Two recent books about family “connections” can provide thoughtful insights for readers. One book helps explain those often difficult to understand family relationships and dysfunctions as they relate to karma. The second book suggests the possibility that root causes of some illnesses may be traced back to our ancestors. Both works may introduce some fascinating new perspectives or possibilities to readers.

We shall first examine Family Karma: The Hidden Ties That Bind by Keven J. Todeschi (A.R.E. Press, 2005). Todeschi is a long-time student, teacher, writer and lecturer of the well known Edgar Cayce readings. In this new work he compares contemporary reports from individuals who have had readings or insights into past lives with numerous Cayce past-life readings. The focus in his book clearly centers on Cayce’s wisdom.

Many readers may know about Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), the famed “seer” of Virginia Beach. Cayce’s early trance readings were predominantly about health issues. Those readings were all recorded by a stenographer and hence, have been permanently available for study and research. Cayce has been called “the father of holistic medicine” and “the most documented psychic of all time.” Ultimately, some of the folks who sought his guidance asked questions about the causes for their illnesses or issues, resulting in the many “past-life” readings from Cayce that dealt with karma.

As Todeschi points out, karma is often misunderstood. Edgar Cayce, however, was clear in his explanation of it. Todeschi explains: “Karma is not a debt, it is not a punishment, it is not an inescapable fate... it is not even ‘good’ or ‘bad.’” He reports that Cayce saw it not as a “debt between people,” but rather “a debt with self.” In the simplest of terms, Cayce would say it is “self meeting self.” In other words, through the relationships they have with others, “individuals constantly meet themselves” (1538-1). (Note: number references refer to specific Cayce readings.)

Author Todeschi’s excellent organization and presentation of his material makes it easy for all readers to find themselves and perhaps others, in the chapters, thereby gaining insightful awareness into the purpose and meanings of their relationships. The author’s preface and first chapter fill in background about “Edgar Cayce on Family Karma.” Then each succeeding chapter deals with specific kinds of relationships and the related karma. Readers will find chapters about relationships with a spouse, those between children and parents and those with siblings. Karmic relationships can exist, as well, with more distant family members, neighbors, friends and business associates.

We can learn much from these chapters. It seems to me that each one can speak to issues that we, as individuals, have faced in our relationships with others. Several underlying themes from Cayce form a foundation for all the examples; so, it is important to note those points. For example, most of us have heard various people express dismay about how or why they were born into their particular family or why they never got along with a parent or sibling. It is helpful, then, that Todeschi, using Cayce’s themes, tells us, “Ultimately, however, all families are drawn together for the purpose or with the intention of helping each individual become a better person.” Obviously, we would all prefer that “help” to be a positive or supportive one. What Cayce and Todeschi point out, however, is that negative relationships can often be even more helpful. “A negative relationship, such as having a critical parent might enable the child to eradicate any similar patterns from within him or herself.” And so, “even the most difficult relationship can ultimately be helpful in terms of soul growth and personal transformation.”

Another Cayce theme is that “free will remains the strongest component in any relationship.” Todeschi says, “Throughout history all individuals have experienced both positive and negative relationships with every person in their families.” That statement alone is enough for most of us to ponder on in some depth. Cayce’s point, however, is always positive. With our free will we choose to work through our various unconscious memories so that we can heal them and “learn to love everyone in the same manner that the Creator loves – unconditionally.”

Readers may find some chapters more pertinent than others to their own life experience and issues, but all chapters provide quite remarkable insights. The chapter about spousal relationships is the longest (30 pages) and it includes various excerpts from Cayce’s wise readings about marriage. Just as the Cayce readings emphasize that in our life experiences and relationships “ye are meeting only thyself,” it may just be that we as readers may meet ourself on these pages.

Regarding parents and children, the vast majority of people today tend to see those relationships as either accidental or punitive. It may be difficult to accept Cayce’s information (as well as that from many teachers today) that “people choose their parents.” When one person asked Cayce “why,” he answered, “For thine own enlightenment and thy parents’ understanding” (2632-1). The choice “is not made at the level of human consciousness... (but) at the level of the soul.” Author Todeschi points out that “the soul picks specific experiences in order to learn lessons important to the individual’s personal growth and development.” Another potential is that “sometimes individuals get to personally encounter the same things they once imposed upon another.” Todeschi notes that in the Cayce files, for example, “the switching of parental-child roles seems to be a frequent karmic response.”

Todeschi concludes this fascinating little book (of about 150 pages) with discussions of “overcoming personal karma” and “karma versus grace.” In these chapters he includes even more wise advice. Personal responsibility is an important theme here. He says, “Self is only responsible for learning one’s own lessons. People can commit only to their own personal growth.” In other words, we “cannot assume responsibility for someone else learning a particular lesson.” That is always an important point for us all to remember. Moreover, Todeschi emphasizes, “It’s important to note that soul growth and the overcoming of personal karma is not so much a finite goal as it is an ongoing process.” Always what is most important is “how individuals choose to respond to each relationships and life experience.” Clearly, this book can be extremely helpful to all readers with relationship issues.

Readers who would like more information about the Edgar Cayce materials may explore them at www.edgarcayce.org.

