There are a series of comments in the Edgar Cayce readings that indicate that we are closer to the New Era than we may realize and that our daily news may indicate.

The first of these is Cayce’s insistence that the prophecy of the time to the end is over, that we are in a transition period, a time of “readjustments.” The prophecy of the time to the end was first given to the prophet Daniel by the angel Gabriel (Daniel 12:7) and again to the disciple John by the “Spirit” in the Revelation (12:14). Gabriel told Daniel that the time remaining was “a time, two times, and a half time,” and the Spirit told John that it was “a time, times, and a half time.” Cayce’s readings say:

“The time and times and half times are at an end, and there begin those periods for the readjustments.” (294-185)

“(Q) What is meant by ‘the day of the Lord is near at hand’?

“(A) That as has been promised through the prophets and the sages of old-the time and half time-has been and is being fulfilled in this day and generation [given in 1933], and that soon there will again appear in the earth that one through whom many will be called to meet those that are preparing the way or His day in the earth. The Lord, then, will come, ‘even as ye have seen him go.’

“(Q) How soon?

“(A) When those that are His have made the way clear, passable, for Him to come.” (262-49)

“The time and times and a half times shall pass, and then shall man come to know that in the temple, in the tabernacle of his own temple will he meet his God face to face!” (2572-1)

As these readings indicate, the end of time, times, and a half time begin a new era of enlightenment on the earth, and this era is to last “a thousand years.” It will be an era in which evil will not exist. The Revelation says, “Satan will be bound” during this golden era. The Cayce readings convey it this way:

“(Q) What is the meaning of one thousand years that Satan is bound?

“(A) Is banished. That … the prayer of ten just should save a city, the deeds, the prayers of the faithful will allow that period when the incarnation of those only that are in the Lord shall rule the earth, and the period is as a thousand years.

“Thus is Satan bound, thus is Satan banished from the earth. The desire to do evil is only of him. And when there are … those only whose desire and purpose of their heart is to glorify the Father, these will be those peri-ods when this shall come to pass.

“Be you all determined within your minds, your hearts, your purposes, to be of that number!” (281-37)

According to Cayce’s readings, the Second Coming will be a part of this thousand-year era.

“(Q) Please explain what is meant by ‘He will walk and talk with men of every clime.’ Does this mean he will appear to many at once or appear to various peoples during a long period?

“(A) As given, for a thousand years He will walk and talk with men of every clime. Then in groups, in masses, and then they shall reign of the first resurrection for a thousand years; for this will be when the changes materially come.” (364-8)

Notice the comment about material changes. In reading 288-29, Cayce said, “the Earth will be changed again,” not by flood this time but by fire. It will be a cleansing of a higher degree.

The cleansing by fire may be connected with another prophecy in Cayce’s discourses, that of the Earth’s poles shifting.

“(Q) What great change or the beginning of what change, if any, is to take place in the earth in the year 2,000 to 2,001 A.D.?

“(A) When there is a shifting of the poles. Or a new cycle begins.” (826-8)

This shifting of the poles of the Earth is associated with the breaking down of the Van Allen Radiation Belt. This “belt” is an encompassing shield of energetically charged particles (plasma) around the Earth, held in place by the Earth’s magnetic field. It shields our planet from solar radiation. We see the effects of this protec-tive belt in the Northern and Southern Lights, which indicate the directing of the solar radiation to our planet’s poles, away from the highly populated areas. If the belt opened during the shifting of the magnetic poles of our planet, then solar radiation would reach the populated areas. This would be a cleansing by “fire,” as the proph-ecy states.

In 2004, NOVA presented a show on PBS called “Magnetic Storm,” which revealed that scientists have discovered that the magnetic poles of our planet have begun to change. The show also revealed how solar ra-diation will reach the planet’s surface in populated areas.

An interesting note on this comes from the radiation disaster at the Soviet nuclear planet in Chernobyl. The release of radiation into the atmosphere caused terrific damage to the surrounding areas. Scientists predicted that all life in the area would die. But after many years, the field mice were still flourishing. When examined, these mice were found to have mutated their chromosome structure, enabling them to live in high radiation. Perhaps the prophecy that we will “all be changed in the twinkling of eye” relates to this dramatic change in our genes resulting from the higher radiation in the atmosphere, the “fire” cleansing.

Also associated with the end times is a massive war like no other. However, in Cayce’s readings, he sees this war quite differently than normal wars. He sees it as a battle for incarnation dominance! Which souls will gain a dominant incarnate presence on the planet, the good or the bad? The battle is being fought out of our sight in the spirit realms surrounding the planet. There’s a struggle for the wombs of the Earth. As bodies die and new ones are created, which souls will get these bodies? Of course, we know that the prophecy is that the souls of those who love God and their fellow humans as brothers and sisters will again gain the majority. In this way the planet becomes empty of evil and filled with goodness for a thousand years.

“(Q) If the Armageddon is foretold in the Great Pyramid, please give a description of it and the date of its beginning and ending.

“(A) Not in what is left there. It will be as a thousand years, with the fighting in the air … between those re-turning to and those leaving the earth.” (5748-6)

As these good souls gain the majority presence, the vibrations of the planet will change, preparing the way or, as Cayce stated it, “making the way passable” for His return.

The combination of radiation cleansing and increasing numbers of good souls incarnating brings the planet to a new era of enlightenment and goodness.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear that music of the coming of the Lord of this vineyard, and art thou ready to give account of that thou hast done with thine opportunity in the earth as the Sons of God, as the heirs and joint heirs of glory with the Son? Then make thine paths straight, for there must come an answering for that thou hast done with thine Lord! He will not tarry, for having overcome He shall appear even as the Lord and Master. Not as one born, but as one that returns to His own, for He will walk and talk with men of every clime, and those that are faithful and just in their reckoning shall be caught up with Him to rule and to do judg-ment for a thousand years!” (364-7)

These are exciting prophecies but so hard to hold on to in the midst of everyday, material life. Neverthe-less, we must prepare ourselves by living as He would have us: loving one another, helping one another.