Association for Research and Enlightenment

A.R.E. engages in holistic health services, workshops, conferences and retreats, and publishes materials relating to Edgar Cayce and his teachings. Its headquarters is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and there are reportedly Edgar Cayce Centers in 37 countries.

A.R.E founded Atlantic University, which is located in its headquarters, and runs a health center and day spa at its headquarters, along with a school of massage.

History

A.R.E. is the heir to a previous Cayce-related organization, the Association of National Investigators (A.N.I.). Dependent on the financial support of a few major donors, the ANI emphasized major institution-building projects such as the original Atlantic University and the Cayce Hospital for Research and Enlightenment, a hospital staffed with medical personnel who used Cayce-recommended treatments. The name of the hospital would later inspire the name, Association for Research and Enlightenment. The ANI and its various projects folded with the onset of the Great Depression.

In 1931, Cayce called a meeting of his supporters in Virginia Beach, asking them directly whether they felt that his work should continue. The result was the creation of the Association for Research and Enlightenment as a successor organization to the A.N.I. This was also the beginning of a tradition of annual meetings at A.R.E.'s Virginia Beach headquarters featuring talks on various spiritual subjects.

Prior to Cayce's death in 1945, people seeking a reading from Cayce were asked to join the A.R.E. This helped insulate Cayce from charges of fortune-telling, which was illegal in some U.S. states, as he was not directly charging a fee for his services but receiving a salary from the member-supported A.R.E. Apart from supporting Cayce and his staff, a major emphasis of the early A.R.E. was the encouragement of small groups devoted to spiritual study, prayer, and meditation.

When Cayce died, he left many requests for readings unanswered. His son, Hugh Lynn Cayce, returned from the Army later that year and took charge of the A.R.E. Under Hugh Lynn Cayce's leadership, the A.R.E. arrived at the basic focus of activities and interests which it follows today. A major boost came with the rise of the 1960s counterculture and then the New Age Movement, which coincided with a number of popular books on Cayce including Jess Stearn's best seller, The Sleeping Prophet.

A.R.E. reached a height in its popularity in the late 1980s, which was the peak of the New Age movement. During this period membership came close to 100,000, though the core membership was stated to be closer to 30,000, since most of that number was recruited during a one-time direct mail campaign. During the 1990s the membership of the organization declined however, corresponding with the decline of the New Age movement. In 2001 the membership total was reported to be 21,353.

After Hugh Lynn's retirement in 1977 the A.R.E. was led by his son, Charles Thomas Cayce. Charles Thomas retired in 2006. In 2007 Kevin J. Todeschi became CEO and executive director, who was previously the editor of the A.R.E. membership magazine, Venture Inward, and a long-time A.R.E. staffer.

In 2001 it was reported by The Virginian-Pilot that the organization was experiencing difficulties relating to a lawsuit from former leaders that were accused of instituting Christian Fundamentalism into the organization, and budgetary issues resulting from deficit spending.

In 2014 renovations costing $7.5 million were completed at the Virginia Beach campus, which included a renovation of the Health Centre and Spa and de Laski Education Center. The renovations were funded by donations to the C.R.E.A.T.E campaign, an initiative aiming to raise $30 million in total.

In 2016 the Houston Chronicle reported that the A.R.E. had announced that it was shutting down the Houston branch, for reasons that were unclear, but which one follower attributed potentially to concerns about profitability. Some of the followers in Houston expressed their intention to create their own independent organization as a substitute. The Houston Chronicle reported that the local network of followers consisted of 800 people.

During the last few decades, the A.R.E. has focused its efforts on globalizing its activities and promoting Cayce's spiritual message in the mass media.

In 2021 A.R.E. was the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging sexual assault and sexual harassment at their Virginia summer camp, which alleged that the organization had enabled a culture that allowed this to occur. CEO Kevin Todeschi retired in the wake of these allegations, and in 2022 Rev. Nicole Charles was appointed as the new CEO.