A statement from Todeschi’s book creates a bridge to our next book discussion. He writes, “Frequently, the Cayce readings demonstrate how karma can manifest through a health situation or problem because often the entire family is affected and/or involved in the problem or in the search for healing.” Whereas this next work doesn’t refer to karma at all, its major thesis is that “not only does emotional stress lie at the origin of every illness, but... it is also possible to trace the root cause of an illness to our ancestors (whose) unresolved psychic distress can become part of the cellular memory we inherit.”

This rather surprising theory forms the basis for Biogenealogy: Decoding the Psychic Roots of Illness by Patrick Obissier, translated from the French by Jon E. Graham (Healing Arts Press, 2006; Le Souffle d’Or, 2003). Author Obissier is a therapist in France who specializes in the bio-decoding of illness. His intention is to help readers better understand illness, especially the root causes of illness and the meaning of symptoms.

Readers interested in alternative and integrative medicine will especially find this book intriguing. The author explains various theories that differ considerably from contemporary allopathic medicine. As most people know, modern medicine primarily treats symptoms, whereas “classic” forms of medicine, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, etc., tend to seek and treat causes.

Research in the last 20 years in France and Germany, especially the work of Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer, formerly associated with the University of Munich, has focused on causes of illness. Like contemporary new age authors Louise Hay and Caroline Myss, European researchers, using the most modern technologies, have determined that “each illness begins with a specific feeling,” usually distressful. Using the computed tomographic scanner (CT), Dr. Hamer discovered consistent “localized changed in the brain” that “always accompanied an alteration in an organ.”

Based on Dr. Hamer’s research, Obissier’s book proposes “that illness is a physical response to a past emotional trauma.” The unusual and surprising next step in the theory is that the “illness can be either a result of a person’s own trauma or of a trauma experienced by an ancestor and passed down in that family’s genetic code.” He calls this construct, “Biological Decoding.” In order to heal, individuals need to try to discover the origin of their illness or problem. This book explains this whole theory and suggests ways to heal. Whether or not readers accept the theory at face value or not, the book is fascinating and clearly helps readers to better understand illness.

Again, like some of the “classic” practices of medicine, the author discusses “cold phases” and “hot phases” of illnesses. Readers who haven’t heard or understood these terms before, will learn something new. The author explains that the “cold phase,” influenced by the sympathetic nervous system, “is triggered when the individual experiences distress colored by a specific emotion.” The “hot phase” of the illness comes with the body’s attempts to heal the “cold phase.” This is all too complex to explain here, but the book will help readers understand. The author provides many specific examples in his explanations.

This book provides many opportunities to explore fresh perspectives about illness, all of which can serve readers’ awareness and insights. Obissier notes, for example, that use of the CT scanner has “confirmed that thinking about an object brings about the same energy and blood flow to the brain as actually seeing that object.” This point, alone, about the power of thought has huge implications in relation to our human illnesses. In a chapter about “Halting the Illness and Returning to Health” the author claims that “illness is eliminated on orders from the brain... (Thus) it becomes apparent that illness is a reversible process.”

The book includes various points that are likely to surprise readers. The first is a discussion of epidemics in which the author claims that in general, “germs” are not the cause of epidemics, but rather “collective conflicts” are the cause. He says, “Collective alarm is the origin of epidemics, colds, flu and bronchitis,” among others. This may sound far-fetched, but the author’s argument is lucid and provides much food for thought.

A second surprise is considerable discussion of how an illness is not “bad,” but “can be an asset.” Very briefly, the point is that an individual has a problem or an issue. “Life demands a solution to every problem. When the individual fails to find a solution... then the appropriate physical organ reacts as needed.” The author explains in some detail how certain conflicts lead to specific physical problems and illnesses. The illness then, if properly understood, can help the individual identify the primary cause of the problem. “The cure of the patient... begins the moment the conflict is resolved” or the original “emotional shock is consciously re-experienced.”

A fascinating chapter on “Cancer” presents new viewpoints about causes and metastases. An important point is that “the spread of the cancer is due to multiple fears.” Then in a chapter about “Friendly Germs,” readers are likely to gain new respect for the microbes we have formerly identified as “bad” or “harmful.” The author claims, “The fear of being contaminated by dangerous germs causes more disorders than the germ itself.” Perhaps one of the most important insights from the author is: “Everything is symbiotic, logical, adequate and as harmonious in the depths of organisms as it is in the immensity of the universe.” He points out: “How would it be possible for microbes to be indispensably useful in the digestive tract and harmful everywhere else?”

Ultimately, the main point of Biogenealogy is that “through understanding the meaning of our illnesses we can heal ourselves.” Obissier also notes, “Becoming informed is always the best way to adapt.” Surely that is why we read books like this one and the previous work by Todeschi. Obissier asks us to view illness as “a survival system that invites one to evolve.” This book is clearly different in that it encourages us to look at illness as “useful.” That is a new thought, indeed.

The author also leaves us with inspiration. He says, “Individuals are to the universe what cells are to the body of the individual... Inside any living being every cell has a purpose; there is not a single one that is superfluous or of more importance than another. Inside the earth/universe body, no individual is of any greater importance than another.”

To further explore ideas in this work, readers may check the following websites: www.newmedicine.ca (Dr. R.G. Hamer’s official English Web site.) and www.germannewmedicine.ca (Introduction to Dr. Hamer’s 5 Biological Laws of GNM).

Gayl Woityra, a retired high school English and Humanities teacher, now resides in Arizona where she continues to pursue her eclectic metaphysical studies in consciousness, the Ageless Wisdom, astrology, flower essences, music, color and alternative medicine.