“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(John Bradley was a witness to the session. John had two questions for Seth—one concerning himself, and one about a pet dog that had recently been killed. Seth deals with the questions in the session.)

Now what happens is this. You began by wanting to express withheld bitterness, often explosively. At the same time you did not do so. One group of muscles therefore were tensed for action, and the other group of muscles tried to stop the action. You wanted to go ahead but felt you could not, so that this was reflected in your posture long before you felt a symptom.

This was reflected in other portions of the body as well. As you noted, you felt off balance subjectively, and unsure. Now. You had grown used to smoking as a way of comforting yourself. You removed the comfort. You refused to add another, and at the same time you did not face the inner problem that was bothering you, that made the comfort so necessary to begin with. We will go into this more deeply, for you can indeed rid yourself of the symptoms, but I would like to make one point here first. When you bought the dog, subconsciously you felt that the dog was almost a symbol of your failure.

The family all knew, subconsciously again, that the dog had to go. Everyone was overly nice to the dog, so no one would know consciously, what they knew subconsciously—that you considered the dog the symbol of failure. It was a closely guarded secret by all, hidden, but not entirely, from the conscious minds of those involved. No one wanted the dog killed, but it was not coincidence that you yourself loosened the dog’s collar, or that your wife was the one who left the dog; for symbolically the two of you were connected here. Now give us a moment. The act itself was symbolic, and the dog picked up all of your attitudes through its own sense of communication.

The failure was being rejected, you see. Now the dog was a hunting dog. Symbolically you have always equated hunting with a man’s work in modern society. That was one connection. You would not feel free to hunt successfully with the animal, for he was, you felt, the symbol of an unsuccessful hunt in the work world.

Each member of the family picked this up. The dog had to be loved. It was a face-saving gesture. No one wanted you to know, and all of this now on a subconscious basis. Under the conditions that were then in operation, and underline that, for you all to have accepted the dog for any length of time would have been an admission and acceptance of failure.

This also applies symbolically, and during your vacation, and before it, was one fear that you had not come to terms with. You would consider it beneath you, and unmanly to entertain, and consciously improbable, if you left your job and did not get another—could not get another, of comparable merit indeed.

In a moment I will give you a break and then continue. One point: the drug you are now taking over a period of time would not be recommended by me—

You must use mental images of mobility and action. At the same time tell yourself often that you are free to move. Do not command yourself to move, or demand it. Simply remind yourself that you are the one who has been projecting these ideas onto your joints and you can remove the ideas. (Pause.) Give us a moment.

We have some further recommendations. It is difficult in one evening to give you all the important data. You have been denying your own feelings for some time, or only giving lip service to them, and we will have to set you straight and free.

Now, I want to give you some practical suggestions before the session is through, so I will speak of the most important ones. Several things are necessary.

Give us a moment. Now. (Pause.) There is no simple way to put this. On the one hand the accident was an accident. On the other hand you had an individual aggressively attuned that day with withheld violence, who was going to kill one animal or another. On the other hand you had an animal who went searching for friends, knowing quite well that in one way of speaking the friendship was over.

([John:] “One further question, that’s all I have.”)

Now. There will be an effect—not one I believe that you have foreseen, and not immediate. You worried them. You are a problem to them, as they are to you, even while you both receive services from the other, and your report may help take all of you off the hook. It may take all of you off the hook—they do not know what to do with you either.

A new position would save face both for you and for them. This will be considered. The effects would be beneficial. There are no ill effects from the event. A long time ago I mentioned that your progress might not necessarily involve the second step, the next obvious one. They might very well surprise you with such a position, a new one, but it would not be entirely what you had in mind; as comprehensive.