The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has categorized castor oil as "generally recognized as safe and effective" (GRASE) for over-the-counter use as a laxative.[17] However, it is not a preferred treatment for constipation.[18] Castor oil can also be used to induce childbirth, but doing so is sometimes cautioned against because it can lead to complications for the childbirth process, including dehydration of the mother and other risks associated with any inducement of pregnancy, such as fetal distress from too strong contractions, increased risk of uterine rupture, unintentional prematurity of the baby, and increased pain for the mother.[19]
Undecylenic acid, a castor oil derivative, is also FDA-approved for over-the-counter use on skin disorders or skin problems.[20]
Ricinoleic acid is the main component of castor oil and it exerts anti-inflammatory effects.[21]
One study has found that castor oil decreased pain more than ultrasound gel or Vaseline during extracorporeal shock wave application.[22] Therapeutically, modern drugs are rarely given in a pure chemical state, so most active ingredients are combined with excipients or additives. Castor oil, or a castor oil derivative such as Cremophor EL (polyethoxylated castor oil, a nonionic surfactant), is added to many modern drugs, including:
How To Use Castor Oil and Castor Oil Packs
Edited by Bruce Baar, MS, ND (candidate)
Castor Oil has been used through out the ages as a natural therapy. Castor oil applied externally in the form of "packs" is very popular with natural health practitioners. The Edgar Cayce Readings inform us that castor oil packs are to be used to improve assimilations, eliminations and circulation; especially of the lymphatic system.
A castor oil pack is made from several layers of flannel like material, enough to absorb and hold the castor oil during application. The flannel material is wool, cotton or the newly designed disposable pack, each of which you will need to saturate with cold-pressed castor oil before using. A common area to apply the castor oil pack is on the right side of the abdomen, between the upper part of the rib cage and the upper edge of the hipbone. Another common area is across the abdomen from the right to the left side of the body, covering from the sternum to the pubic or groin area. Application is usually for 1 to 2 hours. A heating pad is placed on top of the castor oil pack to keep it very warm during application. It is best to consult your health care practitioner to determine frequency of application. You can use the same castor oil pack for additional applications. It is important to discard the pack after a certain number of uses or when it becomes rancid. It may be helpful to store the pack in a plastic storage container and refrigerate between uses. The wool and cotton flannel packs can be used for approximately 25-30 applications before they are to be discarded. The new inexpensive disposable packs can be used for about 10 uses before discarding.. Before you begin, you will need to choose either the Wool Flannel (#757), Cotton Flannel (#759) or the Disposable Flannel (#755) Pack. Using either the wool flannel or cotton flannel is a personal choice. Some individuals are sensitive to wool. The Disposable Flannel Pack consists of "flannel-like" material which is absorbent on one side and is coated with plastic on the other side to protect the heating pad. This disposable flannel is also used to protect the area you are resting on. When used in this manner it replaces the old method of placing a plastic bag and towel underneath you as a protective cover.
Directions for Using the Castor Oil Packs
Place a Disposable Pack (#755) with the green plastic side down on your bed
for protection against the castor oil soiling. Place the heating pad on top of
this protective pack and turn it on to a medium or high setting. If the pack
that you are using for application is a Wool Flannel or Cotton Flannel material,
then protect your heating pad by placing plastic wrap on top of the heating pad.
Next, fold the wool or cotton flannel into 3 layers and place it on top of the
plastic wrap. Add castor oil to the flannel. The castor oil should be added to
saturate all three layers of flannel, but not so much that it drips from the
pack. If using the Disposable Flannel Pack for application, add the castor in a
circle in the middle of the absorbent white material side. When doing this the
green side will be against the heating pad in place of the plastic wrap. Wait
about 5 to 10 minutes for the oil to become warm. When you are ready to begin,
flip the castor oil pack and heating pad on to your abdominal area and relax.
General application time is between 1-2 hours. After your session, clean the oil
from your body with
CastorWash #769. Many people store the castor oil pack in a plastic storage
container between uses. Be sure to keep the pack out of the sun and in a cool
dark place. After 3 days of using the castor oil pack take about 1 teaspoon of
olive oil (NOT castor oil) by mouth. Taken usually in the evening before
retiring. Always seek medical advice prior to use. Do NOT use during pregnancy
or during menstrual flow.
CASTOR OIL and other Poultice IDEAS
Health and Rejuvenation Center Cayce Health Database Version 1.0
This section contains anecdotal case reports on a variety of problems.
ANECDOTAL CASE REPORTS
Almonds for Cancer Arthritis Arthritis - Hypertrophic Arthritis - Loretta's Story Arthritis - Olive Oil Taken Orally Arthritis - Peanut Oil and Castor Oil Baby's Skin Treatment Broken Collarbone Cancer in Elderly Male Canker Sores and Vaginitis Canker Sores in the Mouth Castor Oil Stories r Alcoholism Allergic to Animals r Allergies r Animal Bites and Punctures r Ankle Injury Bed Down with Castor Oil r Bee Sting and Arthritis Calcium Deposits and Eye Irritation r Cancer Pain Castor Oil Against Allergy Castor Oil and Allergies Castor Oil and Animals Castor Oil With Camphorated Oil for Lesions r Castor Oil's Age-Old Qualities (Facial Neuralgia) Childbirth and Castor Oil r Concrete Example of Castor Oil Use r Drug Overdose r Ear and Nail Problems r Ear Infection r Ear Problems r Fatty Tumor Is Dissolved r Finger Injury r Fingers and Eyes and Castor Oil r Flu, Cysts, Abrasions
http://www.edgarcayce.org/health/database/chdata/data/caserep1.html (1 of 69)6/23/2005 10:23:44 PM
Allergies
Dan Ginder, an A.R.E. member, writes, "Using castor oil to help control allergies was most helpful. By putting a few drops in my coffee on awakening, my hay fever didn't seem as irritating as normal. But I forgot to do it until after the season started (about late August through September). Next year, I'll try taking the castor oil a month beforehand - and perhaps I can avoid hay fever altogether."
Using five drops of castor oil in the morning as an aid to allergies was brought to our attention by Valentine Birds, one of our cooperating doctors, who had obtained the information from one of his medical friends from India.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1978, Volume 13, No. 4, page 174, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Animal Bites and Punctures
Cat bites are difficult to treat and are frequent problems facing patients and physicians alike. Some time ago, I treated one such problem with castor oil packs, kept on continuously - without heat - for 16 to 20 hours daily; I also included the usual therapies. The hand and wrist cleared up remarkably and quickly - much more so than I had observed in my past experiences. Since then, whenever we receive minor puncture wounds from our palm trees or other desert-type vegetation, we rub castor oil into the skin several times a day; this therapy has produced excellent responses. Not one infection has occurred when we use the castor oil. Once or twice, after a couple of days, we have had to take out a piece of the vegetation that had imbedded itself in the tissues; but no infection was present, and rapid healing resulted.
Our youngest son David brought home a rat, whose career as a laboratory animal had ended. He took good care of the rat, but at our annual New Year's party, someone tipped over Zorba's cage. She was not wild, but scared at all the humans putting out their hands to catch her. Gladys, my wife, was on the spot. She picked Zorba up to place her back in her cage. Zorba, however, still suffering from an adrenal fear response, reached around and bit Gladys on the finger. The important part of the event was that castor oil, rubbed into the rat bite for the next two days, caused the wound to heal painlessly without complication. This incident illustrates how we have used this oil - derived from the bean of the Ricinus communis - on puncture wounds, bites, minor cuts, and bruises, and found it highly successful for achieving excellent results.
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1978, Volume 13, No. 2, page 84, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Pregnancy stretch marks, smashed finger, rusty nail puncture
The Thorntons in Ohio reiterate information already found' in the Cayce readings on the nature of healing and the response of the body's cells to the consciousness, vibration, or influence of a "healing" agent. Castor oil has an antifungal effect (this we know from published laboratory research). It also has an eliminatory (cleansing) effect, as evidenced by its most common usage. We have observed clinically how the vitality of cells is upgraded by the application of castor oil, perhaps from its cleansing effect, which frees the cells to function more vibrantly. We postulate that the effect of this oil from the bean of the Ricinus corninunis acts to stimulate the lymphatic drainage of the area being treated.
Mrs. Thornton reports that during her last two months of pregnancy she massaged her abdomen nightly with castor oil; she attributes to this activity the fact that she had no stretch marks at all after her pregnancy was ended. The child born from this pregnancy then received some of the same treatment. The castor oil "works very well on his bottom when any redness appears."
Then Mr. Thornton smashed his finger. The family therapy, applied overnight, brought relief from pain and absorption of much of the blood.
From South Africa comes another castor oil story. Hazel Tops, on a visit in the U.S., just by chance (!) boarded an American Airlines flight in Dallas bound for Phoenix; also, just by chance (!), Gladys and I were changing flights in Dallas on our way home from Nashville. Jim Dixon, another old friend, brought Hazel up to gate number 13, and there the four of us met with hugs and exclamations of delight. After the reunion was adequately appreciated, Hazel told us about her youngest daughter, who had stepped on a rusty pin. When she saw her daughter's foot, there were two red streaks emerging from the puncture wound site in the sole of the foot and extending up just past the ankle. It was too late for the doctor, so a sloppy castor oil pack was applied and kept in place all night. In the morning, the pain and tenderness were gone, the red streaks had disappeared, and the patient was well. Castor oil does it again!
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1978, Volume 13, No. 6, page 269, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Pigmented mole, "lipoma tumor" on dog, and more!
Castor oil applied locally has been reported to clear up a multitude of conditions. One of my patients had a pigmented mole in the inguinal area. After I discovered it, she did not show up again for some time. When I saw her next she told me she had applied castor oil to the mole for two weeks and it disappeared. I checked, and it was no longer there.
An A.R.E. member applied castor oil to an acorn-sized tumor of the chest wall diagnosed as a lipoma. Three weeks later, after daily application, the "lipoma" spontaneously opened. A thick, cheesy, white material exuded from the cyst-obviously a sebaceous one-and in a few days the lesion had healed.
An enthusiastic reader of the Bulletin was injured in an automobile accident, with a possible rupture of the spleen. Castor oil packs for four days brought a report from the doctor, who told her to "keep on with whatever it is you're doing ... it's working!" She tells of unlikely uses for castor oil, applied locally, to treat chest colds, ear infections, and baldness (!). She has used the castor oil packs in her family for migraine headaches, which is one of the uses Cayce actually did mention in the readings.
By the way, the acorn-sized tumor of the chest wall mentioned earlier was a veterinary problem - her dog is still happy!
