“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(John reported that his wife was very ill, had been in the hospital recently for several weeks, etc., and had not entered into a very deep trance state during sessions with a hypnotherapist; Seth had recommended Peg see such a professional. This evening John asked Jane if Seth could say something about why Peg had followed, or chosen, such a role in this physical life—a role seemingly without reward or hope; she has multiple sclerosis.

Free choice is always involved. The purpose is always knowledge and development, rather than punishment, self-punishment. The woman, in a past life, was once a man (pause), Italian, in a hill village. We will try to fill you in on times and dates and locations later.

This father had a later life, and a very successful one also in Italy, in a town badly bombed in the Second World War. Here he was a woman of some artistic ability, the mother of two sons, one who had been connected with him in the past.

In this existence however the personality of its own free will chose to understand in a different context, and work out problems faced so poorly in the earlier life. This time the personality is John’s wife, being cared for, you see, rather than caring for; being physically dependent. The personality could not and would not, out of fear, try to understand the circumstances and position of the crippled daughter. Not for a moment could he then bear to contemplate the inner reality in personal terms.

The illness itself was secondary. One does not choose illness, per se, for a life situation. In order for the personality to see its own past activities clearly, it felt that it had to adopt a position of dependency this time.

John remembers subconsciously the old situation. This is partially the cause of some of the negative feelings, but there is no guilt in any (underlined) of this. No one save the individual entity knows in what directions weaknesses lie that need correction, and it sets about forming life dramas in which these can be faced.

Such a situation allows John’s present wife to telescope the experience needed into one life-situation, to delve deeply, and face at once problems that could otherwise take several existences.

The daughter, the original daughter, you see, is now Peg’s mother. No one else from that life is known to them, though the original family was a large one. (Pause.) There is an historical connection with the village, or close area nearby; and not too far away a fort, a Roman fort, within fifty miles I believe of the town.

If the overall entity feels that the problem has been sufficiently solved, then it will end this life situation. But there is also a connection here with John, and the wife’s personality will not leave until John has also sufficiently achieved all benefits from the relationship that his entity hoped for.

There are also other considerations. This is a last reincarnation. The personality could choose, and attempt, a partial recovery. There is no predestination. Until the personality itself has definitely decided whether or not to end a life situation, no one else can know.