“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(At 8:40 PM. Jane left for the corner grocery to get a pack of cigarettes. Actually she had to hurry for the store is several blocks away. It was also raining. Once again Jane had been trying to give up cigarettes; this time the struggle lasted but a day or so, and ended in tears after supper this evening. It appeared to be a panic reaction of some kind, and had happened before.

(Jane was back from the store at 8:55. She said she didn’t know what kind of a session we would have, yet by 8:58 she reported that she could “feel him.” The session actually began at 9:02, and without the board.)

This time and particularly since adolescence ended he was able to let go the other types of greediness, letting the cigarette take place of all the rest. There is here also what I may call a sort of air panic, an insatiable taking in of air that the nervous puffing of a cigarette sometimes satisfies, even a basis in claustrophobia where the personality feels it is not getting enough air or is closed in.

No. I was aware that she made the trip. These sessions of trying to give up smoking are a definite help and the habit will finally give way. The personality is becoming stronger and will be able to deal with the problem, as in the past it conquered a gluttony toward food and other elements.

(“Was Jane ever a smoker in a previous life?”)

No. It is his tendency to gobble here that is important. He has given up in this life gobbling food and drink. In past lives he was never temperate, neither in a physical sense, emotionally or intellectually. This was not in many ways bad. However when the intemperate personality does not discriminate then the basic characteristic can cause unpleasantness. He was always very generous for example and kind, even overly kind. On the other hand he ate and drank too much. He was just overeager as a rule.

(Break at 9:32. Jane was fairly dissociated yet she was still aware of the subject matter above. She usually is, she said. Throughout this session she talked in a voice slightly stronger than normal, and paced at a slow even rate. Her eyes were dark, as usual. Resume at 9:36.)

This “gluttony,” and you may put that in quotes, actually represented a terrific capacity for all kinds of consumption, and the consumption of knowledge was no exception. An impatience was also important, and the capacity also showed itself in an ability for psychic knowledge and a thirst in all matters pertaining to intellect, emotions and the physical.

In the present personality we have abilities developed in past lives, and ability to paint for example that should be made more use of now. What you call Ruburt’s sales ability is also a result of past experiences, and certain other latent abilities such as a facility with growing plants. He was at one time an excellent farmer.

There has been here a willingness to experience, to experiment and to give as well as a ferocious capacity to take in. The trouble in the past has been a lack of discretion and self-discipline. He was always a pleasure-loving personality however and avoided anything unpleasant. His early circumstances in this life were chosen by him as a needed experience. In other lives he was able to exist without too much adversity and this time he chose troublesome and truly tragic circumstances as a needed challenge.

His temper when aroused was very great however and he retaliated instantly. He had never known hatred however. This time he has had to deal with it in a most intimate manner. The old stormy temper is now seen in Ruburt’s deep grudges. The personality of Ruburt’s mother was not close to him in any other life. The circumstances of birth were chosen at the last minute on his part and was made for two reasons.

One, the personality of the mother offered needed experience for Ruburt; and two, the paganistic personality of the father was in some degree like his own past personalities though in a much more vague and watered-down way. A miscarriage later on the part of Ruburt’s mother represented an entity who changed his mind so to speak. He was at one time a brother. Ruburt’s present shape is something he has been working for. He was often tall, hardy and stout.

Ruburt’s miscarriage was a result of something else entirely. This time you are both on your last reincarnation cycle on your plane, and as a rule no personality fragments are left behind.

(“When was the last time this happened?”)

(Break at 10:02. During the above delivery Jane was in her usual state of dissociation. It was a very peaceful session. Resume at 10:07, Jane dictating.)

This was one of the reasons for the decay of knowledge and learning in the Middle Ages. There were personalities reincarnated during the Middle Ages who had lived during the Roman experience, however they were not leading personalities and they were not able to transmit knowledge or abilities from past lives, simply because they had not the inherent strength or capability needed.

The revolutions, both of them, were so connected, representing an offshoot from the freedoms initiated in Athens and greatly expanded. Great Britain was in many respects a special place in that many of those personalities who had been resting were born there at fairly regular intervals, and you had a more consistent belief in liberty that did not necessitate such bloody and unfortunate revolutions as those that occurred elsewhere.

(Break at 10:32. Jane was somewhat dissociated as usual. Resume at 10:35.)

Your generation as a whole had to learn the importance of thought and responsibility. You had to learn that basically to hate is to kill. The lesson was a practical one. The Germans and the Jews made it plain. Had the hatred not existed in the Germans, it could not have been channeled as it was against the Jews. Free will operated here as always.

(Upon going to work at the gallery yesterday noon, Jane saw more dead starlings scattered on the lawns. This so incensed her that she telephoned the police. After talking to two different desk sergeants she was referred to the police chief. The chief said she was the only complainant the police had had; other callers had given the police their addresses and asked them to destroy the birds on their own properties.

(Break at 11:02. Jane was dissociated as usual. During break I puzzled over what Seth meant by saying I had done well, since I thought it a rather routine week. And we discussed Miss Callahan’s condition—we had heard from her relatives that it was deteriorating—and wondered if Seth might mention her. Resume at 11:06.)

And you have done well this week, working out some challenges concerning your paintings. Our sessions will of course vary in many respects and this is to be expected. I did incidentally watch Ruburt write one of his poems about the starlings, and though poetry was never one of my lines I have to admit that I was quite impressed.

(“Which poem was it?”)

It was the poem that Ruburt sent to the paper.

Incidentally Ruburt always felt a strong bond with every living thing, and even as a man was not cruel. He was only a Christian once, the last time, and otherwise was paganistic but always in ways that enabled him to feel close to the earth. This is of course one of the main reasons for his particular reaction with the starling incident, and this quality has been a saving one in the past.

The exhibition was open to the public,

The entire tree population was sprayed