“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(As usually happens at this time of year, we’ve begun to miss some regularly scheduled sessions. Jane and I figure that from now on they’ll probably be held irregularly into January, 1973; partly because of our holiday activities, which we enjoy, but also because this seems to be a natural time of rest for us — although Jane plans to keep her ESP and writing classes going as usual.

An analyst might consider Augustus as schizophrenic and label him neatly, but such terms are basically meaningless. If the analyst, over a period of time, should convince Augustus that his condition in the present resulted from some specific inhibited event in the past, and if the analyst was an intuitive and understanding man, then Augustus might change his beliefs enough so that some kind of “cure” was worked. He would then conveniently remember such an event and display the expected emotions as he re-experienced it. Unfortunately in his present state, powerless as it were without Augustus Two, he might also simply call on his “alter ego” to show the good doctor that he was no one to trifle with.

If chemical alteration were made in Augustus Two he would return to the Augustus One personality, but the change would be artificial — not permanent, and possibly quite dangerous.

Sometimes such cases are handled within another framework, in which Augustus would be considered possessed by an independent “evil” entity whenever Augustus Two took over. Now again, if Augustus somehow changed his beliefs it is possible that even within that framework some kind of cure would be effected. But at the same time the dangers and difficulties would make such a cure relatively impossible.

(10:23. “When all this started [in late 1963] about speaking in trance,” Jane said, “I used to feel that there was just one word available at a time, with nothing before it or after it — but now I sense whole blocks of material there just waiting to be given. Like the stuff on the Speakers tonight, earlier.² It’s like that more and more often….” Before the session Jane had again been aware of several channels of information available from Seth.

Such critical-uniting episodes usually do not involve long sickness, though they may, but instead events such as bad accidents. The difficulty may be exteriorized as a broken limb, for example, instead of a broken self, and as the body is repaired the necessary assimilation of belief takes place.

Now such invasion is usually the sudden appearance of previously unacceptable beliefs, quite conscious but invisible, tucked away. Then they suddenly appear as alien. In most instances the possession concept makes it all the more upsetting. Easier to face, often, is the idea that the responsibility for such ideas must belong to another entity or being. In all cases of this nature involving Augustus-type episodes, the problem is one of unassimilated beliefs. Instead of such comparatively drastic behavior, however, such beliefs can be expressed through various parts of the body. Unfortunately, a system of medicine that largely deals with symptoms only encourages a patient to project such beliefs on new organs, for instance, after already sacrificing others in operations.

While the most basic work must be done by the individual, help is always available from a variety of sources, both within and without. You will literally interpret and use almost any data that comes to you as helpful, and it will be highly effective — unless your beliefs lead you to think, perhaps, that everyone is against you, or that you are beyond help, or that you do not deserve it. Other such ideas can also close you off from help, of course, but you will instinctively look for it and use it when possible.

(11:15 p.m. I chose a break in order to see if Jane still wanted me to ask Seth about the ideas she’d talked about before the session. She had been tired earlier, but had revived considerably by now; nevertheless she decided to forego the questions and end the session.)