“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

I know very well that there were evenings when I “should” have held our regular Seth session, but didn’t, for reasons also forgotten. Perhaps I didn’t feel up to par, or sat at my desk, involved in my own writing. Perhaps an unbidden guest dropped by, or holidays intruded. Actually, I was quite concerned with the quick passage of time, and the pressure to prepare manuscripts for publication. During the period that Seth was dictating this book, Rob was typing the two volumes of Seth’s previous work, The “Unknown” Reality, and adding innumerable notes that correlated Seth’s material with that of his earlier books. I knew that on session nights, Rob “lost” his work time on that project, and he still had to type up the latest book session on the following day, while all I had to do was … what? Turn into Seth.

I’d been producing my own books during this time, and getting them ready for publication, so surely Seth wasn’t taking up any creative slack of my own. Still, I stared at Psyche when Seth finished it, wishing that he could type, too! I thought back to all of those unremembered trance hours, looking at them from a different standpoint — and almost startled by a simple thought that just hadn’t occurred to me in quite that way before: Those trance hours were productive. They yielded results in the world of time. That trance consciousness, by whatever name, knew what it was doing. And I wondered: What must I look like to Rob as I leaned forward as Seth, smiling, (my glasses off, Seth’s eyes darker than mine), joking as Seth, gesturing, waiting while Rob got me (Jane), a beer? I’m sure there is a kind of trance memory, but my ordinary memory records very little of those trance hours.

We were most eager to get this particular material to the public, since many correspondents write requesting Seth’s views on sexuality. This desire, coupled with Seth’s seemingly endless creativity, led us to a decision: From now on, the Seth books will carry far fewer notes. In the two volumes of The “Unknown” Reality, Rob tried to correlate Seth’s views on various subjects, tracing them backward to his earlier books (and often to unpublished material), showing the context in which the books were written. Now we will include usual session notes, but the reader will have to keep track of the development of the theories or correlate them with previous Seth books at his or her leisure.

Rob typed Seth’s other books, Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul, The Nature of Personal Reality, and the two volumes of The “Unknown” Reality, added his own notes, and did almost all the work of preparing them for publication. He was still working on The “Unknown” Reality when Seth finished this present book. Then almost immediately Seth began another, The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events.

Today I received scientific corroboration by mail from James Beal, a NASA scientist, for some of Seth’s data on the units that Seth says underlie all physical particles. This information, given to us in sessions, was published in the appendix of The Seth Material. The paper Jim sent was so professionally oriented that I could hardly understand it, couched as it was in specialized mathematical language. Yet through Seth, we had received the same data. Someone — my own unconscious or Seth — had access to it; that much is certain. [...]

During the interview Jack asked me if Seth would come through. I replied that it was up to Seth. [...] Instead, Jack began to play a taped Seth session. As I heard those deep resonant tones of his, I knew that Seth was present.

I don’t “become” Seth. [...] Sometimes I am distantly aware that my facial muscles are being rearranged as they mirror Seth’s emotions rather than mine. [...] Though my eyes are wide open, it is Seth who looks out and smiles at Rob; Seth who speaks through my lips, discussing the nature of reality and existence from the viewpoint of someone not confined to the three-dimensional world.

[...] I hadn’t held a regular Seth session since the tour. [...] Regular Seth sessions in the privacy of our living room were one thing. [...] “Oh, Seth,” I said mentally, in consternation.

(After the Gallaghers left Seth and I continued to talk. Seth told me I would become a very well-known painter; Ruburt, he said, knew nothing about artists’ agents or their locations in New York City, he said for the record, adding that there is an agent on 62nd street who can be of great help to me. [...] Seth told me I have been working to free my intuitions; I already have enough discipline. [...] Seth also said that my work would become known partly because of the source of inspiration for some of it—the visions I have that grow out of these sessions.

(Bill and Peggy Gallagher visited us this evening, and Seth held a rather short unscheduled session. [...] After they left Seth and I had a discussion of moderate length. I made a few brief notes, not verbatim except for the names, which Seth spelled out.

