“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane and I were tired from our recent activities and might have missed the session, except that she didn’t want to interrupt the rhythm we’d built up. Sue sat in as a witness. All of us expected an easygoing session — one that might touch upon current events involving the three of us, from a very ill feline, say, to our impromptu Friday evening “reincarnational dramas.” But we certainly didn’t expect Seth to continue the material he’d begun in his book relating to biblical times.)

I should frighten you by saying, “Chapter One,” but I will not. And good evening to our friend here (Sue). You will shortly be able to read my book in its entirety. (To me): I have a few notes for your edification.

(9:46.) There was some jealousy, then, from certain members of the Essenes at John’s progress. At one time John attempted to join various divergent groups together as one brotherhood, but he failed. The failure weighed heavily upon him. Fire is seldom gentle, and John the Baptist was as filled with fire as Paul.

The Essenes kept sets of records to confuse the Zealots, and another set to confuse the Romans, and they very carefully guarded the inner set from which all the facts were made. They were not as violent as the other groups, but they were as shrewd.

(Concerning symbols… In 1947 scholars began acquiring the seven now famous Dead Sea Scrolls. They had been found in a cave situated above the usually dry Qumran wadi, or riverbed, which leads to the Dead Sea a mile or so away. Excavations in the Judaean desert nearby soon revealed the ruins of a monastery which had been occupied by a divergent Jewish group, for varying periods, between 180 B.C. and A.D. 68. The Qumran settlement was but fifteen miles from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It has been linked with the peaceful Essene sect by some authorities, while others just as strongly associate it with the more aggressive Zealots.

It would be nearly impossible for anyone except one of the innermost circle to distinguish between some of the versions presented. These signs would not appear isolated, but in such a fashion that only those who knew how to look for them would find them. They were not blazed in gold on the title page. (Humorously.)

Some of the distorted records have been taken as fact, and it is a good joke to realize that the Vatican holds some of these. At the time, the church believed that these records could harm it. In the case of these particular errors, the records instead could have helped the churchmen, but they did not have the sense to know the truth from the false.

(10:20. Sue is used to hearing Seth speak more rapidly in ESP class, where tape recorders are used. I don’t record Seth usually but make direct verbatim notes, using my own kind of shorthand; this saves much time later when I type up the material. Still, Seth often speaks fast enough in our own sessions to keep me writing at top speed.

Now: Give us a moment. (Pause.) In many cases records were faithfully reproduced, but with the names changed to protect the innocent.

You would call whole pages of the [Dead Sea] Scrolls tremendous put-ons, since whole pages, in literal terms, are not true. But these were expected exaggerations and embellishments that preceded the giving of information.

Again, those in the know had no worries. They would not be misled. To them the information was clear and the distortions obvious. Now the Scrolls are full of such protective distortions. The signs mentioned were but some of the clues used. They appeared in many guises, sometimes intertwined with signatures.

Many of the men involved did lead double lives then, known in their villages by one name, and in their brotherhoods by another. In some cases, their more mundane identities were never divulged but to a few. Later, when the Christians were being persecuted, there were many safeguards taken — particularly by those who believed they had a responsibility to live long enough to see the new creed find fertile ground.