“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The nonphysical symptoms will also appear in various guises, often symbolically within the dream state long before any physical symptoms appear. Behind any kind of symptom, regardless of its nature, or the specific problem, there is usually a blocking off of spontaneity that is caused by fear. Either the individual no longer trusts the purpose toward which his energy is being expended, or perhaps worse, he feels that there is no reason, or that he has no purpose, and does not know in which direction to turn his energy.

In Ruburt’s case therefore the distrust of spontaneity was indeed reflected in all areas of his life, particularly in spontaneous activities in both physical and creative realms. The sexual portion of his being also reflected the blockage in spontaneity. No problem therefore will be expressed in one way only. You are highly creative creatures. As the joy of life is reflected in all of your acts, affecting your work, bodies, environment and the people you meet, so your problems are also faithfully reflected in all of these areas.

Sitting down at the desk to write poetry, the act and intention automatically reminds Ruburt of all the times that he has written poetry before, and primes the pump, so to speak. When this is done, as it was this evening, easily, getting up and down from the floor does the same thing physically, reminding the body and the mind of successful performances in the past. With each success, the failures fade away. The same applies to running. Ruburt does not need his conscious mind to perform as a guardian. It is indeed the spontaneous self, as he is now realizing, who is the guardian.

Now. Tell him to leave his body alone with his conscious mind in the same way that he leaves a poem alone with his conscious mind when it is forming— to think of his body as a poem.

Give us a moment. It is not now so much a matter of relaxing, as going joyfully along with. Now this is what I have been after. The position (emphatic) of the arms has symbolically represented the degree of resistance to spontaneity. At his worst the arms would be like this, you see, as if to hold back—

I have told him that concentration on his work will dissipate the rest of his symptoms, but he adopted a too-conscious (underlined) deliberation here. He should write his book the same way that he writes his poetry—not demand of himself, but simply and quietly and joyfully expect.

Now his contract (for the dream book) is assured, and tell him I said so.

Tell him also to trust his feelings in regard to Mary Sharp or anyone else, even when they are contradictory. That is quite natural.

Contradictory feelings can also be expressed through the body, tell him. Remind him. Tell him also to shake his arms downward from both the elbow and the shoulder, and in a playful manner, as if he were a rag doll perhaps. His idea about the morning symptoms was correct—knowing this will minimize them.

He has actually been trying too hard on the dream book—his mental set. The spontaneous attitude of a joyful endeavor will release him here. His attitude has been “I have to start my dream book.” Tell him that his dream book will start itself if he leaves himself alone. The attitude has impeded his dream experiences also.

Some of all the difficulty in the past few years has been the result, simply, of Ruburt’s coming to maturity, and the episode could have been far worse. His system now has more than stabilized, and is now in the process of complete recovery. Therefore I want him to understand how best to help himself along by letting himself alone.

When he allows himself spontaneity his true vitality returns, and the feeling of joy, active joy, that he has so often missed. My word to him now then, for the 100th time—but now he will take it—is to allow himself spontaneity on a daily basis, the feeling of playfulness. A clue incidentally that his vitality is returning: he has not been nearly so tempted to nap, particularly in the afternoon.

Now. We hope to do more along those lines, for even though (smile) I am doing my own book, I will help Ruburt on his, and he could use a few projection episodes during sessions. (Humorous and emphatic.) It was also a way of getting him out of the way the other evening, so that I could work in peace on my book. It was rather a displacement of consciousness rather than a projection, for his consciousness was in a trance state, and then displaced to the bookcase area. (About six feet away.)

Now the last time I told you that a period of excellent improvement could be expected in his condition, it followed. Do you remember?

He is to forget thinking of the dream book as something he must do. It will come from him naturally. He has been using the idea of the contract as a club, and this is why he has been so sensitive about it. The contract is his as naturally as the book is his.

Now the energy that I am using now is also being made available for Ruburt (louder), and now he is no longer afraid to use it joyfully, and it will straighten out his arms and release some of the crooked ideas that he has in that head of his.