Cayce Principles of Child Guidance
 By Anita Harkin Peterson

(Note: Edgar Cayce gave 213 life readings for children, requested by parents, to find out the child’s purpose in this life, relevant past lives, and to obtain information on how best to rear and guide that child.)

  The principles emerging from the Cayce readings constitute a paradox: On the one hand, many of them are quite similar to principles of both traditional and contemporary child guidance; on the other hand, some include conditions, qualifications, and specific suggestions for application that make the Cayce principles unique even in their apparent parallels. For example, all developmental theories encourage bringing out the best qualities of the child. As Cayce often says, “Maximize the virtues, minimize the faults.”

But unique to the Cayce readings is the suggestion to use the child’s psychic abilities and the child’s past-life skills and abilities. Other developmental approaches may address the values and motivations of those working with the child. Only the Cayce material, however, emphasizes the role of the spiritual ideals of people closest to the child.

According to Cayce, when the parents take time to identify their spiritual ideals and to express those ideals through the guidance of their child, then appropriate motivations and values will prevail, and desirable behavior is likely to occur in both parent and child. The need for spiritual growth applies first to us as parents and then to our children.

The Cayce readings encourage each of us to "look to thy ideal" and weigh every thought and action by that ideal–as a measuring rod for one's success. For oneself or for a child, to have a consistent measuring rod by which to evaluate one's actions can help one to be "consistent and persistent" as the readings advise. This measuring rod will stretch one to reach for the best that is in him or her. Parents and educators studying these life readings should look within themselves to know their own ideals. Do we put the cart before the horse–do we form our ideas and goals or set the school curriculum before we set the ideal? This principle of “know the ideal” illustrates an underlying spiritual law frequently referred to by Cayce:

“The spirit is the life; the mind is the builder; the physical is the result.” In other words, that which manifests in the physical has been created by the mind from the spiritual elements associated with the ideal.

Eighty-five principles were extracted from the children's life readings. One appeared in 71 readings and several others appear only once or twice. A list of the 20 most frequently cited principles appears at the end of this article.

The 20 principles fall into three categories: "familiar and conventional" principles, generally consistent with today's approaches to child rearing; "unconventional but Cayce-predictable” principles, not usually part of current or traditional approaches, but not surprising when you are familiar with the Cayce information; and “unexpected and unconventional” principles that even a person familiar with Cayce material may find surprising.

Familiar and Conventional Principles

·Abilities and tendencies can be developed in either a positive or negative direction, according to the training and guidance given. Even barriers or stumbling blocks may be transformed into steppingstones. The following excerpt from a reading for a 23-month-old girl illustrates this principle in a specific situation:

Hence the necessity of the entity's training, especially, in those elements having to do with purity in love and affection, and of nobleness and of goodness...for with the entity under these influences (Uranus, Venus, and Mercury)... the entity's manifestation in the present plane will be exceptionally good or very bad. 143-1

·The child will develop favorably given proper guidance, training, environment, and care. For example, one reading for a 5-year-old girl gave this advice:

Guide and direct the entity aright, and joy, peace and comfort will come to many through the efforts of the entity. 138-1

The parents know that joy and comfort when they feel they are giving good care to the child, sensing that the child will be a blessing to others.

Purposeful training suited to the child is especially critical in the early years. Many teachers and parents are familiar with the concept of life cycles and critical life periods. Erik Erikson's stages of life and Gail Sheehy's "passages" are relatively well-publicized and accepted examples of these. The parents of a 1-month-old boy were advised:

Remember, then, in the astrological forces and influence, that the assurance of the elements of the training are in the first 12 years of the present experience in this earth's plane. 142-1

·The child can be guided so that urges and inclinations can become either a greater or a lesser part of the child's personality–whether they are innate from astrological influences or sensory/emotional from past life influences. We always have a choice of how to deal with the child's inclinations: Do you call the child lazy or stupid as you perceive and judge its behavior, or do you build the idea in the child that he or she is a child of God with unique qualities to develop? The consequences of your choice between such opposite approaches are significant–in your own spiritual development as well as in the child's. This is from a reading for a 14-year-old girl:

Then we would magnify the virtues, minimize the faults. For, that as may have hindered may be forgotten; that as may aid needs glorification. For, good alone continues to grow, while the faults or the faulty continue to be left behind. 2571-1

Unconventional, but Cayce-Predictable Principles

·Train the child to give the spiritual the highest priority in life. For example: Train the child "to depend upon the divine that lies within." 276-2

One of the most important habits we can help our children acquire is to be still and listen to the divine within. This ability will enhance self-esteem and build confidence. As an application, we might start by setting aside a period every day for helping the child nurture this ability. Sit or lie quietly with the child and listen to all the sounds that can be heard. Then encourage a focus on the sounds of nature, if they can be heard. A little later, both of you refocus your attention on the sounds of your own bodies–breathing, stomach gurgling, and the overall sensations such as hot or cold, tingly, relaxed or tense. Imagine the blood making paths through every part of the body. Follow that with visualizing different colors flowing through the body. Then quietly place the hands on the chest and feel the rhythms of the lungs and heart. Ask: What is my heart telling me? What is God telling me through my heart? This time together may eventually become a meditative period together after which the child can be encouraged to express thoughts and images that have come to mind.

