“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane’s eyes opened perhaps ten minutes after she began to speak, and remained open for most of the session thereafter. She smoked, looked about at us, etc. Her eyes were very dark, without highlights. None of us saw any indication of feature change, nor did Seth tell us to be alert for such. Seth’s manner was quite energetic, the voice on the strong side but not really loud. Twice in a frisky mood, the voice climbed very briefly in volume; both times this happened near the end of the session.

(A new physical effect concerned the candle, standing on the table against the wall perhaps three feet from our group. All the windows in the apartment were closed with the exception of one kitchen window, because the night was extremely windy; this wind aggravated my hay fever. The candle burned with a low flame, one perhaps a quarter-inch high. Seth, talking about physical effects, said that he could probably have levitated the small coffee table we sat around tonight, with Ruburt’s help. But Ruburt still needs to develop his abilities further, Seth said. Abruptly the candle flame shot up to a noticeable degree, at least twice its previous height. The increase in brightness was plainly noticeable, causing all of us to look at the candle. Seth then said he had caused the flame to grow. It stayed brighter for several minutes as he continued talking, then died down. Bill confirmed my own thought at the time, that a stray burst of wind had affected the flame. We had no way of knowing if wind was responsible or not; the kitchen window was perhaps fifteen feet away, and around a corner. Seth went on to say that the candle flame would not grow higher again, because Ruburt was alerted to the effect now, and was watching it.

(Seth said my special sensitivity to windy days during hay fever season, [and one I was well aware of], stemmed from an incident that took place while I was traveling to California with my parents when I was about three years old. [This would be about 1922.] On a windy day on the prairie, somewhere west of the Mississippi, but short of the West Coast, I stood by a hill with my parents. My mother and father were arguing loudly. Father threatened to leave my mother and my brother and me. My father also had hay fever. I had had attacks before, but after this incident I had hay fever each year. [I have always had it since I can consciously remember.] When I remarked that my father had got rid of his hay fever, Seth said he gave it to me. Seth said this is a common occurrence in illnesses being passed about among a family group. I identified with my father out of fear, Seth went on, because he threatened to leave me and thus must be all powerful; and since my father had hay fever, I acquired hay fever as a mistaken sign of strength.

(Seth dwelt upon the Tibetan monks who use astral projection, and follow their strict religion, while the peasantry live miserable practical daily lives, without hope for the most part. This is not right. He said the monks use psychic energy, which all of us have available; but they don’t use it for any great ends, and thus are shallow.

(Right after the session began, Seth showed how Jane’s personal subconscious memories had, during the sitting with the Gallaghers, on August 20, distorted the material we received. What actually happened was that Jane’s maternal grandmother tried to get through, but Jane wanted to get Bill’s mother, and so named the entity speaking as a Gallagher. Seth mentioned that Jane’s own memories of the shredded-wheat incident should have told her what had happened. Also, Jane confused the corner grocery in her neighborhood with the grocery in Bill’s neighborhood, which was located in the middle of a block. Much, Seth said, Jane had picked up telepathically from Bill. Bill had looked up to the man running the grocery store in his neighborhood.

(Bill’s mother exerted a “pull” on his father which the father subconsciously resented. Her illness was not the result of events in this life only, but of past lives also.

(The number 5 is connected with Bill’s 1946 date and incident, but Seth could not say in what way, or how.

(Speaking of the fact that civilized man should not kill, Seth said the whole idea of killing is fallacious to begin with: an enemy who is “dead” is far more harmful than one who is still alive. Here he was dealing with the basic unity of all consciousness again. Killing is not thought of as an end in itself on other planes, he repeated. But it is wrong to kill on our plane when we do consider it an end.

(So far man’s behavior has him headed for destruction rather than survival. Seth repeated several times that for civilized man to kill is wrong. An animal in the jungle killing for food is one thing. To kill for the sake of killing is another. When a wild animal kills, the killed is replaced in the natural scheme of things. No gap is left, and the balance of nature is maintained. When man kills he rips out a part of himself that he has created. Man will stop killing when he realizes this, and that death is not an ending but a change of form.

(Just before the Gallaghers left, Seth/Jane’s voice began to grow very loud just for a sentence or two. We all clapped our hands over our ears, and Seth had mercy on us. The voice was somewhat unusual, Seth told us; he himself was not interested greatly in physical effects or proofs, but realized they might be necessary to us, or scientists. He was interested, he said, in effects like the voice, or Jane’s facial changes. There was much that he and Ruburt could do; there was also much they could not do. It depended upon Jane’s confidence to a great extent.

(As Bill opened the hall door, Jane, standing beside him, came through as Seth, very loud, for a few words. But it was enough to make him shut the door quickly. When Seth then departed, usual good nights were said, the Gallaghers left and the session was over.