By Eric Vandenbroeck
and co-workers
The Metaphysical movement
The Metaphysical
movement is traditionally conceived encompassing Phineas Quimby, Christian Science, and the various New Thought
churches. However, the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), whose
writings predate them all, is an inescapable part of the movement. Under neo-Platonist and Swedenborgian inspiration, Emerson (a
lapsed Unitarian minister) taught an "idealistic," "Transcendentalist"
worldview (both names were then in current use in German philosophy in the wake
of Kant and Hegel) in which spirit or mind enjoys primacy over the world of
matter or appearance. (206) Emerson also taught the existence of the
"over-soul" (in the eponymous essay), a universal level underlying
and uniting all human minds, a concept which seems to have been inspired by the
neo-Platonic anima mundi in
combination with the Upanishadic Brahman. Other important
themes include Emerson's exaltation of nature as divine (or a reflection of the
divine) (207) and his admiration of Asian religions. In the late nineteenth
century, Emerson's writings were highly influential, so much so that even very
moderately educated Americans could hardly have avoided his ideas. However.
Emerson did not attempt to use his philosophy to heal people of their diseases
or help them solve other types of problems, as the Metaphysicians were famous
for doing.
The Metaphysical
movement is usually traced to Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866), who worked
as a Maine clockmaker before becoming a metaphysical healer. Quimby began his
career by magnetizing Lucius Burkmar and instructing
him psychically to diagnose illnesses, much like Cayce a century later (or
Victor with de Puysegur
earlier). Later Quimby discovered that he could direct Burkmar
silently through mental commands. So far, Quimby's approach differed little
from that of other Mesmerists. By 1862, however, Quimby realized that the
specifics of Burkmar's prescriptions were not the
cause of the patient's recovery-since Burkmar on
one occasion substituted a simple homeopathic remedy
for a medical one which the patient in question could not afford--but that
the patient's faith in the treatment was the crucial factor. Homeopathy was
effective for patients who believed in it, and the same was true of every other
type of medicine. When Burkmar temporarily ran off
with another Mesmerist. Quimby changed his technique. The prodigal Berkmar soon returned. Complaining of several ailments that
Quimby proceeded to heal by suggestion, assisted by the laying of hands.
Overtime. Quimby came exclusively to perform spiritual healing:
To illustrate: suppose
a patient calls on Dr. Q. for examination. No questions are asked on either
side. They sit down together. He does not know the patient's feelings through
his natural senses until after placing his mind upon them. Then he becomes
perfectly passive, and the patient's mind is troubled [this] puts him into a
clairvoyant state, thus [he is in] two places at once; when he takes their
feelings, accompanied by their state of mind and thoughts. A history of all
their troubles thus learned, together with the name of the disease, he relates
[this] to the patient. (208)
(This passage was
written by Quimby. despite its use of the third person.) Quimby eventually
discovered that the patient's physical presence was unnecessary. Accordingly,
he began his lucrative but controversial practice of healing through the mail.
Quimby views God and
the Christ spirit in Impersonal terms as a kind of infinite source of goodness.
He sees Jesus primarily as a faithful human exemplar of what he at one point
actually refers to as "Christian science." (209). While Quimby is
never specific about the afterlife, he does speak of a "next world"
and refer to belief in death as "error." (210) Quimby often contrasts
his spiritual "Science" with the materialist perspective, calling the
former "Truth" and the latter "error." Similar language had
been used by Andrew Jackson Davis, who urged his readers to "Fear not, for
Error is mortal and can not live, and the truth is
immortal and cannot die." (211) For Quimby, belief in the reality of the
disease is an error perpetuated by the religious, educational, and medical
establishments, none of which he approves of. This aspect of his perspective
set the dominant tone of the teachings of his pupil. Mary Baker Eddy
(1821-1910).
Quimby never
established a movement or institution on his own and trained relatively few
practitioners. Besides Eddy. Quimby's other students (most memorably. Warren
Felt Evans and Julius, and Annetta Dresser) saw their work as healers, not
clergymen or clergywomen. By contrast, Eddy's healing career brought her enough
followers to now be remembered as the "Founder" and
"Leader" of the Church of Jesus Christ. Scientist. (In her lifetime,
she was referred to as "Mother," hence the name of the Mother Church
'in Boston.) Christian Scientists tend to downplay Quimby's influence on Eddy,
preferring instead to view their founder's writings as the exclusive product of
her own genius coupled with divine inspiration. In any case. after being
miraculously cured by Quimby in 1862. Eddy studied under him for three months.
Her essential insight into Christian Science came in 1866, according to her
recollection. In 1875 she wrote Science and Health (with
further revisions until 1910). to which was later appended a new section
called Key To the Scriptures. The work was heavy, though not
exclusively, influenced by Quimby's ideas. Later, in the face of competition
from other students of Quimby's. Eddy would distance herself from Quimby,
claiming to have discovered the central truths of Christian Science on her own.
Thus, the issue of Eddy's borrowings from Quimby has inspired ceaseless debate
between their respective partisans. Contributing to the uncertainty was the
fact that the Quimby manuscripts were not published until 1921, so that until
that time, neither side could be certain of what Quimby had actually taught
without engaging in substantial research.
