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Beyond Death: Visions of the Other Side
Few visionaries have as detailed and expansive a vision of life beyond death as renowned psychic and seer Edgar Cayce. This latest book presents his discourses on life beyond the physical world. He reveals how our loved ones remain connected to us and may be communicated with. He helps us understand dreams of death, dying, and dreams in which the dead appear or communicate. He explains the nature of our mind, its multilevels, and how it may venture beyond physical consciousness even while we are incarnate. Of course, Cayce also presents his insights into reincarnation and how we souls travel together through many lifetimes, even with our pets. He explains how life is truly continuous, how the mind and soul never die. From his perspective, it is not a death but only a transition to the other side and many realms of activity and learning all leading to a realization of our ultimate purpose for existence.
- GenresSpiritualityNonfiction
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2007
93 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Evans Cayce
268 books326 followersThe origins of life, in the metaphysical sense, began with the creation of the celestial beings. According to Edgar Cayce’s readings of the Akashic Record, first came the Son, the Logos, or the Word -- as indicated in John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Out of the Word or this central primordial expression of life, all else was created. Again in John’s Gospel: “All things were made through this One.” In Cayce’s readings: “We have first the Son, then the other sons or celestial beings that are given their force and power.” Evil and the forces of what humanity has called the Devil developed as a result of rebellion against the flow of creation, the harmony of the original ideal that all life was to follow. Cayce puts it this way (note: the emphasis and parentheses are Cayce’s)
Edgar Cayce has been called the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. For more than 40 years of his adult life, Cayce gave psychic "readings" to thousands of seekers while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and revealing lives lived in the past and prophecies yet to come.
Edgar Cayce has been called the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. For more than 40 years of his adult life, Cayce gave psychic "readings" to thousands of seekers while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and revealing lives lived in the past and prophecies yet to come.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 14, 2022
The book didn’t have many pages, but it felt like it took forever to get through. It’s almost entirely composed of Edgar Cayce’s readings, which are difficult to read. Questions are asked of him, and he doesn’t give simple answers. He is vague, uses long sentences, often repeats himself (“It is not all of life to live, not all of death to die” is repeated for 20 pages!), tying almost everything back to the Christian god. It would’ve been better if the actual author of the book summarized the information and used footnotes to reference the readings in which s/he obtained the information. All of these difficult-to-read readings could’ve been kept in the back of the book for those who really wanted the actual source. I also didn’t like that the readings were not in numerical order.
My summary:
Cayce says the planets and stars have influences over our lives, but the will can overcome them (19, 102). 80% of people are influenced by astrology, while 20% are more influenced by their will or their life experiences (106). And it’s not the planets/stars we were born under which influence us, but rather the ones we visited in our past lives (99). Spending time on Mercury leads to reason, stability, analysis; Venus leads to appreciation of the beautiful and social skills; Jupiter leads to group skills; Uranus leads to extremes, spirituality, occult, and psychic ability (102). Marks, signs, and omens can be helpful, but put your trust in God, not them (131). A soul develops by living on earth in the material world (66).
After dying, we travel for eons of time to “that central force known as Arcturus” which is a star in another solar system. After about 10,000 years, we return to earth (92). On the way, we may have been on another planet in our solar system which has different dimensions. Mercury has seven, Venus has four, Jupiter has five, Neptune has many, and there may be only one in Mars (93). We can have manifested forms on Earth, as well as in the Pleiades, Arcturus, Gemini, Vulcan, or Neptune. Our manifested form may not be a body, but could be a light (93).
Humans are unique in their will power; other animals don’t have free will (19). Animals have spirits but not souls (67).
“Spirit is the natural, the normal condition of an entity” (65). Spirit is the will, mind is the builder (I interpret this to mean “planner”), body/physical is the plan made manifest (75, 78, 80, 82, 84, 90). “The soul lives on, builded by the mind” (76). The soul is located in the brain near the sensory system (69). Spirit and mental are eternal, but physical is not (73). Physical consists of emotions; mind has the ability to grasp, build, and change; spirit “emanates the essence of all power, might and strength” (75). Cayce compares the three to the Trinity, and says Jesus is the mind (78), but it makes more sense to me that Jesus would be the physical manifestation, God is the mind/will, and the holy spirit is obviously the spirit.
All souls were made at the same time, assumingly at the dawn of creation (107). An old soul is one which has had a lot of lifetimes, but it isn’t technically any older than the other souls (107). “We were made to be the companions with the Father-God” (6) and worship him (65). In Heaven, souls are not married; they are one with god (22). The souls travel all over the galaxy/universe. On Jupiter, the entities are non-physical (2). “We find in Jupiter the universal consciousness” (77). Souls, like matter, are never destroyed, only changed (22, 52). But a soul can banish itself to Saturn “to work out his own salvation” (51). Saturn has purifying fires (93). In another reading, he calls Saturn “Satan” (117). In another reading, Cayce said that “no one ever dies if they believe in God” (54). “There is no death when the individual, the soul, has and does put its trust in [Jesus]” (56). “The mental may bring life or death according to the choice of the mind itself” (76).
