Soul Awakening
By Doug Simpson
By Doug Simpson
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If you missed out yesterday's post, catch Chapter Nine here.
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Chapter 10
Edgar Cayce
Dani and Dacque settled their over-stuffed bodies into more-comfortable chairs in Dacque’s living room, after carefully transferring the Chinese-food leftovers to Dacque’s refrigerator. Amazed, bewildered, and definitely confused about Dacque’s nonchalant declaration that the events of the past couple of weeks were all part of a plan being orchestrated by God, Dani decided that there was no better time than the present to inquire just how it came about that Dacque and the Heavenly Powers became so intimate. “Dacque,” she said cautiously, “please try to fill me in, in terms that I can understand, on what you call the plan, and how your connection to God works, and for that matter, how it came about.”
Dacque smiled. “I would be delighted to! It may take a while?”
“I’ve got all evening, if you have?”
“I have too,” Dacque replied, and commenced his oratory. “It did not just happen, but evolved over a number of years. Before I retired, my life was pretty-much centered around my family, my career, and a few hobbies here-and-there. Then, after I retired, I found I had time on my hands, a situation I was basically unaccustomed to and unprepared for. I had always been interested in biographies, but because my teaching job required a lot of reading and preparation, I did a minimal amount of recreational reading.
“My late wife loved to visit yard sales and flea markets, looking for undiscovered treasures, and I would often accompany her and snoop through the used books, picking up one here-and-there, that piqued my interest. Most were biographies of famous politicians, actors, musicians, sports heroes, and such. One day I found a biography of an interesting American that I had never even heard of. His name was Edgar Cayce. Have you ever heard of him?”
“No, I can’t say that I have,” Dani replied.
“I’m not surprised. He passed on in 1945, long before you were born, but is regarded today as America’s legendary mystic."
“What’s a mystic?” Dani interrupted.
“That’s a good question, and I’m not positive that I completely understand it myself. My definition would be an individual, who would be considered psychic by many, and who has an innate understanding of and connection with the God Force.”
“Like you?”
Dacque laughed. “I definitely do not consider myself a mystic, but if I am, I would be on the bottom rung of a very tall ladder, and Edgar Cayce would be on the top rung. Before you leave this evening, make sure that I remember to send along with you a copy of the book that introduced me to Edgar Cayce in the first place. It is called There Is A River, by Thomas Sugrue. It is the only biography of Edgar Cayce that was published before his death in 1945. There have been at least thirty others published since his death. Try counting on your fingers the number of people who might have had over thirty biographies published about them.”
Dani silently counted on her fingers for a minute before giving up. “Not very many that I can think of.”
Dacque continued the story of his awakening. “Edgar Cayce was born in rural Kentucky, but in his middle years was guided to settle in a coastal fishing village in Virginia, called Virginia Beach. Over his lifetime, he gave more than fifteen thousand psychic readings in a self-induced, coma-like, trance state. Copies of over fourteen thousand of these readings have been preserved in the archives of his Association For Research And Enlightenment, or A.R.E. About ten thousand of these readings were medical readings, where in his unconscious state he was able to diagnose problems that medical doctors in those days could not locate or identify, and even prescribed medical procedures and medicines that had not yet been invented.
“The next largest group of readings was reincarnation or past life readings, some 2500 readings for about 2000 different individuals. Edgar Cayce was a very religious person, as well as a Sunday School teacher, and was personally disturbed when the first reading implying reincarnation surfaced. A careful search of the Scriptures convinced him that there was actually nothing in the Bible that contradicted the notion of reincarnation, and in fact, a number of verses that pretty-much, if read with an open mind, implied that reincarnation existed. Convinced that reincarnation was at least possible, Edgar and a group of friends commenced a series of readings seeking an explanation of this unknown world that many people today still do not believe exists. This initial investigation, over many decades, led to an enormous number of readings that revealed previous incarnations back to Atlantis and Adam, and to Creation.”
Dani stared at Dacque glassy-eyed, as if in a stupor, but said nothing. Dacque deduced that it was probably the appropriate time to recess the story of his awakening, give her some material to read, and let her slowly digest all of the information. When, or if, she was ready, he could continue the story of his own miraculous discoveries.