The basis of Eddy's
theology is her assumption that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God
would not permit evil to occur. Therefore no evil can exist, despite our
apparent experiences to the contrary. Evil, including disease, is an illusion
that will disappear when we finally manage to accept the truth that the world
is perfect. Our persistent refusal to do so is not so much "evil" as
"error." Christian Science is therefore
said to be capable of striking at the root cause of disease by replacing
error with truth. A somewhat different formulation of Eddy's theology is to say
that all matter--and by extension, disease--is unreal. Therefore, if the mind
refuses to believe in disease, it will go away. A crucial difference between
Eddy's theology and other Metaphysical writers is that Quimby and most other
New Thought figures see thought as capable of creating anything, good or evil
(since the matter is a mere shadow of the mind) focus on persuading people to
change their attitude. Eddy, by contrast, sees goodness as something already
present as an inherent part of the universe and evil as illusory. Accordingly,
she instructs patients not to pay any heed to their illusory complaints but to
simply have faith in the inherent flawlessness of God's creation. This, she
promises, will result in the stripping away of all obscurations to our
recognition of our own God-given health, Hearkening back to Emerson's
over-soul. Eddy taught that there is no difference between "soul" and
"spirit" (212) or between the human "spirit" and the Holy
"Spirit," Just as God is one and indivisible, so are we. Furthermore,
just as God is infinite and omnipotent, so are we when we rightly understand
our true nature. Illness occurs when we lose sight of this: the purpose of
Christian Science is to remind us of it.
The procedure taught
by Eddy requires the assistance of a certified Christian Science practitioner,
whose role Is to guide patients back to a correct view of their true nature. At
this point, the illness will be revealed to be illusory, or so the theory goes.
Eddy discouraged her followers from resorting to materia
medica on the principle that such action only serves to affirm the
existence of the illusory disease. "If Mind is foremost and
superior." she writes. "let us rely upon Mind, which needs no
cooperation from lower powers, even if these so-called powers are real."
(213). A common misconception among outsiders is that Christian Scientists are
expected to abstain from all types of medical attention other than spiritual
healing. However. Christian Scientists are allowed to visit dentists,
ophthalmologists, and the like. If necessary may undergo surgery. Anesthetics
are permissible, on the theory that without them the patient may be unable to
concentrate on prayer to overcome the belief in pain. Eddy herself wore glasses
and dentures, and even accepted shots of morphine. (214) Eddy's healing method
consists of "affirmations." in which the patient affirms the
existence of a healthy state (e.g., "I have a perfect liver"), along
with "denials," in which the patient rejects the illness in question
as nonexistent (e.g., "This disease has no power over me"). Eddy
seems to have personally made use of physical manipulation as well as the
laying on of hands. (215) Sometimes, the practitioner attempts orally to
persuade the patient of the unreality of the illness in question, while
sometimes the practitioner directs herself silently to the problem. The
theoretical basis for this is unclear. Who is the practitioner trying to
convince, herself or the patient? And what is the medium--telepathy?
Intercessory prayer? The practice raises the disturbing possibility of using
the technique to harm rather than heal, and sure enough, we find Eddy
complaining of "mental malpractice" on the part of her enemies. (216)
At first, Eddy simply
taught students on an individual basis, like Quimby before her. During the 1870s
and 1880's she experimented with a wide variety of organizational structures
for her work, culminating in the 1892 establishment of the Church of Christ.
Scientist under a board of directors chosen by her. Eddy retained strict
control of the organization. retaining for herself the power to approve all
appointments. While technically Christian Science churches were organized
according to a congregational system, all officers had to be members in flood
standing of the Mother Church- which a self-perpetuating Board of Directors
controlled with power to strip dissidents of their membership. Eddy also
regulated the training of Christian Science practitioners to a high degree,
with many prominent teachers having been expelled over the years.
Since its inception,
Christian Scientists have been forced to defend their views in
court—practitioners, for practicing medicine without a license; ordinary
believers, for refusing medical attention for themselves or their children. In
1918, two bodies within Christian Science (the Board of Trustees of the
Publishing Society and the Board of Directors of the Mother Church) concluded
what became known as "the Great Litigation," over control of
Christian Science publications. The point at issue was whether the Directors
had the right to remove Trustees from office when the trust by which the
Trustees operated had allowed such action only under circumstances that could
no longer technically be fulfilled due to a reorganization of the church. The
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decided in favor of the Mother Church.
Eddy's theology uses
the expression "Father-Mother God," which probably originated with
another sect with a female founder, the Shakers. From Eddy, it spread to some
New Thought groups, where it aroused controversy at the turn of the century
(although by now, it is commonplace and has spread to many other
denominations), the fact that Christian Science practitioners were
overwhelmingly female was one of the most noticeable features of the new
movement. This demographic tendency was carried over into most of the New
Thought denominations. It is often suggested that the church's interest in
affirming the femininity of God is related to the preponderance of women among
its leaders. Cayce uses the phrase "Father-Mother-God" nine times,
mostly in prayers or affirmations.
Below a picture of
Donald Trump at the time, a follower of New Thought promoter Norman
Vincent Peale:
Like Quimby and Eddy,
Cayce accepts the primacy of mind over matter and recommends the practice of
spiritual healing,
There are, in truth,
no incurable conditions ... for the condition is the breaking of a law, and the
healing forces will of necessity become the compliance with other laws that
meet the needs of the condition. The healing depends upon the individual and
the attitude taken toward conditions... [3744-1]
In places, Cayce even
attributes illness to "error," as Davis, Quimby, and Eddy do. He asks,
When there are
rebellions of body or mind against such [Christ], is there any wonder that the
atoms of the body cause high blood pressure or cause itching, or cause running
sores, or cause a rash, or cause indigestion?" [3174-1]
At the same time,
while admitting the possibility of dramatic healing as a result of changed
spiritual attitudes, Cayce's emphasis on karma means that such healing cannot
be taken for granted. While it is true that in Cayce's system, karma is thought
to be no longer applicable once its lessons are learned, the process of
changing spiritual attitudes is assumed to be rather lengthy. Instantaneous
transformation is the exception, not the rule. Cayce is less dismissive of the
constraints of the material world, which he sees as existing for a reason.
