When going through the Edgar Cayce’s 14,000+ readings, I try to put them in context. How is our world today different from when the Readings were given in the first half of the 20th Century?

Chicken was commonly recommended in the health readings, but today’s factory-farmed birds are nothing like the chicken recommended by Edgar Cayce.

Before the 1950’s chickens were scrawny birds that were used for eggs and soup. After the 1950’s chickens got supersized and mass-produced. Some gigantic modern birds can barely move because their muscles grow faster than their bones.

In the 1940s America launched a series of “Chicken of Tomorrow” competitions for farmers. The aim, as described by a newspaper at the time, was to produce “one bird chunky enough for the whole family […]

How chicken became the rich world’s most popular meat

Costco is building a new chicken operation in Nebraska, to free themselves from the big vertically-integrated chicken suppliers. These quotes are transcribed from a video on CNBC:

[…] In the early 20th century, chicken meat was merely a byproduct of egg production. The only chickens that were sold for meat were older hens that could no longer lay eggs. So it was a rare and expensive product. Even though the meat would be tough and unpalatable by today’s standards. But that changed rapidly after WWII.

[…] In 2012, the average American consumed 4x as much chicken as they did in 1950.

Costco opening a $440M chicken farm to escape America’s chicken monopoly

A Nebraskan resisting Costco’s new chicken operation said, “Our mantra is, this is not farming, this is industrial production of widgets.

Below are some selections from the Cayce Readings that point out that “meat” is the least important part of using chickens for food.

Evenings – (these foods only added gradually, after the eight to ten day period) – a little chicken or mutton broth, but very little of the meat itself. A little later the body may begin with stewed chicken, or broiled chicken or broiled fish, and well-cooked vegetables – but not with too much grease in same. Even these vegetables and the chicken or fish would be better cooked in the Patapar paper or a steam cooker

[Reading #133-4, F 54, July 28 1934]

Broth is made by boiling the cartilage portions of the animal in water. The size of chickens in the 1930’s were miniature compared to what we can buy in the modern grocery store, so the ratio of cartilage to meat was much higher than we find in today’s factory chicken. Modern industry has organized to sell us chicken meat, but Edgar Cayce frequently told the recipients of the readings to eat “very little of the meat itself”.

(Q) Is there any special diet I should follow?
(A) Eat plenty of fish and chicken, and when you eat it chew the bony pieces of the chicken – especially the neck and feet

[Reading #318-9, M 17, June 1st , 1943]

Other readings say that if the fish is canned, the bones can be eaten too.

For a pregnant 29 year old woman:

Take more of Calcios, – or chew chicken feet and chicken neck and you will have the same thing! Cook them well, then chew the bones thoroughly. This will supply calcium not only for the developing of the teeth of the body that is expected, but of the general bone and sinew structure also. For this is easily assimilated. Or, take a small quantity of Calcios once a day, on a little bread or as it is. […]

[8/26/39 GD’s note: Calcios – syrupy paste, containing free calcium easily assimilated – manufactured by The Colloidal Health Products Corp., Greenvale, Long Island, N.Y. It sells for $2.50 a jar. No longer in business.]

[Reading #23-15, August 26 1939]

In the above reading, Edgar Cayce noted that consuming adequate calcium while pregnant is important for the “body that is expected’s” future teeth. Chicken bones are just as good as any supplement for this purpose.

Figuring out how to “eat healthy” is a nearly-impossible task in the the modern world, as there are many commonly-repeated maxims that are misinterpretations of the actual findings of Science.

The wisdom contained in the thousands of Edgar Cayce readings is a better foundation for health.

I’ve written a supplement to this blog post for my email list subscribers, where I share my theory of some of the scientific reasons behind the recommendation for consuming chicken in this manner. You can sign up for these reports by putting your email into the box on this page.

A friend was recently talking about needing to help her ~70-ish year old sister “get her blood sugar under control.” I asked what her sister ate. “Whatever’s in the refrigerator.” Then she told how her sister recently came home with cupcakes. She said to her ‘diabetic’ sister, who should have known better, “Really?”

The sister protested, “they have dairy-free frosting!” This is one of the ways that food companies health-wash garbage foods. Dairy is a generally-acceptable source of calories, and is much safer than modern dairy-substitutes.

