Natural Remedies and Uncovering Ancient Egyptian Secrets

Will: Welcome back to the Skeptic Metaphysicians.

Karen: We're your hosts, Will and Karen.

And we are so thrilled that you're going to join us on this exciting journey of awakening. Now, our guest today is an internationally renowned speaker and a popular leader of tours to sacred sites around the world. He's the author of numerous best selling books, including Edgar Cayce on Spiritual Forces Within You, Edgar Cayce on the Kabbalah, and Toward a Deeper Meditation.[00:01:00]

His extensive knowledge of Edgar Cayce readings, The Bible, ancient Egyptian mysticism, and world religions make him an authoritative teacher of the metaphysical. And he is sitting right here with us today, John Van Alken. Thank you very much for joining us today

John: I'm happy to be here, Karen and Will. I look forward to talking about Edgar Cayce and metaphysical concepts.

Karen: Well, you have so much knowledge and we can't wait to dive in. But before we really get into the meat of it, I want to know what drew you to this whole realm of metaphysics and spirituality?

John: Uh, honestly, it started with my mother.

She was a very mystical lady. And my brothers and I had many experiences where she called on forces we didn't see and helped us out. One quick story, we were stationed, my father was a naval officer. We were stationed in Newfoundland and we were on a slippery road. And to the left was a hill going down [00:02:00] into a fjord and to the right was a hill going up.

And we lost control, uh, several cars lost control. And moms started calling on forces that weren't there. back then we had, bench seats, no seatbelts, and the three boys were like this. And we're looking at each other, who's mom talking to, what's going on? And we're almost going over when a truck hits us and knocks us up the hill.

Mom yells, get out of the car and run up the hill. So we run up the hill and another car hits our car and it goes over into the fjord. And Gary, my middle brother, turns to me and said, hey. We gotta stay close to mom. She's got some friends in high places. And that's just one example of her. So, mystical, uh, unseen forces were familiar to myself and my brothers.

How

Will: old were you at that time when that happened?

John: Uh, probably pre [00:03:00] teen, 12, 13, maybe, maybe 14. So you've

Will: been mired into this stuff for a very long time.

John: Wow.

Karen: This was part of your growing up. Yes.

Will: Wow. Well then, how did you make the connection between what your mom was saying and Edgar Cayce and

John: his readings?

I was at university, um, William and Mary, and I wanted to learn how to meditate. And so, uh, I searched, you know, for some sort of contact, and I got the book, There is a River, the biography of Edgar Cayce, and then I found out that they had a study group, not in Williamsburg, where William and Mary is, but in Newport News, so I drove to it, I went into the study group, because they taught meditation there, and The whole study group were all gray haired people.

And I went, oh no, really? So the first meditation I was with [00:04:00] eye open like this, you know, and they were out of it, you know. So I said, okay, I'll try, but there's nothing in here but me, you know. And they said, no, there's something inside you. It's within you. And so I kept trying, honestly, for about two months.

And then one time I just had a shift and I went, Oh my God, there is something. And I felt a move in myself and that began the serious journey. Wow. I was about 24 years old. Right.

Will: So then what drew you to, like, You were drawn to meditation, uh, I'm frankly surprised you didn't start meditating at the minute that your mom told you you were in danger.

You were like praying. Well, we

John: did prayer. The word meditation at that age was not so familiar. It was an eastern concept. Sure, sure. Now it's become, you know, universal. Even the medical profession encourages meditation for health, you know. Uh, but [00:05:00] back then, uh, we did prayer, uh, and then, so meditation was new to me, and I had to learn it.

And the way I got into Casey was I came down here one weekend for, uh, a youth program. They put on programs on this campus back in those days. And uh, I had a dream. And Edgar's eldest son was president of ARE. He asked me to sit and chat with him. And when he looked at me, he said, Something happened to you, didn't it?

I said, Oh, I had a great dream last night, and you were in it. And so when he heard the dream, he said, Listen, you go over to Human Resources and tell them to hire you. Wow. And I've been here ever since. Wow. Yeah. I wish that would work.

Will: Human Resources. Yeah.

John: I'm ready. Oh, he wasn't thrilled. Believe me. Oh my gosh.

When I went in his office and said, Hugh Lynn said to hire me, he said, What? Sit down. And he left. When he came back, I had a [00:06:00] job.

