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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    ". ..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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    "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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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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
• Potato Peel Poultice
• Carrot Gelatin
• Glycothymoline Packs
• Rolled Towel Stretch* (a Dr. Pagano therapy)
• Castor Oil Drops
• Healthy Diet
• Right Thinking

    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]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    "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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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 © by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    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.]

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    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.]

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    A 12-year-old boy found that he became hoarse.  When instructing his school chums at the street crossing, and his teacher called this situation to his mother's attention.  It was found that the hoarseness was only temporary: after sleeping through the night, the boy would awake the next day with his hoarseness gone; however, any strain on his voice became sufficient irritation to cause it to reoccur.  His parents became concerned, and took him to an ear-nose-throat specialist, who did a laryngoscopy and found two large nodules on the vocal cords.  Mother was well versed in the value of castor oil packs, so she put off any thought of surgery (the condition was not thought to be cancer) and applied packs to the neck three days in a row, left the treatment off for two days, and then repeated it.  This regimen was continued for three months.  The hoarseness gradually disappeared, and there were no symptoms when the packs were discontinued.  A year later, the throat was re-examined by the same specialist, and all that was found was some minimal scar tissue - no nodules, no irritation.  Three years afterward, there still were no symptoms.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, July, 1977, Volume 12, No. 4, page 177, Copyright © 1977 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    One of our correspondents, Barbara Deal of Dundas, Ontario, Canada, has been struggling with an allergy problem in her oldest son, who has also had asthmatic bronchitis.  She writes:

    "I might tell you of the amazing success I have had in treating this allergic child with castor oil.  He has been allergic to animals, and if he comes in contact with dogs, cats, etc., his eyes will swell and itch.  If left untreated, this reaction worsens until it is a full-fledged asthmatic attack.  However, I now immediately wash hands and face, apply castor oil directly onto the eyelids and surrounding areas, and within half an hour, there is no sign of a reaction.  Needless to say, not one of the doctors, nurses or lay people to whom I have suggested this treatment has taken me seriously."

    Barbara's story reminds me of the Biblical injunction that the wisdom of God is foolishness to man.  And castor oil seems so foolish!  Perhaps it was one of God's children who named the plant the "Palma Christi" back in the Middle Ages.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1980, Volume 15, No. 5, page 244, Copyright © 1980 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    Swimming, chlorinated water and August sunshine in Arizona combined to inactivate Beth Grady, one of the Clinic children.  She was not even up to eating Mexican food-a delicacy in this area.  Her skin was red, her cheeks bright pink, her eyes watering while showing up the colors of the flag.  She was miserable.  Her mother, who is an R.N. and assistant director of our Temple Beautiful Program, proceeded to rub her down with castor oil from head to foot that evening, even dropping some of the oil in her eyes with an eyedropper, and put her to bed.  By morning, her eyes were clear, there was no pain, the skin had turned to a light brown color - and Beth was back to normal!

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, September, 1980, Volume 15, No. 5, page 245, Copyright © 1980 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    Alice Riddle exercised her ingenuity in using castor oil by inventing a small wool-flannel pad that folded over onto her earlobe.  She soaked the pad in castor oil and held it in place with an earring that clips on from below.  Three days of this, and the earlobe was clear of infection.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1979, Volume 14, No. 2, page 83, Copyright © 1979 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]
 
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    W.  Lindsay Jacob, a psychiatrist . recently called and told us this story: A patient of his had tinnitus for over three years-so severe that it prevented her from working, and so baffling in its nature that her doctors sent her to a psychiatrist.  Lindsay had heard how castor oil drops have really worked a variety of magical tricks with allergies, and suspected an allergy as the culprit in this frustrated patient.  He started her on castor oil drops (6-8 each morning) on her tongue, followed by a glass of water.  He was greatly excited at the response.  After only four weeks, the tinnitus had completely disappeared and the patient was back at work.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1979, Volume 14, No. 2, page 83, Copyright © 1979 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    Recently a boy about fifteen years old appeared in my office on crutches, about forty-eight hours after he had had a laceration of his right ankle sutured in one of the emergency rooms.  It was a small laceration, about a half-inch long, but it hurt him so much he could not put his weight on his foot.  The wound was healing nicely, with no sign of infection, but it was extremely tender to the touch.  I assumed, since there was no tendon involvement, that there had been involvement of nerve tissue to an undue degree.  The boy was instructed to keep a soft pad of cloth saturated with castor oil on the wound overnight for the next few nights, kept in place with an elastic bandage.  The pain was nearly gone in twenty-four hours, absent in forty-eight hours, and he was playing football (against orders) in seventy-two hours - before the sutures were removed.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, January, 1973, Volume 8, No. 1, page 46, Copyright © 1973 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    After a period of therapy, a little boy who could not be kept out of trouble in the examining room on his first visit lost his hyperactivity and became a strong proponent for castor oil packs.  His father used them on his tummy while he watched television.  For almost a year, he would not do without a pack for a single day, and the changes in activity were remarkable enough that he was presented to a symposium of doctors as a case in point.

    This little boy was first seen at six years of age, in February, 1967, because of being so very thin, with a poor appetite, severe abdominal pains and severe emotional upsets and temper tantrums. He had a history of severe upper respiratory infections until he was two years old and had had many antibiotic shots.  At the time of examination, he was unable to sit still at any time and was continually active.

    After two months on the castor oil packs, he was sitting quietly and turning the pages of a book in the consultation room.  The mother reported that the abdominal pains were much better.  He was eating well and sleeping well and was more normal in every way although he was still having temper tantrums.  He looked forward to taking the packs because they seemed to relax him.

    He was seen monthly throughout 1967.  He continued to progress and gain weight during the rest of the year, and in June, 1968, his weight was up to forty-seven pounds, and he was continuing with the castor oil packs.  He was not seen during 1968 and 1969 because he was doing so well.

    When I last saw him in January, 1971, his weight was up to sixty-four and one-half pounds. He had had no colds or infection during this whole year.  He had not needed castor oil packs.  He was doing so well in school that he was in the top reading group in his school.  He had many friends, and during the Summer of 1970 he had been on the swim team and won seven ribbons.  He seemed to be very well adjusted at that time.  His mother stated that once in a while he would have a stomach-ache and would begin to feel a little out of sorts and would ask for his castor oil pack.

    In another case, a speech therapist wrote: "After reading one of your medical bulletins, I suggested to the mother of a student of mine (chronic hyperkinetic brain syndrome, age three, also epileptic) that she rub castor oil on the child for a half hour before naps and bedtime.  Site reports that after three days the child still has difficulty in getting to sleep, but that now she sings herself to sleep instead of' the whining-crying and that although she still awakens during the night, she sings instead of crying." The oil, of course, was massaged into the abdominal area.

    Our January symposium two years ago centered on this distressing problem.  Now comes a report from James Satterfield (Behavior Today, July 3, 1972) that hyperkinetic children apparently have an immature nervous system.  This was shown by the EEG blips evoked by auditory stimuli, which were fewer in number and of less amplitude than those in the control group. Satterfield, a psychiatrist, studied thirty-one hyperactive children between the ages of six and nine, and twenty-one normal controls.

    This is of interest to us, perhaps, because of the concept that the body can be returned to normal, in balance, in development, in function, and because the primary therapy we have been working with in the problem of hyperactivity is castor oil packs applied to the abdomen.  The theory behind this is that such a vibratory influence in some manner causes this central portion of the autonomic nervous system to bring about a coordination and equalization within the body which would then promote a more rapid maturation of the nervous system than would otherwise be expected.

[Note: The preceding report was provided by William McGarey, M. D. and is excerpted from The A.R.E. Journal, March, 1973, Volume 8, No. 2, page 86, Copyright © 1973 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA.]

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    A woman from Minnesota wrote recently that Cayce "often had suggested castor oil, and I decided to try it for removing a calcium deposit lump on my foot.  My doctor had suggested surgery ...  I rubbed it once daily for about ten minute