Edgar Cayce, American psychic and author (b. 1877)
Edgar Cayce (; 18 March 1877 – 3 January 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to channel from his higher self while asleep in a trance-like state. His words were recorded by his friend Al Layne, his wife, Gertrude Evans, and later by his secretary, Gladys Davis Turner. During the sessions, Cayce would answer questions on a variety of subjects like healing, reincarnation, dreams, the afterlife, past lives, nutrition, Atlantis and future events. As a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher, Cayce's readings were often criticized as demonic by his religious colleagues. Cayce, in contrast, believed that it was his subconscious mind exploring the dream realm where he believed all minds were timelessly connected. Cayce founded a nonprofit organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, to record and facilitate the study of his channeling and to also run a hospital. A biographer gave him the nickname The Sleeping Prophet.Some religious scholars and thinkers such as author Michael York consider him the true founder and a principal source of the most characteristic beliefs of the New Age movement.