Consequently. he does not join Eddy in her rejection of materia medica.
Many people were
attracted to Eddy's theology but grew uncomfortable either with her personal
style or with the strictures of the church she founded. Among them was one of
Eddy's own students. Emma Curtis Hopkins (1855-1925). who served as editor of
the Christian Science Journal until 1885. The ultimate root of
the falling-out between Eddy and Hopkins remains unclear but was probably based
on personal conflicts rather than theological differences, in any case. Hopkins
left Eddy to found the Christian Science Theological Seminary (an independent
institution). Many of Hopkins' students--or in some cases, her students'
students--would go on to found most of the important New Thought denominations.
Her students included Charles and Myrtle Fillmore (Unity School of
Christianity), Ernest Holmes (Religious Science); Annie Rix Militz
(Homes of Truth); Malinda Cramer (Divine Science), and Kate Bingham, teacher of
Nona Brooks (Divine Science). This is not to suggest that Hopkins' teachings
were invariably the primary influence on her students' thoughts, however. At
first, the name "Christian Science" was extended to all of these
movements (over Eddy's vigorous objections), but by the 1890s, the name
"New Thought" came to be used instead. "New Thought" is
actually a collective name for the movement as a whole and is not generally
used in the names of its constituent denominations.
Hopkins's students
would have made a formidable denomination had they cooperated more closely.
Instead, New Thought teachers in different cities tended to start their own
organizations, often limited to one or two cities. The most successful
movements were the Unity School of Christianity. Religious Science (now divided
into two independent bodies) and Divine Science. However, the New Thought
movement has always been home to many more ephemeral denominations. as well as
independent churches with no denominational affiliation. (A contemporary
example would be the ministry of Robert Schuller.) In addition, New Thought
ideas were adopted by several individual teachers who nevertheless chose to
remain within their old churches (e.g., Norman Vincent Peale, a Reformed
minister). Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein started a Jewish Science synagogue in New
York City, partly to lessen Jews defecting to Christian Science. Perhaps the
farthest-flung New Thought offshoot is Japan's Seichono
Iye, founded by Masaharu Taniguchi in 1921.
The Unity School of
Christianity was founded by Myrtle Page Fillmore (1845-1931) of Kansas City,
Missouri, and her husband, real-estate agent Charles Fillmore (1854-1948). In
1886 Myrtle was healed of tuberculosis by one of Hopkins's students, who
convinced her that "I am a child of God and therefore do not inherit
sickness." (217). As a result, Myrtle and later Charles decided to
dedicate their lives to God, trusting in him for their health and prosperity.
Over the 1880's they attended lectures by several Hopkins's students and
eventually enrolled in Hopkins's Christian Science Theological Seminary,
culminating in their 1891 ordination at her hands as ministers of
"Christian Science." That same year the Fillmores
ceased using the name "Christian Science" to refer to their own
work--not because they recognized Eddy's exclusive claim to the name, but to
avoid confusion. "Unity" first arose the name of a magazine
(previously known as Christian Science Thought), then in 1903 as
the name of a building fund ("the Unity Society of Practical
Christianity"). The word refers to what the founders perceived as the
common teaching of all religions, namely oneness with God. (218)
In 1890, Myrtle
organized the Society for Silent Help (later Silent Unity), whose members
prayed for all those who requested it. Silent Unity has existed continuously
ever since, and today the organization receives millions of prayer requests
annually by mail or telephone. Other prayer groups and study groups came to be
formed elsewhere, many of which were ultimately organized as independent churches
in their own right. In 1906, the Fillmores had
themselves and several others ordained as Unity ministers (as opposed to
Christian Science ministers). That same year Unity built its first church
building at Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. (Their land is now
separately incorporated as Unity Village. Missouri.) The Unity School of
Christianity's formal existence began in 1914 as a Unity Tract Society and
Silent Unity union. Governance was established on a congregational basis, but
ministers had to receive training at Unity headquarters and be approved by the
field department, a division of Unity formed to evaluate the theological
integrity of would-be Unity churches. Ultimate authority lay with a
centralized, self-perpetuating board. Descendants of the founders have so far
retained the leadership of Unity.
Several pamphlets,
texts, and other material were prepared, and in 1910 a group called Silent
Seventy was formed to arrange for their free distribution. Besides Unity,
the most noteworthy among these are the magazines Daily Word (since
1924), the children's magazine Wee Wisdom (1893-1991), and a basic Unity text,
Emilie H. Cady's Lessons in Truth (first published in
installments 1894-1896). Unity's refusal to charge for this literature is In
keeping with its philosophy of trusting that God will provide for all needs.
(Intriguingly, the same principle prevents the denomination from operating
according to an annual budget.) In addition to printed material, Unity has also
arranged for its radio ministry to be broadcast nationwide, and from 1924 to
1934, even operated its own radio station (WOQ in Kansas City). Cayce could
very easily have listened to Unity programs over the radio had he been so
inclined.
Today, Unity churches
vary greatly in tone and demographics, with the quality of the minister being
the single most important determinant. Ministers appear to come in several main
varieties:
·
The slick
car-salesman type, the aged spiritual theoretician type.
·
The alpha
female type (these often turn to spirituality in mid-life).
·
The
couple.
The younger. more
upbeat churches will engage in such unsolemn observances as the Hug of Peace.
or the singing of "Happy Birthday" to everyone who is having a
birthday that month. Hymns range in solemnity from the signature anthem.
"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me" to something
called "New Thought. New Thought" (sung to the tune of "New
York, New York"). At this writing, many Unity churches host study groups
devoted to A Course in Miracles, The Celestine Prophecy,
Conversations With God, or other New Age literature.
Unity and the ARE resemble one another in that they both emphasize
Christ but affirm the validity of other religions; encourage the same type of
meditation; and allow (or encourage, in the case of the ARE) belief in
reincarnation. Organizationally, for many years both were led by descendants of
the founders (for Unity, this is still true) and denied being a church or
religion (as the ARE still does). Cayce was aware of
Unity and favorably disposed towards it. In 1932, the waking Cayce wrote Mrs.
2110 that.
Unity is doing very
wonderful work, I think. For many years I have been in touch with some of their
leaders and teachers. We gave some information once for Mr. Fillmore. [2155-2
correspondence]
No further
information or confirmation is available regarding this rather intriguing
statement by Cayce.
Religious Science was
founded by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes (1887-1960), a Maine native who had been
influenced primarily by the writings of Emerson and Thomas Troward
(1847-1916), an English judge in Punjab who became an influential spokesperson
for New Thought after his retirement. In 1917, Holmes joined his older brother Fenwicke in Los Angeles, where they began their respective
careers as New Thought teachers. In 1925, the brothers split up for Fenwicke to take advantage of an upsurge of Metaphysical
interest on the east coast. In Los Angeles, Ernest Holmes studied under Emma
Curtis Hopkins. Later he wrote his most influential work, Science of
Mind (1926), under what he felt was divine inspiration.
This was by no means the limit of his paranormal involvement—according to
Braden (219), Holmes occasionally diagnosed illnesses clairvoyantly, as did his
wife, Hazel Foster Holmes. In 1927, Holmes organized an "Institute of
Religious Science and Philosophy" and arranged for the Science of
Mind magazine publication. A permanent building was finally acquired
ten years later, in 1937. While Holmes is seldom mentioned in the readings
(e.g., 2138-1), Melton names him the primary avenue of New Thought influence.
(220)
At first, Holmes
objected to attempts by his students to form Churches of Religious Science, but
he had little effective control over them. By the time Holmes was won over to
the social and tax benefits, several such churches were already in operation
and had banded together as the International Association of Religious Science
Churches. Holmes presented his own proposal for a denominational structure
resembling that of Unity. Outlying churches were subject to a centralized field
department, and ultimate authority lay with the Institute's board of trustees.
However, many of the new churches were unwilling to yield their independence to
what some took derisively to refer to as "the Mother Church" after
the Christian Science institution. The result was a 1953 schism in which
approximately forty-seven churches joined the newly-organized Church of
Religious Science, and nineteen remained with what is now called Religious
Science International. Still, others remained independent of both sides.
Divine Science is a
fusion of two movements founded respectively by Nona Brooks (1861-1945), a
Pueblo, Colorado schoolteacher who was healed of a throat condition by one of
Hopkins's students: and Malinda Cramer of San Francisco, who had had a
disability before learning what she came to refer to as "Divine
Science." In 1892, Cramer organized the International Divine Science
Association, which was ecumenical across the various New Thought groups despite
the name. Her emerging reputation as a New Thought teacher encouraged Brooks's sister, Fannie James, to correspond with her. In
1898, after Cramer and Brooks had conducted unrelated healing ministries and
classes for many years. Brooks had herself ordained by Cramer and returned to
Colorado to found the first Divine Science Church (in Denver). The church also
offered home-study courses and a prayer ministry similar to Silent Unity. Other
churches formed over succeeding decades, and in 1957, these formed the
loose-knit Divine Science Federation to arrange for book publication and
ministerial education. Apart from the founders, the most influential Divine
Scientist is Emmet Fox (1886-195 1). who shopped around for a denominational
affiliation only after building a thriving congregation.
The International New
Thought Alliance (INTA) is not a denomination as a loose confederation of
usually like-minded religious groups who nevertheless insist on retaining full
autonomy. INTA grew out of meetings of the more localized New Thought
Federation and the International Metaphysical League around the century. The
former finally absorbed the latter in 1904. The name "New Thought
Alliance" was adopted in 1916. Most but not all of the New Thought
churches maintain membership in INTA. The main exception is Unity, whose
founders disapproved of many of the Spiritualist or occult ideas of other New
Thought leaders. The Fillmores participated in
several exploratory congresses in 1903 and 1904; Unity briefly joined INTA
during 1919-1922, and many individual Unity churches hold INTA membership.
(Individuals, congregations, or denominations may join.) More recently, in the
wake of the late-1980's era conflict over what was sometimes seen as New Age
encroachment, one group (Teachings of the Inner Christ, Inc.) was actually
expelled from the INTA trance-channeling practice of its leader, Ann Meyer McKeavor.
To go into the
theological differences between the various New Thought groups would be far too
tedious-after all, few of them were particularly creative (although there are
important stylistic differences), and all the main groups seem to have been
influenced by one another's writings. While diversity certainly exists within
the New Thought movement. this is not primarily a function of the group
affiliation. Here I will venture a few general observations.
