“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

In the historical time of Christ, I was a man called Millenius, in Rome. In that life my main occupation was that of a merchant, but I was a highly curious gentleman, and my travels gave me access to many different groups of people.

The bells were only a small portion of my business, which dealt largely with cloths and dyes, but they fascinated me. Because of my interest in them I did far more traveling about the countryside and the region than any prudent man should. The bells became my hobby. My curiosity drove me to journey in search of different kinds of bells, and led me into contact with many people I would not otherwise have encountered.

(It can be seen from the above paragraphs that Seth shifts his physical location from Rome to Judaea without saying just how or when he did so. I wanted to know more about the mechanics of the transfer but decided not to interrupt further just now.)

At the time that Christ lived his existence was known to very few, comparatively speaking. To put it bluntly (and humorously) I knew that someone had the ball, but I was not certain of the person. In dream states, the situation finally became known to me and to many others.

(“Now: I had a large family — that is, I came from a large family, and I was ambitious, as all intelligent young men of that time were. I did not go for the military, so there was nothing to do but go to the church.

(“For a while I was not in Rome but held my religious call elsewhere. I wrote two Church laws. It should all go to show you that some good ends up from everything. I died of trouble with my stomach because I was such a glutton. My name was not Clement [in answer to a question from a class member] although Clement is a lovely name.

(“I was originally called Protonius. Now give me a moment. The last name is not nearly so clear, and this is not my papal name, but my — if you will forgive the term — common name: Meglemanius, the third. From a small village.

(“Unless I summon the self that I was at that time, the memories for details are not that clear. But as I now recall them, without directly checking on our friend the Pope, who has, you must understand, gone his own way, I am coming as close as I can. We did not have as many guards at that time, but we had many stolen paintings and jewels of great merit. Now some of these jewels, as well as the money, went for expeditions that you do not realize were adopted at the time, having to do with commerce and ships sent to Africa; and this interest had to do with my later life when I was involved with the oregano [as a spice merchant in Denmark, in the 1600’s]. My sniffing goes back for centuries.

(“I did believe implicitly in the God in which I was brought up, and in that belief. It was only later that I wondered how such a god would choose me for such a position — and then I began to wonder. I had four lives following that of the most adverse circumstances, to make sure that I understood the difference between luxury and poverty, pride and compassion. And there were days in other centuries that I walked the same streets that I had walked as Pope. I touched these streets lightly as Pope; but as a peasant I walked with a heavy foot and great weight, until I learned the lessons that I had to learn, as all of you will also learn your own lessons.”

It is not my purpose to go into my past existences in any great detail, but to use them to make certain points. First of all, I have been many times both man and woman, and I have immersed myself in various occupations, but always with the idea of learning so that I could teach. I had a firm background in physical existence, therefore, as a prerequisite for my present “work.”

I did not play the part of any towering personality of historical note, but became experienced in the homey and intimate details of daily life, the normal struggle for achievement, the need for love. I learned the unutterable yearning of father for son, son for father, husband for wife, wife for husband, and fell headlong into the intimate webs of human relationships. Before your idea of history, I was a Lumanian, and was later born in Atlantis.

In a book on reincarnation, I hope to have each of my previous personalities speak for themselves, for they should tell their own story. You should understand, therefore, that those personalities still exist and are independent. While what I am once seemed to be contained within those personalities, I was but the seed for them. In your terms, I can remember who I was; in greater terms, however, those personalities should speak for themselves.

Perhaps you will see an analogy here when you compare the situation with age regression under hypnosis. Those personalities are not locked up inside of what I am, however. They have progressed according to their own fashion. They are not negated. In my terms, they coexist with me, but at another layer of reality.

(Jane sat half in trance, “seeing more stuff now than in the session itself.” It was as though a light within her focused upon one small area. She saw grease or wax from a candle, falling upon one of the robes and staining it. In the stall there were long oval bundles of straw, stacked one upon another “to keep it dry, pretty high up to the roof. Each bundle is tied but not covered.”

(Jane was obviously much more relaxed now than when she’d started this chapter. She was yawning deeply, again and again, her eyes watering. I suggested an end to the session, but she wanted to continue. Resume at 11:19.)

(Long pause at 11:29.) If I choose, in your terms I can relive any portion of those existences, but those personalities go their own way. Do you understand me?

(“I don’t know what to do now, about continuing,” she said after we’d talked briefly. “I know what Seth’s got planned, but I don’t know how he’s going to go about it.

(Seth Two is dealt with at length in Chapter Seventeen of Jane’s book The Seth Material. This personality speaks occasionally in ESP class, but relatively seldom in our private sessions. In the outline Seth gave for this book before dictation began, we were told that Seth Two would be explained. Some of our questions for Chapter Twenty had concerned Seth Two also. I’d forgotten both points for the moment — hence my surprise.

(But now, at 11:40, Jane didn’t know whether to end the session, as I’d suggested earlier, or continue. She finally decided to “just sit quietly for a minute.” Then: “I don’t know whether to shut it down or not — it could go on for another hour….” I told her I was game if she was. Seth resumed at 11:45.)

(Jane’s eyes were closed, but occasionally they opened slightly. She smiled faintly as she spoke for Seth Two. The voice that began to issue from her was very high, very distant and formal, with little volume or emphasis. Each word was carefully and deliberately, almost delicately, spoken. It was as though Seth Two wasn’t familiar with vocal chords or words, and so took pains to use those mechanisms in just the right way. The contrast between the two Seths couldn’t have been more complete.)

Seth is a point in my reference, in our reference. He is an ancient portion of us. (Pause.) We are separate but united. (Long pause.) Always the spirit forms the flesh.