“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

It was no coincidence, however, that you plunged into reading the New York papers during your stay in bed. Not that it is intended that you should close your eyes to world events, but that in your particular case there are times when, to you, such concentration upon world evils becomes extremely unwholesome.

(I spent eight or nine days in bed, the victim of what is generally called a virus. At no time however did I blame a virus, feeling that the real cause was psychic, thus permitting the virus to come to the fore. I was somewhat embarrassed at having “goofed” psychically. As time passed, and while I pored over several daily New York City newspapers plus Elmira’s daily paper, I came to realize to a small extent that poor expectations on my part had much to do with my falling ill.

(I finally reached the point where I told Jane, the day before this session was due, that I had decided to stop reading the New York papers so thoroughly. I found it a sad experience to read about the race situation, Viet Nam, the conditions of life and crime in New York City, etc., although of course I realized that much of this news meant something was being done about some urgent problems.

(For some other examples of the psychic power of negative expectations, see the 9th, 15th and 17th sessions, involving Jane and me at York Beach, Maine. Also see the 17th and 66th sessions for material on the death of our dog, Mischa.