Akashic Records
The Akashic Records (Sanskrit akasha, ether) are, in theosophical and New Age tradition, a kind of universal cosmic archive that contains all events, thoughts and feelings of the past, present and future of every soul. The concept was introduced to the West by Helena Blavatsky (1888) and developed by Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), the "sleeping prophet", who alleged to access the records in a trance state.
How they are claimed to be accessed
Methods alleged for "consulting" the records: deep meditation, hypnotic trance, automatic writing, channeled by spiritual mediums. Cayce conducted thousands of "readings" in trance, recorded by his secretary; the transcripts are preserved at the Association for Research and Enlightenment (Virginia Beach, founded 1931).