Edgar Cayce
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Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) was a famous channeller responsible for a lot of woo popular in today's New Age. His channeled writings include prophecies of catastrophic earth changes, involving the Earth's axis shifting, California falling into the ocean, and earthquakes.[1]
California just called, says it's still here, thank you.
A woo-meister of note[edit]
Cayce begun to dabble in bullshit at an early age, as when he was six years old, he allegedly started seeing and talking to visions, some resembling deceased family members and others being straight up angels, which he, coincidentally, "saw" after he became a Christian. He also believed that by sleeping with his schoolbooks under his pillow, he could absorb the information from the books and remember all the details instead of doing the sensible thing and actually read the books.[2]
He was known as the "sleeping prophet" because he would allegedly slip into a deep meditative sleep in order to give his predictions and medical diagnoses, despite not having any formal education whatsoever in the field of medicine. He also founded Atlantic University,
a Virginia-based diploma mill for all sorts of wonderful degrees in bullshit.[3]
Cayce popularised the myth about a buried "Hall of Records" lying between the paws of the Sphinx, which allowed Egypt-woo-ologists like Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval to publish wildly popular books of gibberish. He also apparently had something to do with Lemuria[4] and was largely responsible for perpetuating many of the myths surrounding Atlantis in modern popular culture, including the myth that Atlantis held some sort of "Great Crystal" that was destroyed by a death ray.[5]
His laundry list of woo also included the recommendation of many quack medical remedies (along with promoting osteopathy), such as poultices of castor oil, and "atomidine" - a patent medicine consisting of an iodine trichloride (I2Cl6) solution prepared by running electricity through it. Adherents claim that this process makes the ordinarily highly toxic iodine trichloride safe for human use while giving it benefits to the immune system by cleansing the glands and lymphatic system, but this is just silly. In reality it is "mostly harmless" only because atomidine contains only 1% iodine trichloride in solution. You can find products based on Cayce's readings, where else, in your local health-food store, along with gallons of other woo.
Electrified atomic iodine[edit]
Electrified atomic iodine, also known as atomidine, is an iodine-based substance alleged by Cayce to have "special" powers. It is allegedly manufactured by running electricity through iodine, a process which Cayce supporters call "modified detoxification processing". Supporters of Cayce claim electrified atomic iodine can influence the immune system of our body and can cure related diseases, a claim which has no scientific basis. If you actually pass electricity through a water solution of iodine, it is conductive, but nothing special happens. The iodine won't "remember" this, won't convert to atomic iodine (which is extremely reactive and can't be stored) and isn't "electrified" or "detoxified".
Products containing 1% iodine trichloride solution labeled as "atomidine" are often sold in health food stores to cater to the Edgar Cayce woo set.
See also[edit]
- Alex Jones, who actually sells a Cayce-inspired iodine supplement whose serving size is twice the maximum recommended upper limit
- Baba Vanga
- Nostradamus
- Vitamin supplement
External links[edit]
- Edgar Cayce, entry at The Skeptic's Dictionary