“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane and I do have colds—full-blown ones, evidently picked up from one of our visitors last Saturday evening. We didn’t hold our regularly scheduled session last night because we felt so miserable. Literally, we cannot remember the last time either one of us had a cold.

This afternoon Jane said she’d learned from Seth that we’d come down with those indispositions because we wanted to use our bodies’ immune systems; those structures needed the workouts, in other words. I’d had a vaguely similar thought this morning, and it had reminded me of my feelings on Saturday night—that our friend’s continual sneezing amid the group was actually a prolonged act of aggression.

“I’ve been getting some fascinating stuff,” Jane said as she did the supper dishes. “It comes and goes. I suppose I’ll try to have a session tonight, if my voice holds out. Besides, I’m bored, sitting around watching TV all night. A couple of nights of that are enough….”

When Jane began the session her voice was a bit rough and very quiet, but by listening closely I could understand Seth well enough.)

(9:35 P.M. “Jesus, I didn’t know whether I could do it or not,” Jane said, “but I felt all that stuff there in a great big block, and I just had to get it out. I like it when I do that. I also like it when I don’t have to.” So once again I’d seen it happen: Jane had done very well with a session when she’d felt poorly beforehand. Although her voice had remained muted, her delivery had increased in vigor and emphasis as the session progressed. It was as though she’d acquired an infusion of energy from Seth—yet once the session was over she announced that she wanted to go to bed.)

1. Seth first mentioned viruses in the 17th session for January 26, 1964, when I asked him to comment upon the recent deaths of our dog, Mischa, at the age of 11, and of a pair of kittens Jane had obtained from the janitor of the art gallery where she worked part time. (The kittens had the same mother, but had come from successive litters.) I was 44 and Jane was 34, and in conventional terms both of us were still struggling—not only to learn about ourselves and the world, but to find our creative ways in that world. Seth’s answer to my question was more than a little surprising and saddening to us, and opened up a number of insights: