"[Archangel] Michael's message was given with such force that I could hear the windows rattling in their frames in our home. I could even hear the cups rattling in the dish drainer in the kitchen. The vibrations nearly knocked us all out of our chairs."
– Hugh Lynn Cayce describing the appearance of Archangel Michael in one of his father's readings.
On rare occasions during an Edgar Cayce reading, an angel would speak through Cayce to impart an important message or warning. Such was the case during a reading for four-year-old Faith Hope Charity Harding, of Trucksville, Penn., known as "the Little Prophetess," Faith's was a remarkable story and is featured in our upcoming new book, True Tales from the Edgar Cayce Archives: Lives Touched and Lessons Learned from the Sleeping Prophet.
At the height of her renown in 1941, the child "oracle" was featured on popular radio shows, written about in Time magazine, had a weekly newspaper column, and was pursued by a movie studio. The whirlwind of attention was the result of psychic pronouncements that Faith's mother claimed her daughter would scribble on drawing paper or deliver in a state of near ecstasy.
Among Faith's uncannily accurate prophecies, delivered in biblical language, was the unexpected resignation of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, FDR's decision to seek an unprecedented third term in office, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Interspersed with such pronouncements were compelling spiritual messages that included a life reading describing a previous incarnation of Adolf Hitler as Pontius Pilate.
Two Cayce readings conducted in 1940 made clear that the Little Prophetess possessed special gifts. A reading describes her as
...a chosen channel of… love which the Father hath bestowed upon the children of men.
Edgar Cayce reading 2156-1
This and the next reading suggested that she would never have a normal childhood, because she was not a normal child, having been born with gifts beyond those of even Edgar Cayce. In addition to the power of prophecy, the readings stated, she might manifest the ability to heal through the laying on of hands.
According to Cayce, previous to her present incarnation, she had been Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians; and before that, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin of the Virgin Mary. She had, it seemed, represented female energy since the dawn of time, when, as the reading said, "the sons of God came together to announce… a way being opened for the… souls of God's creation."
Archangel Michael made his extraordinary appearance during the following reading (the second given for her). Accompanying his entry into the session was a strange wind that rattled the closed door and windows. The vibrational change was enough to bring about spontaneous tears to those gathered around Edgar.
HARK! YE FRIENDS! I, MICHAEL, LORD OF THE WAY, WOULD GIVE THEE WARNING! BOW THINE HEADS, YE VILE ONES OF THE EARTH! KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED TO THEE!
Edgar Cayce reading 2156-2
Michael went on to make his message clear: those who were
...honored with the care of this prophetess...
Edgar Cayce reading 2156-2
must protect and love her and keep strife from the door. They were to foster
...patience, in love, in kindness, in gentleness, in those things that bring constructive, hopeful, helpful forces into the experiences of others.
Edgar Cayce reading 2156-2
Given Michael's message, which was both a warning and a pronouncement, Edgar invited Faith and her parents to visit Virginia Beach to attend one of the first annual A.R.E. Congresses where further readings could be conducted and the child's needs addressed. If anyone could understand what Faith was going through, it would be Edgar, who had himself had been visited by an angel in his early youth.
This trip to Virginia Beach was not to be. Against her father's wishes, her mother took Faith to North Carolina with the intention of installing her in a temple where, it was presumed, Faith would prophesy as did the Greek oracles of antiquity. A terrible situation then ensued as the six-year-old child was caught in a bitter custody battle between a mother craving attention and a father determined that Faith be just a normal child and lead a normal life. As a result, the child who might have otherwise manifested powers beyond even those of Edgar Cayce, put her psychic past completely behind her and went on to lead her life like any ordinary American woman, wife, and mother.
It is with much pleasure and humility that we have extended Edgar's original invitation for Faith Harding to visit Virginia Beach and attend this year's Congress. She has generously agreed to be our guest on Sunday, June 21, 2015, at the 84th Annual A.R.E. Congress. We hope many of you will come and join us for what will truly be a once-in-a-life-time event. Share the love as we extend a warm welcome in the spirit in which Archangel Michael admonished: "Give ye—each one—thanks and praise to thy Maker… that ye have been counted worthy to come into the presence of one so endeared to the heart of God."
Blog post by Sidney and Nancy Kirkpatrick