(After Seth announced his presence Bill said that half an hour previously he had wondered whether Seth might speak. Seth confirmed that at that time he had almost come through, and Jane later told me she had been aware of this, without feeling impelled to have a session.

[...] Seth was Brons Martzens. [...] Seth has dealt with our Denmark lives in a few early sessions without going into much detail, and has occasionally referred to them in later sessions. In the second session, while still speaking to us through the personality of Frank Watts, Seth told us he had been a merchant who dealt in spices. [...]

As far as my relationship with Seth and his with me, because of our long-standing association I think we must have formed a unique psychological alliance; somehow I am part Seth, and in sessions at least, Seth must be part Jane, in a kind of psychological bonding on both sides. Seth must use my voice to speak and my life as reference, and certainly the contents of my mind are vastly expanded as a result of the sessions. My daily life is lived with the knowledge of that association, of course, and my normal routine now includes “turning into Seth” twice weekly, and has for years.

[...] That statement is one of the cornerstones of Seth’s material, stated almost from the beginning of our sessions and emphasized throughout his books. In Mass Events, though, Seth goes further, maintaining that our private impulses are meant to provide the impetus for the development of our own abilities in a way that will also contribute to the best interests of the species and the natural world as well. [...] Seth maintains that we can’t trust ourselves while distrusting our impulses at the same time. [...] What Seth is really saying here is that our impulses are meant to help us create our own realities on a personal basis in a way that will enhance both our private lives and our civilizations.

[...] I was being given many of the subject headings for — Seth’s next book, even as I was writing the Introduction for this one! Behind each heading or subject, I sensed realms of information available to Seth, but not (in usual terms) to me. Yet there had been an earlier moment just before the onrush of material when I sensed an odd psychological threshold, a certain accelerated state, that in this case at least signaled the intersection of Seth’s thoughts and mine. Then there was a brief point of psychological rest, an almost neutral psychological platform in which Seth’s outline began to emerge.

While Seth was dictating The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events, for example, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred; and had the affair turned into a disaster, our Chemung County would have been used to house refugees. Many spectacular national events have happened, of course, since our first sessions took place late in 1963, but Seth seldom mentioned such issues, and then only in answer to our own questions. [...] Both situations occurred as Seth was dictating this book, and while they are contemporary, both cases are classic in their implications.

(Since the conversation revolved around matters psychic and nonpsychic, the stage was set rather effortlessly for Seth’s appearance, although as stated neither Jane nor I actively encouraged the session. [...] Soon after she began speaking for Seth, in a quite low and pleased voice, Jane launched into the reasons for Bill’s response to the painting. It marked Bill’s emotional perception, according to Seth, of Seth’s presence in the painting, earlier in the evening. [...] This event thus meant that for the first time Bill felt an emotional rapport with Seth, although previously he had been intrigued intellectually by the material.

[...] Seth proceeded to tell Peggy that she was doing her yogic neck rolls much too fast in the morning. [...] Seth was right here, according to Peggy, for lately she felt she had been hurrying the exercises too much. Seth told Peggy the rapid neck rolls, which are an exercise supposed to be done slowly, were actually being detrimental to her. [...] Seth said the sudden dropping put a strain on the third to fifth vertebrae. [...]

[...] He had forgotten consciously about Seth’s data, but as he drove into the firm’s property he was immediately struck by the similarity there with Seth’s predictions. [...] The description of the building matched, as well as the description Seth had given of the man Don would talk to about work. Marilyn, Don’s wife, believes she still has Seth’s notes at home and will look for them.

[...] The Wilburs did not ask Seth for advice, nor did Jane and I. Seth volunteered that it was better for Don to make his own decisions. [...] But Seth did not say when. [...] The place he visited that matched Seth’s description has made him an offer of employment.

