The Second Coming

The 'Second Coming' is among the diverse metaphysical topics addressed in the channeled reading transcripts that document the psychic vocation of Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) who came to be known as 'the sleeping prophet.'
 
When considering the passages of the readings about the Second Coming, one should understand the nature of the communication that was given through the entranced Edgar Cayce.  Reading 254-2 given on March 19, 1919 presented the response to a question about "how the psychic work is accomplished through this body."
 

2. EC: We have the body here - we have had it before. In this state the conscious mind is under subjugation of the subconscious or soul mind. The information obtained and given by the body is obtained through the power of mind over mind, or power of mind over physical matter, or obtained by the suggestion as given to the active part of the subconscious mind.  It obtains its information from that which it has gathered, either from other subconscious minds - put in touch with the power of the suggestion of the mind controlling the speaking faculties of this body, or from minds that have passed into the Beyond, which leave their impressions and are brought in touch by the power of the suggestion.  What is known to one subconscious mind or soul is known to another, whether conscious of the fact or not.  The subjugation of the conscious mind putting the subconscious in action in this manner or in one of the other of the manners as described, this body obtains its information when in the subconscious state.

3. (Q) Is this information always correct?
(A) Correct in so far as the suggestion is in the proper channel or accord with the action of subconscious or soul matter.

 
Reading 364-7 of April 5, 1932 includes commentary about "in the beginning," "the Word WAS with God" and "incarnations of Adam" before the topic of the Second Coming is addressed.
 

8. (Q) Please give the important re-incarnations of Adam in the world's history.
(A) In the beginning as Amilius, as Adam, as Melchizedek, as Zend, as Ur, as Asaph, as Jesus - Joseph - Jesus.

Then, as that coming into the world in the second coming - for He will come again and receive His own, who have prepared themselves through that belief in Him and acting in that manner; for the SPIRIT is abroad, and the time draws near, and there will be the reckoning of those even as in the first so in the last, and the last shall be first; for there is that Spirit abroad - He standeth near.  He that hath eyes to see, let him see.  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear the music of the coming of the Lord of this vineyard, and art THOU ready to give account of that THOU hast done with thine opportunity in the earth as the Sons of God, as the heirs and joint heirs of glory WITH the Son?  Then make thine paths straight, for there must come an answering for that THOU hast done with thine Lord!  He will not tarry, for having overcome He shall appear even AS the Lord AND Master.  Not as one born, but as one that returneth to His own, for He will walk and talk with men of every clime, and those that are faithful and just in their reckoning shall be caught up with Him to rule and to do JUDGEMENT for a thousand years!

 
Here are portions of reading 3976-15 of January 19, 1934 concerning the premise of a day and year of the Lord. 
 

2. EC: Yes; as each of you gathered here have your own individual development, yet as each seeks to be a channel of blessings to the fellow man, each attunes self to the Throne of universal information.  And there may be accorded you that which may be beneficial, not only in thine own experience, but that which will prove helpful, hopeful, in the experience of others.

3. Many an one may question you as to the sources, as to the channel through such information that may be given you at this time has come. Know it has reached that which is as high for each of you in your respective development as you have merited, and do merit; and has accorded and does accord to the realm of light that which may be aidful and helpful in thine own experience, and in the experience of those that ye in your service to they fellow man may give unto others.

4. Hence, in giving the interpretation, MANY are present; many of those whose names alone would bring to others awe - discredit, yet - even a wonderment.  For, not only then must the information be instructive but enlightening; yet it must also be so given that it may be a PRACTICAL thing in the experience of thine own self and in the experience of life of thine fellow man.  Not only must it be informative in nature, but it must also be that which is constructive; though that which is informative and that which may be enlightening and constructive must at times overlap one another.

5. First, then: There is soon to come into the world a body; one of our own number here that to many has been a representative of a sect, of a thought, of a philosophy, of a group, yet one beloved of all men in all places where the universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known and is consciously magnified in the activities of individuals that proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord. Hence that one John, the beloved in the earth - his name shall be John, and also at the place where he met face to face.

6. When, where, is to be this one?  In the hearts and minds of those that have set themselves in that position that they become a channel through which spiritual, mental and material things become one in purpose and desire of that physical body!


10. Who shall proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord in him that has been born in the earth in America?  Those from that land where there has been the regeneration, not only of the body but the mind and the spirit of men, THEY shall come and declare that John Peniel is giving to the world the new ORDER of things.  Not that these that have been proclaimed have been refused, but that they are made PLAIN in the minds of men, that they may know the truth and the truth, the life, the light, will make them free.

 
In the following paragraph, the communicator on this occasion is recorded as having offered an identification: "I, Halaliel, have spoken."  Halaliel is described in reading 254-83 as "the one who from the beginning has been a leader of the heavenly host . . ."

