“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

In drawing up his list of so-called natural laws, I have said that man decided that what appeared to be cause and effect to him was therefore a natural law of the universe. Not only do these so-called laws, which are not laws, vary according to where you are in the universe, they also vary according to what you are in the universe. Therefore your tree recognizes a human being, though it does not see the human being in your terms. To a tree the laws are simply different. And if a tree wrote its laws of the universe, then you would know how different they are.

The inner tree continues to grow because the bark is flexible. Man lets his ego face the outer world as does the tree bark, and this is its purpose. Nevertheless the inner self, like the inner tree, must have room to expand. The tree bark makes allowances for good weather (here Jane pounded the table) though bad weather is repulsive to the bark. Nevertheless the bark makes whatever adjustments are necessary and is flexible. Forgive me if this is a trite analogy, I almost hate to say it, but it bends with the wind. It does not bend when there is no wind. Nor does it solidify, stopping the flow of sap to the treetop for fear the dumb tree, not knowing what it was up to, would bump its head against the sky.

Your impulse at the time was the same as Jane’s, if you remember, but you were afraid of the practical aspects. Your parents would have visited you last year, and be strongly tempted to settle in a small town northeast of Miami, where your father would be amazed at the opportunities in his own business. Things have changed. Free will constantly operates. I will not attempt to give you definite so-called practical advice now, but you can learn from this and the paths will be clear.

Ruburt’s strong feeling was correct, his compulsive feeling that you should leave Sayre. At the time a trip to Florida would have been fine, although a meeting with Ruburt’s father on prolonged terms was not a good idea. Had you left Ruburt’s father for Miami you would have done well. Had you, Joseph, offered an alternative to going with Ruburt’s father, Ruburt would have accepted it and you would have done well.

Had you stayed in Miami you would have been ahead of the game, but you are still ahead of the game by getting out. Whenever Ruburt, or Jane, puts up such a fight against you there is good reason. Because Ruburt is trying to learn gentleness this time and because he is a woman strongly attached to you, his respect for you is boundless and in most cases he will give in to what he considers your superior judgment. When despite this the present Jane puts on a strong emotional guise it is because the intuitions push her to this extreme.

The situation would have been much worse. Ruburt was overly weary, and if I may say so, bleary. He would have tried to make a serious mistake at this time. In pity and against his own intuition, he would have tried to move in with your parents. You would have both attempted to support them, with disastrous psychic effects. There is little more I would like to say here. I promise you that neither of you will feel any poor results from tonight’s long session. Please do take a break.

He is indeed much like you, but without your artistic talent and without your overly developed protective mechanism. His liking for the planning of houses will grow, and will compensate him for your artistic talents, which he has always envied.

Even Loren’s dillydallying with trains is a compensation for the envied, almost magical to him, abilities of an older brother. If you can understand this you will see his natural desire to supersede you in the affections of your mother. He never could compete with you in this respect, and it has made its mark. If he seems womanish at times, fussy and vindictive, it is for this and other reasons—not your fault in any way yet nevertheless a fact.

Dick, being so much younger, saw no reason why he should be able to compete. He identified with you and loved you. His wife is a great help to him, but so far he has not fully developed his intellectual capacities, for many reasons, and he has a tendency to blame her for it. Outside of your mother who left her mark very strongly on you, you have been the dominant active psychic member of your family, exerting very strong influence on all.

Your father somewhat resented your seemingly magical projections of reality into paintings, since he worked futilely in the realm of material inventions and got nowhere. He also, to a much greater degree than you, never trusted his instincts, although they were very strong. Your mother had much to do with this and so did his own mother.

Inheritance is extremely potent in this case. Your father represents a most tragic example of impulse frozen into inactivity, and practicality which was never practical but molded him into immobility, his powers so encased by fear that he could not manipulate in the physical environment at all.

When I said that you saved Ruburt’s life I meant it quite literally. In a sense, Ruburt saved your parents’ lives by insisting that you leave Sayre when you did. Any other mistakes you both may have made are more than made up for because of this. Jane’s father is still in danger of losing his life violently, but if he survives the next five years he will die a natural death, before 70 I believe. (67).

I do wish to show you how things happen or almost happen. There are always clear reasons, though not necessarily clear causes. Loren is as lucky in his way with his wife as you are in yours. I will go into Ruburt’s background later. It does not have as immediate implications however since she, or he, has erected his own barriers along these lines, and the parents are not so involved as far as distance is concerned. Ruburt, or Jane, amputated the present mother for necessity’s sake and for survival’s sake.

(At this point our cat Willy became very insistently affectionate. Jane had taken a chair while dictating, and he wormed his way up into her lap and began to purr. His eyes were unusually dark, as were Jane’s.)

I am with you whenever you are able to permit it. Incidentally, your purring cat is very pleased with his home. You have large hearts, certainly large enough to let at least part of the world in. I would apologize for the lengthy session, but I know you will benefit very much.