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and are excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1976, Volume 11, No. 2, page 92, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Finger Injury
Healing is everybody's business or, at least, so thought the ten-year-old son of a laboratory technician, who corresponds with us. This is the story again of castor oil. It seems that Mike is the center on their football squad, and he really loves to play. His brother accidentally dealt him a low blow when he slammed a truck door shut on the index and middle fingers of Mike's right hand. Mike had a most important football game scheduled six days later, and his right hand plays a vital part in such a contest. His mother continues the story:
"At the hospital, his hand was sprinted and we were told he would not be able to participate in sports for three weeks at the earliest. Mike insisted that he use the castor oil packs 24 hours after the injury. The fingers were cut and had some infection in them. That boy soaked his own fingers in warm water for 20 minutes and applied the castor oil therapy himself. I returned from night school and he told me what he had done. He continued his own treatment for three more days @nd he played in that important football game. I had taped his fingers for protection, but no splints were allowed. By the following week, he was completely healed. I never thought his fingers would look right again - but today they are as if they had never been injured."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1976, Volume 6, No. 2, page 272, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil For Cancer Pain
Pain in the terminal cancer patient is perhaps the most feared complication of neoplastic diseases in the human being. One wonders where the pain actually originates-for pain is perhaps the most difficult symptom to pin down and the least understood. Methods of cancer therapy derived from unorthodox sources seem to produce some help in this direction. In my own experience with cancer patients who were too far advanced with the disease to be helped by any of the therapies available, I have seen one traditional aid bring much relief from pain during the terminal days. Quite recently, a 62-year-old man developed a cancer of the brain. By the time he came under medical observation, it was quite advanced; then, a second malignancy was discovered in the wall of the bladder. Weight loss had come rapidly, and the only therapy offered him was chemotherapy. When the family consulted us, the patient was terminal, in bed and obviously had not long to go. He was advised to use castor oil packs on the abdomen. He had not used any pain medication up to that point, and remained pain-free until twenty-four hours before he passed away. Then he developed some pain in one flank. The castor oil pack was applied locally there, too, and he became comfortable once again.
An earlier instance of the use of these packs came nearly twenty years ago, when I was called upon to care for a woman who had a large abdominal cancer which was far advanced when I first saw her. She had become unable to care for herself. She refused surgery of any kind and went into a rest home, since she had no living relatives. There she received coffee enemas and abdominal castor oil packs daily for the next forty days, until her death. She had no pain at any time. One wonders if these cases - and I'm sure I am not alone in observing this - are simply coincidences, or does a soothing application with particular vibrations bring about a reaction in the autonomic nervous system of the lymphatic system which eliminates the situation that causes pain? At times there seem to be more cases that deviate from the rule than there are ones that obey it.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1976, Volume 11, No. 3, page 137, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Ankle Injury
I have seen castor oil packs placed around an injured ankle relieve pain that had persisted for days after the repair of a laceration. Thus it was not with a great deal of surprise that I read the results of therapy applied by one A.R.E. member to her child. Isaac (Mrs. Bell's tree-climbing-aged son) fell fifteen feet from a tree he had almost conquered and struck the ground with his hip. His family doctor recommended hot tub soaks; and his mother supplemented the treatment with one of the Cayce remedies for muscular sprains. However, repeated efforts in this direction brought only swollen tissues. The following afternoon, and again that night, a castor oil pack was applied with a heating pad; the next morning Isaac was up and ready for Monday morning school. There was no swelling and very little tenderness. After school the tenderness was gone, and Isaac had forgotten that he had failed in his effort to fly.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1976, Volume 11, No. 6, page 272, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Cystic Mastitis
A 41-year-old woman had been having breast trouble for six years. She had been nursing her 2 1/2-year-old child for nearly two years, but since last October he had been weaned. Since then she has had twinges of pain, which her doctor felt were related to her cysts. In consulting with us, she felt she would like to use the therapies found in the Cayce material, so we suggested gentle, but firm massages of the breast, starting at the nipple and moving in a circular manner towards the outer part of the breast. This should last approximately five minutes. One night, she used cocoa butter, the next night Iodex ointment.
After one week of this therapy, the pain disappeared and has not recurred, even during her menstrual period. She thinks the cysts have decreased in size, "but it may be just wishful thinking. At any rate, after my next check-up, I'll have the doctor's opinion. I have also had group prayers and have prayed myself I have resumed jogging (at least a mile a day). Just thought you might like to know the additional factors. Be that as it may - the modes may be various, but the source of healing is always God."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1978, Volume 13, No. 2, page 83, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Head Injury
We recently received a letter
from an A.R.E. friend of ours whose son (six years old) took a nasty spill on
his bike. Her written story is an excellent report on what happened with Rowan:
"He had a 'goose egg' partially over his right temple and surrounding area. I
checked his eyes, and they seemed to focus all right. I asked him if he wanted
to go to church or stay home. He opted to go to church ... but instead of going
to his class, he stayed with me, head in my lap. When we got home he complained
of not feeling well, and vomited. In talking to him, I discovered he couldn't
remember what had happened from the time he fell off his bike until sometime on
the way to church. I was very concerned by this time-felt he must have a minor
concussion. I put a castor oil pack on the bruise and around his head, and
asked him to lie down, and remain comparatively quiet. If I recall correctly,
in about an hour and a half he was asking for something to eat, playing a game
on the bed with his sister-and when I checked the swelling, it was all gone. I
removed the pack, and he got up. That night I put it back on until morning. No
repercussions that I could see."
The therapy? It consisted of a mother's concern, youth's ability to recuperate, and castor oil. And don't underestimate any one of the three.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1976, Volume 11, No. 6, page 276, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil for Ear Problems
The ear benefits from local administrations of castor oil, as this report from a longtime A.R.E. member indicates. The story is told here in the subject's own words, so that her appreciation of the Cayce material can be understood.
". ..Four years ago I had my ears pierced. They became infected and stayed that way for some time. I spent a small fortune on doctors and medicine. I finally remembered the castor oil and used it several times a day - and in three days' time my ears were completely healed and I've had no trouble with them since.
"My sister used warm castor oil drops in her ears after doctors had told her that her hearing had been impaired by having a shotgun go off close to her. She had a 50% hearing loss and a loud ringing in her ears. Since she began using the castor oil drops, her hearing has improved and the ringing has almost stopped. I am looking forward to a long association with the A.R.E." No wonder!
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1978, Volume 13, No. 4, page 172, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Hepatitis
Jerrie Welch, an A.R.E. member, wrote us from a village in Lampan, Thailand, about a little 11-year-old girl who developed jaundice, later diagnosed as hepatitis. She was sent home from school at once and apparently given antibiotics, but her condition worsened. On the seventh day, she was severely jaundiced, weak and quite ill. Here is Jerrie's story:
"Not being sure of the time needed for the packs to be effective, I told the mother to massage her daughter's abdomen with very warm castor oil for 10 to 15 minutes, then apply the hot packs for an hour at a time, twice a day, for 3 to 4 days. I stressed keeping the packs hot and massaging the liver area. At the fifth day I returned and found the girl energetically playing with her friends. Her strength had returned, although her eyes still had a little yellow cast to them."
The doctor in the city saw her a bit later and pronounced her well and ready to go back to school.
In addition to the castor oil packs, infectious hepatitis reacts well with a strong supportive dietary regimen. One of the most pleasing responses occurred in the case of a 59-year-old man, who developed hepatitis in the guise of intestinal flu. On his second visit to the Clinic, it became obvious that our original diagnosis was incorrect, and infectious hepatitis was verified by laboratory findings. Because of the distention and discomfort of his abdomen - which brought him to the Clinic in the first place - he had already started castor oil packs on our recommendation. And thus on his second visit he was feeling somewhat better. We found his liver to be enlarged 2-3 fingerbreadths down from the rib margin. The diet prescribed consisted mostly of clear liquids and was very low in starch and protein. On the fifth day he was started on a blender mix prepared from water, unsweetened frozen fruit, protein powder and yeast powder. Fish was added then to his diet. Each day a clinical improvement in his condition was reported. His laboratory findings ranged from a high on the second day to a normalization of all reports on the 28th day. The SGPT was the last to return to normal, moving from a high of 755 on the first test to 40 on the final test. The icterus disappeared rapidly; the total bilirubin in the blood returned to normal on the 15th day. On the 19th day the patient felt well enough to return to work.
His diet remained light, high in vegetables and fruits. The only proteins were fish, fowl and lamb, supplemented with the blender mix. Castor oil packs continued over a three-month period, given daily the first three weeks and thrice weekly thereafter. This case indeed responded well to the treatments.
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1978, Volume 13, No. 4, page 173, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Optic Neurititis: How The Edgar Cayce Readings Helped With Blindness
A Personal Account
by Cathy C.
About 10 years ago, at the age of 27, I suddenly lost the sight in my left eye due to optic neuritis. I went to three ophthalmologists including the head neuro-ophthalmologist at NYU hospital. I was offered only steroids as a treatment, which I was afraid to take because my body is extremely sensitive, and I was concerned about the side effects.
Fortunately, a family friend told my mother to get me to a chiropractor immediately. I was a member of the Edgar Cayce organization," The Association for Research and Enlightenment," and I was aware that Cayce recommended chiropractic adjustments for all sorts of ailments, and that the A.R.E. had a listing of chiropractic members. I decided that I wanted to be treated by a chiropractor who would treat me with theCayce remedies for blindness.
I called the A.R.E. And was given the name of Dr. John Pagano in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. I called him immediately, and he told me to come over right away. My mother agreed to drive me to his office, although she had always been skeptical about my interest in the Cayce readings.
When we met Dr. Pagano, he told me that he had successfully treated a woman the previous year, who had been blind in both eyes for several months due to optic neuritis. Dr. Pagano told me that he could make me no promises, but he would treat me the same way he had treated her, according to the Edgar Cayce readings.
The first thing he did was to take an x-ray of my neck. When the x-ray developed, he was excited to find that the deviation shown in the x- ray of my neck proved to be identical to the deviation in his previous patient's neck. He suspected that my spine was pressing on the optic nerve and cutting off the circulation.
Dr. Pagano massaged my neck with his hands and then with an electrical massager to increase the circulation to the area. He then adjusted my neck in the area that Cayce said affects blindness. When I got home, I made a phone call to the other woman whom he had helped. She was very encouraging. I told her that the three doctors I had seen were pessimistic about my prognosis. She told me not to worry, she had been told by experts that she would probably never see again.
Later that evening, I was excited to find that my sight had begun to return. After a week of adjustments, my sight was completely restored. I went back to one of the ophthalmologists I had seen, and told her what had happened. She examined me and said, "It's amazing -- you're cured!" I have never had a recurrence of the problem. Neither has Dr. Pagano's first optic neuritis patient.
Since then, Dr. Pagano has treated several more (optic neuritis, and otherwise) visually impaired patients, with varying degrees of success.
I believe that the adjustments were what helped me the most, but Dr. Pagano also had me try the following Edgar Cayce recommendations:
Head and Neck Exercises
While sitting up straight, gently roll your head over to the left side as if to touch your left shoulder. Slowly bring it back up and over to the right side. Repeat this several times. Roll your head forward and backward several times in the same manner. Then slowly roll your head to the right, forward, left and backward several times (in a circle). Then roll it in reverse order several times.
