There was a time, not too long ago, when nearly every doctor’s office, osteopath, and barber’s back room had a little glass-and-coil device that hummed and glowed with a violet light. It was called the violet ray, and it was once one of the most common healing instruments in America. Today, most folks have never even heard of it. But back in the early 1900s, the violet ray was used for nearly everything, from sore joints and nerve pain to hair loss and sluggish circulation.
Now, I’ve worked with a lot of electric-based healing tools in my time, and few have a story as fascinating as the violet ray. This wasn’t just some novelty gadget. It was a legitimate piece of equipment based on the high-frequency electrical principles of the great inventor Nikola Tesla. The same man who gave us alternating current also inspired a device that could energize the human body’s natural healing systems.
The violet ray uses what’s called a Tesla coil, which is a special transformer that can generate high voltage but very low current, safe enough for the human body. The machine usually comes with glass applicators of various shapes, bulbs, combs, or rods, that are filled with a special gas. When the current flows, the gas ionizes, creating that beautiful violet glow.
When you place the applicator against your skin, it creates a gentle, warm tingling sensation. That’s the high-frequency current doing its work, stimulating circulation, oxygenating tissues, and helping the lymph system move waste out of the body. Tesla knew that when you increase energy flow through the tissues, you improve their function. In other words, you’re recharging the body at the electrical level.
America’s famous “Sleeping Prophet,” Edgar Cayce, recommended the violet ray in more than 900 of his readings. He suggested it for conditions ranging from poor circulation and arthritis to skin disorders, nerve imbalance, prostate issues, and even emotional disturbances.
In one reading, Cayce said to a man with circulation problems: “In five to six weeks, we will find the body more active mentally and physically and better fitted for physical activities.” The violet ray was often applied along the spine or directly to the area of discomfort for five minutes a day. It wasn’t meant to replace rest or nutrition; it was meant to enhance the body’s own capacity to heal.
For arthritis, Cayce recommended applying it along the spine and to the painful joints, saying it would relax the body, energize the nerves, and feed oxygen to the cells. For those suffering from exhaustion or depression, he called it a “recharging of the centers along the cerebrospinal system.”
That’s quite a statement, especially considering it was made nearly a century ago. Today we’d call that recharging the nerve system batteries.
Modern science now confirms what Cayce and Tesla were both hinting at—that the human body operates as a bioelectrical system. Every organ, every nerve, every cell carries its own electrical charge. When that charge weakens or becomes unbalanced, sickness follows. When balance is restored, health returns.
Dr. William McGarey, medical director at the A.R.E. Clinic in Phoenix, understood this well. He used the violet ray to treat a range of health issues, from back pain to infections, even in cancer patients. He said the preliminary healing effect came from balancing and rejuvenating the body’s electromagnetic field. That’s something many researchers are only beginning to understand today, though it was already being applied in the early 20th century.
So, what happened to the violet ray?
By the 1950s, pharmaceutical medicine had taken center stage. The government started tightening regulations on medical devices, and anything that wasn’t a pill or a scalpel was gradually pushed aside. In 1951, the FDA essentially banned the marketing of the violet ray for medical purposes.
That didn’t mean it stopped working. It just meant it stopped being profitable in the new medical economy.
Interestingly, the violet ray never completely disappeared. Beauty professionals still use versions of it today under names like “high-frequency therapy.” It’s used to treat acne, rejuvenate skin, and stimulate hair growth by improving scalp circulation. That’s the same principle Cayce talked about, enhancing the body’s energy flow to promote health.
Collectors and natural health practitioners still find old units in antique stores, estate sales, and garages. Many of them still work just fine. These are simple, durable devices built on solid Tesla engineering.
When I look at the violet ray, I don’t just see an antique medical device, I see a bridge between the mechanical and the energetic worlds. It’s a reminder that electricity, in the right form, can awaken the body’s natural intelligence.
In a way, we are walking batteries, electrical beings animated by a divine spark. Tools like the violet ray were designed to harmonize with that spark, to restore balance where disease had disrupted it. Maybe that’s why people like Cayce and Tesla were drawn to it. They saw beyond the gadget—they saw the principle: life is energy in motion.
So if you ever come across one of these violet ray machines glowing softly in some forgotten attic or old beauty parlor, remember, you’re looking at a piece of history that once helped thousands people recharge their bodies, calm their nerves, and restore their vitality.
And who knows, maybe it’s time we bring a little of that violet light back into the world.
By Herb Roi Richards
Inventor, experimenter, and advocate of natural and electrical health restoration methods.