The following passages have been taken from Gina Cerminara (1950) Many Mansions: The Edgar Cayce (pronounced Kay’-see) Story On Reincarnation, New York: Penguin Books, 1991, pp.42-44

“Akasha is a Sanskrit word that refers to the fundamental etheric substance of the universe, electro-spiritual (energetic) in composition. Upon this Akasha there remains impressed an indelible record of every sound, light, movement or thought since the beginning of the manifest (perceived by the senses) universe. The existence of this record accounts for the ability of clairvoyants and seers literally to see the past, no matter how remote it may be and no matter how inaccessible to ordinary human knowledge. Akasha registers impressions like a sensitive plate, and can almost be regarded as a huge candid-camera of the cosmos. The ability to read these vibratory records lies inherent within each of us, dependent upon the sensitivity of our organization, and consists in attuning to the proper degree of consciousness – much like tuning a radio to the proper wavelength. In his normal waking state, Edgar Cayce was unable to subjugate his physical consciousness sufficiently to make this attunement; under hypnosis, however, he was able to do so.

“Of all the strange statements that had come from his sleeping lips, this, to Cayce, seemed the most utterly strange. Yet by repeated incredulous questioning the same explanation always came through, sometimes in the same words, sometimes with elaborations. Frequently the readings indicated that the “Akashic Records” could also be called the “Universal Memory of Nature” or “The Book of Life.” They also advanced the point taught about the reality of Akasha many centuries ago [by the Hindus]. In view of the fact that several other Hindu notions – namely the illusory, non-solid nature of “matter”; the interchangeability of matter and force; and the reality of thought transference through telepathic means – had only recently been confirmed by Western science, why not be open-minded at least as to the possibility of this other Hindu idea, Akasha, as well?

“Cayce suspended judgement on the point for a long time. The unconscious-mind explanation might conceivably cover past-life individual histories, but how account for the ready, copious, and detailed material that flowed from him in “research readings” on past eras of history, such as Atlantis, Egypt, or the times of Jesus? Could it be that this information was being drawn from the unconscious mind of somebody who had lived in those eras, even though the individual was not ostensibly the subject of the reading? Or was he really reading some vast tapestry of history, preserved in an unknown and tenuous dimension of the universe?¹

¹ Editor’s note: The Akashic Records, like the Hall of Records, exist in one or more dimensions of the astral realm (the seven-dimensional universe), and not in a dimension of the four-dimensional physical universe.

“In the end Cayce came to accept even Akasha – not because there was absolute proof of it, but because the readings had said it was so, and the readings in all other provable respects had proved themselves honest. Perhaps investigators into extrasensory perception will demonstrate that on this point the Cayce information went off the beam; perhaps some other explanation will account for the facts of his clairvoyance into the past. Perhaps, on the other hand, some scientific mind of our era will be able to show that Akasha really does exist – no more fantastic a thing than radio waves, radium, atomic energy, or the memory engrams of the human nervous system.”

The following passages are taken from Sylvia Brown (1995) Phenomenon: Everything You Need to Know About the Paranormal, New York: Dutton, pp.5-7

“There seems to be general agreement among the majority of the world’s faiths, cultures and philosophies that the Akashic Records exist. What’s not quite so unanimously agreed upon is where they exist and how to describe exactly what they are.

“The Hindus, whose religion is thought to date back as far as 4000 BC, believe in a universal substance called “akasha,” from which the natural substances of fire, water, air and earth were created. Eternally imprinted on that substance is every thought, word and action in the history of the universe, collectively called the Akashic Records.

“The brilliant prophet and clairvoyant Edgar Cayce wasn’t as specific about the existence of an “akasha” substance. But he certainly believed in the existence of the Akashic records, which he perceived to be the collective memories and histories of every thought, sound, physical and emotional vibration, major event and incidental moment in eternity, an atmospheric presence that affects us all and [that] we all effect with every breath we take. In his “Reading 294-19 Report File,” Cayce detailed one of his visits to the Akashic Records:

“I see myself as a tiny dot out of my physical body, which lies inert before me. I find myself oppressed by darkness and there is a feeling of terrible loneliness. Suddenly, I am conscious of a white beam of light. As this tiny dot, I move upward following the light, knowing that I must follow it or be lost… I become conscious of sounds, at first indistinct rumblings, then music, laughter, and singing of birds. There is more and more light, the colors become very beautiful, and there is the sound of wonderful music… Quite suddenly I come upon a hall of records… I am conscious of seeing an old man who hands me a large book, a record of the individual for whom I seek information.”

“Carl Jung, the noted psychologist, preferred to describe the Akashic Records as a powerful, tangible force of nature throughout the universe that he called the Collective Unconscious, kind of an eternal and infinite embodiment of the principle that for every action there’s an equal but opposite reaction.

“My definition of the Akashic Records is consistent with those philosophies. The Akashic Records are the entire sacrosanct body of God’s knowledge, laws and memories. They’re absolutely imprinted on the ether of every planet, solar system and galaxy that God created. But they also very literally exist in written form, perfectly printed in the universal language of Aramaic, in a magnificent building on the Other Side called the Hall of Records.

“We have the honor of perpetual access to the Akashic Records when we’re at home on the Other Side. Our spirits, safely housed in our unconscious minds, have perpetual access to them as well during our fleeting incarnations here on earth. During sleep, hypnosis, meditations or physiological unconsciousness, when our noisy, chaotic, conscious minds are temporarily out of the way, our spirits know exactly where the Akashic Records are and how to get there. We turn to them more often than we consciously realize for answers, for clarity, for comfort and for the nourishment only God can provide.

“Please don’t let me create the mistaken impression that among the impossibly vast aisles of the Hall of Records, taking up an incomprehensible amount of space on shelves more endless than we can imagine, there are actual volumes entitled “Akashic Records.” Instead, let the correct impression wash over you that as you stand inside this very real, unimaginably infinite structure and try to take in scrolls upon scrolls upon scrolls, volumes upon volumes upon volumes, lined upon shelves upon shelves upon shelves far beyond what the eyes can begin to see, you’re gazing at a fraction of the entirety of the Akashic Records. They have no beginning. They have no end. They are being added to with every passing moment of every life, every new thought, every spirit entering a fetus, every spirit returning Home. The Hall of Records contains the Akashic Records, but it can also be said that every fluid word contained within the infinite Hall of Records is the Akashic Records, and that they’ve been added to considerably since you began reading this paragraph.