Karen: Oh my gosh. Well, you know, it's, it's interesting because you grew up with this and you got your job with all of this type of meditation and spirituality. But back when Edgar Cayce was doing his work, you know, we're talking, you know, a while ago, 30s, 40s, people must have thought that was just kind of really out there, the channeling.

What do you think made him so credible? What do you think made people actually not think he was just some

John: crazy guy? He started with health and everybody needed to improve, especially ill people. They were seeking help and when the medical profession said, look, I'm out of ideas. I've done everything to you.

I know to do. They sought a metaphysical source and Edgar had built a somewhat of reputation. I mean, he had been doing that for 20 years before he did all these mystical dream and ancient culture readings. He was doing health and so. That attracted a lot of people and built the base. And his health [00:07:00] always said you had to include the soul and the mind, not just the body.

Because the attitude had to be expectant, or healing wouldn't happen. Well, later when I interviewed medical people, they said the same thing. They said, I can have two patients with the same illness, one will recover. And I can tell it's their attitude, and the other doesn't. Ah, interesting. And Edgar was talking about that way back there in the 20s.

Karen: That's so true. You know, stress and everything can give you the illness, so getting rid of that will help heal you. Now,

Will: bringing spirituality and the soul into it, I know at the time when Edgar Cayce was first coming out with these, um, health remedies and things like that, he was a very devout Christian man.

He was, yeah. How did he bridge Christianity

John: with metaphysics. It was very difficult for him and he was very anxious about it. [00:08:00] He wondered if the gift was some form of, um, dark forces, negative forces, not of the Christ consciousness. Right. And so he was always anxious and he stopped for a while and just focused on his photography business.

until his son burnt his eyes on the flash powder. Back in those days to create a flash, they used the powder and he burned his eyes. He was going to lose one eye and be blind. And the boy said, Dad, give me one of your health readings. Well, he hadn't given a reading for a while, but it was his child. Sure, he did it and the eyes recovered and he never lost the one eye.

And I knew him You know, in his adult life, and they look great.

Will: Well, we gotta, I'm sorry, we gotta dive into a little bit closer, because that fascinates me. Yeah. What kind, to have an eye recover with one of these health, uh, natural health remedies, what kinds of, for those [00:09:00] who may not be aware of the Eger Casey remedies, what kind of ailments did he

John: routinely helped with.

The most profound one that shocked everyone was his wife contracted tuberculosis. And in those days, that was fatal. Yeah. But here's an example of how difficult it is to follow Edgar. His remedy was strange. You were to get a keg. Uh, oak keg, put some, uh, apple brandy in it, and it had to be a smoke keg, put some apple brandy in it, and then inhale the fumes, and she recovered.

And she was under medical observation and recovered from tuberculosis. What about, within a short period of time. Dozens of others used the same technique and that became really well known. Wow. That, and so somehow the fumes combined [00:10:00] with the oak and the smokiness and um, the technique, uh, changed the condition of the lungs so that you could overcome this.

But see how holistic it was? Yeah. It was earthy elements. Mm hmm. More like Native American stuff, you know, it wasn't a chemical or something. Yeah, I could

Will: see how that would be a little nerve wracking for a Christian man.

Karen: Yeah. So, you've been, you've had access to his readings and to his remedies for all of these years.

Have you ever tried one?

John: Oh yeah. Oh my goodness. I wouldn't be sitting here. I have tried many of his readings. I've lived by them. I, I, when my maid comes into my bathroom, I have his products sitting there and she goes, what's this for? What's this?

Karen: So what has worked really well for you?

John: I guess castor oil pack is the most famous.

Cause it's weird. It

Will: is weird. I remember back in the old shows, like the little rascals, there was always castor [00:11:00] oil for everything. Tom and Jerry.

Karen: Right.

John: Castor oil. You were only supposed to take it orally and you'd have a bowel movement, you know, and that was it. Right. And he's got you rubbing it on your tummy and putting a heating pad on.

And your colon loosens up. Apparently the oil penetrates you and it's immobilant. And so your colon starts to free up and things start to move and you clean up a little better. Toxicity drops. Uh, it was particularly good for psoriasis on the skin because he said toxicity was in your kidneys and your gut.

You know, uh, leaky gut syndrome concept? Well, back then, that's what he was addressing with the castor oil pack and people were recovering from it. Uh, but even healthy people. I used a castor oil on a bruise, an injury. Um, I put a, well, they shouldn't do this, but I used to put a little drop in my eyes. It [00:12:00] doesn't hurt you at all.

