“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane was both amazed and delighted. She came across the Priestley book while browsing in the library recently. We have heard of Dunne, of course, but have yet to read any of his works; for some reason the library here has none of his books.

Priestley does not go far enough with his time one, time two and time three, but he is fairly correct up to that point. In a different way he says many of the things that I am saying. I have told you that upon physical death the ego becomes the subconscious in the next existence, and that its conscious knowledge is retained electromagnetically.

Now. Priestley puts it somewhat differently but the results are the same. According to him the consciousness, the individual consciousness of time one, becomes something else at physical death, and the consciousness that is part of time two in physical life becomes dominant in the next existence. There is one large difference here between us however, and I believe an important one. Priestley’s individual, after death, with his dominant time two consciousness, has available to him what was time one during physical life.

In concept, again on this particular point, Dunne went further. But in doing so he ended up in a frenzy, losing sight of where he was. And no wonder. It is simply because I am outside of these times that I can see through them more clearly, and there is no particular reason why I should be considered wiser in this respect than they. I am simply in a better position to observe. If Dunne were able to write another book now, on his time theories, he would be able to correct several of his well-intentioned errors.

(Seth gave his first lengthy dissertation on the above theme in the 12th session, of January 2,1964. He places the subject under the general term of fifth dimension. He spoke on the idea for several typewritten pages; this was his longest delivery by a wide margin at the time, and Jane and I were quite surprised. See Volume 1.)

Priestley cannot help himself here, for it is not possible entirely for him to escape from his own time system, with the best of intentions. And in many respects his theories come very close to explaining the way things are. The idea of reoccurring time is simply off base, practically speaking.

(We would think in the last paragraph of his delivery above, Seth hinted at the psychic gestalts of which he has spoken very briefly at various times. We gather that he visualizes a chain of such gestalts, with each link one of greater complexity. He has called them “great building blocks of energy.”

Ruburt here is thinking of your monk. Because of my mention of the word missionary, this started a train of his personal associations.

(Seth did not elaborate on the test envelope impressions, so what follows are our own interpretations. For his own part, Seth was too eager to get on with his discussion of Priestley’s book, it developed.

(Seth’s unclear connection with “a missionary” is interesting. My brother Loren is mentioned in the letter contained within the test envelope, and his father-in-law is a retired minister. The letter of course can be “A note”.

For Ruburt has a grand idea. A great glimmering of enlightenment has hit him. I hope it did not hurt him; because while his idea is not right in one way, it is not wrong.

Having read Priestley’s ideas about Dunne, Ruburt now wonders if I am not a future self of his own, according to Dunne’s ideas; that is, if I am not one of those future selves of which Dunne speaks, or if I am not consciousness number two, or three even, of Priestley’s concept.

Otherwise I should be all life force and no self. Now, I communicate through this level of Ruburt’s consciousness. It is subconscious to him or to his ego, but it is not without consciousness by any means. And again, I communicate through that level. At my own level this is not in itself difficult.

Now I would be number six self, so to speak, according to Dunne. According to Priestley however, at this point in his theory, I would simply be that life force, or part of it, with no individuality. Priestley is more correct in depth however, though Dunne goes further, only to peter out. Nevertheless I would be a number six self. Using the same terms, however, I will make some distinctions. For as a number six self I have complete knowledge of all the other selves.

I repeat myself because I want to make the points plain, and this material is difficult. But things simply do not happen as Dunne supposed they did. He was correct in carrying his times further than Priestley, but he was incorrect in assuming the serialization continued indefinitely along the same lines.

His observations were not complete enough, for there are changes occurring now that he did not perceive. Therefore he did not project them into these other times. The becoming self grows more and more aware of its own portions, and of these various aspects of time in which these portions are or will be focused.

(Seth began explaining his source and the source of this material in the very early sessions. In the 15th session for example he likened his state to the dream state of a physical individual. By the 24th session he was dealing with the problems involved in communicating with us. By the 63rd session he was explaining his state as energy not materialized into mass; this after telling us in the 54th session that Jane, Seth and I had been part of the same entity once; he could not tell us this earlier, he said, because Jane and I would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was part of Jane’s subconscious mind.

The sister’s husband has a squat build, and uses his hands often in work.

(“No, as to the husband’s squat build. He is tall and slender. Yes, in that he uses his hands in his work. He is a contractor.”

(“Yes to both. Bill clearly remembers a white man, at least 60 years old by his estimate, who stood next to him at the roulette table at the casino. Bill noticed that the man wore three rings on his fingers; he thought this quite unusual.”)

(Bill told us his ulcer bothered him somewhat more than usual during his vacation. He said that usually he has complete freedom from pain on such junkets.)

Someplace during their journeys they met a white-haired gentleman. I believe the name begins and ends with an A. His age about 62, perhaps older. The interest was of a business rather than a social one, in connection with this man.

(“On the plane on Tuesday, October 26, I read during the trip. Bill spent his time studying people.”)

(“The cab driver was younger rather than older. But the back of his neck had a peculiar rough and mottled appearance that did make him appear to be older to us when seen from the rear. His neck could be called ‘stubby’.”)

(Bill did have one experience in Puerto Rico, however, that he said might be called bizarre. He is quite sure he hasn’t had any other experience like it, and believes that if he hadn’t been somewhat familiar with these sessions that this one too would have escaped his notice; that is, he would not have followed it through.

(The experience did not take place at five o’clock, but later one evening while Bill and Peggy were in a restaurant in San Juan. As an entertainer the restaurant had a white Puerto Rican female pianist. During a break she stood next to Bill at the bar. Bill then had the strange feeling that she would at once go back to her piano, on a raised platform, and begin to play. She did so. Bill then proceeded to name, in the correct order, the first three numbers the pianist would play. He has no idea as to how he was able to do this, or why he felt impelled to. After his first three correct calls he felt the ability wane, and began to make errors.

(The snorkeling device enables the diver to breath through a tube to the surface while remaining underwater. Bill said the boat reference above, reminds him of the peculiar look thinks appear to have on the surface of the water when seen from below. Several times while snorkeling he was close to coral cliffs or outcroppings rising above him. Surf breaking over his head appeared to have a “white sideways movement.” It had a more or less solid look, like the white ceiling of a room.)

(Seth gave data on Peggy’s trip in the 214th and the 215th sessions, December 6 and 8. He also gave some preliminary data on the trip during an unscheduled session held on December 3; Peggy took a copy of these predictions with her to Washington. Seth listed nine predictions and Peggy verified three of them. Seth gave them in Peggy’s presence; his score in the two sessions held while she was in Washington was much better.

([Peggy:] “Yes. A question-and-answer session was held after each speaker had finished his formal talk.”)

A particular man with a camera slung over his shoulder, who gets our friend’s attention.

(Peggy remembers one cameraman, out of several present, who carried his camera slung on a strap over his shoulder.)

A handkerchief shows above his breast pocket. Pointed, that is a pointed handkerchief, with an initial, perhaps a C or G.

(Peggy quite clearly recalls a man with such a handkerchief in his breast pocket. She remembers this because the handkerchief had four sharp points showing, which she considered unusual, very much out of the ordinary. She cannot recall however whether this man was also the cameraman. She does not remember any initials.”

([Peggy:] “Yes, although the initials are R. D.” Peggy wanted to talk with a certain official on the poverty program; his offices were on a floor lower than that of the seminar, in the same building. Peggy went to the man’s offices on Tuesday and waited for some time there. Failing to see him, she made an appointment for Wednesday, but did not keep this appointment because of the press of other business.)

(This developed when Peggy spent an unplanned evening, including dinner at a restaurant, with her brother and his family, who live in Washington.)