Cayce revealed volumes of psychic material, much of which was verified to be true to the amazement of doctors and scientists. Cayce discovered at a young age that he could go into hypnosis and travel to other dimensions to obtain psychic information on any subject. He claimed that anyone could do what he did with the proper training and attunement.

When Cayce would go into a hypnotic trance, he would go through a process practically identical to what has been described in near-death experiences. Here’s a verbatim account of Cayce’s waking description of his journey in the trance state, taken from comments he made at a public lecture:

"I see myself as a tiny dot out of my physical body, which lies inert before me. I find myself oppressed by darkness and there is a feeling of terrific loneliness. Suddenly, I am conscious of a white beam of light, knowing that I must follow it or be lost.

"As I move along this path of light I gradually become conscious of various levels upon which there is movement. Upon the first levels there are vague, horrible shapes, grotesque forms such as one sees in nightmares. Passing on, there begins to appear on either side misshapen forms of human beings with some part of the body magnified. Again there is change and I become conscious of gray-hooded forms moving downward. Gradually, these become lighter in color.

Then the direction changes and these forms move upward and the color of the robes grows rapidly lighter. Next, there begins to appear on either side vague outlines of houses, walls, trees, etc., but everything is motionless. As I pass on, there is more light and movement in what appear to be normal cities and towns. With the growth of movement I become conscious of sounds, at first indistinct rumblings, then music, laughter, and singing of birds. There is more and more light, the colors become very beautiful, and there is the sound of wonderful music. The houses are left behind; ahead there is only a blending of sound and color. Quite suddenly I come upon a hall of records. It is a hall without walls, without ceiling, but I am conscious of seeing an old man who hands me a large book, a record of the individual for whom I seek information."

On other occasions, Cayce "felt himself to be a bubble traveling through water to arrive at the place where he always got the information" according to records in the A.R.E. library. In another instance, he "went up and up through a very large column", passing by all the horrible things without coming in contact personally with them, and came out where there was the house of records. Cayce stated that as he ascended the column, there would be beings on either side of him calling out to him for help or trying to get his attention. Cayce knew that any deviation from the column and the beam of light would mean he would not be able to return to his body. It, the column, wound around on a wheel like the Rotarians have. Ultimately, Cayce felt very secure traveling that way.

Edgar Cayce did not experience clinical death, but was able to control his mind to travel consciously through the process. This can be done by anyone, according to Cayce, if the proper "attunement" is made. Cayce also mentions that this is done by everyone when they fall asleep and enter the realm of dreams, only it is done subconsciously not consciously. The same is true for death. Cayce's experience reveals more aspects about the nature of the tunnel so often described in near-death experiences and more about the structure of the afterlife. One of these afterlife levels appears to be like our own except it is motionless. This suggests to me it is quite possible this represents our physical plane where time stands still for Cayce while he makes his journey through the "eternal now". The level where human beings appear with some body part magnified has been described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead and other religious traditions as being hell. It is a place where a particular desire has been overemphasized while in physical life. The level where hooded monk-like beings appear has also been described by many other near-death experiences such as Dr. George Ritchie's and Betty Eadie's. Cayce seems to have been able to describe very accurately some of the various levels of the afterlife. Because Cayce had approximately 14,000 of these experiences, it is very likely that Cayce holds the record for the number of near-death experiences in one lifetime.

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