But, uh, but you shouldn't do it. You said, Why you have to choose if you want to do some of these things. ,

Karen: you're not recommending anything. It's your choice. No, I have no

John: doctor to recommend , but the idea was to avoid cataracts and, uh, some other eye ailments. Uh, my father who lived to be 102 contracted macular degeneration.

Yeah, right. And gradually was losing his sight. So back early on in my life and my brothers. We didn't want to go the way dad was going sure so we were doing a drop a little drop in there Oh, just castor oil just pure pure castor oil. Yeah, and well processed Not well processed pure castor oil not processed castor oil Uh, let's see.

Oh, the inhaler is really good, uh, for opening your bronchial thing. You shake this thing and [00:13:00] the fumes are in it and you have a little tooth. And, and, and I can tell you, uh, whenever my bronchii, or however you say it, bronchial passageways are, are congested with something, I, it just opens them up. Uh, his cough medicine, which is wild cherry bark.

Wow. And you go, are you kidding me? Works so well.

Will: You just go to a cherry tree and just. No.

John: It has to be mixed with another formula. Put

Will: some castor oil in it. We gotta be, you know, direct here. He'll try things. I would go. I'm going out looking for a cherry tree right now. Chewing

John: in

Karen: someone's yard. Hey, what are

John: you doing?

Oh, no. Yeah,

Will: you don't want to do that. So, then, how did he come up with

John: these remedies? I mean, he would go into a That would move him out of individual consciousness into the collective consciousness, or what he called a universal consciousness. And in fact, when [00:14:00] people would say, we don't know where to find that, he could, from that collective connection, he'd say, oh, it's on the shelf in the pharmacy in Louisville, Kentucky.

And they would go there, and there it was. The only place that had it. So it's

Will: kind of like a type of

John: remote viewing type, almost. It is like that. He preferred for you to understand that even though we're individualized consciousnesses, we're actually part of the collective. That's how he could give you a health reading.

Your subconscious knows what's going on in your body. Right. And he could tap in with that. He would even remind you of an injury you had at two years old. Remember when you had this or that and he would explain, that's still bothering you. Ha ha ha. Yeah. Wow. But it was from within you, or the collective, or what he called like the mind of God, he could access a divine consciousness.

[00:15:00] Right. So,

Karen: did he use this consciousness to build this organization here in Virginia Beach? I know he specifically chose it for some very important reasons.

John: Once he healed Hugh Lynn's eyes, his little boy's eyes, he started getting serious about devoting time to doing this for others. It was always for others.

And yet he always wanted to double check everything and watch closely to see if it ever got really off. And he got the message, you would do better if you were near a big body of water. And Virginia Beach, Virginia would be the best location for you and he moved here and began the, uh, what you see today, the five acres and all the buildings and it started as a, type of a hospital, Initially, the, uh, classic headquarters building on the hill, was a hospital like a [00:16:00] building and, he would, patients there with medical doctors. There were several doctors who were cooperating with him in cooperative medicine. It's a shame that's gone away. Yeah, well, some of it's coming back. It really is.

We're starting to see a lot more cooperation between holistic concepts and medicine concepts, chemical, pharmaceutical concepts working together. Yeah.

Will: so then he He did a lot of health things, but he also did a lot of readings on all kinds. In fact, he's kind of known as the father of metaphysics.

John: Yeah, well, let me tell you when that first happened, which really freaked him out.

He was in, uh, Ohio giving a reading to Arthur Lambert, who was a businessman, but he studied metaphysics. So, he had an ailment, and of course it's a health reading. He's only been given health readings. You got it? [00:17:00] So, Arthur turns to the sleeping Casey. Here's how he did it. He would put his hands over his forehead, and when he saw a white light, he would move his hands over his solar plexus, and he would go into deep breathing, and his wife would say, You will have before you the inquiring mind of Arthur Lamberts, and you will give a physical reading for him.

Well, When it was coming to an end, Arthur said, well, why do I have this ailment? He was upset that he had this ailment. Calm as can be, Edgar said, because in a previous life in France as a monk, you abused the body and this is the karma of that situation. You can imagine everybody sitting around going, what?

And his Christian mind going, wait a minute, have I just crossed the line? I

Will: would say yeah.

Karen: How did he handle that, kind of combining the Christianity with the

John: metaphysics? He handled it because [00:18:00] John the Baptist, it explains in the New Testament, was the return of Elijah, which had been prophesied, the, the, Elijah had to come before the Messiah.

And so his disciples say, uh, we believe you're the Messiah, but where's, where's Elijah? It was prophesied, and he said, oh, he was here, and they didn't know who he was, and they killed him. They chopped John's head off. Uh, and he, if you read Elijah's life story and John the Baptist, they're very similar. Both were out in the, uh, desert areas, locusts and, uh, eating, um, Vegetables and things like this and cursing evil and all, they were very similar.

So that comforted him because he got an idea that that was possible. You can't lock it down solid. [00:19:00] Some people of the fundamentalist tell me, no, no, uh, John was the spirit of Elijah. And I said, that's great with me, the spirit returned. And they, no, no, no,

Will: no. Whatever works for you is good for me. Right, right.

Going back to you now for a second. We can talk about Edgar Cayce for a very long time because he was an incredibly multifaceted individual. But I know, I'm looking at our clock and I know that we would be remiss if we didn't talk about some of your passion projects, John. I know that. Um, Edgar Cayce has, um, your involvement with Edgar Cayce has brought you more in line with more of the

John: ancient mysteries.

Ancient mysteries, yeah.

Will: And, uh, a lot of that happens, uh, in the seat of humanity, which is, some people say, Egypt. Yeah. So, how, why is Egypt such a subject of intrigue in so many

John: people's lives. Well, you [00:20:00] followed on the reincarnation perfectly because Edgar Cayce on a ancient incarnation was a high priest called Rata in ancient Egypt.

Yeah, and he developed some practices and concepts in ancient Egypt that hundreds of souls learned and practiced in the temples. And so this group of souls coming back to build this organization has an ancient Egyptian connection, including me. And, uh, now I had already, I was probably in my early thirties when I awakened to my Egyptian past life.

And it came to me in a dream because since I was with Casey, I had been learning to not only meditate, but dream study. And that takes a while, that's very tricky, dreams are very hard to work with. But I had gotten, and so I woke [00:21:00] one morning, and I was supposed to come here and give a big lecture on Egypt, and I woke one morning with an Egyptian scene in my mind that was vivid, and a voice said to me, don't take your notes today, you're going to be able to speak.

from deep within you. Well, the outer ego self started to sweat. There is no way I'm going to that auditorium with no notes.

Will: Sounds like me prepping for this interview.

John: Got our notes. Well, for some crazy reason I did it. I came in, there were 300 people in here, I was really nervous. and I went out the back door, sat there and prayed a little bit and got kind of in the zone.

I came in and I gave the talk. after it was over, one of my, uh, regular critics who actually gave me encouraging criticism, but always had something negative to say. She came [00:22:00] up to me and said, That's the best talk you've ever given. And I turned to her and I said, Marilyn, I'm gonna have to get a copy.

Oh,

Will: that's

John: hilarious. So somewhere within me was just like, uh, Rata, some sort of knowledge of ancient Egypt's concepts. And that came to the surface.

Karen: So having been there in a past life, I don't know how you, if you can access your memories, or how that really works, but a lot of people say that, uh, the people that built the pyramids had help.

Help. Extraterrestrial help or different types of help. Extraterrestrial. What's your take

John: on that? So, uh, yeah. There's a lot of theories, um, that it was aliens, uh, Atlanteans, uh, something that we don't know about because we can't replicate. The structure of the Great Pyramid and many of the cultures, including [00:23:00] the Japanese, have tried to replicate even a smaller scale version and they cannot pull it off.

Some of the stones in the Great Pyramid we only have two Uh, cranes in the world that could lift them, let alone put them 200, 300 feet up in the air. Perfectly positioned with razor thin mortar. It's just not something we could do easily. And there's believed to be 2, 300, 000 stones in that pyramid. Oh my gosh.

It's a phenomenal feat. Sure. Yeah. And then when you get inside, the, uh, the structure of it is breathtaking, unbelievable. and now we're discovering a lot. A lot of research institutes are going in there with modern technology. Finding, unknown chambers that we didn't know about. Yeah,

Will: and a lot with sonograms and things like that, right?

And finding, uh, chambers that

John: were [00:24:00] undiscovered before. Yes, using new, equipment and, atoms or molecules, they can go through stone and then give feedback to the equipment. And that's what they've been doing lately. And they're finding what they call an anomaly, which means an opening in the stone.

There's no stone here. This is an opening, and so they publish it, and lately, you see it on the internet all the time. It's fascinating. Yeah, it is an anomaly.

Will: It sounds like my last MRI.

John: It does.

