I've mentioned a few times on this blog about my interest in Edgar Cayce and the 14,000+ psychic readings he gave throughout his life. Cayce spent part of his early life in Hopkinsville, KY and is buried there as well. The city has embraced Cayce:
- A local museum has a permanent exhibit about him
- A self-guided "cell phone tour" is available that covers 12 places of Cayce interest
- Each year in March, the city hosts festivities to celebrate all things about him.
In June of last year, while we were visiting family in Kentucky, I took a solo side trip to Hopkinsville to see some of the Cayce sights. The main thing that interested me was the Pennyroyal Area Museum exhibit, so that was my first stop:
The Cayce exhibit is only a small section of the museum, but it packs in a lot of information. Various displays told the story of his life. There was a replica of the couch Cayce would recline on when giving a reading, along with his actual desk and all sorts of personal items from his life.
There were a variety of pamphlets and books about Cayce and the A.R.E. organization (Association for Research and Enlightenment) that was founded to carry on his work. I sat on the couch and read some of this material for a while. I was especially interested in a book on what the Cayce readings said about dreams.
Cayce was a photographer by profession, and there were many pictures he took on display. This was probably my favorite:
Something new I discovered about Cayce is he created a card game called Pit, which simulates the frantic buying and selling of commodities traders. He sent the idea to Parker Brothers, and they started selling the game nationally, but without any credit or money going to Cayce. He complained about this, and the company responded by sending him $6, a few Pit decks, and their compliments. The display said that Pit was available for purchase in the gift shop, and I was quite excited to buy a Cayce-created card game, but I could not find it. I asked the staff, and they looked everywhere, but couldn't find it either. Oh well. I did some research about the game later, and I learned that someone else had come up with the same concept a few years before Cayce, so it may not have been that unique of an idea.
There were several other interesting exhibits in the museum. One was about how Hopkinsville is the "batter capital of the world" (the wheat grown in the county is used in all kinds of products from the Krusteaz company).
Another exhibit covered a purported alien encounter just north of Hopkinsville in 1955, sometimes referred to as the Hopkinsville Goblins. I'd heard of this before, but didn't remember the details. There were various little goblins/aliens displayed in the museum:
A few months ago I read an excellent article about the event, titled The Long, Surprising Legacy of the Hopkinsville Goblins. Steven Spielberg worked on turning the Hopkinsville case into a movie. It didn't pan out, but the script became the inspiration for 2 other movies: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Gremlins!
I looked through the gift shop on my way out. They had a number of Cayce-related items (but no card game).
After leaving the museum, I decided to try the self-guided cell-phone tour. I remember it was quite hot that day, so I tried driving around to the locations instead of walking. It was harder than I anticipated to navigate and drive and find the right spot by myself, so after a few stops I gave up and just listened to the rest of the audio commentary.
My final stop was the cemetery where Cayce was buried. I tried my best to find his grave based on directions and a photograph, but I could not find it. I did find his father's grave, though.
Despite that, I still found my trip to Hopkinsville worthwhile. The museum's exhibit was fantastic, and I would consider going back to Hopkinsville to experience its annual Cayce celebration.
One of these days, I also want to make the pilgrimage to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Cayce spent the last 2 decades of his life, and where the headquarters of the A.R.E. is located.