“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(At a quick scan I thought the ideas answered all the questions we’d had about the symptoms over the years—explaining, for instance, their onset before the psychic developments, etc. They seemed to offer a unified theory to cover the years of our marriage, and even Jane’s childhood. I saw at once that if valid they also meant Jane must shelve her projected book, Adventures in Consciousness, and concentrate on things like Rich Bed, the Dialogues (poetry), and, perhaps, let Seth do his own thing in sessions. If this included writing books, okay. But crisis time was here, and something had to be done. I was somewhat puzzled that I hadn’t asked my pendulum this specific set of questions before—or had I? If I had, perhaps I hadn’t understood the answers, I thought; because certainly no action had been taken because of them, along the lines now contemplated....

It had a psychic basis. Tam wanted another psychic book. Ruburt objected enough to refuse to do a series like the Cayce books, but tried to compromise with the Dream/Seth book, which also involved him with the typing of records. You needed the money, he felt.

He tried to do a narrative, and use for example descriptive abilities—a valiant attempt to do two different things in one book. Before all of this, as the very first symptoms began, before the ESP book, he was already deeply frightened by the novel rejections, the Playboy rejections after they raised his hopes, the poetry book acceptance that fell through with Continental, and what he felt to be your joint deteriorating relationship.

You were involved in his attitudes. He felt (long pause at 9 PM) that he had no right to try to do “creative” (in quotes) work that might not pay. He felt also that you were jealous of his own writing, but not of the psychic work, this being further in the past.

Do you want a break?

You do not have to take notes here. I am trying to bring you up to date consecutively, and interwind all events so that you can follow. (Seth added by way of explanation, etc.

Now. Last summer, or rather the one before the flood (in June 1972) improvements were obvious (in 1971). The reasons you should know. The pressure of the dream book was gone. He was not doing something he did not want to do. The move (across the hall into our second apartment) meant mobility. Your relationship began to improve to an important degree.

Now, the stairs represent going up and down on a treadmill, and getting nowhere. He seemed unable to move in any direction. This had to do with your apartment, which actually suited him fine for some time. But other dissatisfactions not faced were projected there also, and exaggerated, while there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.

As you suspect, there is no conflict between the psychic and creative with him, but he did fear from the beginning that his own work would be swallowed. This has not proven true, for many reasons, some having to do with development.

(“What do you mean—a few weeks, a few months, or what?” I’d thought we would soon be moving.)

There are unknown dimensions then to his own work that will begin to materialize, and that would be buried had he continued to produce simply what he thought he should produce. And now do you have questions?

They do indeed, but transformations in them would occur. Your lack of communication was important, and aggravated the problem.

Because neither of you were willing to take the chance earlier, nor did you feel financially secure enough to do so. You were both willing to put up with the situation. The idea of physically moving automatically brought these issues into the light, and you helped Ruburt immensely. He would never have tried completely to write the book, but he could have struggled nearly halfway through—

I do indeed. But both of you had to acquiesce, you see, or for him it would not have worked.

Do you have any questions?

(Jane wrote Eleanor today; it will be mailed tomorrow. I have obtained the paint to do her workroom. Tomorrow Jane calls the paper to place our ad about a house. We have made a list of important items to carry out as soon as possible re these sessions, our ideas, etc.