(Aside from her sympathetic response, Jane found the letter evocative of some of her own psychic experiences, and asked me to put it in our Seth notebook for an answer — we felt that Seth’s reply would be of interest to many. For the same reason, at the end of the session [in Chapter Twelve] we’re including a local resident’s experience with a certain set of beliefs.

In the next chapter, let us consider more closely your ideas about good and evil, the morality of the self, and examine the ways in which your ideas are reflected in your lives.

End of chapter.

(11:11. But this wasn’t break after all. Instead Seth decided to relay a page of material for Jane and me before launching into Chapter Twelve. Break lasted then from 11:22 to 11:40.)

CHAPTER 12

Now: Give us a moment for dictation. We are beginning the next chapter and the heading is: “Grace, Conscience, and Your Daily Experience.”

Thus far I have rather frequently mentioned the state of grace (in the 636th session in Chapter Nine, for instance), because while it has many dimensions it is, practically speaking, the cause of your sense of well-being and accomplishment. It is a condition of your existence. Each of you may put the following in your own terms, but often it may seem as if your conscience tells you that you have “fallen out of grace,” and that some inner, mysterious, joyous sense of support no longer sustains you. Unfortunately, conscience as you think of it is an untrustworthy guide, speaking to you through the mouths of mothers and fathers, teachers and clergy — all perhaps from distant years, and each of whom had their own ideas of what was right and wrong for you and for humanity at large.

(12:25 a.m. Seth, Jane said, was all ready to keep going if we gave the word — the rest of the chapter “was right there.” Also there for the asking was more material about ourselves, but….)