the Grecian soldier that later fed the hemlock. Thus the entity grew into grace with those in authority, through the activities as came under the influences of Caesar Augustus, later Claudius and those that ruled over the varied lands that had become a portion of the experiences—or under the direction of the Romans.
“The entity, as has been indicated, was one who traveled through those lands, making those associations, those recommendations, for the manners in which the peoples under the various schools—would be taxed, according to their spiritual counsel—or according to what ye would call the religious influences and the judging of these. Hence, we find the man, then, at thirty, coming into associations during those periods when the Master walked in the earth as the young man just beginning the ministry.
“In these associations the entity came in close contact with those of the household from which the Master had gone out, becoming associated with, later married to (and by the Master), the sister of the Master—the only sister, who had received education in Greece and Rome through the associations of the family with the sects of the Jews and a portion that favored the Romans.
“Hence, much of that which had been a portion of the experience of the household of Mary and Joseph was known to the entity. And when the Master was called home, owing to the death of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the entity then first became the closer associated with Jesus, the Master. For owing to the visitations of Jesus to men in other lands, and because of the Roman rule and the changes wrought, the entity—then Romacio—found it necessary to make for the activities that brought a closer understanding.
“During those periods the activities were in keeping the Jewish masters or the Jewish rulers coordinating with the activities of the Roman rulers—as in that particular province in which the greater activities were under Pontius Pilate. Hence we find, as would be applied in the present, as is the experience of the entity ever in the present experience, the entity became as one associated with the producer and that produced—or with the capital and the labor or the activities as related to same. These become a natural activity from same; as then many of not only the tax assessors, the tax gatherers but those who judged in the various provinces as to the amounts, as to the abilities, came under the supervision of the entity during those experiences.
“Hence, we find there were many of those that were the followers, yea, the disciples, later called Apostles, who became close friends then in one manner or another of the entity.
“It is sometimes judged that most of the disciples were poor, and this was not true. For Zebedee and his sons and Matthew the publican, all of whom were closely associated, were rather well-to-do. Peter and Andrew, of course, were servants or laborers with the sons of Zebedee; but Zebedee was among the wealthy and among those closely associated with those in authority. For as these were a portion of the family of which John, James, Jude, Ruth and all became a part, these were kinsmen and were people that were in authority so far as capital is concerned, as ye would term in the present, and were not poor. While Peter, Andrew, Thomas, Alphaeus were not of the wealthy, all of these were known to the entity, as also was Matthew, as just given, who had been one appointed by an aide of the entity in the experience.
“Thus came the closer understanding. For the entity then studied, as it were, those things that prompted the activity of the various sets and sects—the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, the influence upon the Roman soldiery as well as the Roman rule, as well as upon the individuals who were set in authority in the varied provinces.
“Then the period arrives when the entity is just called to Rome, during that period of the trial or just before the trial, during the Crucifixion, returning to Jerusalem or to those environs of same just the day after this had occurred. Thus, we find the walk to Emmaus with the disciples, one Luke, the beloved physician, who was both a Roman and a Jew and of those same provinces in the Grecian rule that were under the Roman authorities. Thus, we find the entity again physically in association, in touch with, the influence of the Master, Jesus, who became the Christ in the life lived.
“Thus we find the entity later, when there was the recall of Pilate because of that which had been brought about, returned to Rome as one who counseled with the Caesars for those very activities and making the changes that brought Philip and Agrippa and the judges that were to judge later when those periods in which Paul, Peter, John, Philip and Stephen were alive. These all became a portion of the experiences of the entity.
“Though remaining a Roman, the entity was in sympathy with those activities, lending counsel and giving those influences that prevented the full destruction of the disciples during those periods of experience. Is there any wonderment, then, that the entity in the present experience finds the urge for service? For it was gained by those close walks with the entity, the man, Jesus, who had given, ‘He that would be the greatest among you, he is the servant of all.’ These became, then, as it were, the sign, the guide, the directing influence in the experience of the entity. And we find little in that sojourn, that activity, that may be said to have been even a tendency towards retardment [spiritual regression]. For all was in purpose, in desire, to be even as He had taught, that they who for any cause lord over their fellow man become that as must sooner or later become a stumbling stone.
“And, as He gave also, each and every individual is in that position, that phase, that state of development or unfoldment, that they have builded in their application of that as He gave is the whole law: to love the Lord thy God with all thy body, thy mind, thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. This is the whole law. May all learn, as the entity strove then to apply those tenets, those truths, in the experiences of those that were put in authority by man, yea, but that they might have, they might show, in their opportunity that the love of the Father surpasses the glory of man.
“Thus we find throughout the entity’s experience and the entity’s associations with those of what ye call or term the Palestine experience there was no rebellion of those peoples of the land against Roman authority. The rebellion came after those periods, when the entity was recalled to Rome or attempted to keep closer in touch with those who had been called to Rome for the questioning, such as was Paul who, by his own self, had brought misinterpreting, misunderstanding; as did Peter and the Church, even John. Here the entity, in the last acts of his intervention, saved that entity (John)—for the followers, for the world—from that death as the others had drawn or had come to. Hence, the banishment of John was by the very direct intervention of the entity with those in authority, and the taking away from the churches that had been established in the various places that there might be preserved the records, for same also became a portion of the entity’s experience.
“There was the passing, then, from the physical activity in Rome during that period when there were just the beginnings of the attempts for the unification of the religious as well as the penal laws or the laws in other lands ruled by the Roman empire. The entity once, just before the interventions, went to the libraries in Alexandria, and there were the attempts to placate any of the destructions that later became the loss to what is now called the Christian world. The entity was at that age or period some sixty years after the Crucifixion—then ninety years or ninety-three years of age at the passing.”
The man had some questions. “I would like to know a more complete account of the report I made to Rome concerning the Christian movement in Palestine.”