Potato Peel Poultice
Make a paste of potato skin peelings from thick-skinned potatoes. Include a little of the pulp. Place over your closed eyes for approximately 20 minutes. This helps to reduce eye strain.
Carrot Gelatin
Buy a bag of organic carrots. Grate them into a gelatin mixture as if making jello. Be sure to include the top portion of the carrots, including the greens if possible. It is better to use the unflavored jello, because you don't want to pollute your body with sugar and artificial coloring. (See Healthy Diet). Cayce said that gelatin helps the body to assimilate vitamins and minerals 6 times better than it would otherwise do, and that the Vitamin A will be carried directly to the optic nerve.
Glycothymoline Packs
Soak two cotton balls in a 50/50 mixture of gylcothymoline and water. Gently squeeze them out and place over each closed eye for approximately 30 minutes.
Rolled Towel Stretch
Roll a towel into a tight cylindrical roll. Lie down with your neck stretched over it. Make sure it's big enough to allow the arch of your neck to stretch out over it.
Castor Oil Drops
Place one drop of pure cold-pressed castor oil in each eye before sleep. (Cayce also recommended this for cataracts.)
Healthy Diet
In general, Cayce recommended eating whole grain cereals or citrus fruits in the morning - but never at the same meal. He suggested they be alternated from day to day. At noon he recommended fresh raw vegetable salads, including many different types of vegetables, and soups or broths with whole grain brown bread. For dinner, one should eat "a well coordinated vegetable diet, with three vegetables above the ground to one below the ground. Sea food, fowl or lamb; not other types of meats." (Please see the Cayce files on diet for more in depth information on the subject.)
Right Thinking
Cayce stressed the importance of the mind and "right thinking" in any healing process.
[NOTE: The above information was used with the permission of the author who has provided this information on her web site at: http://www2.cybernex.net/~coraino/blind.html]
Warts
Dr. Gladys McGarey has been caring for a little girl whom she delivered herself. Coming into this environment was apparently not very acceptable to this particular soul, for she has been a thumb-sucker for months now. (Perhaps she wants to return to that more favorable environment which people who have died and come back have described.) Some months ago little Christy developed a colony of warts on that particular thumb. This "happens to most every individual in those periods of the change that comes about for glandular reaction; and it is the effect of the localizing of centers that attempt to grow - as they do!" (487-22)
There are many kinds of treatment that can be used for warts. I've written a medical commentary on this subject in the Circulating File on Skin: Moles and Warts, available to A.R.E. members. On the basis of this commentary, Gladys applied castor oil time after time on Christy's thumb, all to no avail. Recently, her parents brought her into the Clinic for a recheck on her general health, and the warts were practically gone. What happened? Her father told a story about how his mother used to take a potato slice, rub it on his own warts when he was a child, then bury the potato out in the yard when no one was watching. Within a few days, Christy's warts started disappearing; now they are almost gone.
It reminded me of one method used by Cayce - aside from his practice of rubbing the warts himself and making them disappear. This recommendation was given to [1206], a 12-year-old girl:
For this body-the body itself (alone, not with others) should take a broom straw, measure each wart - press them as wide as they will; not to make them sore but to measure them, at least two to three ways. Cut each straw to fit the length. Then bury these - the straws - where no one knows excepting the self, and the very mental attitude will take away the wart! (1206-6)
In the January 1977 issue of Consultant, Gordon Sauer, adjunct professor of dermatology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, makes this suggestion: ". . . apply a drop or two of castor oil on the wart and cover it with adhesive tape ... leave the tape on for 24 hours and ... reapply oil and tape daily until the wart is gone. [The patient] need not keep the tape dry ... do this for 8 weeks, or until the wart is gone."
Another method, reported in the British Medical Journal, described one doctor's way of removing warts from gullible four-, five-, or six-year-olds. Pay them sixpence for each wart. It worked. But the price has probably gone up by now!
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, January, 1978, Volume 13, No. 1, page 34, Copyright © 1978 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Self Manipulation for Back Pain and Seizures
Pain syndromes create some problems for the average patient; sometimes the pain becomes intolerable. One such patient went through all the traditional methods to relieve a pain that had settled in her neck and shoulder. Manipulations did no good, so she went to a neurologist but found no real relief. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at diagnosis and therapy, she was referred to us for acupuncture. Little relief was obtained even after a number of treatments. The patient later developed a severe pneumonia. Being treated at home, she recounted that she was coughing a great deal, which apparently accentuated the pain in her neck. She lay there, massaging her neck on the right side where most of her pain was concentrated. Suddenly, while massaging the area, she heard a loud crack. Since that time, she has experienced no more pain in her neck or shoulder. She was able to go back to work typing and has remained pain-free since then.
When one reflects on how often manipulative procedures were suggested in the Cayce readings, it does not seem strange that a "lesion" might be corrected by the patient herself during a time when the body muscles would be relaxed, allowing for correction of the subluxation-if that is what it really is. Another patient of ours had been afflicted with a seizure problem. She was caring for her six-week-old baby one day, bending over the crib and lifting him out, when she suddenly felt a "crack" in her spine. It wasn't painful, and she felt somewhat better when she straightened up. After that occurrence, there were no more seizures. This fits in, of course, with the epilepsy causation theory found in the Cayce readings. He attributed many cases to an osteopathic type of lesion.
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and are excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1976, Volume 11, No. 2, page 94, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Diet for Ulcer Patients
A recurrent peptic ulcer is often difficult to treat adequately, perhaps because of fixed emotional and attitudinal responses or deeply set pathological changes. But sometimes the response to therapy is highly satisfactory, and not only the patient but also the physician is happy about the outcome of the case. Thanks to S. J. Meda, one of our referral doctors, one such case study can be given here. Dr. Meda reports that a 37-year-old man had been treated for a bleeding peptic ulcer (proven by x ray) about three years ago. After a full two-and-a-half years of remission, the symptoms recurred and continued intermittently with moderate severity for a period of four to five months. There were no real significant physical findings-just indigestion, discomfort and "gas."
The therapy in this case revolved around some of the simplified suggestions in the Cayce material dealing with diet. Dr. Meda suggested a diet of fresh vegetables, yogurt, bran, grapes, milk, and lots of water; the patient was advised to avoid refined sugar and flour, carbonated beverages and fried foods. He was also instructed to use saffron tea before meals.
The patient's response was highly satisfactory. His symptoms abated entirely after four days, and there has been no recurrence up to the time of this report.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1976, Volume 11, No. 5, page 230, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Treatment For Mongolism
Mongolism is one of the subjects covered in the Edgar Cayce readings. The file on Mongolism: Children, Abnormal, available on loan to A.R.E. members, was borrowed by one of the members recently. Apparently she could not find a doctor who would work with her on the problem which was manifested in the person of her new-born child. This is her story:
"You asked how this file has helped-our baby is a Downs Syndrome, and for the first six months of his life we massaged him nightly with equal parts of olive, peanut and castor oils. We are now taking him twice weekly to an A.R.E. cooperating chiropractor for the Cayce recommended adjustments. We are much encouraged-the baby is alert, responsive-his appetite and eliminations have improved-he's stronger physically and his gift to us on his first birthday (8/29/75) was to clap hands when we asked him to do 'patty cake.' We are grateful to Him for His 'amazing grace.' "
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1976, Volume 11, No. 6, page 275, Copyright © 1976 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Potato Poultice for Eye Health
Application of enzymes is what one might call the use of a potato poultice placed over the eyes. We have had considerable experience in using these poultices with patients who have a variety of eye problems. And, if you have ever made up such a poultice, you are probably aware that the potato, when properly scraped (and not peeled), is loaded with enzymes that are released from the cells of the tuber.
The following is an extract of a
letter from one of our correspondents, who writes:
"You may be interested to know that I have been using the potato poultice on my
eyes, off and on, for several years, and my ophthalmologist (to whom I go every
two years for a reading-glasses check) looked at me quizzically the last two
times and said that my left eye was 'getting younger.' This last time he said
that the right eye was only a very little bit worse, so I remembered that you
instructed someone in the A.R.E. some time back not to peel the potato, so now I
use the outside scrapings with the peeling on my right eye (as though perhaps
you were thinking of some aid from the potassium).
"I can tell the difference in my eyes (not overnight, of course - no one should expect this) in reading price tags and also in watching TV, as it used to seem as if some 'hindrance' was in the middle of my right eye. It is there no more. I'm 64, and my eyes seem much better than my friends'."
A poultice such as this is made by taking an ordinary raw baking potato, washing it, then scraping it with a kitchen knife - not peeling, but scraping it - until you have a small pile of mushy material. Divide it into two small mounds, separated so that the cloth it has been prepared on can then be taken up by both hands and the potato applied directly onto the closed eyelids. Lean the head backward, recline in a chair and relax for 15-20 minutes. The poultice provides a very soothing application for the eyes. The enzymes released by the scraping can enhance the lymphatic and circulatory activity in and around the eye, all of which spells increased eye function. Thanks for the story, Mrs. Weir.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, January, 1981, Volume 16, No. 1, page 47, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Leg Injury
Certainly, if awareness of creative forces is the healing element in exercise, foods, medicine or surgery, then anything which will bring that awareness to the body prior to the onset of any disease process will prevent it. Indeed, it is the unawareness, the lack of consciousness of the Divine, which - in the final analysis - is the cause of disease, according to the readings.
Let me quote from a letter received several years ago from Sally Schaefer. It tells a simple story in itself, a story of infection, pain and possible incapacity - all prevented (in little ways, to be sure). At the same time it is a story of how aiding the body's physiological processes can bring it quick healing and save the sufferer not only problems but money that would otherwise have been expended on doctors or hospitals.
"Shortly after my initial introduction to Edgar Cayce, during a weekend visit to my folks, the subject of home remedies, and castor oil in particular, emerged. I made no comment about my use of it, but rather pressed my dad, who reported that as a youth (50 or so years ago) he and his family applied it to a bleeding wart on one of their mules. They kept the bottle in the barn and made the application a part of the daily chores. He said it took a long time but that the wart healed and eventually hair grew over the spot.
". . I have discovered that just a little castor oil, rubbed on with the finger, on a beginning pimple or small boil, prevents it from forming; or if I'm a little late in treating, it very often disappears without coming to a head and draining on the skin surface. I suggested this to my nieces, along with a better diet, and it has worked for them also.
"Approximately two months ago, I crashed into some wooden bleachers while playing volleyball. Before the evening game ended, I had an egg-sized swelling on my leg, just below the knee, in addition to the surface abrasion. After bathing, I soaked four layers of flannel, approximately 4" square, and tied this in place with an old nylon stocking. Next morning - no swelling, no signs of a bruise, no pain. I removed the dressing, and by noon I felt pain. By 2 o'clock, there was renewed swelling and signs of discoloration. I hurried home after school and immediately applied another castor oil dressing. In one hour, pain and swelling were gone, despite continued use of my leg. By the next morning, only faint discoloration defined the bruise, which surrounded the impact area and also trailed downward about one inch wide along the shin bone for about four inches. I continued the dressings for the next three evenings and through the nights.
