“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Ruburt was working and without realizing it telepathically was aware of your emotional presence. It was this that gave him the idea of a projection experiment that morning. He wanted to see if he could become aware of your form.

You would feel more comfortable if your initial journeys were within the apartment. You sleep more deeply as a rule than Ruburt, hence you must be sure to give yourself the suggestion to awaken and remember. It might also help you to place an object to which you are strongly attached in the living room. Impress yourself with the thought that you want to get up and retrieve it.

Give us a moment. (Pause.) In such instances you are withdrawing your perceptive abilities from the physical body. They will seem to operate as usual, but they are more vivid and far-reaching. Your thoughts instantly attain a form that you can then perceive. If you think of a dog for example, quite unconsciously you form the image of a dog, which you do then perceive.

It is because of this instantaneous creation and projection of inner reality into form that you experience time within the physical system—to train you literally, to give you time to learn to handle your own creations. Projection experiments should only be adopted therefore when you are in a peaceful state of mind, as Ruburt should know after his creature experience.

There are more than your thought forms in other words. Your thought forms however can be used as definite aids when you are in the proper mental condition, and they can impede your progress if you are not. In physical reality a man in a desperate frame of mind is more apt to emphasize horrible aspects in the news, for example, and to see desperation rather than joy in the faces of those he meets. He will ignore the contented playful child on one side of the street, and notice instead a dirty ragged boy even though he be further away. So your frame of mind when projecting will largely determine the sort of experiences you have, and the environments you visit.

(“Yes.” During break I had wondered, for instance, how long it would take to supplant a negative habit that had existed for say ten years, with a positive one.)

Imagine the summer winds that blow over the land that now fills the interior of the house with scented air. Let the first house represent all negative ideas or constructions, and the new house represent the desired ideas or constructions. Have it firmly in your mind however as to what ideas these refer, specifically.

If the exercise is done correctly it is literally impossible for the old idea to obtain any energy for its continuance and your attention is directed to the desired end. The object should be something you can visualize easily however. If you have difficulty imagining the deliberate destruction of the negative object, this is merely a sign of its hold. You may then instead imagine its destruction by an act of nature. The house being struck by lightning for example. If this is the case then the exercise should be continued until you imagine you yourself deciding upon and bringing about the destruction and replacement. If you are not ready to burn down the structure itself, imaginatively, then you are not prepared to rid yourself of the negative behavior, you see. The symbolic destruction is the real destruction. The symbolic creation is the real creation. Such exercises will cut down the physical time involved however.

Now there is no doubt that you cause your dream environment as you cause your physical environment. As I have told you negative patterns of thought are reflected in both states. Proper suggestion before sleep can doubly work to your advantage then, for you are holding your ground in two worlds at once.

This is entirely different from Ruburt’s attempt with his creature, for he was trying to form an evil creature, in those terms, to slay—a thing conscious of its own evil in those terms, and that is always dangerous. Do you see the difference?

The amount of conscious thought given to any construction obviously reinforces it. Ruburt became a writer because he thought of being a writer constantly. He became ill, generally speaking, for the same reason.

If a desire for health leads to an emphasis upon symptoms to be overcome, you would be better off to avoid all thoughts of health or illness, and concentrate in another direction such as work. This follows regardless of the desired end, be it wealth, fame, or so forth. Such an emphasis can lead to a focus upon the obstacles that stand in the way. This reinforces the negative condition.

Confidence is extremely important. It will lead to more confidence, and of itself wipes out the fear that causes most negative conditions. In the exercise you see the house can simply represent fear, for a basic therapeutic method, and the new house confidence.

First you are clearing up negative debris, you see, and reversing a trend. When the results show they appear magical.