“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Castaneda’s books, for all their seeming unconventionality, had a niche to fall into, for here was the quite conventional scholar exploring a culture, even of the mind; not his own—but safely, within an academic framework to which he then returned, and to which academic readers could identify. Castaneda had his society’s credentials ahead of time. That society could then accept his journeys, and the individuals could allow themselves to follow his adventures, and forgive him for his cultural transgression because he brought home goodies.

(Pause at 9:37.) Give us a moment.... The point, however, was always made that Don Juan’s inner culture was alien—natural perhaps to Don Juan, but not to Castaneda or to the reader.

Castaneda could report. Other so-called psychic books of current nature are reported also, but usually by someone even further removed from the original experiences. A writer, free-lance, will do the life story of so-and-so, because the “psychic” himself is considered too erratic, too out of it, and too untrustworthy to honestly record his own experience.

Both varieties of books allow the reader a built-in distance that provides a cushion against cultural shock: the story is, after all, secondhand. Castaneda told his own story, but it was still secondhand, because his own opaqueness added the necessary distance that protected the reader.

Publishers deal with the culture that you know, with people who follow it. Prentice does not understand why the books have sold. Castaneda does not become Don Juan. He holds himself clearly apart from the reality he explores. If our material was not excellent it might have found its way to some spooky underground publisher.

(Jane, as Seth, paused. As I commented after the session, it seems that we’ll have to pull in our horns as far as our feelings about advertising and Prentice are concerned; it may be a relief to do just that. But I think that Seth’s material here is the best we could possibly come across on our publisher, Castaneda, etc., and I’m sure that Jane will agree.