Another approach uses journaling: First, let the child see you writing in your own journal, explaining that you are writing ideas and events you would like to remember. When there are signs of curiosity, ask if the child would like you to write down his or her thoughts and stories in a special book for the child. Write exactly what the child says (don't correct grammar or vocabulary, for example). As the child gets older, encourage him or her to write in a journal. I have written-and continue to write-the 'stories" of events my mentally retarded daughter Lyn wants to remember. She reads them better than any books or other reading material because the words are her own and the events were of her choosing. Remember that we are not trying to educate the child, but to awaken the child to awareness.

·Use universal laws and spiritual truths in the child's guidance. For example:

Hence there are laws immutable, unchanging. These are of spiritual import, yet are applicable in the experience of each entity in its dealings with its fellow man. That ye sow, that ye reap. 1796-1

Relating to this law of reaping what you sow, for example: When my two children were small, I would say to them, “You have to take the consequences of your actions." Within their respective capabilities they both have become very responsible individuals, aware and accepting of the results of their own actions.

·The child must learn to exercise its will and make choices appropriately. For example:

No life, no individual is set! It is a line; it deviates. For the will of each may change the relationships.”1235-1

Perhaps the best way of developing will is to carefully manage the child's choice-making, allowing the child as early as possible to choose among alternatives appropriate for his or her age and maturity. Obviously, this also allows children to experience the consequences of their choices–a critical requirement for strengthening the will.

Unconventional and Unexpected Principles

Accept and encourage the child's getting information psychically, from past lives, and from infinite sources.

For the entity of its inner self is very psychic. Do not submerge, but rather encourage all such. 5359-1

The readings on this and another "top 20" principle on past-life information included these specific suggestions: (a) Study and analyze a reading on the child's past lives to understand the child and how to guide him/her. (b) Prompt the child to remember details from a past life. (c) Have the child visit locales of, or study the history of, nations or peoples related to a past life. The readings suggest that this kind of information will help the child understand self and recognize both its positive and negative qualities, while also facilitating the reawakening of skills and abilities previously learned.

Approaching this principle today, parents might first obtain a past-life reading for themselves from a psychic with whose work they are familiar and comfortable. Then they can apply some of the reading's guidance in their own lives to see the fruits of their efforts. Then if they feel the information is “helpful and hopeful," they may want to obtain a life reading for the child and help the child apply the information carefully and wisely.

·Appropriate colors, stones, clothing, or music around the individual can be positive developmental influences on the child. For example:

Colors–these become as means in which the entity may, for itself, determine much. But know as to what colors mean. 1406-1

Parents might, for example, analyze what specific colors, music, or stones mean to them. Also listen to and observe the child's preferences for colors, music, or stones–especially those with the helpful influences. If a reading is obtained, request information on appropriate colors or stones, and then, when applying such information in the child's life, observe what happens when these influences are used around the child.

Is it worth the effort to delve into these principles and try them out in your own life with children? The answer depends as much on your attitude as it does on your actions. The Cayce readings often stated how much the attitude with which a task is undertaken affects the quality of the outcome of the task. The children's life readings point out that this is especially true of child training and guidance.

For example, a principle for parents and others responsible for children, cited in 17 readings, suggests: See the training of a child as an opportunity, not a duty; a matter of love made manifest, not of sacrifice. A typical reading states:

Let each day be an opportunity–not in coddling, not drastic measures, but loving–as an honor, as a privilege to be appreciated and active, in that there "my come those blessings to the entity. 2547-1

How easy it can be to see child training largely as a responsibility that requires a lot of parental self-sacrifice. Child rearing is likely to be more joyful and wondrous when we are aware also the joy and satisfaction of watching each child develop as a spiritual being–truly a child of God.

      20 Most Often Cited Principles in Life Readings for Children

1. Abilities and tendencies can be developed in either a positive or a negative direction (cited in 71 readings).
2. Urges and inclinations can become either a greater or a lesser part of personality according to the training received (68).
3. Train child to give the spiritual highest priority in life (59).
4. Use universal laws and spiritual truths in child's guidance (58).
5. Encourage the child's specific, natural interests (53).
6. Train the child in spiritual truths and qualities (48).
7. Help identify and apply the child's spiritual ideal (48).
8. Control the child through reasoning rather than by command (47).
9. A child will develop favorably given proper guidance, training, environment, and care (46).
10. The child must learn to exercise its will and make choices appropriately (44).
11. The child should study to "know thyself' and its relationship to God and to other people (42).
12. Purposeful training is especially critical in the early years (37).
13. Train by example as well as by precept (36).
14. Guide the child through love, not force (36).
15. The child should learn to be of service to others (33).
16. Appropriate colors, stones, clothing, or music can be positive influences on the child (32).
17. Past-life information is a valuable source for study and guidance in training the child (31).
18. Accept and encourage the child's getting information psychically, from past lives, and from infinite sources (31).
19. Do not break the child's will (29).
20. Teach the child to keep balance in life (29).