Cayce said, “These were of such varied characters that we find it necessary that all of these be taken as what may be termed individual reports, see? At the time when there was the recalling of Pilate and the reports that had been made as to the activities of the wife of Pilate as related to the healing that had been accomplished in the household, then we find a very favorable report to the Christians, though the entity was questioned much by those who were directly under the supervision of the entity. But the report was accepted by the Roman emperor and acted upon according to the directions of the entity: that Pilate be removed and one closer in association or in sympathy with the Christian movement be appointed in the stead, as is seen or is recorded by profane history as well as by intimation in sacred history.
“During those periods when there were the uprisings, as in some places and positions, we find the reports then were not so severe against the individual activities of the Romans in authority, for never again do we find, as has just been given, any of the Roman rulers of the various provinces acting without the direction from Rome through the activities of the entity. While these reports were not that Rome should just accept the authority but that there be the reasoning together. For he gave then, as did the great teacher from the Sanhedrin-Gamaliel: let not ye find thyselves fighting against God. This might be said, then, to be the whole of the report. Not be in that attitude of condemning but do not act in such measures as to find thyself fighting against providence and God.”
The man: “Did I secure information from the entity then known as Judy?”
“Information respecting the activities of the Essenes as to whether they were averse to the authority of the Jewish rulers as well as the Romans. The activities or lessons or information gained from the keeper of the records of the Essenes—or Judy—were those things that prompted the entity later to investigate for self those records that were reported to have been made and that were in the library at Alexandria, about the Wise Men that came from the other lands just before the birth and at the time of the birth presented themselves—or a few days later—in the town of Bethlehem. Yes, the entity gained—or obtained—a record of that as had been gathered by the keeper of records from Carmel.”
The man: “How close a relationship had I with the entity known as Judy?”
“Just as would be intimated—as here the entity Judy was held in reverence by all of the followers of Jesus, though persecuted oft by the Jews or the sects of the Jews—under various circumstances. But not as an informer was Judy considered by the entity, but as one that would and that did give the facts of the activities of various groups in respect to not only the Essenes but the other portions of the various groups in the land. The association then was quite close at times; at others not so closely associated yet keeping in touch with the activities.”
The man: “Any advice that may be given at this time that will be of benefit and help?”
“Hold to that purpose that prompted thee not only in thy activities then but in those that ye are repeating in this experience, from those great awakenings and unfoldments that came to thee when thou had indeed learned, thou had experienced, indeed, ‘I am my brother’s keeper!’—even as the Master gave of His whole self—body and mind—risking even the spirit, that man might know there is an advocate with the Father. So can ye bring into the hearts and minds of those in authority, here or there, whether it be those that labor day by day or those that work in the office or wherever, the realization that all must work as the cog, the wheel, that must bring together all for one purpose—service, that the Father may be manifested through the love each soul shows for the other.”
On April 26, 1934, a woman of thirty was given this information: “Before that we find the entity was in that known as the Promised Land, during those periods when the Master walked in the earth. The entity then was among those that came under those influences in the sojourns of the Master in that land of Galilee, for the entity was then a daughter of Zebedee and a sister to those that were close in the activities of the Master in that land. Through that experience the entity gained in soul-development. While fears and doubts arose at times from the activities through the periods of persecution, that sojourn has builded and does make for those abilities to arouse in others those things that may be helpful in their mental and physical self; also that purposefulness in the inmost self that may bring to the entity those satisfying things that bring joy, peace and harmony. And oft in the visions have there come periods when the entity has walked close with those during that sojourn.”
Over the next three years, check readings were obtained on this reading—No. 540—and the one on February 20, 1936 is particularly illuminating. By then, it had been established that the entity’s name during the Palestinian Period had been Naomi and that she had been the sister of the Apostles James and John. Then Cayce told her:
“In giving the interpretation of that as we find here, do not let same become confusing because of customs of the surroundings, of the changes that are wrought in using the language of the present to describe that used or in use during the period of the entity’s experience in the Palestine land. As we find here, in giving these descriptions, these are as those that made impressions, as it were, upon the skein of time and space. Hence they may be often viewed by others who may turn to such from a different angle. Yet that which may become the more worthwhile to the entity in making application of the experience and the effect made upon the soul of the entity by that which the entity may experience itself as it reviews same is what is being given. And it may become a part of the mental forces that are the builders in practical application of an experience upon an individual entity.
“Thus we find the entity was the daughter of Zebedee and the other Mary. These individuals were not of the rabble, not of the political, not of great spiritual influence or force among the associates of the group. While both were of the Jewish faith, as would be termed today, or the Hebraic faith, they were in that position socially which was above that of the ordinary individuals. For, as we find, these (Mary and Zebedee) were one of the house of Judah and the other of the house or lineage of Levi. Hence the close associations with those of the priesthood. Yet, by and through the associations of Zebedee, there were the contacts with the Essenes and those groups that held rather to a more universality of application of the tenets and teachings of the peoples during the period.
“Hence in such an environment we find that the entity ‘entered’ during that period just after the birth of the Master to Joseph and Mary of the household of Judah. The entity was between James and John—hence during that period when the Master, Jesus, was in Egypt; the place (of birth) being outside of Jerusalem, nigh unto Bethany. Hence, we see how that the environs for Naomi in the early portion of its experience in that land were under a varied effect. Here we find something of the conditions that surrounded the activities of those about the entity:
“Owing to the circumstances of the group to which Zebedee, the father, belonged, this necessitated the choosing of a following or vocation somewhat in keeping with the forefathers, as the custom ran. Yet the very location of the home or the dwelling belied—or was at variance to—the general customs, owing to the political situations not only as to the Roman rule but because of the edicts that had become rather contrarywise or at variance with—or at cross-purposes with—Herod’s ruling then of the portions of Judea that later became known as the Galilean or the Samaritan or a questioned peoples.