I had no idea how to tell Rob that I was out of my body, as Seth was carrying on as usual. My body, I knew, would be animated, as Seth talked. [...] In the meantime I floated in the air, quite high, looking down on the location Seth was describing. [...] Seth was saying:

[...] Seth has given him information concerning his business dealings, correctly predicting the behavior of certain stocks among other things; and Phil is keeping record of Seth’s percentage of “hits.” The time ranges for some of the predictions cover several years, but Seth has been correct about a large number of items that Phil has been able to check. Seth doesn’t make a habit of giving advice in sessions, though: he insists that people make their own decisions.

[...] It contained a few excerpts of the Seth Material, and a reproduction of Rob’s painting of Seth. Mrs. Brian had a terrific headache while reading the article; suddenly she thought she felt Seth’s presence. An inner voice, presumably Seth’s, told her that she had been feeling sorry for herself, that she must stop brooding over her health at once, get up, and go out for a walk. [...]

We really never know what is going to happen in a session, and one night Seth really surprised us. [...] When the session started, Seth promptly named the amount to the dollar, smiling broadly. Then Phil asked Seth if he knew anything about a voice that he’d heard in a local bar.

It’s not unusual that students should dream of Seth, of course, or that they should dream of me. But certainly Seth has achieved independent status in their eyes and has become a vehicle of instruction even in the dream state. In other words, besides producing the continuing Seth material and this book, Seth has entered the minds and consciousness of many people.

Seth’s sentence structure has not been changed either, except in occasional instances. (A few times I made two sentences out of one long one, for example.) Much of the punctuation was indicated by Seth. [...] Where Seth asked for quotes, we have used double quotes; otherwise, where the meaning seems to call for them, single quotation marks are used. Seth also instructed us to underline certain words.

[...] In some cases, material not a part of the book was included if it seemed relevant, cast sidelights on the method of presentation, or gave insights into Seth himself. As Rob’s notes also show, Seth began dictating the Appendix as soon as the book was finished. Rather amusingly, I didn’t realize that Seth had already begun the Appendix, and I spent several days wondering just who was supposed to take care of it — and if Seth was, when he would begin.

The messages seemed to begin where Idea Construction left off, and later Seth said that my expansion of consciousness experience had represented his first attempt at contact. Since then, Seth has delivered a continuing manuscript that now totals over six thousand typewritten pages. We call it the Seth material, and it deals with such topics as the nature of physical matter, time, and reality, the god concept, probable universes, health, and reincarnation. [...]

(At this time Jane, as Seth, stood up and picked up our cat Willy. [...] “See,” Seth/Jane said, “Your pussy doesn’t know who his mistress is right now....” Actually, Seth said, Willy knows him well, having grown used to his appearances. Many many sessions ago Willy had occasionally reacted to Seth’s appearance, usually just before a session began, or at the very beginning itself.

(One disquieting subject arose after the Gallaghers had left, and Jane, Seth and I were talking quietly. Seth surprised me by mentioning our neighbor across the hall, Leonard Yaudes. [...] Seth began by saying that the following information was on the edge of Ruburt’s awareness and that he was not very well focused upon it. [...] Seth then mentioned the period from September 15 to October 15, after saying that possibly he could focus a little more intently upon the problem.

(Seth told us that he merely wanted to join in the general conversation, as he had during the unscheduled 182nd session last weekend, which the Gallaghers also witnessed. Seth requested that we continue our exchange without notes on my part and without weighty questions. [...] She smoked as she talked with us, and at times got to her feet as Seth. [...]

(At one point I remarked to Bill Gallagher that I used to have two favorite questions for Seth: “What do you do between sessions?” and “How’s my old friend Frank Watts?” Seth’s answer to my first question was “What do you do?” He now gave essentially that answer when Peggy asked my old question tonight. Commenting on Frank Watts, the personality Jane and I first contacted on the Ouija board to begin these sessions, Seth told me that there were records in town pertaining to Frank Watts, if we would stir ourselves to look for them.

