“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(7:30 PM. I’m starting these notes in advance of tonight’s session without being really sure that Jane will hold one—although I think she plans to. Once again she slept several hours in the middle of the day. Right now she’s sitting on the couch, feeling quite relaxed after eating supper, watching the TV news. As for myself, I want to try to reconstruct our after-breakfast discussion of today.

(But with a new insight growing out of this month’s series of private sessions, I explained, I now felt that one could more directly get at the heart of one’s challenges, instead of trying to cajole the body into behaving differently—after all, the body’s condition was the result of certain ways of thinking, not the cause of the trouble. In addition, it was obvious that the body hadn’t responded to those habitual suggestions over the years, so something else was needed. The cause of Jane’s symptoms is her fear of the spontaneous self—that is the area that needs treatment. One might better address the fears of being the public person, for example, rather than trying to futilely patch up a body that was only faithfully following mirroring habits of deep and long standing.

(“Insight, February 25, 1981, 1:20 PM. Although Jane enjoys the sessions, as Seth himself said in the session for February 1, 1981 She is still somewhat afraid of what he will produce in the future—new theories and ideas that either might or will place her in further confrontation with the major tenets of our ordinary world—meaning science, religion, medicine, history, whatever. She fears then, Seth going too far as an expression of her creative and spontaneous self. This expression then must be kept within strict, safe limits. This fear of future developments ties in very well with her natural concerns about becoming a public figure, one that should be able to solve the world’s problems. Once more, I know I’m on to something here, while agreeing in advance that I’ve expressed the insight in simplistic terms.”

(“The insight also reminds me of one of my questions for Seth: I plan to ask him for hints about what sort of ideas he would advance if he’s given the freedom to do so by Jane. He’s already alluded to this notion through a rather recent reference to the fact that he “toned down” some of his material for Mass Events in order to make it more acceptable. I now wish I’d asked him at the time, acceptable to whom? Jane and me, Prentice-Hall, the world, critics, the post office?”

(Jane called me for the session at 8:25. “I don’t feel Seth around and I don’t feel like a session,” she said, “but I guess I’d better....” We sat waiting for some time. I showed her my rough notes on the latest insight, and took pains to explain to her that it wasn’t a negative statement, but one that I saw as having only beneficial connotations. “What I think would happen if Seth were free to do anything he wanted to, would be great,” I said. “Whether it was ever published or not. We can talk about it later.” We agreed the insight represented something of a new idea.

It often seems to him that to relax is to be lax, to let down, do nothing, achieve nothing, as if spontaneously left alone he would be lazy, unambitious, and again lax. He has those feelings and fears. (Pause.) At the same time there are feelings that to relax would be to let go too much (louder)—slide into overly spontaneous behavior, to lack control over one’s life, to lose the observer’s fine focus. As his body begins to relax—as indeed it has—those feelings become more prominent than before. Under the circumstances he is handling them rather well.

As far as physical therapy is concerned, if you gave hot water packs—plain towels, or Frank’s gadget—either one—the same or even half the attention you gave the cold water baths, this would now be of excellent immediate benefit. There are reasons why the body might at one time respond to the cold, then the hot water.

I admit that it is somehow sometimes difficult to attain proper balance, so that you are not concentrating upon the problem exclusively again. Those early autumn sessions, and the late summer ones, are of help here to balance what we are doing now, for they remind Ruburt of the magical framework and its operation, and assure him that relaxation is one of the best methods that release Framework 2 and its creativity.

(Pause at 9:32.) The particular paper of suggestions—he will know what I mean—does contain a good variety of suggestions for him, couched in terms that are highly beneficial. Again, certain suggestions couched one way will work at one time, according to the circumstances, while the same group may be rather adverse to fit other circumstances. Overall suggestions do of course give excellent leeway, so that the pressure can be taken off any specific areas of overconcern.

I am trying to hit all important points. (Pause.) I will in time, along with your questions, give some material, again, on Ruburt’s attitudes toward both of his parents as these relate to his difficulties. For now, however, I will bring the session to a close, though he may hold brief spontaneous sessions, you know, at other nights than our usual ones. I bid you a fond good evening.

(Actually it’s Friday night as I finish this typing, and I read the untyped portions of the session to Jane each morning as I had it in progress. It has been a lot of help. She’s sleeping better, and yet is still uncomfortable on her bottom and legs. The fears continue to surface. I’d say she’s doing very well, and it seems that this time we are really making progress. Another brief insight came to me yesterday, which I told her about: simply that she’d given up her own volition to one part of her personality. I mentioned it because she discussed the question of volition in God of Jane; she thought the insight made sense.)