“The activities of Zebedee required that the purposes and aims be rather carried on through or by agents. Or, to put in the parlance of the present, Zebedee was rather in the fishing business as a wholesaler than being in active service himself. As indicated or given, that as He passed by He saw James and John with their father Zebedee mending their nets, rather were the brothers of Naomi and the father supervising and reasoning with the employees as to their activities. For remember the situations: Mary, the mother, was of the priesthood that was renounced by the cousin, John the Baptist, as known; yet the activities with the Essenes demanded (as would be termed in the present) the keeping secret the meetings of the peoples or the adherents during those cross-purposed edicts of the Roman ruler and Herod. But after the death of Herod the Great, when Herod the Less became in power in the political forces, more consideration was brought or given to those who called their meetings in those various manners. These activities came about, then, when Naomi was nigh unto thirty years of age.
“When did the entity first consider its harkening to an echo of itself? Nigh unto its thirtieth year of age. As to the surroundings, we find that the entity’s home life was out of the ordinary, even for that period of experience. For it was pulled, as it were, between the teachings or the training of the mother and the activities of the father and the brothers, and yet it had associations in the Roman activities as well as a position in the Jewish faith or Jewish activity. Hence, we find this as a description of the body: One educated in the schools of those that were the teachers from Carmel, yet associated with those activities of the people about the temple and those who dedicated themselves to the service that was to bring those activities which, to the world today, find themselves exemplified in many ways. In one area, the entity was one of the sisters of ‘orders’ known as the Catholic—or the Church—in the present; in the other, she was of the orthodox activities of the ‘sisters of mercy’ among certain Jewish sects. These, then, may give the conditions of the activity in which the entity, Naomi, in its teen years found itself: pulled between the holy activities of the Essenes and the dedicating of self to the faith of the fathers.
“When there first began those activities among John’s teachings, we find the entity then joined rather with those of the Essene group, for John first taught that the women who chose might dedicate their lives to a specific service. Hence not only the brothers but those employed by the brothers (Peter, Andrew and Judas—not Iscariot) joined in the activities. These were of the fisherfolk who aided in establishing the teachings in and among the people that held to both the old and the new environs.
“The body then was fair, with gray eyes and dark hair, but brown in its tinge. In mien the body was gentle, and a good cook, a good housekeeper, a wonderful singer, and given to meditations. Not until after those teachings of Master, that made for the establishing more of what would be in the present called the ‘home’ altars, did the entity wed, being then thirty and four years of age. And it was among the groups in Cana when the wedding feast was held that the associations were made which culminated in the home ties for the entity, making for the reconciliation between Mary and Martha and Lazarus also, and the closer association with Elizabeth, the mother of John. In the entity’s home, then, did Elizabeth—of its own people—dwell, during those portions of its activity among the holy women who had dedicated their lives, their bodies, their purposes, their aims, to those changed teachings between John the forerunner and the Master, Jesus. The entity in those environs, then, made for its development during those experiences in the earth during that period.
“As to the various activities to which the entity was joined during the period, that make for or give experiences in the present activity as to the entity’s purpose, we find: There is exhibited much of that which was experienced in those days, of oft being seen and not heard, yet keeping that which was given as an example of the women of the period, ‘pondering oft in the heart’ that they had seen and heard. In making application of the experience in the present: Hold fast to that thou hast purposed, even then, in thy heart of hearts, in thy soul, that as He gave to thee as direct through the associations with those about the entity in the visits, in the passage of activity: ‘Abide in me and I in thee, and ye in me—ask and it shall be given thee.’
“As to the activities also as we have given and intimated through these channels, whether John (the beloved, Naomi’s brother) would again join in those activities in the earth, we find: The entity, then, by body, by mind, by position, by soul’s development, will be joined nigh unto those experiences with those bodies through which and to which the entity John (the brother) may come and be known among men.”
On October 6, 1937, Cayce told a nineteen-year-old boy:
“Before that we find that which brings into the present experience an activity that may become as the key to the entity’s expression in the present sojourn. For during those periods when the Master walked in the earth, the entity was among the Essenes that made for the predictions—yes, the preparations—for the activities that would bring about His entering into the activities in this period. There we find the entity acted then in the capacity of keeping the records and the temple service where the maids as well as the men were kept; or the entity directed or taught according to the tenets of the law as pertaining to material things and the laws or tenets pertaining to the spiritual things.
“We find the entity’s activities there brought into the experience of many that which his activities influenced and will ever influence in the affairs of man, as man, in the earth: a great revolutionary period. As the entity in the present seeks more and more for the greater knowledge of those things that govern the purposes, that govern the desires, that govern the wishes in the experiences of men from the spiritual angle, more and more will there be the inclinations for the abilities of the entity to become as a leader in its affairs or associations with others. The inclinations from that experience in the present to join with groups of every nature or character may become a part of the entity’s experience. Do not let these become then rather sectional or sect activities, but let them rather be for the common good of all.
“Then the name was Philo, and he to whom much has been given in those expressions in the activities of individuals arose from the entity’s sojourn during that experience.”
An eleven-year-old boy was, on April 26, 1938, given this information about his soul:
“Before that we find the entity was in the land of promise, as known, during those periods when the Master walked in the earth. The entity then was among those of the priesthood and closely associated or affiliated with the activities of Zacharias. And the entity was the one who announced, by the blowing of the ram’s horn, the various services or activities in the temple where there were the morning and evening periods for the sacrifice, when there were the announcings of those various periods when the offerings might be accepted by the priesthood activity or those who acted in the capacity of the sacrificial priests at the altars.
“Hence the entity knew much of those experiences of John and the activities as connected with same, as also of those activities in the temple when the child Jesus was presented before the priests, as was necessary under the Jewish law. Again, we find ritual and those things pertaining to the mental or spiritual conditions and experiences becoming a portion of the entity’s whole activities during that sojourn.