An analysis of the 'John Peniel' prophecy was published in the July 1982 edition of The A.R.E. Journal.  W. H. Church wrote in "'His Name Shall Be John' An Objective Look at the John Peniel Controversy":
 

Actually, the probable lineage of the real John "Peniel" (whose surname, like that prophetic reference to "Immanuel" in Isaiah 7:14, may be more symbolic than literal) has already been intimated, if not precisely pinpointed, in other Cayce readings touching on the subject—readings that are generally unknown or else ignored . . . 


If the reading that tells of him can be literally interpreted (3976-15), John Peniel was to be the name of an incoming entity on the "Other Side" at that time (January 19, 1934), who would be a reincarnation of John the Beloved.  His unusual mission in the earth was to be as a messenger who would proclaim the long-awaited Second Coming of the Lord.  A date of 1998, according to another reading, was set for that epochal event.  This was based on Cayce's interpretation of an esoteric chronology in stone, which is an interior aspect of the carefully laid-out architecture within the Great Pyramid at Gizah. 

In this same pyramid did the Great Initiate, the Master, take those last of the Brotherhood degrees with John, the forerunner of Him, at that place.  As is indicated in that period where entrance is shown to be in that land that was set apart, as that promised to that peculiar peoples, as were rejected—as is shown in that portion when there is the turning back from the raising up of Xerxes as the deliverer from an unknown tongue or land, and again is there seen that this occurs in the entrance of the Messiah in this period—1998.  5847-5, June 30, 1932

In excerpts from yet another reading about a year later, further information on the prophesied reappearance of the risen Saviour seems to have been communicated through the sleeping Cayce by the Beloved Disciple himself for the reading began: "I, John, would speak with thee concerning the Lord, the Master, as He walked among men." (5749-5)


There may also be an esoteric correspondence with the pineal gland, seat of the Christed Consciousness.


. . . Edgar Cayce's role seems firmly established as a forerunner of the event, who was sent to warn the people to make ready the way.  This was confirmed very beautifully in an unusual dream Mr. Cayce experienced (indeed, were not all of his dreams "unusual"!) in December, 1942.

The dream, in brief, was this: The voice of God was heard "as from out of the cloud and the lightning," addressing an assembled throng of shrouded figures on the Other Side, where Cayce was also present.  Twice the voice asks, "Who will warn My children?"  The Master offers to go but is told that the time is not yet fulfilled for His return to the earth plane.  Then the deceased evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, speaks up: "Why not send Cayce, he is there now."  At this juncture, the Master speaks: "Father, Cayce will warn My brethren."  The dream, or vision, concludes with the voices of the assembled throng in a grand chorus: "And we shall all help!" (Dream of December 12, 1942, or early morning of the 13th; see 294-196.)

W. H. Church's article also mentions the 'Ra Ta' expression found in the Edgar Cayce channeled reading transcripts in relation to another instance of the year 1998 being given: ". . . as this priest may develop himself to be in that position, to be in the capacity of a liberator of the world in its relationships to individuals in those periods to come; for he must enter again at that period, or in 1998."

The Second Coming is the subject of Edgar Cayce channeled reading 5749-5 of May 1, 1934.  The archived report of the reading presents a description of a "DREAM (or Experience) as told by EC, upon awaking from [reading] 378-28 this A.M."  The 'dream' was of Cayce finding himself on a train casually conversing with a group of "deceased evangelists" who were all dressed in white.  They were "going to a meeting where somebody was going to teach . . ." because, as one of them (George Stuart) said, ". . . we have found that we didn't know it all."

I am presenting the transcript of reading 5749-5 in the entirety.  The reading was given at Cayce's home on Arctic Crescent, Virginia Beach, Virginia from 3:35 to 4:00 pm with Gertrude Cayce as conductor.
 

1. GC: You will have before you Edgar Cayce, present in this room, and his enquiring mind in relation to the talk which he expects to give next Monday evening on the "Second Coming."  You will give what he should present at this open meeting on the subject.

2. EC: That which crowds in at the present may be well for those present, but would it be well for those in open meeting?  From this experience, though, there may be gathered that which has been given and that which may be helpful to many in the comprehension of that which is the experience of those that seek through such channels to have for themselves the experience that may be had by those here in this room at present.

3. Be mindful then, each of you, of that ye may inwardly experience in that which may be given you.

4. For, those experiences that have been told you of the vision of the gathering of those that were known to many in this present land and in the lands abroad were in reference to just those things that may be said respecting the Coming.

5. Many of those have ministered, have preached concerning this Second Coming. Not a one but what has at some time left the record of his contemplations and experiences in those environs, whether made in the heart and mind of his hearers or in the written word; yet here today, in what ye call time, ye find them gathering in a body to LISTEN to that as may be given them by one who is to be a forerunner of that influence in the earth known as the Christ Consciousness, the coming of that force or power into the earth that has been spoken of through the ages.

