“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(2. Much of Jane’s trance material on how individuals use dreams personally came through in answer to a question of mine that we’d often speculated about lately: If most people do not remember their dreams most of the time, of what use can their dreams be to them? The question was really based upon our belief, indeed our certainty, that everything in nature is intentional and useful; therefore dreams must fulfill important roles in peoples’ lives—but how, in ordinary terms? Here are quotations from the answers Jane gave while in trance:

“Even if you don’t consciously remember your dreams, you do get the message. Part of it will appear in your daily experience in one way or another—in your conversation or daily events.”

“You might dream of going away on a long trip by car, only to find that a tire blew when you were driving too fast. You may never remember the dream. One way or another, however, you will hit upon some kind of situation—a portion of a TV drama, perhaps—in which a tire is blown; or you will see an item of that nature in the newspaper, or you will hear a story, told directly or indirectly about the same kind of dilemma. The magnitude of the physical stimuli with which you are surrounded makes it possible, of course, for any number of like situations to come to your physical attention during any given day. Even then, you might not recall the dream, but the situation itself as it comes to your attention might make you check your tires, decide to put off your trip, or instead lead you to inner speculations about whether you are going too fast in a certain direction for your own good at this time. But you will get the dream’s message.”

(Rather often lately we’ve speculated about why most people don’t remember their dreams. And if they don’t, how can they make use of them? Since we certainly think nature has given our species—and probably most others—a dream life for a reason, we take it for granted that the dream material is put to good use in ways we may not understand. Dreaming could hardly be a useless creation on nature’s part. Nor did we want to wait for science or psychology to explain dreams, since here we were having them all of the time. All of the material referred to in these notes, then, came together and furnished a foundation for the session to follow.)

Even if you don’t consciously remember your dreams, you do get the message. Part of it will appear in your daily experience in one way or another—in your conversation or daily events. Our discussion about the Gallaghers not liking animals—really not liking them, was the exterior part of the dream (of March 31, involving the dogs). It brought up the same kind of questions, and Bill was in the dream (on March 29) before the one of the animals.

In the past, if people didn’t remember their dreams, they’d project their dream events upon natural events, or read objective events as symbols that would actually express the dream itself. Now, even though people might forget their dreams, they often react to certain portions of TV dramas, or events that correlate with the dreams of the night before.

(Laughing:) I’m just getting some more. When you do remember your dreams, it can be quite effective to talk mentally with any of the dream images that are distressed or in difficulties, to bolster their courage or whatever, as you would bolster the courage of children for in a way these dream images are mental children.

It seems that your dreams are ineffective or unknown to you, or poorly realized, if you don’t remember them. Or having remembered them you can’t interpret them properly, meaning that in your terms you can’t make sense of the dream message.

You might dream, for example, of going away on a long trip by car, only to find that there were difficulties and a tire blew when you were driving too fast. You may never remember the dream. One way or another, however, you will hit upon some kind of situation—a portion of a TV situation—in which a tire is blown. Or you will see an item of that nature in the newspaper, or you will hear a story, told directly or indirectly about the same kind of dilemma. The magnitude of the physical stimuli with which you are surrounded, makes it possible, of course, for any number of like situations to come to your physical attention during any given day. Even then, you might not recall the dream, but the situation itself as it comes to your attention might make you check your tires, decide to put off your trip, or instead lead you to inner speculations about whether you are going too fast in a certain direction for your own good at this time. But you will get the dream’s message.

(“I remember he—Seth—even helped me out with stuff on the Christ drama in there,” Jane said. “Oh-oh, there’s more—” and she went back into “her” trance almost at once.)