Edgar Cayce and Levels of Dreaming
My own introduction to the meaning of dreams came through an Edgar Cayce study group. This was followed by a weeklong course on prayer, meditation, and dreams taught by the late Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of Edgar Cayce, and Dr. Herbert Puryear, a psychologist on the staff at the Association for Research and Enlightenment. After my education on the Cayce approach, I read many books on dreams written by psychologists, which included some of the then current theories about dreams. There were many areas of agreement within the different sources, but the thing that attracted me to the Cayce approach was the spiritual dimension, which was missing in most of the scientific theories. This was not the case for all psychologists and psychiatrists. The work of the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung is similar to Edgar Cayce in many respects, and the spiritual element is a key aspect of Jung’s approach to the unconscious. This is not true of Freud.
In the Cayce approach, dreams can occur on three levels: body, mind, and spirit. Our dreams are not necessarily from one level only, but we may find, for example, a spiritual element in a mental dream. There is always the more obvious interpretation of a symbol in a dream, but there may also be a deeper hidden meaning.
Dreams at the body level may be initiated by foods we have eaten or drugs we have taken that cause problems for the body’s normal processing. Strong drugs may initiate bizarre dreams, as well as foods that cause difficulty for the body. For the best dream recall, eat a well-balanced diet, get sufficient sleep, and avoid drugs other than necessary prescriptions.
Our normal concerns and conscious struggles with problems can be reflected in dreams. If we are sincerely trying to receive guidance from our dreams, then the dreams will be more than just a reflection of concerns, but will offer concrete help is solving the problems. As an example, you may find yourself on the wrong path in a dream, which may reflect your approach to solving some problem. Consciously, you probably already realize that your approach is not working. However, if you are sincerely seeking help, you may well find a clue in the dream that leads to the right path or approach to solving the problem. As an example of this, I refer to one of my early dreams about being a slave on a slave ship. I already knew that I felt that way towards my job, so that part of the dream wasn’t telling me anything new. The remainder of the dream, though, did give me the solution. My mental resistance to my work situation was making the situation much worse. The answer was to not struggle against my current lot, but to embrace the situation in which I found myself and develop a more positive attitude.
I believe the dream example about the slave ship also demonstrates the third level of dreams. In this level of dreams, we discover a spiritual presence that guides and instructs us for our greater good. This often occurs as an unknown voice in a dream. This same voice told me many years ago just months after joining a study group that everything would be OK when I lost my job, and that I would have a new purpose in life. Sometimes the voice comes as a warning about unrecognized threats, and my dreams of this kind have always been literal. Spiritual dreams often include religious symbols such as the cross or priestly robes and colors such as white, blue, or lavender.
Edgar Cayce expressed a view that we find prominent in A Course in Miracles. This view is that if a person can really connect with the spiritual, what Cayce called the “universal forces,” nothing is impossible. There are instances in the readings when a person receiving a health reading had asked if his or her particular ailment could be corrected through self-hypnosis using autosuggestion. In at least one case I can recall, where the person had a critical illness, Cayce’s answer was that it could not. The condition was too serious. He told the person that deep meditation would be required.
In my dreams, I have clearly seen the elements indicated by Cayce in his readings. The three levels of dreaming are clearly visible. The degree of telepathy has been large, and precognition is a natural occurrence. My experience with dreams reflects his readings on dreams and the findings of many others who reported their dreams to the A.R.E. through the study group program.
Many scientists are still trying to decide if telepathy or precognition is real when I can observe them daily in my dreams. I don’t need a scientific model for how it works to enjoy the benefits of my dreams any more than someone needs to know the chemistry of fire to cook food and enjoy the results or Maxwell’s equations to utilize electricity. The force of gravity is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has always been experienced by everyone, but it was unexplainable until Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. And even now, few non-scientists find comfort in an explanation they don’t understand. This has never stopped people from experiencing and exploiting gravity in a variety of ways.
For those who are not dream experts, I am trying to widen your view of dreams and the possibilities. However, I am not asking you to accept on faith what I write. I only ask that you reflect upon what I have stated in my posts. In the end, you will only become convinced when you see the evidence for yourself. Your dreams are about you, the dreamer. I cannot tell you what they mean, but I can promise that you will have an incredible journey in discovering their meaning for yourself.