Death

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READING 295-8 EXPLAINED (see original reading below)

According to Edgar Cayce, no soul can ever “repay” what Christ did. Trying to repay such a debt is impossible, because Christ’s gift was not a transaction. To condemn oneself or feel unworthy is actually to misunderstand Christ’s power and purpose. God, Cayce says, is the God of the living, not of the dead. In this sense, “death” does not simply mean the end of physical life—it means separation from life itself. Life is God. Wherever life is fully expressed, God is present.

Cayce explains that death, whether physical or spiritual, is separation. Physical death is separation from the material body. Spiritual death is separation from divine life, love, and awareness of God. Christ came to show life—not just by healing or teaching, but by willingly giving His life and taking it up again. When Christ said, “I give my life, and I take it again,” He showed mastery over death, meaning separation never truly overcomes divine life.

Because of this, there is no way to repay Christ. Instead, the only true response is to live what Christ lived. When a person expresses love, joy, peace, harmony, grace, and compassion, they are manifesting the Christ life. The joy is not in repayment, but in allowing Christ’s life to continue expressing itself through the individual.

When asked how Christ’s death affected the entity, the reading refers to the biblical scene where Mary mistook Christ for the gardener. This represents deep sorrow, confusion, and hopelessness caused by focusing on separation rather than life. Cayce says this reaction shows how grief can pull the soul backward. The higher understanding would have been joy, expressed in the realization, “My Lord and my God.” The lesson is that focusing on loss blinds one to continuing life.

Finally, the reading affirms that the entity was present at the ascension. This confirms that Christ’s story does not end with death, but with continued life and return to divine unity. The overall message is clear: death is separation, not defeat; life is God; and Christ came to show that life cannot be destroyed—only transformed.

REPORT IN READING 294-114 EXPLAINED(see original report below)

During this experience, Edgar Cayce felt that he encountered Death not as an idea, but as a real presence with personality and awareness. What surprised him most was that Death did not look frightening or dark, as people usually imagine. Instead, Death appeared healthy, gentle, and almost friendly. This shows the main message of the experience: death is not an evil or terrifying force, but a natural and orderly part of life.

Death explained that it is not destruction, but a change or a transition—“just a visit.” The scissors or shears Death carried were symbolic. They represent the way life and death work together. By cutting, they separate the soul from the body, but at the same time they allow the soul to move on and continue living in another form. In this sense, dividing and uniting happen at the same time.

The experience also explains the idea of the “silver cord,” often thought to connect the soul to the body. Instead of breaking at the center of the body, Death says this connection is broken at the head, specifically at the soft spot in infants. This area is associated with life force and consciousness. The dream suggests that this is why older people instinctively kiss babies on the forehead—drawing vitality—while babies receive wisdom and calm in return. There is an exchange of energy between generations.

Death also says that under certain conditions, the connection between soul and body can be restored. If the vibration or life force is raised high enough, the cord can be reconnected. Cayce connects this idea to the biblical account of Jesus raising the widow’s son at Nain. Instead of touching the body in the usual way, Jesus touched the head, and life returned because the body received “Life of Life itself.” This suggests that life and death are governed by spiritual laws of energy and vibration, not just physical rules.

Overall, the experience teaches that death is not an enemy, not a grim figure, and not an ending. It is a transition guided by intelligence and order. Life continues, and under rare spiritual conditions, the separation between body and soul can even be reversed. Death, in this view, is part of life—not its opposite.

READING 136-18 EXPLAINED (see below for original reading)

According to Edgar Cayce, death is not the end of life or a falling into nothingness. It is simply a change from one form of life to another. In this reading, Cayce explains that the idea came through the subconscious mind because the ordinary, everyday mind cannot easily understand what death really is. From a physical point of view, which he calls the “third dimension,” death looks final because we only see the body stop working. But from a higher or “fourth-dimension” view that includes mind and spirit, life continues even though the physical body is left behind.

Cayce says that when a person dies, even suddenly or violently in war or strong emotion, their awareness and identity do not disappear. The person continues to exist and experience life in another way. To explain this, he uses the example of a grain of corn. The outer husk breaks down in the soil, but the life inside the seed continues and grows into something new. In the same way, the physical body is like the husk, and the spirit or consciousness is like the living germ within it. What we call death is not destruction but a transformation. Life does not end; it simply changes how it is expressed.

READING 262-86 EXPLAINED (see below for original reading)

According to Edgar Cayce, when a person goes through what we call death, they are freed from the physical body, but not from matter altogether. Instead, matter changes its form. The soul or entity remains fully conscious—often even more aware than when it was limited by the physical body. Death, then, is not unconsciousness or disappearance, but a shift into another state of being.

