Born in 1877 on a farm in Kentucky, into an American family of French ancestry, probably Huguenots; that is, Calvinists who fled from France for religious persecution. His ancestors' lives had revolved around the tasks of the countryside, but his father stood out as a justice of the peace and wished that his son could study and train for a trade or profession that would move him away from that traditional occupation.

But Edgar showed no application for study and his vocation inclined him to be a church pastor. He studied the Bible deeply and taught catechism; activities that were reflected in his later writings, where biblical quotations abound.

He had a normal childhood, but his parents began to notice that during sleep he had extraordinary reactions, because he obtained knowledge in a subconscious way and in that state gave sensible and effective orders, especially diagnosing diseases and advising remedies.

In 1900 he worked as a representative of a stationery shop and was in charge of an insurance portfolio, when suddenly he became deaf and the specialists were unable to improve him. At that time, hypnosis was in vogue and he turned to it. Interestingly, under hypnosis his condition disappeared, but he recovered it when he left the altered state of consciousness. His friend Layne suggested that he use the technique to know the cause of the evil; he himself acted as a hypnotist and asked him what was happening to his body. In a loud voice, Edgar described the details of the imbalance and pointed out the means for its recovery. Layne followed his instructions and when Cayce came to, the aphonia had disappeared. Repeated these experiences with other people and had similar successful results.

The friend proposed to open a "physical reading" office, but Cayce feared the consequences of this "medical" exercise without official authorization; although he finally accepted, influenced by the insistence of his family and many patients. Later, he found that as soon as he stopped the activity, the apathy reappeared.

At first, his work was unpaid, but then his absolute dedication and need to earn a living forced him to pay for consultations and treatments.

Layne became an expert in the art of guiding consultations and obtained surprising results. Cayce fell into a hypnotic trance and immediately began to "psychically read" the physical state of people present and absent. Eventually, his friend was officially banned from practicing these practices; the physician Kerchum took his place as a collaborator of the seer, and together they achieved an extraordinary reputation; so in 1910 he began to work as a professional healer, Recognized as a "living diagnostician".

Contrary to what some believed, Cayce said that he never acted on the impulse of spirits who helped him, because all he had was a higher intelligence and paranormal powers, gathered over thousands of years in several past lives. Therefore he was not a medium in the strict sense of the word. He had two distinct personalities: his own and the one expressed during his hypnotic sleep. During the first one he was a simple man, ignorant and practicing the opposite of what he advised while sleeping. Hence he could not help himself and had a life full of inconveniences.  If he tried to do his own "physical reading", he would get severe headaches, become deaf, or have severe gastric disorders.

Physical readings consisted of seeing the human body inside under hypnosis, observing the altered organs and knowing the appropriate healing measures. The reading guide had to start just when Cayce closed his eyes, questioning and suggestion; because if he did not do it correctly, the psychic fell into a deep sleep, sometimes catatonic, that could last for days. Also, after the reading, it was essential to have a successful performance of the guide in order to return him to his normal condition.

With his psychic ability he could observe every cell, every organ, every gland, every blood vessel, every nerve or bone; and he said that each cell had its own consciousness and could transmit a message to its own unconscious. Their readings were directed towards providing remedies rather than specifying the causes of disease. He gave explanations for the correct application of the drugs, with the necessary details to make the effects more accurate. Their therapeutic techniques were similar to those practiced in ancient medicine, in terms of medicines, exercises, massages, chromo-therapy, gemmotherapy and music therapy; and their aim was to redirect the bad vibrations or defects generating diseases, to the correct or natural plane in which they should be.

His language was cryptic. It was expressed in southern American dialect, very original in its construction and different from the English language. In hypnotic state it was much more confusing and practically had to be translated. According to his own revelations, the origin of his knowledge goes back to ancient Egypt where around 10,500 A.C. he was reincarnated as a priest, and indeed, their language had certain grammatical structures of the language that was spoken at that time in the Caucasus and Iran. On the other hand, in a hypnotic state he was able to speak in several Romance and ancient languages.

Cayce claimed that all his knowledge was drawn from the Akashic archives or Books of Life (akasha), mentioned in the Apocalypse. Explained its powers as the product of:

*Simple medicinal remedies, many of which are in disuse and supported by multiple methods, that achieve four basic concepts:

• – The correct diet that respects the body’s needs.
• – The complete assimilation of food, water and oxygen.
• – The elimination of toxins
• – Increased blood and lymphatic circulation.

He was not against the intake of stimulants such as coffee, alcohol or tobacco, provided that they were completely eliminated from the body by proper habits to be observed.

The key to his theory lay in the process of removing the impurities to which the body is constantly subjected, both outside and inside. Without forgetting, according to him, the most important cause: "the spirit is the builder", because it depends on it that the body and its main functions, that is, assimilation, circulation and elimination, are correct.

In 1911, Cayce first referred to reincarnation. In principle, his discovery of the Palingenesian concept in one of his unconscious descriptions seriously collided with his Orthodox religious ideas based on the Bible, and he refused to admit it because he considered it alien to Christianity. He thought that an evil spirit had induced him to commit sacrilege, but later he was reassured by reading some biblical passages which could be interpreted as allusions to reincarnation.

Since then he began to give "spiritual readings". Their psychic or spiritual readings consisted in obtaining individual characteristics by observing vibrations, and then providing advice to rectify harmful tendencies. From them emerged a doctrine based on reincarnation, karma, spiritual relationships manifested in the couple, family, children, sex, free will, prophecies and future.

From 1924, after many economic failures, he devoted himself exclusively to his work as a healer, although Cayce always rejected this designation. With financial help from friends he built his own hospital and Atlantic University in the state of Virginia, intended for the study of parapsychology and occultism, officially recognized by the county authorities. The economic crisis of 1929 came, the institution had to close its doors, Cayce lost his house and it was necessary to sell the hospital building. After several trials he was arrested in New York, on charges of illegal practice of medicine and divination.

After his release, his life continued with countless drawbacks. He was unable to refuse the thousands of requests for physical and spiritual readings, which caused him great anxiety. He often said that he heard voices warning him that his health and life were in great danger, but he was not able to put the corrective measures. He fell ill with heart disease and died on 3 January 1945.

In 1931 a non-profit foundation, known as the Association for Research and Enlightenment, was established as a result of the dissemination of advice that Cayce had given over several years. It aimed at the scientific and spiritual research of the 14,246 readings prepared by the psychic, his correspondence and reports on his faculties; currently archived, and available to those who wish to consult them.