I came up with an idea… “Your sister needs a job. Go to the thrift store and get a bread machine. It should be <$10. Your sister’s job will be Breadmaker.”

My mom bought this bread machine about 25 years ago. It was used sporadically, and was ‘gifted’ to my brother 3 years ago. He used it a few times before it migrated into his garage. This is the usual fate of a bread machine.

Edgar Cayce commonly recommended whole wheat bread in the readings. Starting in the 1800’s, wheat flour was commonly refined into white flour to extend its shelf life. Removing the germ prevents flour from becoming rancid, but it also removes the fiber and a good chunk of nutrients. The food industry has taken to ‘fortifying’ flour with some of the vitamins that were removed, but the health effects of fortified flour is nothing like the original. Continue reading “Whole Wheat Bread”

Earlier this year I found this book of articles from the old Cayce newsletters (originally published in the 1970’s):

I was drawn to a chapter about Mr. Cayce’s advice for foods. In reading (462-14) (M 57, 1942), Cayce was asked about frozen foods, “especially [frozen] vegetables and fruits that are on the market today.” His answer was that it depends, but generally frozen fruits retain more of their vitamins than frozen vegetables. Cayce was also asked about “steam pressure for cooking foods quickly”. The response was that this cooking method “rather preserves than destroys” vitamins in fruits and vegetables.

Reading (243-36) (F 62, 1942) recommended cooking Jerusalem Artichokes in patapar paper “so that all the juice of same may be stirred or mixed with the bulk when this is eaten.” This food was to help with kidney inflammation.

Reading (133-4) gives more detailed instructions for cooking with patapar paper to extract the juice from vegetables:

6. Noons – not too much should be taken at this meal, and that only of vegetable juices. And the preferable way to prepare such juices would be through cooking the vegetables after tying them in Patapar paper; not putting them in water to boil, but cooking either in the Patapar paper or in a steam steamer, so that only the juices from the vegetables may be obtained – and no water added in the cooking at all. Then these juices should be combined and seasoned to the taste. This activity will build into the system the proper associations with that which has been indicated by the corrections in the spine, and make for the corrections in the activities throughout the digestive system.

(133-4), F-54, July 28th, 1934 (emphasis added)

I’d previously seen references to Patapar paper, but never thought to look for it. This reading notes that steamers are acceptable too. “Seasoned to taste” certainly refers to the adding of salt. The amount of salt needed varies from person to person and season to season – one’s own taste buds are the best indicator of the amount of salt necessary.

When I went to look at the full text of 133-4, I noticed that Gladys Davis provided this footnote:

[The Patapar paper for cooking the foods should be obtained at any ten cent store or department store, or the like. It is made by the Paterson Parchment Paper Co., Bristol, Penna. I am enclosing a sample for your use. Prepare the vegetables or any other foods for cooking…that is, clean and cut in small pieces…and tie up in the paper, using a stout white cord. Put in Boiler of water (not letting water get inside of paper) and boil from thirty-five to forty-five minutes, depending on what is being cooked. The paper may be washed…just as a cloth…and used again and again. GD.]

The Paterson Parchment Paper Co. is still in business, and they still sell the Patapar paper that Mr. Cayce recommends.

The ‘official supplier’ sells small quantities of Patapar paper:

Modern electric steamers are just as good as the old Patapar paper, and are infinitely more convenient. I found this rice/vegetable steamer at a garage sale for $3, and recently saw an identical unit at a thrift store for $7:

This steamer also has a slotted basket for cooking vegetables. But when this is used, the vegetables juices are entirely wasted. Cooking vegetables using the rice bowl allows all the fruit and vegetable juices to be saved.

This is, essentially, a double-boiler. One of these inexpensive double-boilers would probably work well enough with one of the pots you already have:

Some of the vegetables I steam regularly include green beans, okra, zuchini, and tomatoes. One of my family complains when I steam tomatoes, but Mr. Cayce said cooked tomatoes allows more of the nutrients to be absorbed.