"I never did get a real bruise - to the amazement of the other teachers who wouldn't believe I had used only castor oil. (Fact is, they couldn't believe I had used castor oil!) The area never swelled again. And the abrasion healed quickly."
Prevention and cure are often born of the same measures, and there is not only wisdom, but also billions of dollars in health care being weighed in the scales as we consider what the New Age medicine would consist of.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1981, Volume 16, No. 2, page 92, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Spider Bite
Referral doctors working with the Cayce readings have a variety of experiences, some of them drawn from their patients' lack of definitive past improvement. (One of my doctor friends calls these patients the "Mayo Clinic rejects.") Such an opportunity was given to Louis Mancuso, D. O., and his patient Jim Wagner.
Jim apparently had been bitten on the heel by a brown recluse spider, had consulted three doctors and had been in the emergency room of two hospitals over a five-and-a-half-week period. He had received three different diagnoses (the last one being correct), had been given directions to soak his foot, had received eight antibiotic shots and had taken 112 500-mg. antibiotic tablets. The severe pain had subsided, the inflammation had left, but the swelling was worse at the end of the five-and-a-half weeks than it was at the beginning. Though he was able to put his foot on the ground instead of in an elevated position, he walked with a cane. This was his past history when he consulted Dr. Mancuso.
Therapy suggested? Twice a day, sprinkle Epsom salts on the foot, cover with a damp cloth and leave for 20 minutes; massage the leg downward from the knee with castor oil, allowing the coating of oil to remain an hour or so after the massage; and apply zinc oxide as a paste over the foot overnight (wrapping it to protect bedclothes).
Jim continues his story: "After the first use of Epsom salts, a carbuncle appeared around the toe area, about three inches from the original bite. With the second and following applications of Epsom salts, it ulcerated and began to run. I did the salts and castor oil treatment several times a day, and the zinc oxide at night for three days. The morning after the first day, the swelling abated dramatically. The second morning, I threw away the cane and walked easily. The third day, the foot was normal, the stiffness gone. The healing was complete."
The most interesting part of the whole story - at least to me was that there is no description in the readings for treating such a spider bite. The doctor developed this highly successful therapy program out of his experience in medical practice and his knowledge of the concepts in the Cayce readings. And the patient, of course, was the beneficiary.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1981, Volume 16, No. 3, page 138, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Flu, Cysts, Abrasions
Castor oil packs seem to make a positive difference in a variety of conditions of human illness. Sometimes it doesn't make sense that these packs, applied in different places on the body, bring a healing influence to sore throats, pilonidal cysts, contusions and abrasions. But the following stories tell how patients and doctors have made effective use of this product of the Racinus communis plant:
"I had just begun coming out of a period of chronic sore throats which followed a bronchopneumonia-type syndrome that had been called, among other things, the Hong Kong flu. This was after two years of winter spells that left me bedfast every other weekend. I did not believe I would survive another year. After reading The Sleeping Prophet and just prior to the hay fever season, I began the back adjustments and used the inhalant recommended in the readings. The results were remarkable. I was still having regular bouts with sore throats, so one night I decided to try the heated castor oil pack on the abdomen. In 15 minutes the sore throat suddenly evaporated in what felt like a rush of running water. The next evening my wife came down with the same symptoms and applied the treatment with identical results." (Gene Jacobson)
"The patient is a 26-year-old male with a five-year history of episodic flareups of a painful pilonidal cyst. It was never larger than an olive until the last week of October, 1975, when it reached the size of an egg. Sitting and walking became more difficult. He finally went for medical help and was scheduled for surgery on the 29th of November.
"I was visited by his mother who is my patient. She asked if there were anything I could suggest to relieve the pain since the doctor had only given him antibiotics. I recommended applying a four-inch gauze pad saturated in castor oil with a heating pad on high heat for one hour before bedtime. His wife was to give him a five-minute digital massage two inches from the border of the cyst, working in a circular motion towards the cyst but not directly on it. This was done and repeated the following morning. At 4 p.m. Sunday the pain returned, and his wife applied another compress. Within minutes he felt relief. The cyst opened and began to drain.
"He reported to his doctor on Monday for the scheduled surgery, but indicated that since the cyst was draining he wanted to cancel the surgery and let nature take its course. The doctor insisted that the sac had to be removed, but the patient refused.
"Within one week the cyst was down to the size of a pea, the smallest it had been in five years. He reported that with the first application he was able to sleep for the first time in ten days; now the cyst is barely palpable. He was instructed to continue the hot castor oil compresses for one additional week after cessation of the drainage." (Dr. Al Giaquinto)
"I have used the castor oil packs for a variety of conditions, from open abrasions to strained muscles, and all with great success. I have even converted my skeptical husband to the castor oil packs following an incident with our son. He had somehow managed to get his hand smashed between two rocks, not breaking any bones, but badly abrased and contused. Against my medical training and my husband's, we applied a warm castor oil pack to the hand. The next morning the results were dramatic. The swelling had completely subsided and the healing had occurred at an incredible rate. By the third day healing was complete... The remarkable thing other than the healing was the absence of pain after an hour following the application of the pack." (Georgia Van Wormer)
Castor oil packs certainly have proved their worth and versatility.
[Note: The preceding case reports were written by William McGarey, M. D. and are excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1981, Volume 16, No. 5, page 229, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Other Jet-Lag Cures
Jim Wilson, A.R.E. Vancouver, B. C., Council Chairman, gave us an added tip for curing jet lag. Drink a full glass of water or orange juice one hour before the Right and repeat it every hour during the flight. No alcohol, just water or orange juice. Jim says it may drive the hostesses crazy, but never mind. He found, to his delight, "even after being awake close on to 24 hours on the first day in Europe," he felt no mental or physical effects whatsoever-just as if the flight had never happened. He did note that the first three days after the flight the night tended to be the waking hours. In his "P. S." he suggested sitting on the plane near the "wash room."
I'd be interested in knowing how one would get along using both Jim's suggestion plus the cupful of baking soda and Epsom salts in a tub of warm water at the end of the flight (described in the Sept. 1978 issue of The A.R.E. Journal). If any of you have the opportunity to experiment with these, please let me know the results.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1981, Volume 16, No. 5, page 231, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Arthritis
One of the benefits of an A.R.E. membership is borrowing the Circulating Files, which, incidentally, contain a world of good information. Use of the information in them by the membership has produced some hard-to-believe stories. However, when one considers healing as originating from changes in consciousness through body, mind or spirit, then the occurrences don't seem so strange. The following letter exemplifies this kind of story:
"Thank you for sending the requested preliminary report on the arthritis (rheumatoid) study ... The report was interesting to me for a special reason - in March of 1976, I was diagnosed (blood tests and all) as having rheumatoid arthritis and gout. I immediately wrote for the Circulating File and began very seriously working toward the changes needed (without realizing that you at the Clinic were doing the same thing for patients at the Clinic - same time). I've been persistent and consistent.
"This year at my annual physical checkup, the doctor noticed there are no more symptoms, and wanted to run another set of blood tests ('arthritis profile,' I think he called it). He was very impressed and called me a few days later to say that the results of the tests were quite negative - no sign of any rheumatoid arthritis or any arthritic - related diseases at all. He said, 'Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.' I know I was led to working in the right direction toward eliminating detrimental things in my life (attitudes, diet, etc.) and in building up the more positive aspects which I've known all along, but had become in a stressful rut, and had neglected at times. Anyhow, thanks again.. ."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1981, Volume 16, No. 6, page 231, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Fingers and Eyes and Castor Oil
The healing influence of the oil of the Racinus communis has been documented thousands of times now, and the following stories just amplify the documentation.
Swelling of the left middle finger between the interphalangeal joints bothered Edna Atkins, but she fussed along with the swelling for many weeks before actually getting down to the business of treating the finger. She had heard how good castor oil was for a variety of ailments but had just never tried it. She related the following: "I finally got out some oil one evening while watching TV and just rubbed it around the second joint a while. I did this two evenings, leaving it on when I went to bed. The third night I was again going to rub the joint, but could not find the spot any longer. I couldn't even be sure which hand or finger it was, as there was no sign of swelling or difference between any fingers any longer!" She didn't even know the diagnosis, but the cure was great!
From an unrecognized source - a nutrition columnist - the following account was sent in: "Recently a reader asked for help in treating granulated eyelids. I had this condition so bad that all my eyelashes fell out. The doctor's medication did not do any good. My grandmother suggested that I rub castor oil on my eyelashes at night. After one month, my eyelashes began to grow back, very thick and long. I am now 26 years old and use the oil treatment once a week. People ask me how I got such long, dark eyelashes. I tell them and most of them laugh at me. But I know it works."
Lastly, an A.R.E. member developed a growth in the corner of his eye, with surgery apparently just around the other corner. "I gently massaged it every night for five minutes with castor oil. After about three or four months, it did not get bigger - but did not disappear. In the back of my mind I remembered a Cayce reading that suggested some bicarbonate of soda with the castor oil. Thought it worth a try. After the massage, I put a tiny dab of bicarbonate of soda on the growth. The growth got very irritated and sore for a few days, fell off, and never returned again. Did not even leave a scar. I have tried same treatment for brown patches on my face. Castor oil with bicarb of soda. Same thing happened: got sore for a few days and then the brown patches completely disappeared."
Cayce remarked about someone having a castor oil consciousness. This man had a castor oil/bicarbonate of soda consciousness. And it worked.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1981, Volume 16, No.7, page 287, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Success in the Temple Beautiful
The 19th Temple Beautiful Program here at the Clinic produced responses that can only be attributed to the working of the Divine in the lives of His, created entities. Our senior member in this group came to the 17-day experience at the insistence of his son and accompanied by his loving wife. He was almost doubled over with pain, needed help in walking and could not manage more than 15 or 20 steps without stopping to sit down. He also suffered from debility and insomnia due to post-operative results of a prostate condition. He came, he said, praying for a miracle."
When he left, his color was healthy, he stood up straight, his pain was gone, he was sleeping well, his sense of humor had returned, and, he reported, "I received that miracle I was praying for." Balance of body functions, massages, manipulations, prayers, visualizations, guided imageries, etc., spelled the difference. Not a miracle from one point of view; but from another, who is to argue?
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1981, Volume 16, No. 7, page 288, Copyright © 1981 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Almonds for Cancer
Ever since we left Virginia Beach, I have had in mind putting down on paper, as you requested - the story of my mother [5009], and the polyps and the almonds, so here goes:
In July 1957, my mother was operated on for a malignant mass in the intestines. The surgeon removed a segment of bowel to which was attached a polyp, as well as the mass. He told my brother and me that he would have liked to have removed also a further segment on which two or three more polyps (benign, of course) were located but he feared she could not have stood that much nerve shock. He said he wished to watch closely by x-ray the polyps every three months. Subsequently, I urged Mother - as soon as she was out of the hospital - to eat several raw almonds a day - whether she believed in them or not (and although she tends to discount and negate a lot she was scared enough to heed me!). In three months the x-ray pictures showed the remaining polyps "somewhat smaller" - the doctor reported. In another three months the doctor said he couldn't discern any polyps at all in the x-ray pictures and was so pleased that he changed her periodic x-ray pictures from every three months to every six months. In another year - he changed to x-ray photos only once yearly. It has almost been 31/2 years now since her surgery and there has been no return of any trouble or of any polyps (and her last x-ray photos were of her entire body-torso as well as abdominal region). So, this is a good report for "the almond."
[Note: The preceding report was recorded by William A. McGarey, M.D. and is excerpted from the Physician's Reference Notebook, Copyright © 1968 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Bed Down With Castor Oil
Castor Oil stories continue to be an almost daily occurrence in our experience. One of our patients who has used castor oil packs rather extensively became concerned about his landlord, who is a widower and who was diagnosed after a stroke as having high blood pressure and a large abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was in constant pain from it, and the medicines he obtained from the medical center where he was treated only seemed to make him worse. The advocate of castor oil packs finally convinced his friend to try using the packs on his abdomen in spite of the fact that the landlord couldn't understand how in the world something like that would have any effect.
After less than a week of using the packs, the pain had subsided so much that the landlord waxed enthusiastic. He waxed so much, in fact, that he started buying castor oil by the gallon. He purchased several yards of wool flannel and rigged up his bed like no prescription I have ever given. Over the mattress cover, he placed a large plastic cover. Then came several layers of flannel - then two more layers of flannel, then a blanket on top of that. The room was always heated, even while the landlord slept. Then he poured castor oil on the flannel over the entire bed and climbed in between the several layers of wool flannel. Every day he would add some castor oil to the bed, and apparently when the whole setup became too old to be of value, he would discard the blanket, the flannel, etc., and bring in some new materials.
The story would just be humorous - even if true, which it is - if he derived no significant benefits from the treatments. He didn't even wipe off the oil from the skin when he got up in the morning. Truly a monumental experiment for one man. But the experimenter still continues to see his doctor regularly, tells him what he is doing, and feels better than he has in years. Now he is able to do his gardening, do the carpentering needed around his place, and recently even climbed up on the roof to fix a leak. His physical condition is better; his blood pressure apparently is improved; and he has a new life in front of him.
He did his own personal research project after reading much about the use of castor oil as given in the Cayce readings in the booklet, Edgar Cayce and the Palma Christi. Healings of the body indeed may come about in many ways and manners.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1975, Volume 10, No. 6, page 275, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Alcoholism
An alcoholic for more than 20 years is the description one of our correspondents gave herself in a research report which she submitted recently. But she used castor oil packs on her abdomen for an entirely different reason four years ago. It seemed that she had developed a severe abdominal pain. She did not consult her doctor, so her own diagnosis of "probably an intestinal disorder" will have to suffice, no matter how inadequate. She reports that her pain lessened a little each day, as she applied the packs on a twice daily routine. An apparent constipation was thoroughly corrected on the second day, but she continued the packs for a period of two weeks.
The most remarkable result of her own little adventure in consciousness, however, is the real point of this story. She adds as a postscript to her report that "Since the day I first used oil packs, I have not touched a drop of liquor - nor have I had the desire to do so. I was an alcoholic for more than 20 years. I used to drink myself to sleep every single night."
My question is: What is it that happens to people that makes a simple act of healing turn their lives into a new channel of living? Why should applications of castor oil packs rival Alcoholics Anonymous in this particular event in time and space? Life offers us a multitude of unanswered questions, doesn't it?
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1975, Volume 10, No. 6, page 276, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil and Allergies
Castor oil can be used in a variety of ways. Hemet Pathak, M.D., brings us this story from his native India: five drops of castor oil each morning, taken on an empty stomach in a little juice or water, is often beneficial therapy for allergic manifestations in the G. I. tract, as well as with skin and naso-pharyngeal allergies. This type of therapy has its roots in Indian herbal therapy, with which Dr. Pathak is an expert. The anti-allergenic nature of castor oil used in this manner was discovered accidentally in a man who was highly sensitive to penicillin. He had been on the castor oil for another reason when he was given penicillin by someone who did not know of his allergy. When he realized what he had been given, he was frightened - but nothing happened. The allergy was gone. An unofficial report of some 140 cases has been made, with highly encouraging responses being noted.
Dr. Pathak and Valentine Birds, M.D., reported in a letter that they have used two to five drops of castor oil orally on a daily basis, both with and without castor oil packs on the abdomen, and have noted encouraging results in the allergies of children. Further, they have noted that a single cathartic dose of castor oil given immediately after an accident when a whiplash type of injury is incurred often reduces the severity of the pain in the spinal musculature. They follow this up with osteopathic techniques, castor oil packs, pressure techniques and acupuncture as the situation warrants, and have found these patients respond in a more satisfactory manner.
The use of the cathartic, of course, is a fundamental concept in the physiologic suggestions in the Cayce material. When an accident or an illness creates more toxins or waste products of any kind in the body, it is helpful to rid the body of them as quickly as possible.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, January, 1975, Volume 10, No. 1, page 37, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Respiratory Ailments
Emphysema and charred oak kegs do go together, strange as it may seem. My story is a combination of a case history and some extracts from the readings which give a great deal of insight into the physiology of the disease (and healing) processes in tuberculosis and cancer.
One of my favorite patients is afflicted with emphysema. In October of 1968 I started him using inhalations from a charred oak keg filled part way with apple brandy. He works as an inspector and drives a lot every day, and ran into trouble with his boss who said his car smelled like a well-kept brewery. Sir Boss insisted on a letter from me saying that my patient was smelling the fumes and not consuming the liquid.
The fumes had their effect, however, for it soon developed that while they were not particularly curing the patient of emphysema, they were apparently keeping him free from respiratory infections. Correspondence with the head of a national distillery confirmed that the fumes where the brandy was aged did, in fact, keep an employee there free from any type of respiratory infections over a period of many, many years.
Recently I had the opportunity to check up on my number one example of inhalation therapy a la Cayce, and found that he has not been subject to infections of the respiratory tract for the last five and a half years. He did have the flu once, but it was a generalized thing and did not affect his lungs or throat to any degree. I did a bit of research on this particular type of therapy (which Cayce suggested for nearly every case of tuberculosis) and found some extracts which I think you will find interesting:
Prepare a charred oak keg,
about a gallon and a half to two gallon keg. If a gallon and a half, put in
same three-fourths gallon of Pure Apple Brandy.
This keg should be so prepared that there would be two small openings in
one end. One would act only as a vent when inhaling the fumes of the evaporated
Brandy into the throat and lungs from the other opening, which would be prepared
with a small tube - either of rubber or metal, or glass - that will not touch
the brandy, but open into the vacuum above same, so that the fumes from the
brandy may be inhaled two or three times a day. This should be kept where it
will evaporate more quickly than ordinarily; not so much heat as to cause too
great an evaporation, but where there is sufficient to create something more
than the ordinary evaporation. Keep the vents tightly corked when not in use.
(2978-1)
Inhale these fumes 2 or 3 times a day. In the beginning, do not inhale too much. Do inhale it, do not swallow it. While it will not hurt to swallow it, it is not as helpful to the body. The gas will not only act as an antiseptic, but will, with the properties that should be increased in the body, aid the change in the circulation, aiding these chemicals in their proper proportion to the body assimilation and the body activity, or the whole of the digestive forces, and eliminate the cause of infection in the lungs proper, and we will find it will gradually heal those areas where at present there are openings, though not a great deal of live tubercle, but the adhesions as have been indicated are the more irritating for deep breathing. (5097-1)
In discussing the problems found most commonly in tuberculosis, Cayce suggests that the basic findings are a systemic alkalosis (more accurately, portions of the body being too alkaline), and a problem with assimilation of foodstuffs into a circulatory system that lacks a proper activity in the pulmonary system itself, mostly due to the acid-alkaline balance. There is much more to his discussion relative to etiology and physiology, but this is a glimpse.
The natural effect of any
infection through the pulmonary system is to destroy the activity of that
production between the blood flow as related to the acid and alkalinity of the
system.
Hence we find that in those systems where there is the excess of
destructive tissue in the pulmonary system, there is a lack of the hydrochloric
acid in portions of the system.
Hence these properties are added in a manner in which there is the
effectiveness through the intestinal system, and the assimilating system; so
that we will have less reinfection in the blood stream, see? . . .
These properties, then, become effective in any system where there are
the infections, or reinfections - as of tubercular or cancerous natures.
However, there are the needs for other lobules that are prepared for conditions
where there is a segregation. The opposite effect exists in a system, of
course, with tuberculosis and cancer. For one is a separation, the other is a
segregation. (1548-2)
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1975, Volume 10, No. 2, page 81, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Against Allergy
One of our correspondents reported the use of castor oil as an antiallergic therapy. She has a severe allergy to sugar and caffeine and when she takes in these foods, she reacts with "itching, running, scaling of the eyelids, red, inflamed and bloodshot eyes, and microscopic 'bumps' under . . . top eyelids." About three years ago she added to this list a twitching of both eyelids occurring five to ten times daily. Strong corticosteroid ointments for the eyes could not control the twitching, although it did help the other symptoms.
She had read about castor oil and its benefits, but would not try it until she read Edgar Cayce and the Palma Christi. Rubbing the castor oil on her upper and lower eyelids, the allergic victim found relief. On the sixth day of treatment, the twitching stopped. True, it recurs if she overloads her body with chocolate, for instance, but now she uses the castor oil daily and is not troubled with the problem.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1975, Volume 10, No. 2, page 84, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Potatoes and Eyesight
A.R.E. members call us often with a variety of problems. One such woman, a 57-year-old diabetic, was losing her sight due to retinal hemorrhages that were resistant to therapy. Her vision had become so bad that she had to quit work. She confided to me (as she probably had not to her doctor) that she had not followed her diet, and felt quite discouraged. I emphasized that a constructive diet needs to be followed persistently and consistently, and told her how to use a potato poultice. She was to take a raw potato (like one uses for baking) and after washing, scrape - not peel - the potato onto a piece of cloth until there is a little mound of mushy material large enough to separate into two parts. Lifting the cloth with both hands, the mounds of potato peel were to be placed on the closed lids of both eyes. This is left in place for fifteen to thirty minutes, and then the dried material is washed off with boric acid water. She was to do this once a day, while paying strict attention to her diet.