“The name then was Xaneres—yes, a Grecian; for the entity was of those activities that were of the pure household of the children of Judah but who had been taking on other names in their activities for the preservations of those activities of the Peternians as well as the Samaritans and those particularly who had accepted the Jewish tenets through the study of those things of that particular sect of same called the Essenes. Hence we find, though the entity held himself in good repute with the rest of the leaders through those periods of service, there were the acquaintances with all of those mysterious influences that were given as a portion of the reasons for the coming of the Wise Men and their teachings, as well as the educational values and activities in the experiences of John and of Jesus to become teachers or leaders in and during that experience.”
Life reading 1602-4, done on September 26, 1939, for a woman of forty-one, demonstrates how one can become somewhat aware subconsciously of experiences of previous sojourns and how, to some extent, one becomes an accumulation of them. Cayce began with:
“In giving a detailed biographical sketch of the experience of the entity as Eunice, it would be well that something be indicated as to the background in which the entity developed, so that there may be a better paralleling or drawing from same in the reasoning of the present, as to how those conditions which arose in the experience of Eunice affected the entity so. We find that in the Galilean land—in which the entity found itself, as it became aware of the tenets and the changes that had come about—there was less of what would be termed the Orthodox Jewry or the adherence to the tenets as had been established with the return of the peoples to the Palestine land from the Persian. Yet, the entity was of those peoples who had united with the remnant left in that land of Zebulon during the period of captivity, thus being a mixture (as understood according to the history of the theological nature or phase) of the Jewry and the Samaritan. However, with those adherents of the land becoming more and more imbued with the ideals and tenets of the Essenes, the entity’s family then had embraced that phase. The Essenes were a religious order within Jewry and the adherents and near-adherents of same, see?
“This then was to the entity in its early years a problem because there were the continued reports of happenings that were handed down as a part of the family records (for these were by word of mouth rather than from books) of happenings in the Promised land, of the preserving of a people of ‘promise’—though they were in captivity—of returning one portion of the family to the land of promise and of how that portion had been preserved because they had maintained their adherence through the changes which had been wrought.
“Then, with the looking for the Savior, through the tenets of that new order, it became something which to the entity induced the feeling—or the attempt—to make such a combination that, to be sure, through the self must be the lineage that were to see and know and hear of this fulfilling of the promise in the day and age and period of the entity’s experience.
“Thus with all such expectancy, there was the betrothal and then the birth of the son, who, to the entity, must be one especially endowed with those privileges that were to mean and to bring such an awakening to the people, an awakening which came to the entity through the very associations with Elizabeth, the mother of John, and the friendships of Mary and Joseph in a portion of their experience that was a part of not only the conversation but the wonderments and the study of the entity through those early periods of experience in that particular land. And then there came the edict that robbed all the mothers of that particular portion of the land, through that which had been a part of the activities of one in the position to direct the activities and counseling of the Wise Men and their conversation and convocation with the king who made the edict. And then the happening.
“This brought into the experience of the entity a spirit of hurt, of hate for those who had—according to the entity—betrayed that knowledge as pertaining to those who were in those positions of having sons who were in those periods in which there was the expectancy and the desire for their fulfilling a long looked for promise. Into the experience in the present, then, this has brought the little jealousies, the little disputations, that are to be eliminated if there would be the full knowledge of and atonement with the Creative Forces.
“During these periods, as conditions developed, when John and Jesus were receiving their trainings in other lands, the entity kept close in touch with the household of Elizabeth. And through that period when she, too, was affected by the very edicts of the king and when there was the change that brought about the death of the king and through those periods when the Romans robbed Elizabeth of her mate—through the death even at the altar, there began to be changes in the outlook of the entity. The attempt to understand why those who were supposed to be endued with powers and activities divine should have such things happen to them brought still greater resentment and wonderment. Then again in the periods when Mary and Elizabeth were so desirous of those activities within their homeland as the changes came about and with the journey from the upper part of Galilee to Capernaum, the entity there entered rather into not wholly the intrigues but rather what might be called in the present more of a social activity, owing to the abilities of the entity’s mate to make friendships with those in power.
“With the rebuking of Jesus in the house of worship and the imprisonment of John, the entity—with the expectancy again of motherhood—sought greater counsel with Mary, Martha, and those who were closer to the activities—not only of those who had renounced their relationships with the priests but those who were in the position of keeping alive the order of the Essenes. Then in the latter days of Jesus’ sojourn in the material plane, the entity saw her child blessed by Him, among those who were set as the ideal manner in which all individuals were to accept their relationships with others—in that pronouncement, ‘Unless ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter in.’
“These brought periods of searching of self and the adherence closer to those tenets which had been a part of the experiences of the entity. Yet, with the knowledge that such a one as Magdala had become a close companion of those of the household, there again was brought to the entity that questioning as to, ‘How can such things be?’ Such questionings, though, were blotted out in those periods when the entity, with Mary, Josie and the other Mary, learned of those things which had brought the conditions to pass in Jerusalem. And as the entity journeyed there and became aware of the turmoils which surrounded those periods of activities, there was a greater leaning upon those who were of that land. For, remember, of the twelve, seven of them came from the entity’s own land and own acquaintances.
“As the days passed, the entity was among those who were turning then more and more to the tenets pertaining to the activities in Jerusalem. And the Pentecost came. Then the entity was among those who heard her own kinsmen speak in tongues, seeing the great tumult and the activities wrought. Thus there was builded that determination within the experience and heart of the entity to bring the greater knowledge, the greater awareness, of the spirit of truth, as was indeed manifested by Him that shed through the tenets of His disciples and Apostles the new light to men, so that hate and those things that make afraid may be put away, and so that positions of power or wealth or fame may be set as naught compared to the peace that came and is the understanding of those who have seen and known and become aware of His presence abiding, even as the entity heard promised, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’
“Through the latter portion of its experience, then, we find that the entity ministered to the needs of the saints, as they were called, or those who dedicated their lives and their activities wholly to the ministering to the fields about the whole of that land. The entity thus gained in the giving—giving of self, in just being kind to those who were heavily burdened by the cares of life, whether in illness or in the vicissitudes of relationships or in wants of the body or in needs in the activities of others that brought desperate circumstance in the experience.