Whereas Christian
Science focuses on healing as the primary result of a changed spiritual
attitude, many New Thought teachers extend the principle to other areas of
life. As Holmes puts it,
When we use our
creative imagination in strong faith, it will create for us, out of the One
Substance, whatever we have formed in thought. In this way, man becomes a
Co-Creator with God. (221)
Mental events are by
no means private and inconsequential but possess considerable independence from
the mind, giving rise to them and possess the power to shape the material
world. (This calls to mind the Theosophical doctrine of thought-forms, in which
thought patterns could take on a life of their own separate from the thinker.)
Again, as Holmes writes. "Thoughts are things." (222). Therefore, one
is enjoined to banish negative thinking from one's mind not only concerning
health but in all things--otherwise, the mind may proceed to create the
imagined event. Cayce similarly holds that "Mind is the builder and that
which we think upon may become crimes or miracles, for thoughts are
things..." (906-3). Each human soul is thus a "co-creator with
God" (5259-1). However, the conclusion which Cayce draws is not so much
that we should strive to banish fear from our thoughts, but that we should
choose spirituality and selflessness over materiality and selfishness.
New Thought writers
identify several universal spiritual laws for seekers to apply in their lives.
For example. Holmes refers to the Law of Attraction (223), the Law of Faith,
the Law of Consciousness, and Cause and Effect. (224) These all refer
essentially to the same process in which the universe brings us that which our
consciousness attracts. The first person to identify spiritual laws as such
appears to have been Andrew Jackson Davis, who refers to the "Universal
Law of Cause and Effect." (225). The conviction that these spiritual laws
are every bit as dependable as scientific ones is the reason why several
Metaphysical denominations incorporate the word "science" into their
names. Meanwhile, the Cayce readings identify by name the Law of Attraction
(2410-1), the Law of Cause and Effect (288-29), the Law of Love (3744-4), the
Law of Relativity (900-24), and the Law of One (1010-12), among others. Since
it rarely happens that the reading in which a law is named will also be a
reading in which that law is satisfactorily explained. I am unable to match
these laws with their descriptions, such as: "Like attracts like"
(349-17); "As ye sow so shall ye reap" (1650-1); "What ye
expect, ye receive" (945-5); "Nothing happens by chance"
(136-2); "Knock and it will be opened unto you" (294-183); "Ask and
ye shall receive" (254-55); and "As ye aid others, more help comes to
thee" (1709-7). (I presume that the reader will recognize the biblical
allusions: in fact, this sort of exegesis is an important aspect of New Thought
writing.) For Cayce, fulfillment of these laws need not necessarily occur in
this lifetime but may be delayed over the course of multiple incarnations.
One critical area in
which universal law may be applied is financial. The idea of "supply"
or "prosperity consciousness" was a major innovation of New Thought
writers. Although the concept is present in Christian Science, it has always
suffered neglect compared to that denomination's emphasis on healing. Charles
Fillmore brashly adapts the Twenty-Third Psalm to express this principle:
The Lord is my
banker; my credit is good.
He maketh me to lie down in the consciousness of
omnipresent abundance...
Thy silver and thy gold, they secure me.
Thou preparest away before me in the presence of the collector;
Thou fillest my wallet with plenty ... (226)
The idea of
prosperity consciousness spread well beyond New Thought circles, and Cayce (in
common with innumerable television evangelists) endorses it in several
readings. A distinction should be made between the principle that as one uses
what one has, "then MORE may be GIVEN thee. Remember the talents!"
(2254-1); or that one's financial situation will improve if only one can muster
enough faith or finer receptivity; that one should mentally visualize the
desired riches (e.g., 11-6); or that one should give more to receive more
(e.g., 1532-1).
The New Thought
movement popularized the use of thought-for-the-day(227) style
"affirmations" or "meditations" to attune oneself to the
divine. The justification is that since the mind controls matter, by mentally
affirming something to be true despite any evidence to the contrary, one can
make it true. Here is an example of an affirmation, in this case, composed by
Hopkins and circulated widely by her students:
O countenance!
Beholding me, looking toward me through the ages. Breath of the everlasting
life in me, and manna to my fadeless substance, Thy name, which folds me round
with tenderness, is Jesus Christ. (228)
Each chapter of A
Search for God begins with an "affirmation" composed by
Cayce in the same tradition. However, he variously refers to them as
affirmations, meditations, or prayers in the study group readings. Meditation
as a devotional practice is also common in New Thought circles, e.g., in church
services (often with soft organ music playing in the background). The most
typical methods involve contemplation of a scriptural passage or affirmation or
a mental opening-up to God.
Many New Thought
writers have been influenced by Eastern religions and other non-Christian
sources, often through the medium of Transcendentalism or Theosophy. For
example, both of the Fillmores, as well as Emmet Fox,
accept reincarnation and karma. (229) although the idea has remained
controversial in those denominations. The first chapter of Emma Curtis
Hopkins's Twelve Studies In High Mysticism manages to cite a
Vedic hymn, two Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita, the Tao
Te Ching, the Zend-Avesta, the Vendidad, Buddha,
Hermes Trismegistus, Appolonius of Tyana, Plato twice, and "Amen-Ra," in addition to
eight church fathers and a dozen books of the Bible. Malinda Cramer quotes from
the Bhagavadgita and mentions Kabbalah and Hermeticism. (230) Charles
Fillmore included articles by Spiritualists and Theosophists in his magazine.