Three months later she wrote me that she had followed the suggestions exactly, and had been on the prayer list at Virginia Beach for the three months. She had just returned to work, and was very happy. One eye was much improved, and she said (with a twinkle in her eye?) that the other eye "needs a little more potatoes."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1975, Volume 10, No. 2, page 84, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Eliminating Pinworms
Pinworms in man are caused by a genus of nematode called Enterobius vermicularis. They are considered to be parasites. I thought you would be interested in what the psychic view of pinworms is - at least from the standpoint of the source of information which Edgar Cayce was able to tap.
Q. How did the trouble of
pinworms originate, or what caused it?
A. Milk! You see, in every individual there is within the intestinal tract
that matter which produces a form of intestinal worm. This is in everyone. But
with a particular diet where the milk has any bacillus, it will gradually cause
these to increase, and they oftentimes develop or multiply rapidly; and then
they may disappear, if there is taken raw, green food.
Q. Would you change the kind of milk she drinks?
A. It isn't so much the change in the kind of milk that is needed. Either
add the raw, green foods as indicated, or give those properties as would
eliminate the sources of same. But it is better, if it is practical, to induce
the body to eat lettuce and celery and carrots - even a small amount. One leaf
of lettuce will destroy a thousand worms. (2015-10)
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1975, Volume 10, No. 3, page 127, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Rub Out Mosquitoes
Many massage oils were described in the Cayce readings; perhaps this is because massage was given as a therapeutic modality more often than any other type of therapy. From Quebec, Canada, comes an interesting story about one of these massage mixtures:
"I would like to tell you about a discovery I made, just by coincidence. Last summer ... I used to prepare the solution prescribed by Edgar Cayce, a beauty aid for the skin (the peanut oil, olive oil, rosewater and lanolin mixture). Since I have a sensitive skin towards sunburns, I prepared it and used it as a suntan lotion all over my body ...
"We used to spend the weekends in the Laurentian hills, north of Montreal. The mountains are very beautiful, except for the unbelievable amount of black flies and mosquitoes. Needless to say, they manage to destroy any hopes of a trouble-free sunbathe Within minutes we were beleaguered by literally thousands of them. Everyone in our group was bitten awfully except a friend and myself ... (we used the lotion) ... Not one bite. This news might not be important to city dwellers, but ... "
I would agree with my Canadian friend that those susceptible to insect bites might find this adaptation of the massage mixture beneficial. The exact formula, taken from reading 1968-7, is: peanut oil, 6 ounces; olive oil, 2 ounces; rosewater, 2 ounces; and lanolin (dissolved), 1 tablespoonful.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1975, Volume 10, No. 3, page 128, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Coffee Controversy Continues
Many years ago coffee became a way of life in my habit patterns. I was certainly not alone. My older brother influenced me in discontinuing sugar, and when I read a research report from Ireland nearly two decades ago - then found this substantiated in the readings - I also stopped using cream in my coffee. Now I'm a black-coffee drinker. Many of you may have heard that Cayce was against cream in coffee, but I suspect few of you have ever read anything from his material that discussed sugar as it relates to the great American drink. The following extract may be quite interesting to you.
Coffee, fresh - without cream, is a food. In excess, with cream or with quantity of sugar, it becomes as a poison, or hard for a digestive system - if taken in excess. This may be taken in moderation. (684-1)
Once again, the moderating influence found so consistently in the readings becomes evident. It's not that a thing is always bad or good. Rather, there is a place for almost everything. Moderation in diet as in activities is to be searched for and attained. It makes even cream in the coffee all right. (Although I still won't use it.)
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1975, Volume 10, No. 3, page 129, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Arthritis - Olive Oil Taken Orally
Arthritis is a problem of eliminations according to the line of thinking expressed in the Edgar Cayce material. I received a bit of information that I'd like to pass on to you that came from a woman who was it longtime arthritis sufferer:
"I was not taking any medication for arthritis, even though I have had this disease for over ten years.
"I recently started drinking olive oil. I took approximately six tablespoons a day (during the day) for two weeks, then I took one tablespoon a day for two weeks. The pain in every joint was gone. I stopped this procedure, feeling maybe the arthritis may have been arrested, as some cases do.
"After three weeks, the pain started to return. I knew it must be the olive oil so I started taking three tablespoons a day for one week then discontinuing dosage. After two weeks, the pain was only slight but returning. I took only three tablespoons just one day a week. All I take now is three tablespoons for one day, and it lasts one week and no pain for this period."
This kind of therapy was never suggested in the readings - although olive oil was given as being beneficial to the liver and to the entire body in its activity. Cayce rather suggested a course of therapy which was multilevel in its approach, working on things such as epsom salts baths, proper diet, Atomidine, manipulations, etc. But a person's ingenuity allows for adaptation of techniques which often bring about interesting results.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1975, Volume 10, No. 3, page 129, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Packs for the Back
A low back problem of 40 years' standing was aggravated when a patient lifted a box of rocks. She went to her doctor and received some manipulative relief. She continues: "but by November the pain had not left - in fact was getting worse. I would have to wake up in order to turn over in bed - with the help of my hands. Sitting was always painful - especially riding in a car. I decided to use the castor oil pack with the treating pad, which I did for one to three hours every night for a week. By the end of the week, the pain was gone and has never returned. The castor oil left me wondrously pain-free and flexible for the first time in years."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1975, Volume 10, No. 3, page 131, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Dental Extracts
A dentist in Oregon, who knew nothing about Ipsab, treated an A.R.E. member early this year for what he diagnosed as pyorrhea. When the patient got no relief from the discomfort of her inflamed gums, she wrote for the circulating file on pyorrhea. She finally got some Ipsab from Virginia Beach and started using that on her gums. After one week, she reports: "My gums cleared up some and the swelling went down. Another week of use, they were no longer sore or red and at this time [after three weeks] they are in good shape."
Ipsab was tested by a practicing Virginia dentist in a double-blind study involving 39 patients. 'The results were statistically significant and showed very good to excellent results in one out of three test patients while only one out of 17 control patients was found in this category. An interesting study!
Dental problems are not limited to pyorrhea nor their treatment to Ipsab, although the latter is amazingly efficacious in a variety of dental problems. Another A.R.E. member sought a solution to the problem of a tooth with an infected root that showed troubles on X-ray. He was not eager to have it extracted, so he used a bit of creative ingenuity and adapted some of the ideas he had read about in the Cayce material. Twice a day, he would swab the gums around the tooth with Atomidine. Then he took a pledget of cotton saturated with castor oil and placed it between the gum and the cheek. Against his face, then, he placed a heating pad and lay down on a couch to rest for an hour. Twice daily he repeated this routine. After two weeks, the gums around the tooth became swollen and tender - this subsided during the next few days, and at the end of three weeks, the swelling was gone, and the soreness was easing up. After the fourth week, the tenderness and the swelling were clearly absent. He was able to chew with the tooth and there was no sign of trouble. He has not had it X-rayed, but it "feels" cured. I don't have a dental opinion on this, obviously, but it occurs to me that there is a possibility that the root nerve to the tooth might be dead at this point. Time will tell the story, but the patient has a functioning tooth, which he considers to be better than no tooth at all. I would not argue the point.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1975, Volume 10, No. 4, page 170, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Gifted Gelatin
Gelatin is important as a food tending to lower blood cholesterol, according to Dr. William Strain of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. It was nearly ten years ago that he told the story of gelatin and vanadium, a trace mineral. It seems that this unlikely substance not only inhibits in a very normal way the formation of cholesterol in the human body, but it is a factor in preventing tooth decay; it helps to regulate the manner in which various fats are used in the body; and it is apparently part of the controlling biochemical mechanism in the utilization of amino acids. Dr. Strain suggested giving a heaping teaspoonful of gelatin before each meal in an attempt to lower the blood cholesterol. (Today's Living, July, 1974)
In the Edgar Cayce readings gelatin was recommended for people who had a variety of complaints: arthritis, anemia, kidney problems, "incoordination between assimilations and eliminations," problems with lymph, poor circulation, Parkinsonism, general debilitation and multiple sclerosis, to mention just a few. Cayce suggested that raw vegetables be prepared with gelatin frequently, for the better health of the body. He also recommended the use of half a teaspoonful of gelatin dissolved in warm water, used as a drink once or twice a day. 'The readings indicated that gelatin provided "vitamin forces" (849-74). In the next reading given this man, the vitamin effect was explained:
It isn't the vitamin content but it is ability to work with the activities of the glands, causing the glands to take from that absorbed or digested the vitamins that would not be active if there is not sufficient gelatin in the body. See, there may be mixed with any chemical that which makes the rest of the system susceptible or able to call from the system that needed. It becomes then, as it were, "sensitive to conditions." (849-75)
Cayce's recommendations vary from the usual medical directions. He told one woman (1695-2) that a quarter of a teaspoonful of gelatin each day would strengthen the body, but that she should not start the gelatin until the "glands are purified." This woman was bothered with incoordinations and a tendency toward anemia. Perhaps manipulations in her case would have been the proper thing to do first - or a series of Atomidine drops first, with a basic diet. To a man who was bothered with arthritis, Cayce suggested that gelatin would tend to develop muscle, tendon and nerve tissue, and should be used regularly. Knox gelatin was specified in the readings. It was not to be Jello, but rather plain gelatin. Vanadium was never mentioned, but it is interesting that chemical activity was discussed, and one wonders if this might not indeed be an electrochemical aid to the body. One more extract is interesting:
Also every day we would take gelatin as an aid to the quick pick-up for energy, aiding the system - from the assimilation of this, with the chemical changes in the body - in creating those activities through the assimilating and glandular force for the energies that create corpuscle tissue in body. This we would take about a third of a teaspoonful ... stirred in a glass of cold water each day. If this is taken around two or three o'clock in the afternoon it will aid the more. (2737-1)
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1975, Volume 10, No. 4, page 171, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Packs for Sprains and Pains
In nearly twenty years of association with the concepts of healing and regeneration found in the Cayce readings, my experience tells me that all people should have the opportunity to bring about healing for themselves or for others. This can be done by prayer, of course, which is usually not dramatic, even though it is effective. Utilizing the same concept that all healing comes from within the body, the opportunity might come through application of a castor oil pack or vinegar and salt, or some such remedy that often is not only dramatic in its effectiveness but also satisfies that desire for healing. Such a thing happened to a Kansas City woman whose five-year-old boy stepped on a nail and developed typical red streaks of cellulitis. Her story needs no amplification:
"First, believe me, when it comes to my children's health, I am not in the least likely to take chances, so do not think I acted impulsively or took any unusual chances. It started on a Sunday morning when my five-year-old complained that his foot hurt and he had some red streaks on his ankle. I took his temperature, and it was normal, but his foot, where he had stepped on a nail the previous day, was now quite red. There were also two or three streaks raised like welts, almost to his knee. I had never seen blood-poisoning streaks before, but I was sure that it was indeed blood poisoning, though my husband didn't think so.