Dacque stood up. “I have something that I would like to show you on the computer,” he told Dani as he walked towards his laptop on the dining room table, “and while the computer is warming-up, I will get you that Edgar Cayce biography that I mentioned.”
Dacque activated the laptop and then disappeared behind a closed door, returning seconds later with a book in-hand. “Before you read this, I would suggest that you read some articles on Edgar Cayce that appeared a few years ago in magazines and on the internet, by a Canadian writer by the name of Doug Simpson. I cannot tell you much about him, but his articles make informative reading. Have you got your notepad in your purse?”
“Yes,” Dani responded. “I’ll grab it.”
She joined Dacque at the dining room table, positioning herself behind him so that she could see the computer screen, just as a new website popped up.
“Have you got your notepad?”
“Yes”
“His website is at dousimp.mnsi.net. When you go there, I recommend that you read a few articles in this particular order. First, Edgar Cayce’s Earliest Psychic Readings, gives you an interesting look at how he first discovered his unusual abilities. Next, go to Edgar Cayce’s First Miracle Reading, which describes the reading which was probably the most influential in convincing him that his life was destined to be devoted to helping others, with God’s assistance. The third one, Edgar Cayce Becomes A National Celebrity, is rather self-explanatory. After those three, I suggest that you then turn to some of his reincarnation articles, like Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth, The Mother of John The Baptist, Mary Magdalene, and one called Who Were You In Your Past Lifetimes? Doug does not actually publish his articles on his website, he instead sends visitors to his site to the actual websites and magazines where his articles have been published in six different countries.”
Dacque stood up and turned to face Dani. “After you have had a chance to read and digest those articles, and any others that you might want to look at while you are there, then you are probably ready to begin reading There Is A River. If you have any questions, at any time, please call me. I know that I have only started to tell you my story, but this Edgar Cayce material will help you accept my experiences and hopefully convince you that I’m not ‘just plain nuts’ as you suggested earlier.”
Dani cracked a grin and her eyes started to water. She quickly took Dacque in her arms and clung tightly to him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear, “but I feel like I’m afloat in the middle of the ocean. Please forgive me.”
Edgar Cayce
Dani and Dacque settled their over-stuffed bodies into more-comfortable chairs in Dacque’s living room, after carefully transferring the Chinese-food leftovers to Dacque’s refrigerator. Amazed, bewildered, and definitely confused about Dacque’s nonchalant declaration that the events of the past couple of weeks were all part of a plan being orchestrated by God, Dani decided that there was no better time than the present to inquire just how it came about that Dacque and the Heavenly Powers became so intimate. “Dacque,” she said cautiously, “please try to fill me in, in terms that I can understand, on what you call the plan, and how your connection to God works, and for that matter, how it came about.”
Dacque smiled. “I would be delighted to! It may take a while?”
“I’ve got all evening, if you have?”
“I have too,” Dacque replied, and commenced his oratory. “It did not just happen, but evolved over a number of years. Before I retired, my life was pretty-much centered around my family, my career, and a few hobbies here-and-there. Then, after I retired, I found I had time on my hands, a situation I was basically unaccustomed to and unprepared for. I had always been interested in biographies, but because my teaching job required a lot of reading and preparation, I did a minimal amount of recreational reading.
“My late wife loved to visit yard sales and flea markets, looking for undiscovered treasures, and I would often accompany her and snoop through the used books, picking up one here-and-there, that piqued my interest. Most were biographies of famous politicians, actors, musicians, sports heroes, and such. One day I found a biography of an interesting American that I had never even heard of. His name was Edgar Cayce. Have you ever heard of him?”
“No, I can’t say that I have,” Dani replied.
“I’m not surprised. He passed on in 1945, long before you were born, but is regarded today as America’s legendary mystic."
“What’s a mystic?” Dani interrupted.
“That’s a good question, and I’m not positive that I completely understand it myself. My definition would be an individual, who would be considered psychic by many, and who has an innate understanding of and connection with the God Force.”
“Like you?”
Dacque laughed. “I definitely do not consider myself a mystic, but if I am, I would be on the bottom rung of a very tall ladder, and Edgar Cayce would be on the top rung. Before you leave this evening, make sure that I remember to send along with you a copy of the book that introduced me to Edgar Cayce in the first place. It is called There Is A River, by Thomas Sugrue. It is the only biography of Edgar Cayce that was published before his death in 1945. There have been at least thirty others published since his death. Try counting on your fingers the number of people who might have had over thirty biographies published about them.”
