“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The session was held in our back room. Jane began speaking while sitting down and with her eyes closed. Before the session she had remarked that she hoped Seth would mention Priestley’s book. Her pace was now average to begin, but quickly speeded up.)

(Jane now smiled as Seth began to consider the theories of both men. Before the session she had hoped Seth would discuss them. As it developed, the session proved to be an unusual one.)

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.

One concerns myself and where I would stand in this time framework, and you should find this highly interesting. The other has to do with Dunne, for in one instance he saw further than Priestley, for he carried these times further. But he also fell into an understandable error. For at some point the separate selves of Dunne’s, with their separate times, become aware of each other, and merge into the sort of superconsciousness that we have always called the entity.

(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.”

(See the tracing of the test object on page 140. It is of the front of an envelope addressed to Jane and me by my mother on December 1. The letter contained in this envelope figures in the test results, and will be kept on file with the envelope. The letter would be quoted here except that the contents are rather personal. It is of course available however to anyone seriously considering these tests, should they be that interested.

(“Road, or road shape,” and “Unusual shadows” are too general. There may be a vague connection with “A cake,” but it would be several times removed from the test object. We did not have cake for dessert at the family gathering on December 12 for instance.

Now. While Dunne and Priestley and myself used different terms often to express the same concept, we also differ in many respects as far as these theories are concerned. My third undifferentiated layer, you see, would correspond to the consciousness of Priestley’s third time, which is why I can tell you that at that point individuality is indeed maintained, and personality continues.

The difficulty lies in making this communication, which is direct from me, to what would be Ruburt’s time three self, clear to the time one self of Ruburt’s, which must speak these words, in what could be called Priestley’s time one.

Priestley’s theories, although he would not use them in this way, could be used to give some insight along these directions. But because Priestley stopped with time three, you would have to pick up Dunne’s, until Dunne himself finally goes wrong.

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.

Reincarnation, considered in this light however, is much more logical indeed than a reoccurring time. And incidentally it is also much more logically a part of these theories, although both Priestley and Dunne would be unable I believe to admit this.

Would you like a break?

(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.

With porch enclosures that are round. The base is not round. The portion between the... what would be the porch railing and the roof is round. They bicycled.

(See the notes on page 13 of the 200th session. Peggy’s sister was married on Saturday, October 16; the bride and groom left immediately for Puerto Rico on their honeymoon. Peggy and Bill left for Puerto Rico on vacation on Sunday, October 17. Jane and I were told that the two couples had no plans to meet in Puerto Rico, oddly enough; we recall Peggy saying for instance that she would not want to honeymoon with relatives close by. But these plans were obviously changed, the two couples soon meeting in San Juan.)

(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.

(As soon as we realized that Peggy’s trip would furnish a good opportunity for another test, we asked her to say no more about it. By then we knew she was going to Washington, but Jane does not believe Peggy told her specifically, for instance, that Peggy was to cover a seminar on poverty. Be that as it may, we were told little in advance of the trip. Peggy herself did not know about the trip until a few days before she left.

([Peggy:] “Yes.” Peggy said a large part of the seminar was devoted to discussing methods by which it would be determined which individuals would be able to take part in various programs. Their capabilities, intellectual, financial, physical, etc., would have to be determined.)

(Peggy said that at the seminar many thousands of people were mentioned at different times. She had no idea of the total however, but said the 14,000 figure would not be unreasonable. She thought she might have a total figure in her notes, taken for the series of articles she is to write for the local paper, but a check of the notes yielded no clues here. 14,000 people of course did not attend the seminar.)

(In the unscheduled session for December 3 Seth said Peggy would meet a woman dressed in green. Peggy met no such woman. After the cocktail party however, Peggy found she couldn’t remember the color of Mrs. Carlyle’s dress. She checked by phone; Mrs. Carlyle had worn a red dress. Later note by RFB: Red and green are opposites on the artisit’s color wheel.)

(At first Peggy saw no connection here. Then she remembered that when she arrived in Newark, NJ from Elmira, she transferred to Kennedy Airport on Long Island by helicopter. During the trip, at an altitude of no more than 600 feet, she thus flew over many of the docks, piers and shipyards lining the Brooklyn waterfront. She thought at the time that Bill would have enjoyed the sight, since he likes ships. The helicopter flight traveled past the Statue of Liberty.)