“These, then, should be analyzed, and the petty jealousies and hates made less and less a part of the attitudes of mind and body and activities in the present. Meeting all of those forces in the experiences, we find that the entity—Eunice—was among the elderly mothers of the church in the latter portion of the experience, in the southernmost portion of Palestine. Thus we find that the associations with those who were in authority of the Romans and those who were brought to a better understanding by the associations of the wife of Cornelius, who brought the great activity and blessings to many of the entity’s household and friends—all these brought in the experience of the entity the joys in which it passed into the greater realms of activity in that experience.”
Cayce then said he was ready for questions. The woman wanted to know whether, in the present sojourn, her soul-mind would derive the greatest spiritual benefits through relationships with other entities who had been associated with Jesus or John or those in authority during the Palestinian experience. Cayce told her:
“All of these must be met by circumstances. These may be found, as individuals, by paralleling the lives and experiences of those who were in that particular period—not that these are to be chosen as individuals but they are the activities that are a part of the experience. To be sure, there is what may be called an excess of that urge arising from such activities, but as to whether it shall be applied in the direct associations of individuals or as a cause or purpose, in contact with those things and influences that bring a united effort, is to be the choice of the entity itself.
“For, this: Because of the associations with those in authority back then, as counselors, we find that in the presence of such individuals in the present there is felt the urge, ‘Well, I can’t get that, nor those activities.’ But those are principles and not things to be applied as to individuals. If there are things to be worked out, with individuals, because of the knowledge of same, then as to whether or not this is attempted depends upon the choice in self, as to whether such knowledge is to be a stumblingblock or a steppingstone for greater development. Test not self beyond what it is able to bear. Rather develop for the principle than for the activity of individuals.
“In analyzing the present experience and environ, it will be seen that the associations are with some to whom the entity ministered much and brought through such activity greater blessings to many. Thus, where such are needed, apply thyself. When there is the urge because of the personalities of individuals that renew the urge for activities known within self to be such as to cause or make one to err, remember as He gave, ‘Being forewarned, be forearmed, and allow not thine house (thine self) to be broken up.’”
The woman said, “I have had visions and impressions of a Roman experience during the period immediately following that of the Palestine. Is this so or is it the same?”
Cayce said, “As we find, it is rather the visioning of the experience the entity had with those who were in authority. Remember, as was first given, in the early portion of the experience the entity heard both sides that were handed down—as the experience of those in the Chaldean land as well as those in the land of promise. In the latter portion the entity heard from those in authority (as Cornelius and those of his household) about the activities in Rome and how such were carried on. Hence, it is as a vision by the entity rather than an experience of being in the position. For, as we find, if analyzed, the vision is rather the awareness of such a position, yet not being in Rome itself.”
In 1934, Cayce was doing a check reading for Mrs. 2072, then thirty-four, and, referring to both herself and her husband, she asked: “What were our names in the Palestine period?”
Cayce said, “Ruth and what should be called in the present Alec, for he was a pretty smart aleck then.”
“Were we Essenes in the Palestine period?”
“The names themselves imply it, yes. But remember the Essenes had the divisions, just as you will find that most churches have their groups and divisions. These two were in opposite groups of the Essenes. One held that a thing can happen; the other held that God makes it happen. Which comes first, the hen or the egg? As was implied in that same question.”
“What were our activities as Essenes?”
“As is indicated, they were so divided that comparing them together isn’t well. And as to using in the present, don’t fall out with each other because one wants to listen to Brahms and the other to Liszt.” Many times Cayce resorted to this kind of homespun wisdom in the effort to make people distinguish between important and unimportant differences, even in matters of religion, thereby making him an ecumenist ahead of his time.
On October 17, 1942, a follow-up was done on the Life reading of Mrs. 2175, thirty-one, and it had already been established that she had been the nurse of John the Baptist. She now wanted more information about that. So Cayce told her:
“In giving the outline and the activities of the entity through the experience in Palestine, something of the history of the period must be interpreted, for this to be a helpful experience for the entity.
“There were, in the period, those political turmoils with many of those peoples of the holy family—or the house of the Lord. Zachariah was a just man, then living in the hills of Galilee, and he was the priest who offered sacrifice for the month of Nisan. And when there were those visions or experiences and his wife Elizabeth conceived, these brought into the experience of those groups—of which this entity, Sofa, was a part, the Essenes—a great deal of questioning, as to what manner of individual would be required or needed as the helper or director or nurse, in the circumstances that would naturally arise if these visions were to be fulfilled.
“When there had been the experience, then, of the happening of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, there was the choosing of the dedicated women for this office. This was a reminder to many of what and how the maiden had been chosen on the stair. The entity then, Sofa, was one of the women dedicated to service in the temple, not as one that would be called a caretaker but these were the offices of the entity—to ‘touch up’ or paint or to keep certain portions of the temple in order for the activities of the priest. Thus the entity appealed to Zachariah to use his period of preparation as the one to offer the sacrifice, as the time when there would be the choosing of the attendant or nurse to the babe. Hence the entity was chosen by what would be termed—or is termed in the Cabala—the moving of the symbols upon the vesture of the priest. This, then, prevented any of those confusions as might have arisen with the entity.
“When there was the birth, then, of John (for, remember, he was not called the Baptist until after his death), in the periods of training the entity also acted as the instructor, as in the position of one who looks after or cares for those through such periods. And (this aside) too often there is not sufficient thought taken as to the care of a developing body through those first eighteen months to two years. Here, though, this entity was chosen by those directing forces as from the temple service itself—or by divine guidance. Thus did the entity fulfill until the boy, John, was weaned at six years of age.