[...] In Chapter Nine of The Seth Material (1970) she wrote: “Several people have told me that Seth communicated with them through automatic writing, but Seth denies any such contacts, saying that his communications will be limited to his work with me, in order that the integrity of the Seth Material be preserved.” And in her introduction to Seth Speaks (1972), she quoted Seth from the 510th session for January 19, 1970: “While my communications will come exclusively through Ruburt (Jane) at all times, to protect the integrity of the material, I will invite the reader to become aware of me as a personality….”

This whole miniature tempest is almost enough to make one wonder: How come those other people made their “Seths” known after Jane began to speak for her Seth, and to publish the Jane-Seth material? [...] But to claim to speak for Jane’s Seth per se, as a means of expression, is quite another thing….

[...] It concerned the other “Seths” who are revealing themselves around the country these days. Later tonight I want to offer a little more about this overall development—but people speak for their Seths entirely without Jane’s permission. Jane is most concerned that she and I protect the integrity of the Seth material in its unique and original form.

I have no idea, of course, what physical state I’d be in if the Seth phenomenon hadn’t appeared in my life (in late 1963), or if I hadn’t had those sessions to rely upon. And even in the most private-type sessions Seth always wound his material into more public areas, so that we have reams of unpublished (and very controversial) material dealing with the connections between one’s illness and other members of the family, community relationships, and with the very belief systems that underlie all of human activity. [...] That is certainly one of Seth’s clearest messages. [...]

[...] Seth, talking about physical effects, said that he could probably have levitated the small coffee table we sat around tonight, with Ruburt’s help. But Ruburt still needs to develop his abilities further, Seth said. [...] Seth then said he had caused the flame to grow. [...] Seth went on to say that the candle flame would not grow higher again, because Ruburt was alerted to the effect now, and was watching it.

(Seth said my special sensitivity to windy days during hay fever season, [and one I was well aware of], stemmed from an incident that took place while I was traveling to California with my parents when I was about three years old. [...] [I have always had it since I can consciously remember.] When I remarked that my father had got rid of his hay fever, Seth said he gave it to me. Seth said this is a common occurrence in illnesses being passed about among a family group. I identified with my father out of fear, Seth went on, because he threatened to leave me and thus must be all powerful; and since my father had hay fever, I acquired hay fever as a mistaken sign of strength.

(Bill and Peggy agreed that Seth’s material on his parents seems to fit them psychologically, although some of the information given concerning Bill’s subconscious feelings toward his father was a surprise to Bill. At one point Seth asked Bill to not say so much when he answered a question, because this led Ruburt to start to actively and consciously consider the material and to make his own interpretations, which could be distorted. Seth also asked Bill not to tell us any more about his family relationships; presumably so that more material Seth came through with in future sessions could be checked with Bill’s knowledge, as in the blue dress and the bookkeeping incidents.

(Right after the session began, Seth showed how Jane’s personal subconscious memories had, during the sitting with the Gallaghers, on August 20, distorted the material we received. [...] Seth mentioned that Jane’s own memories of the shredded-wheat incident should have told her what had happened. [...] Much, Seth said, Jane had picked up telepathically from Bill. [...]

[...] We played part of the 170th session, which was recorded and directed by Seth to Dr. Instream. In the middle of a passage Seth suddenly came through, saying: “Why settle for a recording when you can have the real thing?” His voice was quite strong. [...] John had never heard the loud Seth; the previous sessions he witnessed had all been quiet ones. Now Seth began to speak loudly and jovially. Rob made no notes, as Seth told him they were not necessary. [...]

John asked Seth if he knew who he, John, could get to type extra copies of the material. Seth told us that later Dr. Instream would help us out in this respect, although he didn’t know it yet. Seth said there was a woman at the college in Oswego who would do the work. Seth also told John to keep looking for someone himself: “The effort will do you good.”

John made a remark to the effect that he would like some sort of proof of Seth’s existence. Seth lit into him, saying that the voice effects were impossible for a woman of my makeup. Seth said he could just as legitimately insist that John prove his existence to him.

(As often happens when witnesses are present, Seth was in a fine and frisky mood; there is no doubt that a witness or two will produce what appears to be abundant extra energy on Seth/Jane’s part. [...] On top of this, Seth promised an excellent session at our regularly scheduled time tomorrow night.)

If I said, “Look, people, I don’t think Seth is a spirit in the way you mean,” then this was interpreted as an acknowledgement that Seth was only a portion of my personality. Some people thought that I was trying to put Seth down, or deny them the aid of a super-being when at last they thought they’d found one.

[...] I simply went into trance twice a week, spoke in a “mediumistic” capacity for Seth, or as Seth, and dictated the words to my husband, Robert Butts, who wrote them down.

While I was trying to define Seth that way and questioning whether or not he was a spirit guide, I was closed off to some extent from his greater reality, which exists in terms of vast imaginative and creative power that is bigger than the world of facts and can’t be contained in it. Seth’s personality is quite observable in our sessions, for example, but the source of that personality isn’t. For that matter, the origin of any personality is mysterious and not apparent in the objective world. [...]

Seth’s books may be the product of another dimensional aspect of my own consciousness not focused in this reality, plus something else that is untranslatable in our terms, with Seth a great psychic creation more real than any “fact.” [...]

Every so often I’ve thought of averaging Jane’s dictation time for Seth Speaks and Personal Reality in the same way, but haven’t done so. I’m somewhat puzzled to note, however, that her very short working times for the Seth books seem to be either ignored or taken for granted by practically everyone — or, perhaps, those factors just aren’t understood in terms of ordinary linear time. Maybe I’m alone in my interest here, for even Jane doesn’t express any great curiosity about the time she has invested in the Seth material; she just delivers it. But given her abilities, I think her speed of production is a close physical approach to, or translation of, Seth’s idea that basically all exists at once — that really there is no time, and that the Seth books, for example, are “there” to be had in final form for just the tuning in. (In Section 3 of this volume, Note 2 for Session 692 contains information on another way by which we can move closer to Seth’s idea of simultaneity from our physical reality, but that method grows out of material not discussed here.)

Once before (in January, 1973), Seth dictated a letter for us to send to those who wrote, and it can be found in the 633rd session in Chapter 8 of Personal Reality. Many people liked that letter (they still do) — and some wrote back in response to it! Because of this, Jane and I suggest that Seth’s earlier letter be read in conjunction with the one below, for as Jane says, the two complement and reinforce each other. We feel that both messages from Seth reflect much of the essence of his material, and our own circumstances and attitudes surrounding its production. Certainly we think that presenting Seth’s new letter here makes an ideal way to conclude these notes. (Seth refers to Jane by her male entity name, Ruburt; and to me as Joseph, for the same reason.)

[...] Although they bear my name, before I was finished with them I’d had plenty of help from my wife, Jane Roberts, and from Seth, the nonphysical entity who speaks through her while she’s in trance. In fact, Jane and Seth are the ones who so beautifully bring these notes to their conclusion; and in that order — Jane with some excellent material about her relationship with Seth, and Seth himself with his new letter to correspondents. [...]

Seth began dictating The “Unknown” Reality: A Seth Book, in the 679th session for February 4, 1974, and finished it with the 744th session for April 23, 1975. In the beginning we anticipated another intriguing Seth book, the successor to Seth Speaks and The Nature of Personal Reality. [...]

(Bill Gallagher asked Seth about a possible operation for his ulcers, although he has been feeling well. Seth replied that he saw no operation for Bill, should present trends continue, and that Bill should surmount the ulcer problem eventually. Seth has told Bill this before.

[...] Seth prefaced this by saying something about “I see a breathing difficulty.” He went on to say that Ruburt was upset at this information, and that her relatively early death simply meant she had to work harder in this life. According to Seth this is the last physical life for Jane and me. Seth said he was having trouble getting this information through.

