In one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Denmark’s
prince muses on the paranormal. “There are more
things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of
in your philosophy,” Hamlet tells his friend after
encountering his murdered father’s ghost. Four hundred
years later, there are still those who passionately adhere
to this notion. In Virginia, they can find evidence for
their beliefs at two institutions – the headquarters
of Edgar Cayce’s Association
for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach and
the Division
of Personality Studies on the grounds of the University
of Virginia in Charlottesville.
The former houses more than 14,000 “readings”
given by Cayce, a seer, mystic or clairvoyant (depending
on the term you prefer), on subjects ranging from holistic
health to reincarnation and the existence of the mythical
submerged city of Atlantis. It is only one of 25 Edgar
Cayce Centers throughout the globe and is visited annually
by thousands of his followers, as well as the curious.
Cayce settled on Virginia Beach as a result of his “readings”
or visions, which were always given while he was in a
trance. At the height of his popularity in 1925, he and
his followers wanted to establish an institution that
would survive him. Possible locations included Chicago,
Ill. and Dayton, Ohio. In "There Is a River"
by Thomas Sugrue, originally published in 1943, the author
explains that Cayce’s readings vetoed the other
two sites. Instead, they directed him to Virginia Beach
because the readings indicated it was better for his health
and psychic abilities to live near large bodies of water.
Also, it was better that psychic readings be carried on
over and near water and that individuals travel over water
to receive them.
Two years after moving to Virginia Beach, Cayce established
the Association of National Investigators in 1927 and
a year later, the Cayce Hospital was established with
60 beds. It was designed to explore the effectiveness
of the holistic healing cures Cayce experienced in his
trance readings. In 1930, Atlantic University was established
to train those interested in Cayce’s theories. However,
a year later both the ANI and the hospital faltered due
in part to the Depression and conflicts among donors.
Atlantic University closed soon after. The Association
for Research and Enlightenment replaced the ANI and in
1932 held its first congress with 16 attendees. It has
survived to this day. (See Wikipedia
-- Edgar Cayce.)
Cayce’s popularity grew during subsequent years
and after his death in 1945. By 1955, the University of
Chicago accepted the first dissertation on the psychic,
entitled "Charisma of the Seer," by
Harmon H. Bro.
The bulk of Cayce’s readings – more than 9,000
– were physical readings and this is where his legacy
resonates most strongly, among the growing number of those
who believe in the mind-body approach to health. Cayce
seemed to have a fairly realistic approach to his gift,
though, urging those who came to him to take away only
what seemed relevant to their situation. He fretted that
individuals who consulted him during the last two decades
of his life in Virginia Beach were much more interested
in “life readings,” which often dealt with
reincarnation than the “physical readings”
that he felt more confident about.
There are, of course, skeptics who point to incorrect
prophecies and the fact that any evidence of the success
of his healings and predictions is anecdotal and not scientifically
rigorous. But whatever their beliefs, critics and believers
alike concur that Cayce sincerely believed in his powers
and his intentions were altruistic. In fact, his death
is attributed to overwork. A 1943 article in Coronet
magazine, a national publication, resulted in increased
requests for his readings. To satisfy this demand, he
began giving eight a day, which finally affected his health.
He died of a stroke on January 3, 1945.
About 160 miles northwest, on the UVa campus, a small
group of researchers in the Division of Personality Studies
in the Department of Psychiatry apply scientific rigor
to some of the phenomena Cayce only experienced in his
trances. The division is best known for the work of its
founder – Dr. Ian Stevenson -- on children who claim
to experience previous lives. He has traveled around the
globe investigating such cases, and has written hundreds
of articles and a number of books. His latest book, "European
Cases of the Reincarnation Type," was reviewed
in the April 2005 issue of the American Journal of
Psychiatry (American Journal of Psychiatry).
Dr. Stevenson founded the division in 1967 when he resigned
as chair of the Department of Psychiatry at UVa and became
the new department’s director, as well as the Chester
F. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry. He remained in the
position for the next 35 years. DOPS is one of only a
dozen or so university-based research units that investigate
similar paranormal phenomena. Others are located at Princeton
University, the University of Arizona, the University
of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Amsterdam
in the Netherlands.
In 1997, a Washington Post editor, Tom Shroder,
traveled with Dr. Stevenson through India, Lebanon and
the U.S. as he investigated children who seemed to remember
past lives. Shroder related his experiences in a book,
"Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence for Past
Lives." In one case in the Blue Ridge Mountains
of Virginia, a child named Joseph remembered his dead
uncle’s life in more detail than seemed possible.
He called his grandmother “Mom,” and spoke
of incidents in his uncle’s life as if he had experienced
them. As a child he always insisted on buying shoes that
were too big for him. “I know I wear a size eight,”
he would tell his mother. His uncle wore that shoe size.
(See Reincarnation:
The Evidence.) Schroder began his travels with Dr.
Stevenson as a skeptic and was still uncertain how to
interpret what he experienced, but believed the many cases
he saw with Stevenson were not the result of fraud, coincidence,
delusion or any normal explanations.
In addition to Dr. Stevenson’s research area, the
11-member staff at the DOPS, which includes psychiatrists
and clinical psychologists, studies other apparent paranormal
phenomena, such as near-death experiences (NDEs); out-of-body
experiences (OBEs); apparitions and after-death communications;
and deathbed visions.
The department takes its research seriously and in a link
on its Web site, Who We Aren't, is sensitive to the ghostbuster
stereotypes that haunt such research. The staff does not
conduct phone interviews from the media or students, or
offer recommendations of psychics or hypnotists who specialize
in past-life regression.
The department does, however, invite individuals to participate
in the University of Virginia Study of Unusual Experiences
(DOPS Research). It’s unfortunate Hamlet didn’t
have such an opportunity. He might have met a more pleasant
end.
November 28, 2005.
Nice & Curious
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Last Modified:
Friday, June 27, 2008
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