“Then the entity was associated with Jesus with the last year of the experience in the household of Mary and Joseph. While the offices here had been fulfilled by that one as we have indicated, the entity was especially given this office to indicate to the developing child the nature, the character, of the cousin. After that period and the period of education and the periods when the labor began, from the periods of twelve years to that of seventeen, when the entity John went to Egypt for the dedication and the preparation there, the entity was known among those who were as holy women, who acted in the capacity of the mourners at the various functions of the Order, as would be called, of the Essenes.
“Later the entity was among those—not the first but among the first—to be baptized by John in Jordan. The entity also ministered to the needs of John when he was cast in prison and was among the chief mourners when he was beheaded. The entity also was among those who, during His period in prison, sought Jesus for counsel. And with the answers given, the entity was confused, until there were those reclaiming activities upon the day of Pentecost. Then the entity was old in years and among those first disturbed by the first edicts that brought death to James. The entity died in that period from exposure by the abuse of soldiers in that first raid.
“As to the period, no losses in spiritual or mental progress might be indicated; rather those periods of confusion could be the experience of any that are dedicated to an idea and who in sincerity give of their best through a material sojourn. As so the entity’s parents, these were of the Levites and those acquainted with many of the activities in the temple. And from same, ceremony means much to the entity. Whatever the preparation, for whatever the function, to the entity there must be some ceremony. Ready for questions.”
The woman asked: “To what extent and over what period of time did I have a close association with Jesus?”
“As indicated, during a year the entity gave most of the time to indicating to the child Jesus the life, the preparation and the character of John, and then only meeting same in those periods when, as indicated, coming to Him for counsel.”
“In choosing to be the nurse of John the Baptist—”
Cayce interrupted her. “Chosen. Not choosing but asking that there be a choosing, and chosen by the office—or upon the ephod.”
“Did I take the vows of celibacy?”
“They didn’t take the vows of celibacy! Not to have children during those periods was considered to be ones not thought of by God.”
“Concerning the fulfillment of those promises which had been a part of the Scripture, please outline the promises for purposes of study. That is, where in the Bible?”
“All of those recorded by the writers respecting the visit of the disciples of John to Jesus; then especially fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth of John. There are the promises that are a part of the promises to the entity. And to all.”
A forty-two-year-old woman who consulted Edgar Cayce for the first time on August 25, 1943, found that she, too, had occupied a unique role in the life of Jesus. Cayce told her:
“Before that the entity was in the Holy Land during those days when the Master walked in the earth and was among those people when there was the choosing of the disciples. The entity was acquainted with the Master, being a sister of Peter’s wife’s mother. Thus the entity was acquainted with the first of the outward miracles of healing in that experience and has looked for—and may find—in its own hands the abilities to heal others in His name. Not of self but in His name.
“In the experience the entity ever remained through the period one of those of the holy women. The timidity, the backwardness, and yet the exaltation, which may be the experience of many by merely being in the presence of the entity, arises from that sojourn. For, as has been indicated, all feel a variation, a difference, by the very presence of the entity in any company. This is not to be used other than as given: kindness, gentleness, patience, persistence and brotherly love. These are the fruits of the spirit. These ye then made manifest. These ye may again make manifest.
“There, too, the entity made for much color, and it was this entity that prepared the robe of the piece for the Master. The name then was Martha.”
A year later, on June 17, 1944, “Martha” (3175) was the subject of a third reading, and Cayce gave this information:
“In giving the experiences of the entity in the earth plane as Martha, the sister of Peter’s wife’s mother, it would be well that much of the happenings or history of the times be included, so that there may be the more perfect understanding of the conditions and as to how and why urges from that experience apply in the experience of the entity in the present. As is understood by many, there had been long a looking forward to or for the advent of the promised Messiah into the earth and there had been those various groups through one channel or another who had banded together to study the material which was handed down through the varied groups in that day and period.
“Here we find there had been, for the mother of Martha, an experience of coming in touch with Judy, who had been the first of women appointed as the head of the Essenes group to have the experience of having ‘voices,’ which would be called in the present experiences ‘communications’ with the influences which had been a part of man’s experience from the beginning, such as that the divine within man heard the experiences of those forces outside of man and communicated in voices, in dreams, in signs and symbols which had become a portion of the experience.
“When the children of Martha’s mother, Sophia, were in those periods of development these (communications) had become a part of what would be called today a ‘play-experience’ for the entity Martha. For Peter’s wife’s mother was many years the senior of Martha, but the coming of John and the birth of Jesus and the dispensation of Jesus and John in Egypt all had an impression or imprint upon the mind of the entity Martha, who builded in her own mind how the king and how the announcer of the king should be dressed (as this had been a part of the experiences of the entity in other periods and thus the choice of things in this direction).
“Then there came those great changes in the life experience of Martha, for one among those of the rulers of the synagogue sought the entity in marriage and through the individuals who made these arrangements the entity was espoused to Nicodemus. Through his activities and personality, Martha learned first of what had happened to the peoples in the homes of John the Baptist and of Mary and Joseph and Jesus. Then when there were later the experiences of those entering into activities and then when the message was given out that Martha’s older sister had been healed from a terrible fever by this man Jesus, this brought about great changes in Nicodemus and Martha, as they had to do with the temple and the service of the high priest Martha began the weaving of the robe that became as a part of the equipment the Master had. Thus the robe was made especially for the Master. In color it was not as the robe of the priest, but woven in the one piece with the hole in the top through which the head was to be placed, and then over the body so that with the cords it was bound about the waist.
“This robe Nicodemus presented then to the Master, Jesus, after the healing of the widow of Nain’s son, who was a relative of Nicodemus. In the activities, then, when Nicodemus went to the Master by night and there became those discussions in the home, for Nicodemus and Martha there began the communion as man and wife rather than man and his chattel of his servant. They were more on a basis of equality, not in the same proportions which were established a bit later by some of the rulers from the Roman land but more in keeping with the happenings which had brought about the activities in the Essene group.