"I decided to try the Cayce castor oil packs and heat and would give it no longer than four hours. If he was running a temperature or was worse in any way by that time, I would call the doctor. I had used the packs for bruises and swelling but never for anything this serious before. I put the pack on and wrapped an elastic bandage around it, then fastened the beating pad around that and made him sit and keep his foot elevated. At the end of four hours, the red streaks were definitely fading and the swelling had disappeared. The pain was nearly gone also, and there was no temperature elevation. I left the pack on with heat the rest of the day, then that night took off the heating pad, leaving the pack in place.
"By the next morning, the foot looked completely normal, and when my boy stepped on it, there was no pain. I watched him carefully for several days, but the symptoms never came back, and everything was great. No shots or pills and no doctor bill or hospital bill, and it cleared up so fast. I have since used it for the same type of infection with the same results."
This enterprising woman used the same castor oil packs for sprains and bruises, bumps and that sort of thing; for infected finger nails and even poison ivy. She told us also how she used the salt and vinegar pack on her 16-year-old boy who severely sprained his ankle.
"I melted the salt with the hot vinegar and made a poultice and plastered the foot thickly with it and then wrapped it with old sheet strips. I left the poultice on until it was completely dried and started to flake off. His foot was much better that night and by the next day he was walking nearly normally and by the end of the week he was active, doing everything except jumping and running."
Then she adds her own philosophical observation, which I think is a fascinating bit of home-spun truth:
"It's a funny thing, though. In working with my kids, the ones that believe it will help are helped. The one daughter who does not believe in home remedies and faith healing, the salt and vinegar did not help her sprain even though all other factors were the same."
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1975, Volume 10, No. 4, page 174, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Laying On of Hands
A story of healing comes from a very active A.R.E. member in middle America. In the prayer and healing group to which he belongs, they have recently used the laying on of hands when asked to do so and have had some definite reports of success. One woman had been told after an examination by her doctor that she had a probable cancer of the breast and that a biopsy should be done to rule out this major problem. My correspondent was asked to be the one to "channel" the healing energy from the group to the subject. "I felt the creative energies passing through (had placed my right hand on her forehead and the left hand on the neck at approximately the thyroid gland). "There was much heat, not only in the hands but throughout the whole body. She felt the energies enter and felt the heat. Each member of the group said they felt the flow of the energy ... when she went for another examination at the hospital on Monday (the next day), she was examined by four doctors. The lump had decreased in size to about tile size of a very small pea, and it was decided that there was no reason to perform the biopsy at all. The doctors were puzzled and asked what had happened. She told them about the laying on of hands. You can imagine the consternation. One, a woman doctor, followed our friend out of the examination room and confided that she had always been able to 'see' a patient's illness before there was a physical examination but had never told anyone because she thought they'd think she had flipped her lid."
It's too bad that such occurrences are not more widely accepted, but it is good, on the other hand, that they are being reported and that more doctors are becoming aware of their reality.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1975, Volume 10, No. 4, page 175, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Thrombophlebitis
Thrombophlebitis of the leg was an occasion in our family to use some of the concepts developed in the Edgar Cayce material. The physician is told to "heal thyself." So my wife Gladys and I went to "work on her left great saphenous vein when it became inflamed recently. There was tenderness, moderate to severe pain, palpable thrombus but no edema. Inflammation appeared and coursed up over the medial aspect of the knee; five to six inches of the structure were clinically involved. The symptoms started one evening, worsened during the night, and therapy began midmorning the next day.
Treatment in this case was: (1) light, high-vitamin diet with forced fluids; (2) castor oil pack over the affected area held in place with Ace bandage; (3) increased vitamin intake (probably not necessary if #1 is followed); and (4) the healing hands of a friend.
Diet, in our opinion, is a valuable therapeutic tool in every illness, diet especially in an acute condition. The castor oil pack has always been the most important of these treatments, and we have used it over the years in similar cases.
Her response was quite remarkable, as in some of our prior experiences with superficial thrombophlebitis. The pack was applied during the day on the first and second day. By the time 24 hours had passed, there was no redness, no pain, and only a faint residual of tenderness. In 36 hours, there were no remaining symptoms or abnormal findings; the patient was well; there was no recurrence.
The usual response to conventional therapy (elastic bandage and an anti-inflammatory agent) is relief of pain and swelling in five to seven days. If not resolved by then, vascular surgery is often recommended; the excision of the affected veins can then hasten a cure and prevent deep extension of' the thrombus and possible pulmonary embolism. Nothing is mentioned in articles or texts about the importance of dietary principles in either preventing or treating a thrombophlebitis. And certainly castor oil packs have not yet evolved into the medical literature.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1975, Volume 10, No. 5, page 222, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Concrete Example of Castor Oil Use
Mabel Alford related a castor oil story during our week's program on Home and Marriage in Virginia Beach last year. A longtime A.R.E. member, she has attended many workshops and read widely in the Cayce material. Though she is experienced in taking care of herself', this time she forgot for a while. About a year ago, she was mixing up cement and neglected to put gloves on, thinking that it was not really necessary. No problem doing the work that morning, but later on in the afternoon, her hands started to hurt. As the pain grew more severe, the skin started to peel off in places. She took some aspirin that night, but couldn't sleep because of the pain. She tried soaking her hands in aspirin water, but that didn't help. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, she remembered castor oil. She actually dipped her hands in the oil, put on stocking gloves and then, when she got back into bed, slept like a baby.
Prior to using the castor oil, her hands were stiff and the tissues edematous, and she had visions of not being able to work the next week. (She is a check-out clerk at a supermarket.) But when she took the gloves off the next morning., there was no pain, no swelling, and she round no problems in using her fingers and hands at work.
[Note: The preceding case report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1975, Volume 10, No. 5, page 223, Copyright © 1975 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Pterygium, Cysts, Epilepsy, etc.
From Dr. Mayo Hotten comes the report that lie has used castor oil packs over the eyes in two cases to reduce the inflammation of pterygium - perhaps sufficiently to prevent surgery. Then I received a report recently about a twenty-four-year-old housewife who, when she underwent a routine examination, was found to have a golf-ball-sized cyst on her left ovary. She was scheduled for a return visit, but in the meantime applied castor oil packs to her lower abdomen for one hour each day, four days each week. She noticed that she received a very welcome relief from the menstrual cramps she had suffered with for such a long time. When she was again examined for the cyst, it had disappeared entirely.
Another story, of interest to parents, is the case of a year-old boy who could not find relief after five to six months of chronic diarrhea. I told his parents about the use of castor oil packs, and the possibility of using Glyco-Thymoline packs also. They recently wrote me that their young son, now twenty-two months, has no problems with his G.I. tract - it cleared up completely on just the castor oil packs.
They also told me about a friend of theirs who has had almost complete remission of his epileptic seizures by regularly massaging his right upper abdominal area with a mixture of peanut oil and olive oil, and taking small dosages of olive oil by mouth.
Oil has a healing quality, apparently, that cannot be matched or really duplicated. I receive so many spontaneous communications from A.R.E. people from all over the country who have used these simple therapy ideas advantageously. The following quotation about application of oils is an example:
"Within our groups here, we have had quite a few successes using castor oil - my husband has removed a very dark mole from the tip of his nose and is now working on another one on his forehead. One of our young men has been using the oils (castor, lanolin, peanut) on a scald mark which he suffered at the age of three years, and this has been developing new skin from the center out since he first started using the mixture about four months ago! I, myself, had tremendous success using castor oil while in the hospital for surgery. I came down with a cold that was making my eyes water so badly I couldn't see. After using it just one night - with the nurse standing there watching me to make sure I wouldn't drink it! - the cold was gone, and by morning there was not one single trace of my ever having it. Prayers are always used when any of us apply the oils, so we can vouch for the results on a Cayce treatment level!"
[Note: The preceding report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1972, Volume 7, No. 6, page 285, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Dreams and Health
All who have been associated closely with the A.R.E. know of the importance of dreams. Cayce instructed all to study their dreams as a source of much wisdom, containing direction of a physical, mental and spiritual nature. Recently I was given a dream report and thought you would be interested to see how one who is conversant with her dreams used the information in a constructive manner. Her story follows.
"During the last week of May, 1972, I committed myself to a strenuous calesthenic program which, through overexertion, resulted in a great deal of pain in the lower abdomen to the extent that I felt unable to stand up altogether straight, and the pain seemed localized in the region of the bladder and uterus. I was in this condition for several days and was about to consider going to my doctor, when I had the following dream, which occurred on June 1, 1972:
"In the dream I felt I was transported away to another dimension or plane. I found myself in a doctor's office, on an examining table, being examined by a very nice old man in white coat and with a gray goatee. (He resembled a kindly Edward G. Robinson in appearance.) I was consulting him about the abdominal pain. He gave me an examination and told me that everything was all right, but that I SHOULD use a castor oil pack. Since I come from a family which has produced four doctors, all of whom have always been very 'standard' in their treatments, I just laughed and said something to the effect that I didn't think I'd go for one of those things. The doctor told me to go ahead and give it a try anyway and then handed me a flannelette square. Just as he was telling me where to apply the pack, I woke up. I decided to give it a try, but couldn't remember whether he said to place it over the liver or over the pelvis. I took it up with my Study Group, and they suggested placing it over the entire abdomen. I didn't have any flannelette on hand, so used several old soft wash cloths, and had the electric heating pad turned to high. I used the pack for an hour a day for three days, and while using it, I either read the Bible, thought good thoughts, or read some Edgar Cayce books.
"After one treatment, I noticed considerable improvement in my condition. After two treatments, all pain and discomfort had vanished. I used the third treatment for good luck. I am happy to report that there has been no recurrence of the pain, and my general health is excellent."
[Note: The preceding report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, November, 1972, Volume 7, No. 6, page 286, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Iron-deficiency Anemia
Iron-deficiency anemia is thought to be due to lack of iron, as the name would imply. The lack of iron, however, often is simply in the blood stream, not necessarily in the diet. Two stories illustrate this point:
The first case was a 63-year-old woman who had a hemoglobin of 9.3 grams prior to treatment with iron medication. After nearly two months of therapy, her hemoglobin went up to 9.5 grains, but she had developed a skin rash. I felt that this, was due to the iron, so I stopped it, and, with an eye toward cleaning out the toxins in the body, suggested that she take an ounce of castor oil, repeating the procedure in four days. She did as I directed and continued until she came to see me six weeks later. It made her feel so good, she said, and her rash was gone. I did another hemoglobin before starting her on iron again. This time it was 13.4 grams - so I forgot about the iron.
The other case was a woman in her late fifties who had anemia and a moderate hypothyroidism. When she came to me she had a hemoglobin of 11.5 grams. I did not start her on iron (I rarely do, since there is plenty of iron in the diet if the body will absorb it), but I did recommend a couple of changes in diet and, because she had a sore back, started her on infrared lamp treatments for thirty minutes three times a week. The next time I saw her, some four weeks later, her energy was higher and she felt much better. Her hemoglobin was up to 13.9 grams.
