“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(3:14. She then tried to read the fan letter about the “nightshade” diet, but didn’t do well even though it was typed. I read the last page to her myself. I repeated that I wanted Seth to comment on the question of diets and treatments for ailments. We had an interesting talk, and I made some very good points—wish I had them written down. My main point was that by displacing the cause of their troubles outside themselves, the patient freed himself or herself of guilt and responsibility for their own welfare. It made me wonder just how many ills are treated in this way, with the “cure” being given to the patient through conventional treatment, where if the patient understood what mechanisms were operating within, the cure could be attained without medical intervention.

(Pause.) Concerning the diet: you already realize what the situation is. If you firmly believe that certain items in a diet will cause you distress, then of course they will—and avoiding the same items will bring relief.

Such diets may work. Just the relief from guilt feelings alone would result in an upsurge of bodily health and enthusiasm. Everyone reacts to food differently. Even while it carries a great resemblance to any other physical body, still a body’s own individualistic characteristics are such that for all the likenesses to other bodies, few generalizations can be safely made.

Ruburt felt some dismay when you told him of the letter about the diet because he felt momentarily threatened—attracted to the diet, and suspicious of it at the same time. It seemed to be just like one of the many so-called cures that raised hopes only to dash them.

Again, according to your belief structure, such diets can be extremely beneficial, particularly in the short run—but if the person involved forever places—

—their belief in such exterior conditions, then they will feel themselves to be victims, and the charm of the diet may begin to lose its strength. Or they must become more and more rigorous in following it, or they may discover that more and more foods seem to cause their distress.