The goal of every soul is to return to the creator, which I guess doesn’t happen until they attain perfection by being like Jesus (66). Otherwise, they’ll keep reincarnating into different lives. Jesus “overcame the flesh and temptation. So He became the first of those that overcame death in the body, enabling Him to so illuminate, to so revivify that body as to take it up again” (30). What about Buddha and other monks? Cayce never seems to talk about Asian people. In all of the past life readings I’ve read, Cayce never says an American used to be non-white/western or a different sex. The past lives are always European or Egyptian or Middle Eastern and of the same sex as the current life. No past lives in China or Japan or Korea or Thailand.
Jesus’ real test was “in the garden” when he realized that he had passed every test and still had to die (55).
After death, we go to the borderland (34). The body we appear to have in spirit form is the same as we had in material form, but a crippled body would wish to not be crippled, so its spirit form would be as it wished to be (123). Some people are dead for years without realizing they’re dead (51). If a living and dead person wish to communicate with each other, they can, but it is best to let the soul move on (45, 123). The communication can be through act, sight, movement, voice, writing, drawing, speaking, etc (123). Not sure if “interbetween” is the same as “borderland,” but Cayce said that the interbetween is paradise, and it’s between the material and spiritual phases of consciousness (53). The subconscious never forgets (119). The spirits dwell in a place that they desire to be, often with many loved ones (123). When people die, they can desire to be guided by someone else who is dead, and that already dead person will be their guide (125). Spirits don’t have more power than physical entities (124).
Interesting things:
“According to a survey by the National Opinion Research Council nearly half of American adults believe they have been in contact with someone who has died, a figure twice that of ten years earlier. Two-thirds of all adults say they have had an ESP experience; ten years before that figure was only one-half” (vii).
Cayce normally spoke with a Southern accent, but in the trance state he spoke in a Biblical manner with unusual syntax (ix).
Cremation is the best way to dispose of a dead body (32).
Suicide is wrong if other people depend on you, but right if you are going to do evil (57).
“God is God of the living” (43). Then who is god of the dead?
There is only one god, but he has been called different names like Zuu and Ohm (114).
“Perfect love casteth out fear, and fear can only be from the material things that soon must fade away” (44).
“Weakness is only strength misapplied or used in vain ways” (113).
“Editor’s note: The sympathetic nervous system includes the seven endocrine glands, which other Cayce readings identify as the physical portions of the seven chakras” (68). I find that pretty interesting, but the readings in this book don’t talk about chakras at all.
Ancient lands:
In a past life, Cayce was a priest in Atlantis and rebelled with Baalilal. Electrical appliances were used by Atlantis people to make beautiful buildings where sin took place within (113).
Before that life, he was in Zu/Lemuria/Mu. People looked different then and could be in or out of body. They made destructive things (113).
Contradictions:
Cayce said there’s no death, but right after says “death is only overcome by [Jesus]” (2). How can something that doesn’t exist be overcome?
“The soul may never be lost, for it returns to the One Force, but knows not itself to be itself any more” (19). The soul returns to the Whole, yet reserves in itself that oneness in the ability to know itself individual (24).
My summary:
Cayce says the planets and stars have influences over our lives, but the will can overcome them (19, 102). 80% of people are influenced by astrology, while 20% are more influenced by their will or their life experiences (106). And it’s not the planets/stars we were born under which influence us, but rather the ones we visited in our past lives (99). Spending time on Mercury leads to reason, stability, analysis; Venus leads to appreciation of the beautiful and social skills; Jupiter leads to group skills; Uranus leads to extremes, spirituality, occult, and psychic ability (102). Marks, signs, and omens can be helpful, but put your trust in God, not them (131). A soul develops by living on earth in the material world (66).
After dying, we travel for eons of time to “that central force known as Arcturus” which is a star in another solar system. After about 10,000 years, we return to earth (92). On the way, we may have been on another planet in our solar system which has different dimensions. Mercury has seven, Venus has four, Jupiter has five, Neptune has many, and there may be only one in Mars (93). We can have manifested forms on Earth, as well as in the Pleiades, Arcturus, Gemini, Vulcan, or Neptune. Our manifested form may not be a body, but could be a light (93).
Humans are unique in their will power; other animals don’t have free will (19). Animals have spirits but not souls (67).
“Spirit is the natural, the normal condition of an entity” (65). Spirit is the will, mind is the builder (I interpret this to mean “planner”), body/physical is the plan made manifest (75, 78, 80, 82, 84, 90). “The soul lives on, builded by the mind” (76). The soul is located in the brain near the sensory system (69). Spirit and mental are eternal, but physical is not (73). Physical consists of emotions; mind has the ability to grasp, build, and change; spirit “emanates the essence of all power, might and strength” (75). Cayce compares the three to the Trinity, and says Jesus is the mind (78), but it makes more sense to me that Jesus would be the physical manifestation, God is the mind/will, and the holy spirit is obviously the spirit.
