sacrifice for ‘em, and what have I ever sacrificed because I love you?”
This bedside scene was so beautiful that it made Gladys cry . . . because she understood so well how Gertrude had stood by him and put his wishes always above her own when it came to the good of “the work.”
What is perhaps most interesting about Gertrude and Edgar Cayce’s commitment to one another is an experience that Cayce had in February 1941. Cayce’s primary source of information for his psychic readings was the Akashic records—a collection of data that might be equated with the universe’s supercomputer system. This collection of information, which Cayce also called “God’s Book of Remembrance,” keeps track of each individual’s soul history, past lives, present experiences, and unfolding futures. While giving a reading, he had a dream in which he was looking through the Akashic records and saw what would have happened to him and his wife had they not gotten married. According to what he saw, “she would have died in 1906 of T.B. [tuberculosis]. I would have died in 1914 from a stomach trouble” (Case 294-196 Report File).
Edgar Cayce believed that all of our relationships with one another have the opportunity to become a purposeful experience. In the language of the readings, “They are not chance, but a divine purpose being worked out” (1722-1). Ultimately, that purpose is for the soul growth of all concerned. In terms of meeting a significant person or relationship in our lives, there are no accidents or chance encounters. Individuals are drawn together in the present because they have been together in the past. Nothing we learn from one another is ever forgotten just as every error we make with one another needs to be resolved.
Each of us is given a lifetime of opportunities to become a better person for having had the experience of all of our relationships. Whether or not those opportunities are fulfilled remains a matter of free will, but the potential is ever present.
As counselor, mentor, philosopher, and spiritual advisor, Edgar Cayce provided thousands of individuals with unique answers to questions regarding the dynamics of human relationships. From that body of information, it becomes clear that individuals are seekers, each in search of personal wholeness. Everything we draw toward us is simply the inevitable outcome of previous choices, decisions, and lessons learned—all leading to this particular event and moment in time. The Cayce material on soul mate relationships provides an extraordinary account of the continuous process of relationships through time and space and our various experiences and lifetimes in the earth. However, what may be most astonishing about the information is what it suggests about the nature of the soul, our relationship to one another, and the undeniable certainty that we are connected to our Creator in ways that the human family has yet to fathom.
2For the most part, all names used within this volume have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
3A further discussion of Edgar Cayce’s past-life relationships with some of those closest to him is explored in the chapter “Twin Souls.”
2
Soul Mate Case Histories
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Kahlil Gibran
The Prophet
Just as is suggested by the old adage “when the student is ready, the teacher presents him- or herself,” individuals are drawn together in the right timing, for a purposeful reason, sometimes almost in spite of themselves. In one contemporary example, a thirty-six-year-old Japanese male named Toby had sworn off marriage after having been through a very difficult first marriage and divorce. Instead of pursuing any permanent relationship, he found contentment in his work as a translator. Intelligent, dedicated to his company, and committed to the work he was doing, Toby’s long work hours and changing schedule did not leave time for many social engagements, let alone dating.
At the same time, Asako, a female songwriter and novelist, had almost given up any hope of finding a mate. Although she was very successful, at thirty-five Asako had never married nor had she found any likely prospects. To many in Japanese society, she was fast becoming an old maid. As “chance” would have it, mutual friends toward year-end arranged a meeting of the two at a party.
It was one of the few parties that Toby had attended that year. The meeting between the two went well enough. He found Asako attractive, charming, and intelligent. However, when friends informed him of the level of her success, Toby put any ideas of a relationship out of his head. He considered himself poor by comparison. He had also sworn off relationships and had promised himself that he would not remarry, so the whole idea was an “impossible match,” not to mention the fact that he felt “she was beyond my reach.” For her own part, Asako felt that he was a pleasant enough person but did not see much beyond Toby “being a friend of mine.” Apparently, each of their souls had something quite different in mind.
On January 1 of the New Year, both Toby and Asako were awakened in their own homes by a dream that seemed important. Each thought the dream was meaningful because in Japan the first dream of a New Year is considered to be very significant. Since Toby’s dream seemed to concern Asako, he called her to tell her what he had seen. To his amazement, he found that she had just awakened from an almost identical experience. At the very least, the two were convinced that they shared some type of “strong spiritual connection.” According to Toby:
In the dream, I took her to my parents’ home in Japan. In real life, the house is a small, typical Japanese-style house, but in the dream it appeared to be a mansion. At first I showed her the bathroom, then the laundry room, and finally several guest rooms. To my surprise, she had a nearly identical dream. In her dream, some unknown man took her to a Japanese-style mansion. At first she was shown the bathroom, and then the washing machine, and finally she was taken to a large guest room.
Because of the dream and in spite of their initial thoughts to the contrary, the two decided to continue seeing each other. Within a few months they were married, and within two years of their meeting, they had a baby daughter. According to Toby, although their marriage occurred relatively soon following their meeting, after each had overcome their reluctance to come together, it felt “as if we had known each other a very long time.” And, according to Asako, it was the strangest and most unexpected feeling as if “he might be the other half of my soul.”
In an example from the Edgar Cayce material, a young man named Hans was ready to commit to a marriage relationship almost immediately, whereas Katherine, the young woman he was pursuing, appeared to be much more hesitant.
Hans worked for a very large Danish international trading company. Born in Denmark in 1914, he had transferred to the United States in 1936 and had become branch manager of the Seattle office in 1943. As Danish consul, he met Katherine in May 1943 and, in his own words, “a spark caught fire.”
Katherine was born in Massachusetts in 1917. After graduating from interior decorating school in New York, she and her aunt (who raised her) were visiting friends in Seattle. During their visit, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the two were “stuck” in Seattle. Gas was immediately rationed and there was no way to acquire the necessary fuel to drive back east. Katherine and her aunt began making new lives for themselves in Seattle.
Katherine became president of a young adult group at the Congregational Church and invited Hans to come speak. As Danish consul, he was willing to come to any group and discuss “Denmark under the Nazi heel.” All arrangements were handled by phone. She met him at the door to the church, where