6. Listen, while he speaks!

7. Ye, my brethren, in your ignorance and in your zeal have often spoken of that influence in the earth known among men as the record made by those that would influence the activities in the religious or spiritual life of individuals through the ages, as a record of the Son of man as He walked in the earth.  Rather would ye listen and harken to those things as He spoke when He made those inferences and illustrations as to how those had closed and did close their ears to what was actually going on about them; yet as they knew Him not!  He, our Lord and our Master, was the first among those that put on immortality that there might be the opportunity for those forces that had erred in spiritual things; and only through experiencing in a manner whereunto all might be visioned from their greater abilities of manifesting in the various phases, forms and manners as they developed through that ye know as matter, could they come to know how or why or when there was made manifest in any realm spirit that was good and spirit that was in error.  For, He gave thee, had ye not KNOWN the Son ye would NOT be condemned in thine own self. For, condemnation was not in Him, but "ye are condemned already."  And in the coming into the influence of those that would open themselves for an understanding might there be the approach to Him.  He has come in all ages through those that were the spokesmen to a people in this age, that age, called unto a purpose for the manifestation of that first idea.

8. Readst thou how the sons of God came together, and Satan came also?  "Has thou considered my servant?  Hast thou seen his ways?"  And the answer, even from the evil force, "Put forth thine hand - touch him in those things that pertain to the satisfying of desire that is flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face."  Then, "He is in thine hand, but touch not his soul - touch not his soul!"

9. So we see how that the coming into the earth has been and is for the evolution or the evolving of the soul unto its awareness of the effect of all influences in its experience in the varied spheres of activity; and that only in Him who was the creator, the maker, the experiencer of mortality and spirit and soul COULD this be overcome.

10. Then, the necessity.  For, has it now been said, has it not been shown in the experience of the earth, the world, from any angle it may be considered, that He has not willed that any should be lost - but has prepared the way of escape in Him, the Maker?

11. But who is the worthy servant?  He that has endured unto the end!

12. Then, He has come in all ages when it has been necessary for the understanding to be centered in a NEW application of the same thought, "God IS Spirit and seeks such to worship him in spirit and in truth!"

13. Then, as there is prepared the way by those that have made and do make the channels for the entering in, there may come into the earth those influences that will save, regenerate, resuscitate, HOLD - if you please - the earth in its continued activity toward the proper understanding and proper relationships to that which is the making for the closer relationships to that which is in Him ALONE.  Ye have seen it in Adam; ye have heard it in Enoch, ye have had it made known in Melchizedek; Joshua, Joseph, David, and those that made the preparation then for him called Jesus. Ye have seen His Spirit in the leaders in all realms of activity, whether in the isles of the sea, the wilderness, the mountain, or in the various activities of every race, every color, every activity of that which has produced and does produce contention in the minds and hearts of those that dwell in the flesh.

14. For, what must be obliterated?  Hate, prejudice, selfishness, backbiting, unkindness, anger, passion, and those things of the mire that are created in the activities of the sons of men.

15. Then again He may come in body to claim His own.  Is He abroad today in the earth?  Yea, in those that cry unto Him from every corner; for He, the Father, hath not suffered His soul to see corruption; neither hath it taken hold on those things that make the soul afraid.  For, He IS the Son of Light, of God, and is holy before Him. And He comes again in the hearts and souls and minds of those that seek to know His ways.

16. These be hard to be understood by those in the flesh, where prejudice, avarice, vice of all natures holds sway in the flesh; yet those that call on Him will not go empty handed - even as thou, in thine ignorance, in thine zealousness that has at times eaten thee up.  Yet HERE ye may hear the golden scepter ring - ring - in the hearts of those that seek His face.  Ye, too, may minister in those days when He will come in the flesh, in the earth, to call His own by name.

17. We are through.

 
In reading 3011-3 of September 29, 1943, a question about an expected date of "the Second Coming of the Master in the flesh" is answered: 
 

(A) How doth He interpret, as to the day or the hour?  No man knoweth save the Father.

Live ye then, each soul, as though ye expected him today.  Then ye shall see Him as He is, when ye live such a life.

 
Another reading where the Second Coming is a topic is reading 5277-1 of July 1, 1944. 
 

37. (Q) In view of the inconsistency of opinion held by various groups of earnest students of the Holy Mysteries regarding the Second Coming of Master, what should be our attitude?
(A) As has been indicated, be prepared each day to meet thy God.  He will bless those, as is the promise, who love His coming.  Then, whether it be in this experience or when ye have returned, let thy prayer ever be, "Lord, use me in Thy way.  Thy will be done, not mine."

 
At testament.org, I commented in 1998 about the parallels between a previous incarnation of my own in Egypt and the Edgar Cayce channeled reading transcripts about 'Ra-Ta' after having selected excerpts from the transcripts for an Introduction to the follow-up book to my case study Testament (1997).  The collected Ra-Ta transcripts are presented in the blog article "On Ra-Ta from the Edgar Cayce Channeled Reading Transcripts".  A preceding article about 'Christ Consciousness' is "A Meditation on Christ Consciousness from the Edgar Cayce Channeled Reading Transcripts".