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The History of the Biennial Edgar Cayce
Euro Congress
A little history about the Euro Congress
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It all started in Sweden…
Many European representatives cannot
come to the annual A.R.E. Congress in Virginia Beach (U.S.A.),
held traditionally the third week in June. For some, such
a trip is too expensive. For others, June is not a good
time to travel.
A few years ago, the European center
directors decided to organize a congress closer to them.
It was called Euro Congress, but indeed it welcomes anyone.
The organizers, as well as the speakers,
all volunteer their time, efforts and knowledge. They
pay for their own expenses, and do not get any financial
compensation. It is true cooperation, dedication and love.
The first Euro Congress was held in Sweden
in 1998, the second one in England in 1999. It was then
decided that the event would take place every other year,
each time in a different country. For the third one, in
2001, the city of Prague, famous for its rich history
and mystical background, was selected. After the Prague
congress, a poll to choose the next site was conducted
among the European organizers of the Edgar Cayce work.
Germany received the most votes. Euro Congress 2003 took
place near Hamburg, which is a major port on the North
Sea.
Those interested in hearing how the idea
of the Euro Congress actually emerged will enjoy reading
the following account that Gösta Montelius —
from the Swedish Edgar Cayce Foundation — wrote,
looking back at the history of the Cayce work in Sweden:
« Sweden has a population of only
eight million people on a surface nearly the size of France.
Most people live in the southern part, and the Edgar Cayce
Foundation here is situated in the province of Skane at
the southern tip of the country – a province once
a part of Denmark. The whole story of Cayce in Scandinavia
started in the small town of Tyringe, the home of the
Foundation’s founding father, Ole Barry Gerdin.
In 1991, Ole read in a Danish weekly
magazine about a peculiar man, Cayce, who had given readings
during his whole life. Ole got hooked on this story. Formerly,
he had been a drummer, ice-hockey player and golf instructor;
but now he turned his whole life into the Cayce work.
He translated books; started a Cayce center; organized
workshops and seminars, inviting American and European
lecturers. He had the vision to create, in Tyringe, a
living centre for Cayce therapies. He bought a large house
for this, and started importing remedies from the Heritage
Store. In all these efforts, he was encouraged by Jeanette
Thomas, from the Foundation in U.S.A., who was a frequent
visitor to Sweden in those days.
The lecturing and conference activity
turned out to be a success. In one of the first conferences,
so many visitors showed up that the room could not hold
all the audience. Later on, the number of conferees has
been more modest, and we now normally only have forty
to fifty people. Over the years, the subjects have ranged
from practical issues, such as massage, remedies, Cayce
therapies and cures, diet recommendations, study groups
and healing techniques, to more esoteric things like dream
interpretation, personal growth and Atlantis.
During one of the first meetings, several
Danes participated. One of them was Jakob Friis. He had
been studying the Cayce material for decades, and knew
more about it than anyone. When he saw what could be done
by organizing people around it, he promptly decided to
start an Edgar Cayce association in Denmark, and so he
did. This was the right move at the right time. The Danish
association is now full of life, and there is fruitful
cooperation and exchange between our two organizations.
Many people became interested during
these first years, and the mailing list contained more
than 1,500 names. A news bulletin was launched, and everyone
was enthusiastic. But the number of paying members was
still very low, so every mailing created a loss.
Some people, who had come to Tyringe,
got the idea to start activities in their own area —
which is a good way to spread the message. Thus the Edgar
Cayce Society in Northern Sweden was founded, and has
been very successful north of Stockholm.
Personally, I remember very well a three-day
conference, in October of 1997, with only French-speaking
lecturers. Philippe Antoine, from Belgium, talked on attitudes,
remedies and study groups. From France, Guy Garreau shared
his experience as a healer and encouraged us to practice
this ourselves. Annette Cossin, the head of the French
association, had a workshop about ideals and gave examples
of their importance for youngsters choosing a career.
I was the happy interpreter of all this from French into
Swedish. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the conference
and thought we should share our work with people around
Europe. The decision was quickly made to organize a European
Congress the following August. We got our calendars out,
and decided on a date.
Thus the Belgian, French and Swedish associations
joined forces and invited all the Cayce friends in Europe
to a Congress, which took place in Tyringe in 1998. This was
the first time many countries here could meet and share their
joys and challenges. Since then, Euro Congresses have been
standard: the next one was held in 1999 in Durham (England);
in 2001, the event took place in Prague (Czech Republic);
in 2003, it was held in Hamburg (Germany);and in 2005, it
was held in Copenhagen (Denmark).
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