Dani silently counted on her fingers for a minute before giving up. “Not very many that I can think of.”
Dacque continued the story of his awakening. “Edgar Cayce was born in rural Kentucky, but in his middle years was guided to settle in a coastal fishing village in Virginia, called Virginia Beach. Over his lifetime, he gave more than fifteen thousand psychic readings in a self-induced, coma-like, trance state. Copies of over fourteen thousand of these readings have been preserved in the archives of his Association For Research And Enlightenment, or A.R.E. About ten thousand of these readings were medical readings, where in his unconscious state he was able to diagnose problems that medical doctors in those days could not locate or identify, and even prescribed medical procedures and medicines that had not yet been invented.
“The next largest group of readings was reincarnation or past life readings, some 2500 readings for about 2000 different individuals. Edgar Cayce was a very religious person, as well as a Sunday School teacher, and was personally disturbed when the first reading implying reincarnation surfaced. A careful search of the Scriptures convinced him that there was actually nothing in the Bible that contradicted the notion of reincarnation, and in fact, a number of verses that pretty-much, if read with an open mind, implied that reincarnation existed. Convinced that reincarnation was at least possible, Edgar and a group of friends commenced a series of readings seeking an explanation of this unknown world that many people today still do not believe exists. This initial investigation, over many decades, led to an enormous number of readings that revealed previous incarnations back to Atlantis and Adam, and to Creation.”
Dani stared at Dacque glassy-eyed, as if in a stupor, but said nothing. Dacque deduced that it was probably the appropriate time to recess the story of his awakening, give her some material to read, and let her slowly digest all of the information. When, or if, she was ready, he could continue the story of his own miraculous discoveries.
Dacque stood up. “I have something that I would like to show you on the computer,” he told Dani as he walked towards his laptop on the dining room table, “and while the computer is warming-up, I will get you that Edgar Cayce biography that I mentioned.”
Dacque activated the laptop and then disappeared behind a closed door, returning seconds later with a book in-hand. “Before you read this, I would suggest that you read some articles on Edgar Cayce that appeared a few years ago in magazines and on the internet, by a Canadian writer by the name of Doug Simpson. I cannot tell you much about him, but his articles make informative reading. Have you got your notepad in your purse?”
“Yes,” Dani responded. “I’ll grab it.”
She joined Dacque at the dining room table, positioning herself behind him so that she could see the computer screen, just as a new website popped up.
“Have you got your notepad?”
“Yes”
“His website is at dousimp.mnsi.net. When you go there, I recommend that you read a few articles in this particular order. First, Edgar Cayce’s Earliest Psychic Readings, gives you an interesting look at how he first discovered his unusual abilities. Next, go to Edgar Cayce’s First Miracle Reading, which describes the reading which was probably the most influential in convincing him that his life was destined to be devoted to helping others, with God’s assistance. The third one, Edgar Cayce Becomes A National Celebrity, is rather self-explanatory. After those three, I suggest that you then turn to some of his reincarnation articles, like Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth, The Mother of John The Baptist, Mary Magdalene, and one called Who Were You In Your Past Lifetimes? Doug does not actually publish his articles on his website, he instead sends visitors to his site to the actual websites and magazines where his articles have been published in six different countries.”
Dacque stood up and turned to face Dani. “After you have had a chance to read and digest those articles, and any others that you might want to look at while you are there, then you are probably ready to begin reading There Is A River. If you have any questions, at any time, please call me. I know that I have only started to tell you my story, but this Edgar Cayce material will help you accept my experiences and hopefully convince you that I’m not ‘just plain nuts’ as you suggested earlier.”
Dani cracked a grin and her eyes started to water. She quickly took Dacque in her arms and clung tightly to him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear, “but I feel like I’m afloat in the middle of the ocean. Please forgive me.”
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Soul Awakening is part of the 12 days of Christmas feature here at Downright Fiction. Every day will see a new chapter excerpt on the website. Come back for the next Chapter tomorrow!
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Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His magazine and website articles have been published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and India. Soul Awakening is his first novel. Read more about Doug at dousimp.mnsi.net!
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