Reincarnation and Soul Families: The Cayce Connection

Reincarnation is an elusive spiritual concept. Many people believe in a soul that continues beyond the physical body, but few refer to their 'past lives' with confidence. Until July of last year, I was also just a casual believer. That changed with an afternoon in meditation, and a vision which led eventually to books, photographs, historical archives, astrological charts, and psychic readings; establishing a veritable case study of my past lives. I also discovered that my husband in this life, was my paternal grandfather in a previous life. And most surprising of all was who these past lives were connected to... Edgar Cayce, the "sleeping prophet."

In June of last year I was reintroduced to Cayce's work. Years of spiritual study had exposed me to the basic elements of his story, but I wasn't drawn directly to him before this point. I had explored a myriad metaphysical topics in the mean time, and owned a few Cayce books that were never read. But I now understand this to be an example of 'divine timing'; a plan to keep me from discovering my truth before I was ready.  

One day in meditation I received a clear but simple vision: the word AMERICAN across a computer screen. After a few moments of reflection I found myself searching, 'Edgar Cayce American' online. I found a biography titled, Edgar Cayce an American Prophet, and thought this might be where the vision was leading. It wouldn't be the first time that I was guided to read something specific. After saving the book, I felt compelled to search again, this time for photographs of Cayce family members. Much to my surprise, I found an image of Edgar's grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Cayce, and immediately recognized the face of my husband. My reaction to this image was full body visceral. I sent the image to several friends and family members to get a second opinion. They reacted in much the same way.

A group photo including Edgar's sister, Annie, also caught my attention. There was just something about her, which I would later understand. But at the time I was much more focussed on the photograph of Thomas.

After the buzz had started to settle, I went back to the preview of American Prophet on Amazon. The first few pages of chapter one were visible in their entirety, and there was a detailed description of Edgar's grandfather inside. This chapter further supported what I was seeing in the image online. Many details about this man's life corresponded with my husband's personality. One humorous example was that Thomas had been a whiskey drinking, pipe smoking tobacco farmer, and my husband preferred whiskey, and occasionally smoked a tobacco pipe. Two habits which were not particularly common for a young man in his twenties. He also tried to grow a beard once, "because for some reason he had always wanted to", but neither man could grow a mustache if they tried.

In researching historical records online, I was also able to find corresponding dates in their lives. Thomas died in 1881, and my husband was born in 1981. Thomas was born on my husband's mother's birthday. Astrologically, their charts were also in correlation, as both men shared their sun sign in Taurus, and had interesting planetary similarities. 

I ordered the book, Edgar Cayce's Photographic Legacy, to see what other images from Edgar's life would have to share. Again, his sister Annie seemed to be looking at me from her photographs, which was an interesting feeling. When I came across the photograph of her profile, taken around the same age that I am presently, there was no mistaking what I was looking at then. I was overcome again by the feeling of recognition, and realized that I was looking at myself in another life.

In researching Annie's story, I was able to connect many of the details between us. As a child, I was innately drawn towards 'mothering' other children, and knowing that Annie was the eldest of Edgar's four sisters made sense in this equation. From a young age, I also felt strongly that I was missing an older brother. I looked on the relationships that my friends had with their older brothers with longing. This was such an important sense of 'something missing' for me, that I planned to have a son born first, so that any daughters in my future would have an older brother. Though I did not understand my reason for feeling this way, I was convinced that this was how it should be. Interestingly, my first born child was a son.

I also found a Cayce dream reading, done for Annie in September of 1927; a sign to me that dreams were an important part of both our lives. Astrologically there were also correlations in our charts. My husband and I are actually both Taurus sun signs; our birthdays are only four days apart. Annie was a Scorpio sun sign, which is the exact astrological opposite of Taurus. Scorpio is my rising sign, and there were also interesting planetary alignments.

There are many other details to this story, including dreams and intuitive guidance, which relate to more personal understandings. Dreaming has always been a major part of my life, as I recall having precognitive visions as early as elementary school. At the time I thought I was experiencing a lot of deja vus, and by definition I suppose I was correct. When I began actively working with my dreams as an adult, I realized where this feeling of familiarity was coming from.

There were also psychic readings done for Annie, by Edgar in the early 1900's, which indicated four additional past lives, corresponding with my intuitive connection to Egypt, the French language, my fear of water, certain personality traits (which I've apparently been carrying with me for a while now), and similar health concerns. It is a complex and constantly unfolding story of fascinating interest, which has been proof enough for me of the many metaphysical concepts that permeate our existence. I think the powers that be knew that having this kind of "case" for the "Cayce Connection", would insure that the truth would not go unrecognized in my life. I believe there is a reason for all of this history having been preserved, and coming to light at the precise time that it did.

Finding out that my husband in this life, was my paternal grandfather in my Cayce life, was not particularly odd for me. I understand that this is how soul families and reincarnation often work. We tend to reincarnate with the same souls, in different roles over many lifetimes, to work on a variety of lessons in our spiritual development, and to continue the work that our soul has come to the planet to accomplish. The story of our relationship actually makes a lot of sense, knowing that we were connected in previous lifetimes. I believe that many people interpret the energetic experience of soul recognition as "love at first sight", or experience an intense amount of karma that needs balancing in soul mate relationships. 

I know that part of my process in discovering this connection, is to contribute to the awakening of our society, in whatever role that I am called to step into. This has been a part of my soul's plan for many lifetimes, and discovering this past life connection helped me to overcome my fear and self doubt, and step more fully into a path of authenticity and service to others. I feel very blessed to be a part of this process, and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to share my experience with others. I look forward to seeing where the future leads. 

Teaser image by mckaysavage, courtesy of Creative Commons license.