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1. The person who sought the reading was not related to the child.

2. Only the child's mother had "an open mind."

3. The doctor in charge was not told about the reading. (How about the coroner? On the other hand, what could either of them have done for the child even if they had known? The child was dead.)

4. There was "conflict between the recorder and her cousin at the time of the reading."

5. The steno recording the details was thinking about another little girl at the time.

6. The reading was given in reverse order, the physical check preceding the prescription. (Then why didn't the great psychic detect death and skip the prescription?)

7. Cayce had been given a newspaper clipping from the preceding week, and had given a reading for that date.

8. The reading was given on the condition, not on the child herself.

9. The reading was given on "the period of seeking," not on the moment at hand.

10. (This one must be stated in Cayce's own deathless words). "...if the proper consideration is given all facts and factors concerning each character of information sought, as has been given oft, the information answers that which is sought at the time in relationships to the conditions that exist in those forms through which the impressions are made for tangibility or for observation in the minds of others." (So there!)

11. The reading given can be useful "for the next case."

12. Nothing can be done except as God wills it. (Poor God, left holding the bag again!)

13. The desire of the party was for a spectacular cure.

14. Leukemia is the focus of the subconscious rather than the child.

15. The attitudes, desires, purposes, and motives of the patient and the person conducting the reading had a bad influence.

Is that enough rationalization for one big boo-boo? Apparently it is, for the Cayce folks have accepted it. But let me regale you with one more example of Cayce's medical prowess. For another dead patient, Cayce prescribed the following noxious mixture: Boil together some wild cherry bark, sarsaparilla root, wild ginger, Indian turnip, wild ginseng, prickly ash bark, buchu leaves, and mandrake root. Add grain alcohol and tolu balsam to the mess, and give it to the patient—during waking periods is specified—for ten days. I consulted my own (nonpsychic) physician about this remedy and he commented that such a mixture just might raise the dead! And note the preponderance of "wild" ingredients. How basic and natural it all sounds.

Rationalization time again. Say Cayce's disciples about this case:

1. No definite appointment was made for this reading.

2. The conductor of the reading held the letter—written while the patient was alive—in her hand during the reading

3. The patient herself did not request the reading; thus there was a lack of strong need on her part.

4. Cayce was emotionally upset that day.

I am reminded of the old story wherein the lady at the funeral calls out, "Give him some chicken soup!" Told that such a remedy would not help at this late stage, she correctly replies, "Well, it couldn't hurt!" More grist for the believer's mill.

In a valiant attempt to prove that Cayce had a good batting average in his readings, the authors of The Outer Limits of Edgar Cayce's Power did a jolly bit of research at the Association library in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They selected 150 cases at random from the files and tabulated them. Their findings, they reported, showed more than 85 percent success for Cayce, verified by actual reports of the cured patients! Quite impressive, if true, and certainly indicative of marvelous psychic powers. But again, as one might suspect, close examination leads to a somewhat different conclusion.

They listed their findings thusly:

Then they reason that since the “no reports” portion was impossible to judge, this could be discarded. The final table looks like this: