A Seer Out of Season: The Life of Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce's soul, in its sundry incarnations, had a checkered pedigree: as Ra Ta, Egyptian high priest, circa 10,500 B.C.; as John Bainbridge, scoundrel English soldier stalking the American colonies; as Persian warrior-king Uhjltd (pronounced ``yoolt''); as Dale, illegitimate son of Louis XIV's lovely daughter Gracia; and as Greek chemist Armitidides, who knew Alexander the Great (whose governess was reincarnated as Cayce's wife Gertrude). Or so we gather from Bro, who ought to know, since he took notes when ``the prophet of Virginia Beach'' gave hundreds of ``life readings'' and performed wondrous medical diagnoses whilst in a trance state. Written in inflated, fuzzy prose that sets the brain spinning, this biography-cum-memoir by an ordained minister and psychologist preaches to the converted. The open-minded reader looking for a critical appraisal of the psychic is left bewildered as to how Cayce's ``covenant with God'' works itself out. (Apr.)