Will: Well, I don't know what it is. Maybe I have an Egyptian past life as well, but for some reason, Egypt has always Always call to me.

Mm-Hmm. . Um, the closest I've been to it was, uh, the desert out in California. I was out there and it was, it was home. It felt like home. Yeah. So I have to get out there, talk.

Karen: Well, you went to Vegas. That was a different, isn't that hotel

Will: store ? That was a whole different, uh, experience that we're talking about.

Mystical experiences, Notre, you know, uh, uh, [00:25:00] so then, um, we're almost outta time, but I, I've gotta, I've gotta ask, what is your thought about, what's the connection. between ancient Egypt and current times. I mean, you see, you see on the dollar bill, you see the, the, the pyramids, uh, the Ivor is, is in all over the place nowadays.

What's bringing all that back now?

John: Believe it or not, this information's out there, but it's rarely understood or known. In the 1890s, some European and British explorers discovered a correlation between the Egyptian Book of the Dead, particularly chapter 15, and the Great Pyramid. In the chapter they talk about the light.

When you go to the Great Pyramid, the, uh, icon, the, the glyph icon over the original entrance [00:26:00] is the light. And so they correlated it, and in 1910, David Davidson and, uh, his buddy Aldersmith published a book describing the prophecy carved in the stone, internal stones. of the Great Pyramid by using the Egyptian Book of the Dead journey through certain chambers and passageways.

And I wrote all about it, uh, and Edgar said that, that was secretly drawn for, oh, genuine seekers would come to know this. Uh, and that the prophecy ends roughly around two thousand, uh, twenty three. So we're, we're coming, I mean, two thousand thirty eight. We're coming up on 2038, uh, and the way you have to do it is use David Davidson's measuring devices.

But Davidson stopped at the wall in the King's Chamber and Edgar [00:27:00] in a trance reading said, No, he was supposed to go up the wall to the apex, internal apex in the King's Chamber. So we measured it. and tracked it to 2038. But we measured to 2012, the Mayan date, and we found that fit right in there too.

Edgar said, anytime you're going through stone, it's a hard time for humanity, because they're being challenged to break through to soul life. not just physical life. Every time you hit an air pocket or an opening, they're allowed to have buoyant freedom to expand with that motivation from the last stone thing.

Well, there are five granite stones and two limestones in the ceiling or the roof over the king's chamber. And so we're coming very close to the end time and he said when that prophecy is over, [00:28:00] uh, evolution of the human body will bring us to a new body that will actually have 12 spiritual centers or chakras.

It will have more luminescence. Edgar could see auras all the time. He said this will be such that most everybody sees auras and radiates them more vividly. Uh, and this is a new body type that we're going to use for the new age.

Karen: I'm relieved because when he said 2038, I'm like, what happens after that? So yes, I'm like, okay.

John: Even Nostradamus wrote to his son Caesar and said, So, I'm

Will: assuming that we must be going through a ton of rock right now. We're in, we're in a rock place, uh,

John: solid rock.

Will: Hard times. And it's [00:29:00] interesting because we've, we've talked to a lot of people who have said the same thing. We're going through a rough period right now so that we can Uh, open up, expand out spiritually.

Um, and, uh, I am looking forward to, we're going to have to have a part two. Absolutely. It almost feels like a, like a cliffhanger. We're leaving out a cliffhanger. Like, what's coming after this? Okay. But, um, you are a prolific author. Mm hmm. If someone wanted to, uh, get copies of your book, what's the best way for someone to do

John: that?

Amazon. com. Oh, easy. I'm, it's, they're all there. Um, But you can also, when if you come to our campus here, they're in my, in our bookstore here. Um, and you can go to, uh, a e catalog.com. That's a, uh, a e's catalog of books. There are several ways. Okay. Uh,

Will: great. John, you are a wealth. of information, a wealth of knowledge.

I think we could have talked to you for at least six of these. So, we'll see if we can do that in the future. But, uh, I want to thank you so much for coming on. Will. The New

John: Awakenings of Edgar

Karen: Cayce. It's been so [00:30:00] informational and so much fun.

John: Absolutely, it has been a lot of fun. Thank you.

Will: And a huge thank you to you.

If you know someone who would benefit from hearing the message we're sharing on the show, do them and us a favor and share the show with them.

It will help get the word out about us and it might just change someone's life for the better. Well, that's all for now, but we'll see you on the next episode of The Skeptic Metaphysicians. Until then, take care.