A few weeks earlier, a fellow study group member saw beautiful gardens in her meditation. This piqued my interest, not only because we’re entering gardening season, but also because of what I’d been researching concerning gardens in the Cayce readings. We know that Edgar was an avid gardener, but I was surprised to discover how often, and for what reasons, the subject showed up in his mind.
As he settled in Virginia Beach (if you can call being shuffled from house to house several times being settled), he was delighted to finally be able to put to use the green thumb that seemed to come naturally. In fact, he was so proficient with plants that others marveled at his passion for them, and how the plants responded to his care. In a letter to Mrs. [464], he described what it was he enjoyed about gardening:
“I love all nature, for there seems to be- as it did when I was a child- the attempt
to speak to me very often of my Maker. Life in all its essence must be from that
Creative Energy we have called God. Plants, animals and everything, including
human beings, show their appreciation of every effort man makes toward setting for that love that must have been expressed when God brought them all into existence.”
EC Reading 254-63, Report #3.
We’re also told that Edgar saw his plants and shrubs as children, and that when the family was shuffled to another house, he would transplant as many as possible of them to their new house. Esther Wynne, having the close relationship she did to the Cayce family, had a wonderful ability to express the philosophy coming through the readings, and in a talk, she gave this comment on nature, which sounds very similar to Cayce’s thinking:
“Nature, as the Garden of Eden, came into existence with God’s preparation
for man’s indwelling in joy and harmony.”
EC Reading 3976-11, Report #1.
Morton Blumenthal was an interesting man; one of the few Jews (descendants of the tribe of Judah or Benjamin) who shared an understanding of the teachings from the Cayce readings regarding the Christ. He, like Esther, mentions the Garden of Eden in this early letter (1925) to Edgar; I include this excerpt as a way of introduction to the spiritual teachings relating to gardens, in the readings. In another article, I’ll delve into some of the spiritual thoughts related to gardening brought out there. Notice the transition from being the occupant of the Garden, to being its master - this will be brought out in some of the thoughts to come:
“ Out of the Garden of Eden do we work, that the knowledge we have bitten
into may ripen into luscious fruit. Then, out of the Creator of that Garden
came the phenomenon of Christ, that would lead us back into the Garden,
but this time as its master and not as its occupant.”
EC Reading 900-176, Report #2.
In closing, with resurrection thoughts fresh in our minds from Easter, here’s an encouraging thought from that same letter from Edgar to Mrs. [464], regarding the excitement over new life that we feel in spring:
“autumn … is the time for nature - as represented in our flowers and shrubs-
to prepare for rest, that men have called death; yet will bloom forth again in
the spring, if given any sort of opportunity to bring joy and gladness to those
who love to see beauty.”
EC Reading 254-63, Report #3
We’ll talk again soon. Gardening season is short in Canada, so keep your feet to the ground, and your eyes to the stars.
“...what more can be desired? A little garden to walk, and
immensity to reflect upon. At his feet something to cultivate
and gather, above his head something to study and meditate
upon; a few flowers on the earth, and all the stars in the sky.”
Victor Hugo, 'Les Miserables'
A.R.E. Meditation Garden-Virginia Beach, VA