(231) Ernest Holmes was an avid reader of Aurobindo. Two important early
figures in the development of New Thought were Swami Abhedananda
of the Vedanta Society, who spoke at several New Thought congresses; and
"Swami Ramacharaka" (nee William Walker
Atkinson), the author of several Metaphysical books published by the Yogi
Publication Society of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s.
Some New Thought
organizations (representing the vast majority of believers) emphasize Christian
elements; some do not. INITA dropped all references to Christ in its Common
Statement of Belief in 1957. Within the Christian-oriented New Thought groups,
as well as others who allude to Christ from time to time, a distinction is
usually made between the principle of Christhood and the human being known as Jesus
who achieved, revealed, or exemplified it. Warren Felt Evans, for example,
writes that Jesus "was not born Christ any more than Abraham Lincoln was
born president of the United States."(232). In this view, Christ
consciousness is not something unique to Jesus, but is present within all of
us. In place of the traditional concept of "atonement" through the
blood of Christ, the standard New Thought interpretation is to parse the
English word so that it yields "at-one-moment,"(233) referring to the
goal of becoming aware of this inherent unity. Cayce also uses the expression
"at-one-ment" (e.g., 2174-3), and in
general follows the usual New Thought Christology quite closely. Another
Christological pattern popular in New Thought views Christ as "the
Fulfilling of the Lawl"(234), meaning that he
demonstrated mastery of universal laws such as those mentioned above. Cayce
accepts this teaching as well.
The Religious Science
and Divine Science bodies appoint practitioners authorized to conduct spiritual
heating and other prayer-based services, somewhat like their counterparts in
Christian Science. Unity has never recognized practitioners per se but
requires would-be Unity teachers to take courses at Unity Village and receive a
license in an entirely separate track from ministerial training. The ARE has no official means of licensing teachers or
practitioners except by hiring or featuring them at conferences. However, at
one point, a system of teacher certification was contemplated.
The Cayce readings
refer to New Thought denominations from time to time; 3063-1 recommends
"Divine Science, Unity, or Christian Science; provided they do not require
that the body be kept from making those administrations for the physical and
mental self." Except for Christian Science, Cayce appears to regard these
movements favorably, without any of the qualifications which inevitably
accompany his praise of other religious movements such as Spiritualism or
Theosophy. Today, ARE functions bear more than a passing resemblance to New
Thought services, and many ARE conferences and retreats are held in Unity
churches and the like. A retreat jointly sponsored by Unity and ARE was held at
Unity Village in 1996 after several previous ARE events. (Charles Thomas Cayce
met his eventual wife, Leslie Goodman Cayce, at just such an occasion.) The ARE
Library has acquired the Metaphysical Society of San Francisco, established by
Homes of Truth founder Annie Rix Militz.
Following is the
overview of the other parts in this major case study whereby underneath you
will see the footnotes in reference to the above section:
Cayce's ability
(whatever its nature) to effortlessly absorb books' contents makes it seem
inevitable that Cayce would have attempted to acquire religious knowledge in
this way. The day after he arrived in Hopkinsville, Cayce searched for a
town-based job and found one with E.H. Hopper & Son Bookstore, which from
1874 to 1913 also housed Hopkinsville's collection of public library books.
There "seemed to be something appealing" about the bookstore, and
Cayce recalls that "the several years I remained there seemed to be the
stepping stones: yea. even the door to life itself." without explaining
why, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 1.
Robert Smith claimed
that if Cayce did meet President Wilson, however, he was never told of
this and suggested that he had confused Wilson with a cousin of the
president's for whom Cayce did, in fact, give readings. Also, several of
Cayce's partners and associates in the several oil ventures were clearly
promoters of dubious character. The question must be asked whether Cayce himself
should be considered one as well rather than simply as an innocent pawn of
others, as ARE literature suggests. That Cayce no less than Kahn was an active
participant in what came to be known simply as "the proposition" is
illustrated by his travels to "New Orleans, Jackson, Memphis, Denver, all
over Texas, St. Louis, Chicago. Indianapolis, Cincinnati- Washington, New York,
Philadelphia, Florida.," as well as Columbus. Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and
New York City. In any case, what began as a search for oil and then for
oil investors around 1922 blurred into a direct search for hospital donors.
Allies in Birmingham, New York, and Chicago all indicated a willingness to
raise money for the venture, provided it would be located in their respective
cities. The readings, however, indicated the Norfolk area, apparently for
spiritual and karmic reasons, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 2.
Attempts to pinpoint
Cayce's religious heritage are inevitably contentious given the strong feelings
of so many people who seek to claim (or reject) him as a representative of
their own beliefs. Christian-oriented Cayceans such
as Bro stress the Christian basis of his teachings while asleep and active
church life while awake over the objections of Christian opponents of Cayce,
who emphasize his many departures from mainstream Christian doctrine. New Agers
note Cayce's use of language and ideas consistent with various Western esoteric
traditions; simultaneously, Christian-oriented Cayceans point
to his efforts to distance himself from Spiritualism and occultism. There is
something to be said in favor of all of these perspectives. I propose to call
Cayce a syncretizer since this brings out
the diversity of his sources and suggests fruitful link's with other
turn-of-the-century syncretizers.- In 1906,
a test was arranged for Cayce in which he would give a reading for a patient
chosen for him before a large audience of visiting physicians. However, when
the reading proved accurate, members of the audience stormed up to him while he
still lay in a trance and began conducting impromptu tests to see if he really
was under hypnosis. One doctor peeled back one of his fingernails, while
another stuck a hatpin through his face-common stunts in stage hypnosis at the
time. Cayce did not flinch but later awoke in great pain. As a result of this
experience, he resolved to stop trying to convince skeptics and give readings
only for those who genuinely wanted his help. To Cayceans,
the incident illustrates the limitations of a formal scientific or scholarly
approach to the readings, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 3.