[Note: The preceding report was written by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1972, Volume 7, No. 4, page 285, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Canker Sores and Vaginitis
Last January, at the medical symposium here in Phoenix, Dr. Harvey Rose discussed his work with local application of Atomidine, then Glyco-Thymoline, for the treatment of canker sores in the mouth. I requested some response from those of you who have had the opportunity to use this apparently very efficacious treatment. Dr. Ernie Poole obliged recently, and I quote most of his letter:
"In your recent bulletin you ask if anyone had used Atomidine and Glyco-Thymoline on canker sores . . . I have used it quite extensively since the Phoenix conference with really quite fantastic results. I must admit I have not kept a statistical survey of same primarily because the treatment works. It may be of interest to you, going a bit further in extending the use of Glyco-Thymoline, that I have been using it on refractory cases of vaginitis with equally outstanding results. Several of these cases had been treated with Mycostatin, vaginal suppositories, Flagyl and gentian violet, etc. In desperation I used Glyco-Thymoline on a few of these, knowing that the mucous membranes of mouth and vagina are the same. The relief it gave was almost immediate and to date long lasting. I have not used Atomidine in these cases."
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1972, Volume 7, No. 4, page 234, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Psoriasis #1
A patient of Mike MacCaffery in Tucson wrote us about his response to Mike's prescription for psoriasis. The prescription was from the readings, and included the following procedure: (1) rochelle salts, sulfur, cream of tarter - one teaspoon of water daily; (2) follow with yellow saffron tea (a pinch in cup of boiling water, steep thirty minutes); (3) elm bark H20, three times a week in the morning; (4) eliminate sweets, fats and pastries, eat fresh fruits and vegetables; (5) saffron and mullein teas; (6) Cuticura ointment and Resinol ointment daily. Mike's patient was, in his own words, "cured" and was very happy about the results, thanking both Mike and the Edgar Cayce Foundation.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1972, Volume 7, No. 4, page 235, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Witch Hazel as Therapy
A few months ago, I heard from a correspondent of mine in Detroit who had been afflicted with a dermatitis of the palm of her hand for some twelve years. After reading Jess Stearn's book, Edgar Cayce, The Sleeping Prophet, she decided to use witch hazel on it in the manner described therein. She reported "great improvement" with just two weeks of this treatment. Hamamelis virginiana is a small shrub, the leaves and bark of which are Used to make witch hazel. There are two forms of the medication, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Witch hazel has been used internally for dysentery, but is most often used as an astringent or as a wash for burns, bruises, skin irritations and other forms of external inflammation. It has also been used for sore mouths and inflamed eyes. We repeat simple things are often the best!
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 184, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Psoriasis #2
Twelve-year-old Kathy's parents took her to dermatologists at Wayne County General Hospital in Michigan when her psoriasis had failed to improve after three months of ultraviolet ray treatments, bath oils, and a special sun lamp for her scalp. Under a new regimen consisting of sun lamp, ointments and Baker's P. & S. oil, she improved slightly for a while and then, during this four-month period, the lesions multiplied and worsened. Kathy's parents, using Fred Lansford's medical commentary in the psoriasis circulating file, then put her on the diet that Cayce prescribed. Peanut oil was applied locally on the worst of the lesions and on the scalp, and camomile, saffron, mullein and elm teas were used. In two weeks she began to improve. After a year's therapy, Kathy's problem has cleared up, with the exception of two very small spots on her scalp, which also seem to be disappearing.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 184, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Canker Sores in the Mouth
These seem to respond well to local applications of Atomidine, followed by Glyco-Thymoline. Dr. Harvey Rose reported on his enlarging file of such cases at the January symposium. Our business manager benefited from the information and found that the lesion on his tongue cleared up within three days.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 184, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Post-Operative Wound Healing
Bob McTammany is a surgeon in Shillington, Pennsylvania. He told me the following story about a post-vaginal hysterectomy patient who developed a febrile course and a large pelvic abscess which improved on antibiotics and proteolytic enzymes, although a 10 x 10 cm mass remained. She refused further surgery, and after several weeks of malaise, fever, low abdominal tenderness and pain, and no general improvement, she was then convinced that she should begin application of castor oil packs, used one hour daily. She improved remarkably symptom-wise, and examination in one month showed almost complete resolution of the pelvic abscess. Bob feels that these packs might be beneficial to post-operative patients in order to improve wound-healing and reduce the incidence of infection.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 185, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Minimal Brain Damage
Ernie Pecci, whose special concern is mental retardation, was one of the outstanding lecturers at the latest symposium. At his two Multipurpose Centers near Oakland, California, he has been working with castor oil packs applied to the abdomen. A recent letter from him states, in part: "In what I would call a major breakthrough, a University of California medical researcher wants to conduct some research studies on the use of the castor oil packs based upon our previous success. They are especially interested in investigating my hypothesis that 'minimal brain damage' is really an endocrine dysfunction which might be helped with the use of the castor oil packs. They have set up an elaborate EEG monitoring system which can be linked to computers which would indicate whether learning is really enhanced after treatment."
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 185, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Palpitation and Castor Oil Packs
An A.R.E. member in Irvington, New Jersey, wrote that he had had palpitation of the heart which had not responded to any treatment. He used hot castor oil packs over his abdomen three days each week for an hour and a half. Every third day he took one teaspoonful of olive oil. This therapy was continued for four weeks and the symptoms cleared up for eleven months, recurring when he underwent some psychological shock. Then, after another four weeks of therapy, the symptoms disappeared again, and have been absent for over a year now.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 185, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Castor Oil Stories: Nausea, Tumors, Cuts
Three stories about castor Oil used in as many different ways. A letter from an old friend who has been reading the material from the A.R.E. for many years: she writes about her husband who "was very ill in the hospital for two months - taken because of continuous nausea and vomiting. [He had a large mass removed from his lung, his hiatal hernia re-done, but no one could find the cause for the continued nausea and vomiting . . . To make a long story short, he came home from the hospital still having the same symptoms vomiting, nausea.
"All of a sudden the idea of castor oil packs occurred to me. After all, the medical profession wasn't able to help him. After two packs she began to bet better! Blessings on Cayce! Now he is practically like himself except for tiring easily." Five months they continued the packs. Persistence! And results!
Secondly, a letter from another woman who applied information on her own: "I thought you might be interested in hearing that my mother had a lump near her vagina. We applied castor oil and camphorated oil. In three weeks, it reduced in size from the size of a walnut to the size of a pea; in five weeks it was gone, and has not returned."
Thirdly, a patient of mine who had cut his right ankle on a piece of glass had it repaired at the Emergency Room of Scottsdale Baptist hospital, but there was such extreme hyperesthesia and pain that the 17-year-old football player had to use crutches to get around. I saw him three days later, and at that point his entire ankle hurt, and the wound was painful to the touch. It was not infected, but I felt that the nerve supply in that area had been injured and possibly a ligamentous laceration had produced the extreme symptoms. In all event, he was instructed how to use castor oil packs over the wound. He felt markedly better two days later and was able to go without crutches. Sutures were removed at seven days, and he was back playing football six days after that. Instead of hyperesthesia distal to the wound area, there was now just a bit of numbness. Bob was told to continue massaging the area with the oil until the numbness was gone.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 108, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Healing Arthritis - Peanut Oil and Castor Oil
Biochemical bases of understanding the functioning of the human body may have been adequate for the mind of the physician for many years here in the western part of the world, but it can no longer stand the test of experience, reason, and pure logic. For instance, how can oil achieve a healing effect? Witness these two stories, both of which deal with arthritis:
From Pittsburgh, Pa., I quote this: "In reading Jess Stearn's Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet, I noted with much interest his references to arthritis and the use of pure peanut oil. As a rheumatoid arthritic I have found it to be of great benefit to my condition. After using peanut oil as a massaging oil for several years, I have to agree with Cayce's belief that it not only lubricates but heals as well. I am sure that had I known about the oil in this use I would have been spared much misery. Why isn't the use of peanut oil to reduce joint inflammation and pain in arthritis better known? Does the medical profession spurn it as a home remedy?"
From California: "Mother had arthritis so bad she was committed to the hospital. She was there for two weeks and released with no apparent help. The arthritis was centered in her fingers which were doubled back in her palms - she didn't think she would be able to open up her fingers again. Father brought her home and started a treatment of hot castor oil - rubbing her hands, arms, and shoulders and legs three times a day. Within a period of three to four months her condition improved to the extent she could walk, use her arms, and her hands straightened out and today she is completely cured. She was 76 years old when she was at her worst and is now 81."
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 109, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Cancer in Elderly Male
This was the case of a 78-year-old man who consulted our office in 1967 and died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm in July of 1971. In 1959, he developed an abdominal mass, was surgically explored and diagnosed as having a small abdominal aneurysm, but also a lymphosarcoma. He took the "grape cure," and the mass disappeared, and he was apparently clear of the disease. However, in 1964, he developed an adenocarcinoma of the prostate. He had continued on dietary measures, but now became more strict, and was started on stilbestrol therapy also. Under our care for four years, he was given a multitude of supportive procedures to do. The mass in the abdomen reappeared, the prostate needed some special care from a urologist, and dietary measures were continued. Finally, he was admitted to the hospital with upper abdominal pain and the subsequent rupture of the aneurysm brought about his death.
Here are two fascinating points about this man. First, his autopsy revealed that there was adenocarcinoma of the prostate with extension to the pelvic organs including the rectum and with metastases to the lungs, and hilar lymph nodes. There was also the presence of malignant lymphosarcoma in almost all the organs of the body if you recall the history, the prostate cancer lasted at least seven years from the point at which diagnosis was made; and there was found at surgery a lymphosarcoma some twelve years prior to the man's death. It was apparently stopped with dietary means, but here was a man living with two malignancies for at least seven years, perhaps even longer, and he died from another cause.
The patient in question followed strictly a dietary regime over a long, long period of time, and his wife was indeed a helpmeet for him in aiding him day after day, investigating new things which might be done to help, and generally giving him the idea that he did not need to give up. This tells a story about the relationship between disease and the human spirit.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, May, 1972, Volume 7, No. 3, page 111, Copyright © 1972 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
Urinary Frequency
One of our cooperating doctors told me about a 63-year-old woman who is fortunate that she can take trips around the world with her husband. They travel usually by boat, as they have lots of time and don't like to hurry. She has had the problem, however, of urinary frequency which makes her first concern (no matter where they stop on their world trips) the location and availability of the restroom. She was unable even to sit through a church service without leaving at least once to empty her bladder. After her last trip, she complained about this in her visit to the doctor. He told her about riding a bicycle and its advantages of apparently correcting the parasympathetic outflow from the sacral plexus, at least to some extent. She bought a bike and has been riding it ever since. Now she has absolutely no trouble with her bladder, and furthermore, can play 18 holes of golf without even looking for the place.
[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal,