“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Nevertheless, because the patient is in a condition where he is most susceptible to suggestions, a great responsibility lies upon the shoulders of those who would treat illness. The chiropractor’s suggestion that the irritation was an arthritic one was made positively; that is, without thinking he stated “Oh yes, that is not normal at all, it is an arthritic nodule.” Later, realizing that the suggestion had been a poor one, and moreover one of which he was not certain, he amended the statement, adding that such a formation could also be the result of injury or simple irritation to the joint.

(Earlier today, feeling somewhat tense, Jane had visited a chiropractor for treatment. While talking with him she mentioned a hard lump that had appeared recently on the inside of her left wrist. It bothered her but little; the doctor stated that it could be an arthritic nodule; seeing that this upset her greatly, he reassured her by saying that it was more likely to be the result of an injury. Not remembering any injurious incidents, Jane came home quite upset.

The formation on the wrist is not arthritic. You may repeat the statement for him to read. I have told him that he will not develop arthritis.

I would state furthermore that indeed Ruburt did have occasion to be angry at the chiropractor, since with an emotional fear unthinking suggestions such as his, made with only the flimsiest of evidence, can be most harmful and destructive. And in an unwary, emotionally upset personality, particularly if under stress, such a suggestion could cause a harmless and protective nodule to be changed by the strong powers of adverse expectation, or rather expectation poorly used, into the form of what is feared; as a slight but harmless irregularity of heartbeat, with the unthinking suggestion of a doctor, can become through the patient’s fears an actual functional disorder, so could suggestion turn a relatively harmless formation like Ruburt’s into an arthritic condition.

[...] Ruburt’s symptoms would therefore be called arthritic, since they fit into that category, so named. [...]

[...] Now there is an exaggerated fear on Ruburt’s part of the word arthritic, for in his mind it is connected with his mother’s chronic state. [...]

[...] In another way they contain deep and private insights, ranging from her free, marveling childhood yearning and intuitive knowing up to her present physically impaired condition—her arthritic-like “symptoms,” as we call them—and beyond to the final state of her work after her death. [...]

Now: When Ruburt begins to trust himself, as he has, the physical (arthritic) armor loosens. [...]

[...] There were many questions he asked himself about his mother’s condition in particular (Marie is a bedridden arthritic), and about such situations in general, and he did indeed allow himself to go along on one level to provide an extraordinary impetus that he felt would be needed to conquer such extraordinary conditions.

(Jane’s mother is a bedridden arthritic, and has been since Jane was a very young girl.

No conventional arthritic (almost scornfully) could move suddenly with such motions. [...]

[...] Jane’s mother is a bedridden arthritic in a nursing home at Middle Grove, NY. [...]

(Pause at 9:50.) There are obviously some conditions that in your terms are inherited, showing themselves almost instantly after birth, but these are of a very limited number in proportion to those diseases you believe are hereditary—many cancers, heart problems, arthritic or rheumatoid disorders. [...]

Nor is it any accident that those certain people come to the sessions, the ones who did come, just as it is no accident that Philip's mother is also a bed-ridden arthritic, just as Ruburt’s mother is.

(Bill’s mother, who was also an arthritic cripple like Jane’s mother, was a very aggressive personality, a masculine one, who developed arthritis in order to lose her mobility and thus avoid harming Bill’s father and the children. [...]

[...] In many cases, in fact, it is to the ego’s advantage that it remain unaware of the actual dreams involved; for the ego is indeed touchy, rigid and querulous as an old arthritic gentleman, and cranky.

[...] Bill has told us very little about her, other than that she was an arthritic cripple like Jane’s mother is. [...]

[...] Dr. Mandali instructed us to put Jane back on aspirin, to keep any arthritic pain and inflammation under control: “You can take up to sixteen tablets a day.”

Now: When Ruburt begins to trust himself, as he has, the physical (arthritic) armor loosens. [...]