“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(We sat for the usual Monday session last night, but I was so tired that it never developed.

First of all, you do not realize or appreciate our joint accomplishment to date in that regard. You have induced a reputable, well-known publishing firm to accept highly unconventional material. It was not delegated, if you will forgive me, to Parker’s “crackpot” catchall. Even in the beginning, in that regard, the work was appreciated. A difference was seen between it, and the catchall, do-it-yourself manuals.

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.

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.

Tam instantly saw the quality in our work, and Ruburt’s. In the beginning only his enthusiasm sold our first book. Prentice would have taken it had you allowed another writer to report the experience. Tam’s boss did go along with him, however. It was Tam who saw in Ruburt’s original manuscript the importance of his work, and the way in which Ruburt was trying to hide it by playing down his relationship with me.

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.

You are lucky that Bantam was unable to use the exorcist type of publicity—and that is their idea at this point of how to handle such unconventional material. Such publicity could be devastating.

Grace’s (Bechtold) visit was highly important from that viewpoint. If you were, or if Ruburt was, a conventional Philip Roth, a novelist, safely within that framework, or if he were willing to set himself up as an “occult” mistress of the spirit, then you would have publicity galore.

(Pause at 10:11.) You would not necessarily want to handle those results. You would not want to handle the phone calls, the interviews, so do not blame Prentice for not giving you what you do not want. If that was what you really wanted, you would have had it yesterday.

They knew they had something, but they had no idea of what it was—or how to handle it. In the beginning they did expect that you might pressure them —perhaps you were opportunists. They were highly impressed because you did not press for publicity. You were not publicity seekers, then. They have no idea of how many books they should have for advance printings—first printings.

Then however he was faced with habitual behavior. It took time from daily life to break the pattern even when he understood it, so often he went along on the one hand, while making half-assed efforts to free himself on the other.

(11:31.) The feeling of hopelessness resulted when he felt that perhaps he could not alter the pattern, that he had made his bed, as his mother used to say, and he must lie in it. A quite literal remark that was when his mother made it, for that is what she did.

Now. Some of this is related to organizations, and served as a method of protection. Ruburt wondered how far he should go in publicizing his work. Ads would mean requests to speak. He discovered that he was a good speaker. He could go out into the world, but he didn’t want to. Your remarks about his telephone behavior often reinforce his feelings that he could not say “no” without the symptoms to back him up.