This is a friend’s steamer basket. He tries to eat healthy, but uses too much water when cooking his zucchini. Any kind of vegetable is better than no vegetables, but he’d get more of the alkalizing minerals by using a small amount of water, and consuming the cooking water too.

Rhubarb has been brought to my attention several times in recent months. This spring I noticed a rhubarb plant at the local garden center:

A few weeks later I saw stalks of rhubarb at the farmer’s market, so I picked up a bundle. Last week, while perusing through the Cayce readings about kidney problems, I ran across a reference to using “pie plant” (rhubarb) and other fruits/plants as mild laxatives: Continue reading “Pie Plant (Rhubarb) as functional food in the Cayce Readings”

In a recent facebook post about the importance of light, I quoted reading #252-1. It seems like this teenager suffered from what today might be called “bipolar disorder”. Conventional medicine is basically helpless when treating this diagnosis – wikipedia says “the exact mechanism underlying the disorder remains unclear”. The treatments offered are palliative, rather than curative.

4. There are periods when there are seemingly unnecessary expressions or manifestations of the activities, as related to the anger and the expression of same. There are other periods when the docility of the body becomes as an extreme.

Mr. Cayce precisely gave an aetiology of the young woman’s condition. This examination of the causes “related to the anger and the expression of same” is certainly relevant to many people’s experiences today.

The text of this reading is below. I’ve bolded a few passages that I think are important. Continue reading “A case of ‘bipolar disorder’ in the Cayce Readings?”

One of the major dietary problems suffered by humans in the modern world is the substitution of imitation-foods for our evolutionarily-appropriate cuisine. The most dangerous of these substitutions is that of “biodiesel” (commonly sold as “vegetable oil”) for the naturally-saturated fats that humans have consumed for thousands of years.

Three local grocery stores have bags of potato chips that are fried in coconut oil. While these are convenient, they are sort of expensive. The video below is of making my first batch of home-made potato chips:

https://youtu.be/IWxZnhM0Feg

No biodiesel was used to fry these potatoes. The slices were a little thick – more like french fry texture than potato chip texture. Another problem was that the slices were too wet. I’d pre-rinsed the potato slices in a pot of water, because potato-water is a good source of protein, and to hopefully keep solids from accumulating in the bottom of my fryer.

The fryer is a Hamilton Beach 12-Cup. My first batch of donuts was fried in a pot on the stove, but it was a challenge to control the temperature, and the oil was burned after a single use. The Hamilton Beach fryer automatically turns off the heating element when the oil reaches the temperature set by the dial. The dial is not especially precise, which is why I use the laser thermometer, which is an Etekcity Lasergrip 774.

Edgar Cayce frequently advised against eating any type of fried food. For example:

• … Do not eat fried foods of any kind, such as fried potatoes or the like. The potato peeling may be taken when the potato is baked, but no fried foods. (Edgar Cayce Reading #653-3)

Boiling and baking potatoes are better cooking methods – a little bit of butter complements the potato starch nicely.

If someone is going to eat fried foods, they ought to be fried in coconut oil. My other website covers the “biodiesel” problem in more detail:

The Obesity Epidemic: Evidence of a Crime Against The Public’s Health

Steven Breaux in Louisianna emailed me recently asking about buying some Cayce Grounding Coins to give away for the holidays. Steven used to have chronic sinus troubles – carrying two Cayce Grounding coins has allowed him to breathe freely for these past three years. His testimonial is on the Cayce Carbon-Steel Grounding Coin page.

This year I was drawn to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, and drove to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Upon awakening on Thursday, I checked to see if there were any ‘grocery’ options within walking distance. Erewhon Natural Foods Market seemed promising – I called to verify they were open and trekked right over. I found a delightful store that I will definitely return to. This quote is from Erewhon’s “Our Story” page:

Continue reading “Packing on pounds with supposedly-healthy prepared food”

The last post was about meeting the parents of sickly children. Those parent’s kids demonstrated the importance of Edgar Cayce’s maxim, ‘Mind is the Builder’.

I met another parent recently. She was getting something for her kid to eat. I asked ‘how old?’ This woman responded that she has 5 kids. They’ve just started school, and they’ve all gotten sick: asthma, etc. Continue reading “Recognizing and Resolving ‘Birth Trauma’”