[...] Jane was upset, so upset that at first she couldn’t let Seth through, even though she wanted to. [...] The mother’s death has not yet occurred, Seth saying that the information was by way of allowing Jane to prepareherself for the shock of her mother’s death. The subject had been brought up by severalvivid dreams and psychological time experiences Jane had had concerning her mother. While giving this 105th session, Seth had also had trouble getting the information through, ascribing the difficulty to Jane’s ego. [...]

(Within perhaps fifteen minutes after the Gallaghers left, Seth did come through. [...] Subconsciously, Seth said, Jane was aware that the death of her grandfather, whom she had loved, was early next month, March. [...] Jane did not know this offhand consciously, Seth said, but had the records to prove it, and subconsciously was well aware of it.

[...] He soon wrote back asking for a few sample sessions and suggesting that Seth clairvoyantly describe his office in New York. I don’t know what I expected from Dr. Osis, but I sure as the devil wasn’t ready to see what Seth could or could not do. Seth offered to carry out the experiment, but I held back. I don’t know if I was more afraid that Seth could or couldn’t follow through.

I just wasn’t ready, apparently, to put Seth or myself under any kind of test. I was afraid that Seth’s claim to clairvoyance might be subconscious bluff—his or mine—and I didn’t know if I had enough courage to call the bluff or not. [...] I thought of “testing” Seth in a highly rigid, uncompromising manner. Seth had to be right or wrong. [...]

[...] Since in all of these experiments Seth was helping us through actual suggestions and explanations as to how we perceive such information, I simply couldn’t minimize his importance just to get the ESP book published. To us, Seth and the Seth Material was making everything else possible.

[...] By the time this first change happened in my trance states, I’d already had my first out-of-body experience, and following Seth’s instructions I was having clairvoyant experiences during daily exercise periods. But I felt in control of these, while Seth was in control of sessions, and to me this made a difference. [...] It was also during this time that Seth started removing my glasses just before he began to speak.

The purpose of this book is to introduce you to Seth and the Seth Material. Though Seth has appeared only once in a physical materialization, Rob has seen him clearly enough to paint a portrait of him that hangs in our living room (see the illustrated section). Through me, Seth has produced a continuing manuscript that runs well over five thousand double-spaced typewritten pages, in not quite five years’ time. [...] Seth certainly hasn’t “stolen” any of my own creative energy for his own purposes.

[...] They had read my first book, knew about Seth, and had attended a few classes, but they had never witnessed a Seth session. [...] I began to speak for Seth. [...]

We were having a spontaneous Seth session. It served to introduce the students to Seth, and I will let a few excerpts from it serve the same purpose now, introducing Seth to those readers who have not heard of him:

Seth spoke through me for over two hours, so quickly that the students had trouble taking notes. [...] Seth’s dry, sardonic humor shone from my eyes. [...] Seth was enjoying himself in the guise of an old man, shrewd, lively, quite human. [...]

(Seth:) Now. [...] And when each person feels and releases their own creativity, (to Sue) there will be no need for books about Seth classes, but now there is such a need.

(When Seth’s earlier comments were being related back to Jane, someone remarked that Seth said to look at the Guyana incidents at a thousandth glance.

(Dickie was discussing Seth’s remarks on the inner City when he noticed Seth’s return.

(Seth withdrew.

(Now I’ll refer the reader to Chapter 20 of Jane’s The Seth Material. She called the chapter “Personal Evaluations — Who or What is Seth?” In it she made a number of excellent points concerning her relationship with Seth and Seth Two; for example: “If physical life evolves [in ordinary terms], why not consciousness itself?” The questions we had at the time can be found throughout the chapter. [...] Seth discussed the psychological bridge Jane and he have created between themselves for purposes of communication; yet most of his material came through in response to my question about his availability to us. “We [Rob and I] both know that some sessions seem more ‘immediate’ than others, and now as Seth continued we saw why,” Jane wrote in Chapter 20. Seth, briefly, from the 458th session:)