The usual approach to
the readings also ignores the passage of time. Readings from different decades
are quoted alongside one another typically (due to the nature of the ARE's
citation style for readings extracts) with no indication of when they were
delivered. Yet, a certain evolution can be observed in the content and tone of
the readings over the five decades of Cayce's psychic career, which becomes
lost whenever readings from different periods are lumped together the
indiscriminately.-The chronic problem is that those aspects of Cayce which
manage to find their way into popular publication are those which match the
needs and mores of the Cayce movement. These are often arbitrarily or
ideologically chosen, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 4.
In the course of
surveying the history and teachings of the Cayce movement, it is easy to lose
sight of the experience of its participants. After all, Cayceans are typically less interested in studying the
origins of their institutions than in contemplating the possibility of deeper
levels to the universe and themselves or in changing their lives to reflect
more of spiritual orientation. How these aspirations are expressed are
numerous, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 5.
Today, the ARE's
request that study groups collect contributions seems to be practiced regularly
when not disregarded altogether. Of the groups I have attended, only the one at
ARE headquarters solicited donations each week, with one dollar appearing to be
the standard per capita contribution.- A democratic ARE (to
the extent that such a thing is even conceivable) might easily prove even more
anti-intellectual and personality-driven than its present incarnation. At the
same time, the example of the Swedenborg Foundation demonstrates that it is
possible to combine academic respectability (recent monographs have dealt with
D.T. Suzuki. Henri Corbin and Kant) with at least nominal democratic safeguards
(e.g., proxy voting). A key difference is that the various Swedenborgian
churches are institutionally separate from the Swedenborg Foundation- whereas
the ARE combines both of these functions and many more, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 6.
Some leave when they
do not find their vision reflected, complaining about the politics of Virginia
Beach. Others accommodate themselves to a framework with which they are not
entirely comfortable or become outspoken in their attempts to change the
organization. The ARE leadership presently
incorporates several distinct visions--some complementary, some not. The
organization is sufficiently decentralized to keep these visions in a sort of
equilibrium based partially on inertia (once a given program is started, it
will probably be continued) and partially because most Cayceans have
multiple interests concerning the readings. However, skeptical or scholarly
approaches are definitely a minority interest within the ARE. They are almost
wholly unrepresented within those functions that have the greatest capacity for
influencing the Caycean masses (e.g., study groups, publishing, or
conferences). -An object of ARE charity really a public relations activity, a
disguised form of product development, or an expression of a liberal
theological identity (against those Southern Protestant denominations that are
perceived as anti-scientific). Inquiries into the source question have lacked
the necessary connections for the first category, are not particularly
well-suited to the second or third, and work at cross-purposes to the fourth by
giving comfort to the ARE's enemies. The result is that Cayce's research has
proceeded for half a century now without much appreciation of the Cayce
movement's forebears, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 7.
Edgar
Cayce's readings are full of Masonic allusions- Cayce refers to
Jesus's initiation through a series of degrees in Egypt. Besides the obviously
Masonic concepts of initiation and degrees, turn-of-the-century Freemasonry
often wrapped biblical themes in ancient Egyptian motifs, following the pattern
set by Cagliostro. In addition, Cayce sees geometry as containing deep
spiritual insights, a quintessentially Masonic notion. The letter "G"
in the Masonic symbol is sometimes said to stand for "geometry,"
although American Masons usually interpret it as standing for "God."
The Royal Arch degree, known as the "Knight of East and West," even
uses the symbolism of the Book of Revelation in an initiatory context, as does
Cayce, continue in Edgar Cayce's
Secret, Part 8.
During his lifetime,
Cayce was widely assumed to have some connection with Spiritualism, as
illustrated by this 1930 headline from the Baltimore Sun: "Spiritualist
Research Aim of Atlantic University." (177) Observers of Cayce had
good reason to associate him with Spiritualism, since Cayce's practice of
medical clairvoyance was known from the Spiritualist movement (Edgar Cayce
would also subsequently claim to have become a reader of the “Akashic
Records"), continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 9.
Like Blavatsky,
Cayce, too would report being visited by a being wearing white robes and a
turban. Several of Cayce's friends had an interest in Theosophy, including
Arthur Lammers and Morton Blumenthal, and while awake, Cayce spoke before at
least one Theosophical Society meeting (in Birmingham, Alabama), continue
in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 10.
The outlines of the
"proto-New Age" should be clear enough now. Around the turn of the
century, several spiritual leaders and movements whose teachings mixed themes
from Spiritualism, Theosophy. New Thought, and alternative health. They
emphasized reincarnation, astrology, and psychic phenomena and spoke of Atlantis,
ancient Egypt, the Essenes- and Jesus's Journey to India. They endorsed
alternative health practices (often naturopathic ones). They accepted a view of
human anatomy which merged the chakras and nadis of Indian lore with the glandular
and nervous systems of the Western fore. Many (though by no means all)
'incorporated racist or anti-Semitic beliefs into their spiritual systems. It
is here that we should take for Cayce's closest theological relatives.-Despite
Cayce's reluctance to endorse it, the teachings
of The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus, continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 12.
