“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Then, the strong conflict between the ego and subconscious was the result of home environment. He allowed himself no spontaneous expression at home with his mother. This denied, his normal spontaneity exploded when it was allowed opportunity, sometimes in unfortunate circumstances. In panic, the ego then tripled its defenses. He was not capable of loving Zeh or anyone, later. They both knew this and counted upon it. With Zeh, again, Ruburt denied the spontaneous self in normal daily interaction with him; with Zeh. And this denied spontaneous self exploded when and where it could.

The conflict between the ego and subconscious, as given, was symbolically expressed in the tying of the hand symptoms. He was tied in knots, hence the swollen joints. There is a line from a poem of his, written years ago, in a period of stress, “If I can’t move one finger, how can the whole soul rise?" from his dance floor poem.

Understanding of these conflicts will go a long way to ease the symptoms. The stiff neck, when it occurs—the neck quite literally expresses the rigidity of attitude. It is easier for him to withdraw than it appears. In this case, however, the subconscious recognized the danger and symbolically expressed through the organism, the ego’s intent. The symptoms therefore were therapeutic in nature, in that their purpose was the solving of the dilemma.