(I finally decided that the best way to present the variety of material desired, whether from Seth, Jane, or myself, was in chronological order, letting a composite picture emerge as the work progresses. [...] Since the excerpts are still more representative than complete, however, due to the accumulated mass of information available, my own choices enter in: ESP class data are quoted a number of times; included is material summarizing Jane’s own theories about the Seth phenomena, as she worked them out in her recently completed Adventures in Consciousness; but reincarnation, while mentioned often, isn’t stressed in terms of particulars — that is, I refer to Seth’s statements that he, Jane and I led closely involved lives in Denmark in the 1600’s, but those lives aren’t studied per se. Within our ordinary context of linear time I think of reincarnation, even though in Seth’s terms it’s really a simultaneous phenomenon, as being further away, or more removed, from us physical creatures than the more “immediate” psychic connections and mechanics I want to show as linking Seth, Jane, and myself. And also because of that sense of removal, Seth Two¹ is hardly mentioned at all.

(The Seth Two phenomenon began to manifest itself through Jane in the 406th session for April 22, 1968. Seth Two exists in relation to Seth in somewhat the same manner that Seth does to Jane, although that analogy shouldn’t be carried very far. Even though deep connections endure among the three, then, at the same time, as I wrote early in this study, Seth Two is too far “away” from Jane [and the subject matter of this appendix] to go into here. [...]

(At the end of Note 6 are a few references to some of Seth’s reincarnational names as he gave them while dictating Seth Speaks. A reference not given there is the 541st session for Chapter 11 of Seth Speaks. That session contains information and notes relevant to the concurrent lives that Jane, Seth, and I lived in Denmark in the 1600’s. As mentioned at the beginning of this appendix, even though I’m considering the Jane-Ruburt-Seth relationship, I want to avoid becoming too enmeshed within the intertwining connections several personalities would experience in any one set of lives; such particulars would lead too far away from the focus chosen here.

[...] He could see and hear me as Seth and I couldn’t. Now during break I questioned him again. I hated to have to depend on someone else to tell me what was going on, but I had learned one thing: I couldn’t be Jane and Seth at once. For Seth to come through I had to stop such mental quibbling—at least temporarily.

[...] Our experiments in what Seth calls “Psychological Time” helped us develop our own psychic abilities. The quality and scope of the Seth Material constantly grew, and we were to make some contacts with others in the field of parapsychology. We were shortly to discover that Seth was indeed clairvoyant, and that my own training as a medium had only begun.

Later elaborations on the above statement gave us a pretty fair idea of what inner processes go on so that Seth and I can make contact. [...] At this point I’d been speaking as Seth for about forty minutes, and he recommended a rest period, saying: “Sometime between now and twenty-five years of laying your doubts at rest, I would like to go into some other matters that I have been trying to tackle for several sessions. [...]

The session lasted until 11:30 P.M. Rob was reassured by Seth’s statements about my ability to handle dissociation, and by his responsible attitude. [...] “Of course, Seth said that everything was okay,” I said. [...]

(Quotes from Seth that follow, in caps as usual, are not verbatim for the most part, but close approximations. It will be remembered that Seth refers to Bill Gallagher as the Jesuit, and to Peg as the cat lover. Seth now speaks to them:)

(Seth told Peg and Bill there is constant communication between them telepathically. [...] Seth told Bill that he took his problems with him on vacation, especially the ulcer, and Bill heartily agreed. Seth then repeated some general suggestions concerning the ulcer, given in earlier sessions. [...]

(Seth then launched into a long topic involving Peggy, her job at the newspaper, and another girl there. [...] This discussion grew out of Seth’s remarks concerning a very close call Bill had while skin diving in Puerto Rico. The remarks Seth made about this were to the effect that had we asked specifically about potential dangers the Gallaghers might encounter on their trip, he could have given warnings. [...]

(The portrait referred to by Seth happened to hang on a wall facing Jane this evening. In the 168th session, Seth stated the painting represented him, but he did not say in which life. [...] As soon as I began work on it last spring, Jane insisted it was of Seth. [...]