Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 - January 3, 1945) was an American who claimed psychic abilities. He claimed an ability to channel answers to questions on subjects such as health, astrology, reincarnation, and Atlantis while in a self-induced trance. Although Cayce lived before the emergence of the New Age movement, he remains a major influence on its teachings.

William James (January 11, 1842 - August 26, 1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James.

On July 8 1909, James startled the scientific community by announcing that he had communicated with the spirit of Richard Hodgson. James wrote a 100-page account of this communication in the "Proceedings of the American for Psychical Research," including verbatim records of the conversation.