“Though Martha was an Essene, Nicodemus never accepted completely the tenets or the teachings of the Essenes group. These were a part of the principles and applications of Martha. The acquaintanceships, the friendships, which were established between Mary, Elizabeth and the other Mary all are parts of the experience, and because of the position of Martha throughout those activities she was considered rather one of the leaders—or one to whom others made appeal to have positions or conditions set in motion so that there was given more concessions to the Holy Women who followed Jesus from place to place when there were those periods of His Palestine ministry.
“The only differences which arose were with Martha and Mary in the household of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Because of conditions there from which Mary (Magdalene) had returned, from the houses which were a portion of her activity in various cities, questions as to morality arose. And yet, after there were the beatings and after it was discovered how she out of whom seven devils were cast became changed and how there were even changes then and there, we find there was a greater working together with the activities of Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Mary the mother of Jesus, Elijah and many of those others, including John and Mark’s mother. These were parts of the experience of the entity.
“The entity stood, as indicated by the accomplishments of the robe from Nicodemus, as one particularly honored even by the Master. During the periods of activity, during the missions after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Master, the entity Martha gathered with those in the upper room looking for the promise of the coming of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This, too, became a part of the activities. For the entity later was among those who aided Stephen and Philip, as well as others of the various lands. For it was with these that the entity first became acquainted with Luke and Lucius, who later became heads of various organizations in other portions. These acquaintances were then rather as counsel from those to whom Luke, Lucius, Mark as the younger of the Disciples (not Apostles but younger of—the Disciples) went for counsel. For the entity was one acquainted with the law. The entity Martha taught the law to the young ones, the children who sought knowledge.
“The entity had its own family—two sons and one daughter. These became ministers in the church in Antioch, aiding the peoples who worked with Barnabas; and it is mentioned that one, Theopolus, learned from the entity Sylvanus; and those who labored in the church in Jerusalem with John, James, Peter and the others, as a child. As a child, this one was known as Thaddeus. The daughter was wed to one of the companions of Paul, Silas, who was engaged in a portion of the activities with Paul.
“As to the activities of the entity, then: The abilities are indicated in weaving, in color. The color of the robe was pearl-gray, as would be called now, with selvage woven around the neck, as well as that upon the edge, as over the shoulder and to the bottom portion of same; no bells, no pomegranates, but those which are woven in such a manner that into the selvage portion of the bottom were woven the Thummin and the Urim. These were as the balance in which judgments were passed by the priest. But these were woven, not placed, upon the top of same. Neither were there jewels set in same.
“With the persecution, the entity withdrew more and more because of its associations with those in authority, but its home became more and more a place of refuge and help for all of the young of the church. The entity lived to be an elderly person, something like seventy-nine years of age in the experience, and was not among those ever beaten or placed in jail, though persecuted by only the Romans, feared by those of her own peoples. Ready for questions.”
The woman asked: “Are any of the children of that period associated with the entity in the present?”
“These will become associated with the entity, not in the present.”
“What place did I occupy at the Crucifixion?”
“As one of those upon the right hand of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the other Mary upon the left hand.”
“In the meeting on the day of Pentecost?”
“Among those who heard all of the various places announce their hearing Peter in their own tongue.”
“In what way was I acquainted with Lucius?”
“As indicated, as a teacher, as a helper, an advisor, when he was destined by being joined in the church activities in his own home areas. The entity never visited there.”
“Any other advice?”
“Keep close to those things which draw thee nearer to the Cross of Christ. For it is in Him, through Him, ye each have thy being. As He accepted the work of thine hands then, may He accept the work of thy hands in the present.”
On March 29, 1944, a second reading was done for No. 3344, a man then forty-six, and it contains a reference to certain circumstances which may now be of tremendous significance in terms of the Qumran literature. The copper scrolls have been identified by scholars as a list of a hidden treasure, a treasure so vast that it probably could not have belonged to the Essenes. It should be pointed out, however, that the Essenes lived the communal life and anyone joining the sect was expected to turn over his possessions for use by the community. Since the first Christians also lived the community life, this same gesture was undoubtedly expected of them. In view of the likelihood that Pentecost was followed by a great surge of conversions, a passage in the following reading, which is underscored, can throw new light on the mysterious copper scrolls.
Cayce said: “We find that the entity Philas was of that group of people from Seleucia who came to Jerusalem during those days of the Pentecost when there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles who had been warned to tarry in Jerusalem until that day. The entity was among those who were students of the law, those who were interested in the activities having to do with questionings pertaining to the law that had been interpreted from the priests and rabbis of the day, pertaining to the Mosiac law, and the interesting facts and fancies that had come from the eastern lands, from which the Wise Men had come. These, as parts of the teachings, had become adopted by those groups of Essenes of which John and Joseph and Mary had been a part before the entering of the Master, Jesus, in the earth.
“With Stephen, Philip and others, the entity was among those chosen of the young men; Philas at the time being only a little past nineteen years of age. Thus we find the entity was not acquainted directly with the individuals until this period who had been associated with the Master as Disciples, now Apostles, or those who had been very close to the activity. As a student, though, the entity was aroused to the possibilities and probabilities of the activities to which the individuals might give themselves or contribute to—or gain something from—as to add to the interest in living.
“Philas was of a group not wholly Jewish or Grecian but one interested in same because of the background genealogically of the things happening. The entity journeyed to Jerusalem because of the interest aroused by hearsay and the expectancy among the peoples, the great throngs. On the journey, the entity became closely identified or associated with Stephen, who, after the joining of so many to the efforts of the Disciples or Apostles on the day of Pentecost, became the treasurer of the organization that became a necessity, in that record keepers had to be appointed because of the great amount of contributions of various natures to those people. Stephen and Philip and Philas and others bad been chosen by the Disciples or Apostles to attend to the needs of the great throngs of people.
