“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(After holding the first session for this chapter, Jane wrote intently on Oversoul 7 and did some work on a long-range project that she tentatively calls Aspect Psychology. Then, just before we were to resume work on Seth’s book, the great flood of Friday, June 23, 1972, took place.

(The water, thick with topsoil, exuding a near-suffocating odor of petroleum effluents, became one foot deep in the yard, then three, then five…. Jane and I found ourselves experiencing a drastic new world, and although Seth hasn’t said so yet, I believe that to be one of the reasons we stayed. We sipped wine and used light self-hypnosis to take the edge off our tension, but as we watched the water crawl up the side of the old red-brick house next door, our new reality threatened to turn into a terrifying one indeed. Had we made the right decision?

(We were lucky compared to many others in the city. We’d lost our car, but we had a place to live and had all of our paintings, manuscripts and records, including the fifty-three volumes of the Seth material, intact. Since we occupy two apartments in order to have enough living and working space, we had room to take in a couple who had been flooded out. The weather was cold and rainy. Our days became a routine of actions devoted to survival, although Jane finished Oversoul 7 early in July, and resumed her classes. This book was put aside for a long time.

(In August Jane held one session on the flood — in which Seth had time to just touch upon the reasons behind our personal involvement in it — and late that month and in September we had several house guests in connection with psychic work. One of them was Richard Bach, author of the very successful book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.³

(When she felt it was time to resume work on Seth’s book, Jane discovered to her surprise that she was somewhat nervous about it. Yet, speaking for Seth, she resumed dictation so smoothly that it seemed there hadn’t been any such thing as a three-month lapse….)

(“Good evening, Seth.”)

(“Thank you, Seth, and good evening. It’s been very pleasant to sit in on a session again.”)

(I paused, considering the late hour, then asked Seth for his opinion about the recent visit of a young scientist from a Western state. Jane, both as Seth and as herself, had made a good start at tuning-in on certain technical information. I felt however that a great amount of time and effort would be needed, on a regular basis over a period of years, probably, for Jane to make full use of her abilities in such specialized endeavors.)

(“Thanks once again, Seth.”

(End at 11:32 p.m. Jane was quickly out of an excellent dissociated state. “I’m glad Seth’s working on his book again,” she said. “I know it’s silly, but I feel a lot better. I was even wondering if my own attitude was holding the thing up now, after all of those other interruptions….” And so, like Seth Speaks, this is really two books in one: It’s not only about the nature of personal reality, but the circumstances surrounding Jane’s production of the material and the many ideas she has concerning it.

(I was happy to learn that Seth plans to incorporate flood data in his book — I’ve been concerned lest that subject be pushed aside by other events, then perhaps forgotten.)

1. For those who have forgotten: Chromosomes are microscopic bodies into which the protoplasmic substance of a cell nucleus separates during cell division. They carry the genes, the “blueprints” that determine hereditary characteristics. Occasionally a footnote like this will be included in order to point up Seth’s own material. Often he’ll “take off” from such standard definitions in his own way.

2. A note added later: The Seth Material and Seth Speaks contain some references to the reincarnational connections that Seth postulates involving himself, Jane, and me. Such personal data is outside the scope of this book; but in Chapter Nineteen, Seth does go into his ideas on reincarnation, time, etc., in a more objective way.