When the reading speaks about the “resurrection of the body,” it is not referring to the physical body made of flesh and dust. That physical body does dissolve. The “body” that is resurrected is the soul-body—the individual spiritual form the entity has always used to express itself. This body is shaped and given form by the soul drawing upon matter, but it is guided by identity and consciousness, not by physical flesh.

The reading explains that people appear in many different physical forms across different lifetimes—tall or short, light or dark, one appearance or another. Scripture itself says that humans judge by outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. The outward body changes, but the inner identity does not. The reason for different physical forms is that each incarnation is shaped by the soul’s needs, growth, and experiences.

Mind is described as the builder of the body—not just any mind, but the mind of the individual soul working with creative forces. The soul draws matter to itself to form a body suitable for its experience at that time. Because of this, the true body of the individual is not the physical form, but the soul-body that has existed throughout all ages.

So when the question is asked, “With what body shall we be raised?” the answer is: the same body you have always had—the same individual soul-body that makes you you. Otherwise, there would be no continuity or individuality. The physical body returns to dust, but the soul-body remains. When matter is later condensed again for expression, it is not a different body—it is the same individual body expressing itself in a new way.

In short, death dissolves the physical form, but it does not destroy identity. Resurrection means the continuation and re-expression of the same individual soul, not the reanimation of physical flesh.

READING 516-4 EXPLAINED (see original reading below)

According to Edgar Cayce, the reason the father and his brothers appeared as young men is that on the spiritual or eternal plane, souls are not fixed in the age or condition they had at physical death. After death, which Cayce says is really a kind of birth into another state of life, the soul continues to grow, develop, and express itself.

Because they are growing on this eternal plane, they appear in a form that reflects growth, vitality, and renewal rather than physical decline. White hair and old age belong to the physical world, but in the spiritual realm, appearance reflects inner life and development. Seeing them as young men symbolizes continued life, progress, and renewal—not a return to the past, but movement forward.

READING 5488-1 EXPLAINED (see original reading below)

According to Edgar Cayce, learning how to take up life again after loss means understanding that life and death are closely connected. Cayce says that even while we are alive, we are always near death, because death is not an ending—it is the beginning of another phase of life. Life on earth itself is an opportunity for the soul to express what is already built into it. Losing faith or hope means losing confidence in one’s true spiritual inheritance. Each person has value and purpose, and that purpose is rediscovered through living and acting, not through despair.

Cayce explains that healing and renewal come through service to others. When a person applies themselves in helping, caring, or serving—even in small, quiet ways—they begin to rediscover their strength and direction. Service should not be done to gain attention or approval, but sincerely, with the intention of expressing love, faith, and hope. By serving others, a person grows in understanding and develops spiritually. This is how the soul moves forward.

When asked where it would be best to live, the answer is simple: wherever one can best serve. The right place is not defined by comfort or status, but by where a person can lose self-centeredness through meaningful service to others.

Regarding the husband who has passed on, Cayce says comfort and guidance come through inner stillness and reflection. By turning inward, one can sense unity and connection with loved ones who have crossed into the spiritual realm. There is reassurance that all is well, and that through changes in thought and attitude, the spirit can continue to work and guide life in the physical world.

Overall, this reading teaches that life continues, death is not an end, and renewal comes through faith, service, and inner connection. Purpose is rediscovered not by withdrawing from life, but by re-engaging with it in love and service.

READING 900-370 EXPLAINED (see original reading below)

According to Edgar Cayce, the idea that death is separation is correct. The explanation is given through symbolic visions because the human mind understands spiritual truths more easily through familiar images. These illustrations help the physical mind accept and understand changes that are actually spiritual in nature.

Death is compared to a ferry boat leaving its pier. The boat and the pier were connected for a time, but separation does not destroy either one—it simply changes their relationship. In the same way, death separates the soul from the physical body, but neither is destroyed. Both continue to exist in different conditions.

Another comparison is made to a drop of water. When water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen, it is no longer water, yet nothing is lost. Each element still exists and has its own power and purpose. Likewise, when life goes through death, it changes form rather than ending. The soul and the body move into different states, each with its own function.

Cayce further explains that matter itself shows this truth. Water can freeze, flow, or turn into vapor depending on heat or cold. In each state, it has different qualities and powers, yet it is still the same substance. Life works the same way. As it moves through different stages—physical life, death, and spiritual life—it takes on different forms, and each form has abilities that only exist in that particular state.

The central lesson of the reading is that all life is one life, always continuing, always changing form. Death is not destruction, but a transition. Separation allows new expressions of life to emerge, just as different states of matter reveal different powers. Life does not stop—it simply becomes accessible in a different way.

EDGAR CAYCE ORIGINAL READINGS/REPORTS

(Q) Did the entity repay any fraction of the debt owed the Master while He was in the earth?

(A) That's impossible! For, as the entity and each soul learns, condemning self is condemning the abilities of the Master. As the Master has given, GOD is God of the LIVING - NOT of the dead! For, the dead are separated from the living. As in the earth, so in the spiritual. Dead, or death, is separation. Death in the spiritual, then, is separation from life. Life, then, is God. The Master, the Christ, manifested life in the earth, through not only the material manifestations that were given in the ministry but in laying aside the life. As He gave, "I GIVE my life - I give it of myself, and I take it of myself."

So, in any attempt to repay - there can be no repay! But when one lives the life that MANIFESTS the Christ life, love, joy, peace, harmony, grace, glory, the JOY is in the life of the Master as He manifests - and manifested - life in the earth.

(Q) How did the death of the Master affect the entity?

(A) As visioned by that which is read, she thought He was the gardener. This indicates all the hopelessness, all the sorrow that is possible to be indicated in hopelessness. Yet the JOY should be the condition as would be thought on, rather than the separation at the time. This is going backward, even to be affected by the separation - when there is the joy as manifested in, "My Lord and my God."

(Q) Was the entity present at the ascension?

(A) To be sure.

295-8

During a Physical Rdg. 209-1 EDGAR CAYCE had an unusual dream experience. Upon awakening, he described this experience as follows:

I was preparing to give a reading. As I went out, I realized that I had contacted Death, as a personality, as an individual, or as a being. Realizing this, I remarked to Death: "You are not as ordinarily pictured - with a black mask or hood, or as a skeleton, or like Father Time with a sickle. Instead, you are fair, rose-cheeked, robust - and you have a pair of shears or scissors." In fact, I had to look twice at the feet or limbs, or even at the body, to see it take shape.

He replied: "Yes, Death is not what many seem to think. It is not the horrible thing which is often pictured. Just a change - just a visit. The shears or scissors are indeed the implements most representative of life and death to man. These indeed, unite by dividing - and divide by uniting. The cord does not, as usually thought, extend from the center - but is broken, from the head, the forehead - that soft portion we see pulsate in the infant. Hence we see old people, unbeknowing to themselves, gain strength from youth by kissing there; and youth gains wisdom by such kisses.

Indeed the vibrations may be raised to such an extent as to rekindle or re-connect the cord, even as the Master did with the son of the widow of Nain. For He did not take him by the hand (which was bound to the body as was the custom of the day), but rather stroked him on the head - and the body took life of Life itself! So, you see, the silver cord may be broken - but vibration..." Here the dream ended.

294-114 REPORTS

(Q) Monday, November 2, 1925, at home. "I was in discussion with [137]. I remember only a portion of this. Recall and interpret and explain to me so that my mind may grasp the significance and I may better understand the lesson intended. That I recall is as follows: Talking to [137], I said: 'Now, [137], you see, death is not the grave as many people think, - It is another phenomenized form of life.'" (A) In this, we find the subconscious forces giving to the conscious mind, in this emblematical conversation, those experiences in which the conscious mind may gain the lessons pertaining to the psychology of mental forces, see? The portions as we see given and brought to the consciousness of the entity then, being the crux of that thought as was seen in conversation. This as the conversation, as we gain here: The discussion regarding that seen by the life in an individual and the taking of same by any sudden action, see? and the discussion went into the particular conditions regarding individuals' lives that were taken in heat of passion, or in war, and as the mental developed in discussion, we find the entity sees then in same something of that suggestion as was placed by one, Ballentine (?), in the discussion of life after death. And the entity then sees, through the subconscious forces, that death is as but the beginning of another form of phenomenized force in the earth's plane, and may not be understood by the third dimension mind from third dimension analysis, but must be seen from that fourth-dimension force as may be experienced by an entity gaining the access to same, by development in the physical plane through the mental processes of an entity. The mind is being correlated with subconscious and spiritual forces that magnify same to the conscious force of an entity in such a manner as said entity gains the insight and concept of such phenomenized conditions, see? We see in the physical world the condition in every form of life. As is taken here: We find in a grain of corn or wheat that germ that, set in motion through its natural process with Mother Earth and the elements about same, brings forth corn AFTER ITS KIND, see? the kind and the germ being of a spiritual nature, the husk or corn, and the nature or physical condition, being physical forces, see? Then, as the corn dies, the process is as the growth is seen in that as expressed to the entity, and the entity expressing same, see - that death, as commonly viewed, is not that of the passing away, or becoming a non-entity, but the phenomenized condition in a physical world that may be understood with such an illustration, viewed from the fourth-dimension viewpoint or standpoint, see?