“There were those chosen who were entirely of the circumcision. There were those chosen who were of the uncircumcised group, yet were identified with services in various forms, in that which had been adopted by the Samaritan Jews as well as Grecian Jews, who were only part Jews. Some of these facts became the problems (that were unnecessary in their particular activity or for their beliefs) in the teachings of Peter, John and James, who were the chief spokesmen during those periods following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
“With these activities there came for the entity questions from some of the Apostles, in that the entity, Philas, used the position to which he had been appointed as a means for social relationships with the various groups of women, the girls, that were a part of the activities through those particular periods. These brought questionings. They also brought into the experience of the entity some of those very conditions that are a part of the entity’s present experience—as to the sincerity of purposes in the oaths taken and the living up to same because of seeming negligence on the part of either or both concerning in the martial relationships. Hence the entity is meeting its own self in the present.
“In some groups there was not just the one factor but rather a questioning as there had been among many of those in the early church, in portions of the land from which the entity came, as in Loadicea, Thyatira, as in all of those where there were the mixed relationships of Greeks, Romans, Jews, Sirophoenicians or the followers of the eastern tenets of those peoples, as to their relationship with the opposite sex.
“These, then, are the problems to be met. These were the problems causing the questionings, rather than the honesty or sincerity in which the entity as Philas administered the contributions. The greater disturbance arose after the martyrdom of Stephen. This drew the entity closer and closer to the needs of the people, but because of the persecution many of the groups were scattered throughout the various lands and the entity returned to its own land, becoming engaged in those activities that brought about a great contribution, for the entity was engaged in the tilling of the soil and the usage of teachings or tenets of both the old and new dispensations, as well as the legends of the East.”
Finally, there was a reading done on June 28, 1932, in the Cayce home on Arctic Crescent in Virginia Beach, and present at it were numerous members of Norfolk Study Group No. 1 of the Association for Research and Enlightenment. The purpose of the reading was mostly to give the members a demonstration of the phenomenon, and, to add to the interest, the subject chosen was of special interest to them all. Nobody in the room realized that during the reading something would be said that would become fact in another fifteen years, something whose full value has even now still to be determined.
After Cayce had gone into trance, Gertrude Cayce began in the usual way: “You will please give at this time an outline of the life and activities of Jesus the Christ from the time of His birth until the beginning of His ministry in Palestine at approximately thirty years of age, giving birthplace, training, travels, and so on.”
Cayce said, “As seen from the records that were kept then regarding the promises and their fulfillments in many lands, ‘Thou Bethlehem of Judah—the birth place of the Great Initiate, the Holy One, the Son of man, the Accepted One of the Father.’ During those periods in accordance with those laws and rulings, in the household of the father. Then in the care and the ministry from the period of the visit to Jerusalem, in first India, then Persia, then Egypt, for ‘My son shall be called from Egypt.’ Then a portion of the sojourn with the forerunner that was first proclaimed in the region about Jordan; and then the return to Capernaum, the city of the beginning of the ministry. Then in Canaan and Galilee. In the studies that were a portion of the preparation, these included first those that were the foundations of that given as law. Hence from law in the Great Initiate must come love, mercy, peace, that there may be the fulfilling wholly of that purpose to which, of which, He was called.”
“From what period and how long did He remain in India?”
“From thirteen to sixteen. One year in travel and in Persia; the greater portion being in the Egyptian. In this, the greater part will be seen in the records that are set in the pyramids there, for here were the initiates taught.”
“Under whom did He study in India?” “Kshjiar.”
“Junner.”
“In Egypt?”
“Zar.”
“Outline the teachings which were received in India.”
“Those cleansings of the body as related to preparation for strength in the physical as well as in the mental man. In the travels and in Persia, the unison of forces as related to those teachings of that given in those of Zu and Ra. In Egypt, that which had been the basis of all the teachings in those of the temple, and the after actions of the crucifying of self in relationships to ideals that made for the abilities of carrying on that called to be done. In considering the life physical of any of the teachers, these should not be looked upon by students as unnatural conditions; rather as the righteous Father calling to those that had builded in their experience that enabling them to become what all individuals must in their own little sphere, gradually enlarging same to become inclusive until they—the individuals—are one in purpose, one in aim, one in ideal, with Him.”
“In which pyramid are the records of the Christ?”
“That yet to be uncovered.”
“What relation was there in the training with the three Wise Men?”
“Representing the three phases of the development, for these were those that looked toward that development, as is symbolized by the character of that given as the blessings were made upon the infant in the manger.”
“Are there any written records which have not been found of the teachings?”
“More, rather, of those of the close associates, and those records that are yet to be found of the preparation of the man, of the Christ, in those of the tomb or those yet to be uncovered in the pyramid.”
“When will this chance be given for these to be uncovered?”
“When there has been sufficient of the ‘reckoning’ through which the world is passing in the present. Thirty- six … thirty-eight … forty …” He was less than ten years off.
“He said He would come again. What about His second coming?”
“The time no one knows. Even as He gave, not even the Son Himself. Only the Father. Not until His enemies—and the earth—are wholly in subjection to His will, His powers.”
“Are we entering the period of preparation for His coming?”
“Entering the test period, rather.”
“Any message to the group gathered here?”
“In that ye seek to know the manner of preparation of Him that would be your guide, seek also to prepare yourselves to be His subjects with that same diligence as that which has prompted the seeking here. We are through.”
Gladys Davis took the shorthand notes of this reading, as she had done thousands of times before and was to do thousands of times again. As usual, she waited until Edgar Cayce awoke, and then she read him her notes, for his own information as well as his approval. After the meeting disbanded, she went to her office and typed the transcript and showed it to Cayce, again for his approval. He told her something. She went back to her desk and added this to the transcript:
“GD’s memo: While I read aloud my notes to those present, EC saw a vision of white figure, size of a man, coming from ocean; he went right through cars and all objects—came down the street past Pacific toward us and disappeared just as I stopped reading.”