“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Now: I want to begin by mentioning one of the most important and vital messages in your glass-door dream (of two days ago),¹for its truth applies to the magical approach as well.

That is, the dream was giving you an example of one of the main characteristics of what we will call the magical approach. Ruburt did not stress this in his interpretation, which was otherwise excellent.

Now in your dream, you were quite clearly seeing the threshold between physical reality and the magical dimension in which that physical reality has its source. You were being shown — or showing yourself — the difference in the rules or assumptions between the two. The dog’s desire for food led him to walk magically through the door, for the desires of the natural creature are satisfied (pause) with an ease that has nothing to do with your ideas of work. What I am getting at is the introduction of the concepts of a different kind of work — very valuable, vital work that is performed at another level and in a different fashion.

This will allow you to include the feeling of inner, magical “work” into your calculations. It would also begin (underlined) to give you a feeling for the magical support that upholds you both, and your lives — the support that Ruburt can count upon, and that can bring about the solution to his physical difficulties. Here, again, the vital word is ease or effortlessness. If you want to (long pause) feed a dog in the physical world — and he is on the other side of the door — you must open it. In the inner world you or the dog can walk through the door without effort, because desire is action. Desire is action.

In the inner world, your desires bring about their own fulfillment, effortlessly. That inner world, and the exterior one, intersect and interweave. They only appear separate. (Pause.) In the physical world, time may have to elapse, or whatever. Conditions may have to change, or whatever, but the desire will bring about the proper results. The feeling of effortlessness is what is important. It is quite proper for Ruburt’s intellect to understand this, and to say, simply now, “That is not my realm. I will leave the solution to that problem where it belongs. We will use the magical approach here.”

“This is another terrific dream, continuing the one in the last session, in which Rob was constructing an image of the magical self — seeing it as a kind of Captain Marvel character. In this dream, though, he uses the magic himself, making it far more accessible.

“The dream takes place in the kitchen, a room devoted to physical nourishment. Gus, the neighbors’ dog, in an intense desire to get the food Rob holds, walks right through the glass door — signifying the importance of desire in bringing about the magical satisfaction of needs. Gus probably also represents the ‘creature’ magical self, showing its creature characteristics; that it’s natural, after all.

“At the same time, it’s Rob’s usual self, learning from the creature-magical self, who then ‘gets the evidence,’ enlarges the magical hole in the glass; signifying two things — that the so-called usual consciousness can learn from the magical part, follow its lead and therefore catch itself ‘performing miracles.’

“Later in the dream Rob is reminded of this incident by something someone says, either on TV or in the room — signifying a different mobility of consciousness, almost a dream within a dream, and also establishing the fact that physical and magical events are related.

“I’m not quite sure of the meaning of the older handsome Navy man who stands at attention — an authority figure … whose purpose is merely to stand guard and observe; perhaps a reassurance to Rob that the rational self is there, in its true position — but standing apart, observing the magical proceedings. …”

Jane did such a fine job interpreting the dream (in my estimation!) that I didn’t bug her for more details. Later, however, I wished that I’d asked her a few questions. I think she’s quite right about the naval officer being a symbol for the more conventional, or rigid, rational self. I would have liked my wife’s comments on my brother Linden being in the dream. He’s a year younger than I am, and lives with his family down in Pennsylvania. He’s become quite religiously oriented, as is his right. I think that as I joyfully talked about my magical exploration in the dream, I was telling him something like: “Hey, there’s more than one way to explore the self, to be religious!” And I think that Linden and I were in correspondence in the dream state, and that in some way he got the message. …