All souls were made at the same time, assumingly at the dawn of creation (107). An old soul is one which has had a lot of lifetimes, but it isn’t technically any older than the other souls (107). “We were made to be the companions with the Father-God” (6) and worship him (65). In Heaven, souls are not married; they are one with god (22). The souls travel all over the galaxy/universe. On Jupiter, the entities are non-physical (2). “We find in Jupiter the universal consciousness” (77). Souls, like matter, are never destroyed, only changed (22, 52). But a soul can banish itself to Saturn “to work out his own salvation” (51). Saturn has purifying fires (93). In another reading, he calls Saturn “Satan” (117). In another reading, Cayce said that “no one ever dies if they believe in God” (54). “There is no death when the individual, the soul, has and does put its trust in [Jesus]” (56). “The mental may bring life or death according to the choice of the mind itself” (76).
The goal of every soul is to return to the creator, which I guess doesn’t happen until they attain perfection by being like Jesus (66). Otherwise, they’ll keep reincarnating into different lives. Jesus “overcame the flesh and temptation. So He became the first of those that overcame death in the body, enabling Him to so illuminate, to so revivify that body as to take it up again” (30). What about Buddha and other monks? Cayce never seems to talk about Asian people. In all of the past life readings I’ve read, Cayce never says an American used to be non-white/western or a different sex. The past lives are always European or Egyptian or Middle Eastern and of the same sex as the current life. No past lives in China or Japan or Korea or Thailand.
Jesus’ real test was “in the garden” when he realized that he had passed every test and still had to die (55).
After death, we go to the borderland (34). The body we appear to have in spirit form is the same as we had in material form, but a crippled body would wish to not be crippled, so its spirit form would be as it wished to be (123). Some people are dead for years without realizing they’re dead (51). If a living and dead person wish to communicate with each other, they can, but it is best to let the soul move on (45, 123). The communication can be through act, sight, movement, voice, writing, drawing, speaking, etc (123). Not sure if “interbetween” is the same as “borderland,” but Cayce said that the interbetween is paradise, and it’s between the material and spiritual phases of consciousness (53). The subconscious never forgets (119). The spirits dwell in a place that they desire to be, often with many loved ones (123). When people die, they can desire to be guided by someone else who is dead, and that already dead person will be their guide (125). Spirits don’t have more power than physical entities (124).
Interesting things:
“According to a survey by the National Opinion Research Council nearly half of American adults believe they have been in contact with someone who has died, a figure twice that of ten years earlier. Two-thirds of all adults say they have had an ESP experience; ten years before that figure was only one-half” (vii).
Cayce normally spoke with a Southern accent, but in the trance state he spoke in a Biblical manner with unusual syntax (ix).
Cremation is the best way to dispose of a dead body (32).
Suicide is wrong if other people depend on you, but right if you are going to do evil (57).
“God is God of the living” (43). Then who is god of the dead?
There is only one god, but he has been called different names like Zuu and Ohm (114).
“Perfect love casteth out fear, and fear can only be from the material things that soon must fade away” (44).
“Weakness is only strength misapplied or used in vain ways” (113).
“Editor’s note: The sympathetic nervous system includes the seven endocrine glands, which other Cayce readings identify as the physical portions of the seven chakras” (68). I find that pretty interesting, but the readings in this book don’t talk about chakras at all.
Ancient lands:
In a past life, Cayce was a priest in Atlantis and rebelled with Baalilal. Electrical appliances were used by Atlantis people to make beautiful buildings where sin took place within (113).
Before that life, he was in Zu/Lemuria/Mu. People looked different then and could be in or out of body. They made destructive things (113).
Contradictions:
Cayce said there’s no death, but right after says “death is only overcome by [Jesus]” (2). How can something that doesn’t exist be overcome?
“The soul may never be lost, for it returns to the One Force, but knows not itself to be itself any more” (19). The soul returns to the Whole, yet reserves in itself that oneness in the ability to know itself individual (24).
August 3, 2025
This was a real chore to get through. The collection of questions to answer readings was a real letdown for me. I always wondered what his readings were like as he is a fascinating human being and I've always thought the culmination of his life's work was truly breathtaking. Hearing the readings themselves makes him seem much less credible to me and very hokey. On the flipside it also reveals the goodness of him beyond being just another human being. I do not recommend this to anybody, that includes people into the subject matter.
May 16, 2023
Too confusing. Repetitive. Deleted it.
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February 4, 2008Few visionaries have as detailed and expansive a vision of life beyond death as renowned psychic and seer Edgar Cayce, and this latest book presents his discourses on everything from reincarnation to communication with those that have passed on, culminating in the realization of our ultimate purpose for existence.
September 26, 2010
I like reading books by Edgar Cayce. I liked this book overall and learned some things, but it mainly consists of different life-readings by name and number broken into chapters. Worthwhile read but took me a while to get through and digest.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews