“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Now, I would suggest that two main categories in particular be given special notice. These as you know will have to do with primary and secondary reality. And each dream should be scrutinized first of all with these main points in mind. You must look out for pitfalls, and use your critical faculties. Ruburt uses his critical faculties supremely well in scrutinizing my activities and nature, so I have no doubt that he can also apply them to the job at hand.

Now I will give you a short break, and again my welcome to our friends, and I do not mean to ignore them. We shall indeed have you, Joseph and Ruburt, working in your sleep, as Ruburt earlier remarked, and you shall be glad of it. For the dream will not be captured in a laboratory by scientists who will not look into their own dreams.

All layers of the personality are indeed conscious layers. They simply operate in the manner of compartments, so that often one portion of the self is not aware of other portions. As a rule when you are awake you do not know your sleeping self; you know your neighbors far better, so your sleeping self appears mysterious indeed. When you are awake, as Ruburt himself has written, you cannot find the dream locations that have been so familiar to you only the night before.

Incidentally, joking aside, some time in the future it would not be a bad idea, if it ever could be arranged, to take Ruburt’s blood pressure before, during, and after sessions; also his weight.

You could perhaps learn something from such innocent tests as these. You see, theoretically, you could find out how much I weighed, or if I had physical weight indeed, could you not? Or if Ruburt weighed less during sessions, then you would have a dilemma.

Are you referring to Ruburt, or are you speaking to me?

([Bill:] “To Ruburt through you.”

Ruburt, indeed, should give his own answers. Far be it from me to answer for him. I use one hand, and he uses the other, primarily.

My dear Jesuit friend. Do I not try to explain things clearly, and am I not grossly misunderstood? I have been saying for some time now that I am myself, and that Ruburt is someone else. It follows that our gestures would therefore be different. Would you not say so?

My own answer is that I am an energy personality essence, momentarily in contact with your physical system, and that I am allowed to operate through Ruburt.

([Bill:] “Then you use Ruburt’s mechanical equipment, the voice, the eyes and body and so forth, to speak to us.”)

([Bill:] “And does this include Ruburt’s facial expressions also?”)

Now and then with Ruburt, to a smaller or lesser degree, my own habits therefore show through, for I manipulate his muscles in a different way than he does. But, scientifically again, this would not be proof of my existence as an independent personality who has survived physical death. Not that this concerns me, for it does not.

([Peg:] “You’ve said in the past that we would notice changes in Ruburt’s features.”)

What we need you see are various elements that usually combine spontaneously, but that can be caused to combine when they would not usually combine. This I can usually take care of fairly well. However, I have freedoms that Ruburt does not have, and I am freer to use my abilities than he is.

The conditions are not physical conditions. These would be the simplest. The conditions have to do with the amount which Ruburt is willing to allow me to have of the physical matter of which he is composed, and of which he is naturally jealous.

Now we are speaking of something aside from Ruburt’s features. When he is off guard, as he was when Philip was present, then we can achieve very much.

It would be difficult for me to change the features of a third individual indeed, but far less difficult to change Ruburt’s features, since he gives me permission to work through him, and his mental and psychic abilities would help me. A picture would not help me on its own.

No one, you see, wants more proofs than our friend Ruburt, but often consciously he wants so much that he closes the doors through which I can come, and sets down barriers that belong to the ego alone.