Where can I find authenticated Edgar Cayce transcripts and original reading records online or in archives?
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Executive summary
The most authoritative place to locate authenticated Edgar Cayce transcripts and original reading records is the institutional archives tied to Cayce’s own organizations — principally the Edgar Cayce Foundation / Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) collections — while several large open-access repositories and library catalogs host published and digitized versions of the readings and companion materials [1] [2] [3]. Researchers should expect that original case files and donor-controlled recipient-identifying material are held under archive access rules and that reproducing or publishing material often requires authorization from the Edgar Cayce Foundation [1] [2].
1. Where the originals live: the Edgar Cayce Foundation and Gladys Davis Turner collection
Original transcriptions, case files, correspondence and the working papers from Cayce’s stenographer Gladys Davis Turner are catalogued as a formal collection maintained by the Edgar Cayce Foundation (E.C.F.) and organized by reading-file number, with guidance that the collection is open for research subject to E.C.F. reference policies and permissions for publication or reproduction [1] [2].
2. How to access E.C.F. holdings and the limits on release
The E.C.F. provides a finding aid and repository entry describing the five-series arrangement (readings and correspondence; Gladys Davis work files; etc.) and explicitly states that authorization is required to publish, quote or reproduce material and that releasing recipient-identifying information follows specific E.C.F. rules — meaning authenticated originals are accessible for research but not freely republishable without permission [1] [2].
3. Digitized and published “complete readings” available through libraries and archives
Complete or large compilations of Cayce readings have been published and digitized: library CD-ROM editions and multi-volume compilations of the readings are catalogued in WorldCat and Open Library, and several full-text volumes appear on Internet Archive, offering searchable scans and downloadable editions of the readings and companion guides [4] [5] [3] [6] [7].
4. Large public collections and searchable databases online
Independent aggregations — notably the “Edgar Cayce Mega Collection” on the Internet Archive — assemble thousands of Cayce-related texts and a searchable corpus of readings and topical files, providing convenient public access to many readings and secondary materials, though these are compilations rather than the institutional originals held by E.C.F. [8] [9].
5. Secondary access routes: biographies, A.R.E. publications, and audio archives
Scholarly and popular secondary works that drew on the original records, including Sidney Kirkpatrick’s biography and A.R.E. press publications and audio collections, are widely available and testify to researchers’ past access to E.C.F. holdings, but they are secondary sources that interpret or excerpt the readings rather than serving as the primary archival records themselves [10] [11] [12].
6. Caveats about third‑party uploads, summaries and unverifiable transcriptions
A range of third‑party sites and user uploads (for example, some Scribd summaries or aggregated PDFs) circulate Cayce material or synopses; these are useful starting points but should be treated as derivative and checked against E.C.F. holdings or published editions for authentication and citation because institutional provenance and release conditions are explicit in the E.C.F. records [13] [14] [1].
7. Practical research steps for authenticated access
Begin by consulting the E.C.F. repository entry and its reference policy to request research access to the Gladys Davis Turner files and reading-case materials, use WorldCat/Open Library/Internet Archive to locate published complete readings and searchable compilations for immediate study, and obtain permission from the Edgar Cayce Foundation before reproducing or publishing archival content that is restricted under their policies [2] [4] [8] [1].