“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(John Bradley, of Williamsport, PA, who has witnessed several sessions, stopped by this afternoon on his regular rounds, but could not stay for the session this evening. Affairs involving John’s work with Searle, the drug firm, are more or less quiet and uneventful, John reported. Seth has dealt with the machinations below the surface at Searle in various sessions. John now feels also that things are percolating below the surface, and he requested Jane and I find out what we could about the current state of affairs involving Searle, from Seth tonight.

(Jane had a rather unexpected opportunity, also, to verify Seth’s diagnosis of the nodule on her left wrist yesterday afternoon. While on a walk to a neighborhood store she was given a ride by our family doctor. Sam Levine told her the nodule was harmless, the result of an injury, and called it a ganglion. He told her to leave it alone, saying it was protective and would probably disappear by itself. See Seth’s diagnosis on page 77. Needless to say, Jane was pleased that Seth was verified.

(Also while on this walk, Jane had the thought that death approaches a personality when the personality becomes less and less able to focus his energies fully on this plane, when he can no longer control his physical image as well as in the past. She thought Seth might discuss this subject this evening.

You may refer here to past sessions dealing with the mechanisms involved. Existence within any field of reality necessitates intensive focus within that field. It involves something like a sleight of hand trick, played by one part of the whole self upon another part. As an actor in a drama goes along with certain acts and gestures that make the play necessary, while at the same time he realizes that the play is a play, he must still focus his attention upon the lines spoken, and use the props available.

The similarity here may not be easy for you to perceive, because of the diverse emotions with which you view childhood and old age. Nevertheless the child, to an unrealized degree, is free of the environmental necessities of his existence. Even while he molds and is molded by his environment, a part of his psyche is still uninvolved. His subconscious, on an uppermost personal level, is concerned with infantile fears of course.

Yet on a deeper level he still retains hold upon other existences, so much so that he even yearns subconsciously for those past realities, which mean safety, since their problems have already been solved. He is unbound emotionally and psychically by physical time, even while his physical body ticks with physical minutes.

During that period you refer to as old age, once again emotionally and psychologically the individual is less bound by physical time. He no longer, that is the whole self no longer, makes available sufficient psychic energy however for the maintenance of the physical organism.

There is not only a physical survival at stake, but also a highly delicate balance to be maintained. Since man is aware subconsciously of a heritage for which he ever seeks, and yet which for many reasons he cannot grasp while in the physical state, he must know and not know, and there is a strain here that no fish or bird or worm experiences. This subject also will be fully elaborated upon.

As far as Philip is concerned, they are also waiting in Chicago. Only one man is for doing anything, and this man is not the man whom Philip suspects. He is not, this man is not, in as strong a position as the man whom Philip suspects.

He has brownish hair and glasses, and a slight mole on one of his cheeks. He is not even aware of his own feelings in the matter, but considers himself something of a father image as far as Philip is concerned, and feels somewhat betrayed.

Two other men up rather high in the organization make no difference. Philip will not achieve certain stated goals unless he takes strong measures, but certain unstated goals on his part will be met.

Now briefly before I close, and again on a personal note: the condition of Ruburt’s wrist will take care of itself and vanish. He should faithfully continue the back exercises, which he usually resumes and then forgets. The turning around of the bed will alleviate a soreness of his ribs on the left side.

Now, my most fond best wishes, and my congratulations to Ruburt, the old firekeeper, in connection with the furnace. He stokes his own flames fairly well also.

(End at 11:11. Jane was dissociated as usual. Many months ago Seth had suggested putting the head of our bed to the north, without going into much detail as to reasons. He referred above to a question and answer session because I had mentioned the idea to Jane earlier in the day. We plan to work up a list of questions. The furnace reference concerns Jane’s manual operation today of the usually automatic gas heating plant in the house, after the thermostat developed some as yet undiagnosed trouble. In connection with the bed data, Jane has been mentioning for some time now that she has a vague soreness of the ribs on her left side.)