Cayce's psychological
or spiritual interpretation of the fourth dimension and the explanation was
given, consistent with Ouspensky's explanation
in Tertium Organum. Although Cayce's division of human nature
and the universe into three levels seems natural, it represents a departure
from most other Western esoteric traditions and comes closest to that of Rudolf
Steiner, continue in Edgar Cayce's
Secret, Part 13.
Apart from pulp
fiction which, as we described, also led to Scientology, there is an earlier precursor that also might
have inspired the ancient astronaut theory first popularized by the "Occult
Science" of H.P. Blavatsky, who wrote in her widely sold book "The
Secret Doctrine" (which claimed to reveal "the origin and evolution
of the universe and humanity itself") that already during the time of
"Atlantis" there were flying machines and that knowledge of such
machines "was passed on" to later generations in India. Similarly,
the founder of today's top-rated Waldorf schools Rudolf Steiner, also claimed
that the Atlanteans had aircraft that
had steering mechanisms by which they could rise above mountain ranges.
In the perpetual
motion milieu, frauds who have appealed to occultist thinking have abounded.
For example, from 1873 until he died in 1898, John E. W. Keely of Philadelphia
promoted a mysterious motor that ran on "etheric force" derived from
the "disintegration of water." He raised millions from financiers and
the public for his company on the strength of his demonstrations of such
phenomena as musical notes causing weights to rise and fall. Of these performances,
which had a kinship to séances, he remarked, "I am always a good deal
disturbed when I begin one of these exhibitions, for sometimes if an
unsympathetic person is present, the machines will not work." Theosophists
of the age admired him for combining "the intuitions of the seer with the
practical knowledge of mechanics."
Rudolf Steiner firmly
believed in and confirmed his own so-called clairvoyance the reality of the
Keely phenomena to next claim to e able to
duplicate Keely through his own Clairvoyantly as described in the article
"From the Keely engine to the Strader machine. Except
as Wouter Haanegraaf clearly
demonstrated, Steiner's clairvoyance was based on 'imaginative
fantasy.' Continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 14.
The readings claim
that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were affiliated with an Essene community based on
Mount Carmel, which was a continuation of a "school of the prophets"
begun by Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, and ultimately Melchizedek (254-109). The
Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible. Yet Several occult gospels
confirmed that Jesus had been a member of the Essenes and the Great White
Brotherhood.
The notion that Jesus
had spent his "lost years" wandering Asia by no means originated with
Cayce. Its first proponent seems to have been the Russian war correspondent
Nicholas Notovitch (1858-c. 1916), who
describes his travels in British India in work entitled La Vie Inconnue de
Jesus-Christ (The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ), published in 1894. But as
we pointed out early on is seen to
be a fraud. Continue in Edgar Cayce's Secret, Part 15.
206. Ralph Waldo
Emerson, "Nature." parts VI and VII: also "The
Transcendentalist."
207. Cayce joins
Emerson in his celebration of nature. For example. 5747-1 asks, "How is
the best way to explain God to a child under twelve years of age?" Cayce
answers. "In nature. As the unfolding of that is seen ABOUT the child
itself, whether in the grasses, the flowers, the birds, or what: for each are
an expression of the Creative Energies in its activity, and the sooner EVERY
SOUL would learn that they themselves are a portion of everything about same.
with the ability within self to make one's self WITH that that brought ALL into
being, the change is as that of service in its NATURALNESS."
208. Horatio Dresser
(ed.). The Quimby Manuscripts, p. t 9 t.
209. Ibid., pp. 272,
388.
210. Ibid., pp. 136,
407.
211. Andrew Jackson
Davis, The Principles of Nature.... p. I.
212. Mary Baker
Eddy, Science and Health, ch. 14.
213. Ibid.. ch. 6.
214. Charles S.
Braden, Spirits In Rebellion, pp. 37-38.
215. Ibid., p. 337.
216. Ibid.. p. 343.
217. Thomas
Witherspoon, Myrtle Fillmore, p. 38.
218. Ibid. P. 49).
219. Charles S.
Braden, Spirits In Rebellion, p. 296.
220. J. Gordon
Melton, telephone conversation, 1997.
221. Ernest
Holmes, Science of Mind, p. 157.
222. Ibid., p. 114.
223. Ibid., p. 264.
224. The last three
in Ernest Holmes, Dictionary of New Thought Terms.
225. Andrew Jackson
Davis, The Principles of Nature, p. 116. par. 42.
226. In Martin A.
Larson, New Thought Religion, p. 352.
227. In fact, the
very concept of a "thought for the day" appears to have originated in
New Thought circles. The earliest reference to it that I have come across is
attributed to Alice Ritchie of Divine Science, in magazines beginning in 1902
(mentioned in Charles S. Braden, Spirits In Rebellion, p. 275).
228. Thomas
Witherspoon, Myrtle Fillmore, p. 56.
229. See Martin A.
Larson, New Thought Religion, p. 353 for Charles: Thomas Witherspoon, Myrtle
Fillmore, pp.231-232 for Myrtle), and Emmet Fox, Reincarnation
Described and Explained for that teacher's view.
230. Charles S.
Braden, Spirits In Rebellion, p. 270.
231. Thomas
Witherspoon, Myrtle Fillmore, p. 47.
232. Martin A.
Larson, New Thought Religion, p. 12 1.
233. Of course, this
is not the true etymology of the English word "atonement," which is
derived from the Greek ton ("to do") with an alpha
negative, hence "to undo."
234. Thomas Troward, Edinburgh and Dore Lectures on Mental
Science, p. 167: cf. Matthew 5:17.
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