136-18

(Q) At the change called death is the entity free of a physical or material body?

(A) Free of the material body but not free of matter; only changed in the form as to matter; and is just as acute to the realms of consciousness as in the physical or material or carnal body, or more so.

(Q) What is meant by the resurrection of the body? What body?

(A) That Body thou hast taken in thine individuality to draw upon, from matter itself, to give it shadow or form, see?

As may be seen by a study of the information which has been given through these sources as to the various appearances of an individual soul-entity in the earth, sometimes the body is six foot two, again four foot five; sometimes fair of hair, sometimes of very dark complexion. What has the Book written on same? MAN looketh on the outward appearance; GOD looketh on the heart.

This is the same, but why the change?

In entering into materiality, that thou hast used of spirituality or Creative Force makes for the development that has been in the experience of thy entity or soul-body, see?

Then as it appeareth in the earth, what has been the builder ever? MIND! Mind of what? Of the entity! as associated with Creative Forces drawn by those environs into which it has come in its various experiences. The matter is drawn, as it were, of the soul and of the soul-entity. Hence with what Body shall ye be raised?

The same Body ye had from the beginning! or the same Body that has been thine throughout the ages! else how could it be individual?

The PHYSICAL, the dust, dissolves; yes. But when it is condensed again, what is it? The SAME Body! It doesn't beget a different Body!

262-86

(Q) Why did I see my father and his two brothers as young men, although I knew them when they were white-haired?

(A) They are growing, as it were, upon the eternal plane. For, as may be experienced in every entity, a death is a birth. And those that are growing then appear in their growing state.

516-4

(Q) What advice as to how to take up life again?

(A) In the application of self to the vicissitudes of life - in the midst of life one is in the midst of death, for death is but the beginning of life, as life is but the BEGINNING of an opportunity to manifest that as is INNATELY built within the soul of an individual itself. To lose faith, hope, in self and in those forces which must keep for the whole of the operative forces in life, is to lose hold and to lose CONFIDENCE in self and in self's heritage, as is given; for all are BOUGHT with the price, and in the application of self in service to another will one find that the APTITUDES of life are but the stepping stones to the better UNDERSTANDING of the conditions as each and every individual meets to make for them that development necessary, that they may join with those in the expressions of the divine forces as are made applicable in the lives of each and every individual. Applying self, then, in some DEFINITE, some individual service - not as a service that is to be seen of men, but with a service eye-single to that of manifesting that faith, that hope, that expression as was given in Him, in "As oft as ye do it unto the least of these, my little ones, ye do it unto me"; for in Him is the life, and the light, and without Him there is NO life AT ALL.

(Q) Where would be the best, considering all things, for the entity to live?

(A) That would be best chosen in self. Where the greatest service, and where the losing of self IN service may be best accomplished, there live.

(Q) Is there any message you could give regarding her husband, who has passed beyond, that would help her?

(A) These, as we may find, may best be had through that introspection of self in those periods when one may turn to the within and seek that counsel, that at-oneness with those whom are in the borderland; for ALL is well in the oneness of the purposes as may be accomplished in this material force through the mental changing, or guiding, that the SPIRIT may work aright.

5488-1

(Q) (Continuing) I was told that Death is separation and this was illustrated in ferry boat separating from its pier. I was told that Death is separation just as death for a drop would be separation of its elements into hydrogen and oxygen.

(A) Correct. Here again we have visions, as the consciousness of the individual entity reaches out to grasp that that will bring the consciousness in the sensuous sense. The body in illustrative manners, and the body consciousness through same, becomes the more adaptable to the needs of self and of those whom the body may aid in an understanding of the relations of the life as has been given the body in that all life is one life, and the transition, the separation, the division, is as that given, so that even to man's sensuous consciousness the change takes place; yet each possession possessing the power, even as IN the drop of water separated, or as water congealed or expanded has its own peculiar power through the various stages of transition. Each force as manifested in the various stages, or states, being as that illustration of the various stages a life may manifest in its varied forms, either before combined in hydrogen and oxygen becoming water. Then in a normal state representing a certain element separated by contact - cold or heat - changing form, and yet in each possessing a power, a force, all individual in itself, and only accessible when in THAT peculiar state.

900-370