“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Class discussion re. reincarnation: Arnold wondered if this was his first time ever.)

No, it is not your first time out, so to speak. It is your third time out. But you are a willing and eager learner.

Now. Give us a moment. We have you in Africa. First of all, in 4 BC, as a woman. Now it is not generally known that there was a civilization at that time, rather well developed, in the southwestern corner of the continent. I will attempt to get at the name—Mabunda—Mabunda. You were black and a craftsman, for there were crafts. You were what is called a “chief hunter.” And on the land, which you then inherited, there were artifacts from a still earlier civilization. And in your hunting expeditions you sometimes came upon these. And in one of your excursions you came upon the image of a small god, long since forgotten by that civilization, and the god was called “Marumba.” It was a small black image—something like the stereotyped Buddha image—but with several differences. The object was of ivory. The civilization, even then long forgotten, had lost all of the knowledge that that earlier civilization possessed. The eyes of the image were like dowels. And from the pupils, lines came outward so that the pupils appeared to be like a half-seen sun or moon, and the lines like rays.

Now these eyes were actually means of telling not only the time but also the circumference of the earth. The idol used to be placed in the center of a circle, and carefully watched. The rays in the eyes were uplifted. Sticks were placed on the ground in those approximate locations as extensions of the rays in the eyes. And as the shadows fell past these sticks, the time of the day was deduced. Eyelashes were clearly shown on the face of the idol, and small sticks were placed outward as extensions of these eyelashes.

Careful watch was also kept on these smaller sticks. And the time of the seasons was also known from these, and the journey of the stars across the sky. But you came upon this image of a lost god, alone, and you did not tell your friends or associates, but instead you listened. And though it was your first reincarnation, you were alert.

Maraba Iraqua was your name, and you put about your body the dead wings of birds and danced about the image. “Macraugh, macraugh”—the sound of the birds then. The birds you killed... and used their wings, dancing about the image. You became known as a witch doctor, only that was not the term then. And shortly after, others joined you. But you did not learn all the secrets of this strange image. And when you died, they ate your flesh and burned your bones and buried them in a circle around the image. But you did not feel that you had learned enough. You waited a long time to return. And in the meantime you had experiences in other realities.

And to some extent, though I am here, you will at times project that idea of a god upon me, though I do indeed go out of my way to give evidence, at least evidence of grace and humor.

To our friend over here, we have you still enjoying class and coming here most faithfully and with great determination we have you resisting looking into the inner self—and skimming along the edges of realization—delight ourselves with the outskirts of psychic experience [sic]. But deciding we’ll not tread the water as yet. And I tell you that the time will come.