“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(At my urging we sat for the session at the card table at 2:25 PM. Just as we did the phone rang. It was David Butts again—telling me that since our talk last week he’s been free of the rather obsessive thinking about sending and receiving telepathic messages involving a certain female comedy star who appears on a late-night TV show. [He wouldn’t tell me who the personality is.] I’m David’s uncle.

(In our first talk I’d suggested to David that he write us a letter describing his attraction to this woman, and he called today to say that he was mailing such a missive, after rewriting it a couple of times. I’d thought the letter idea might help him put the whole affair, which he says has gone on for three years, in better perspective. I’d explained that I thought the personality was a symbol to him, of what I couldn’t be sure quickly. He’d told me that the fixation, or whatever, had gotten worse lately, and that he’d had strange palpitations and breathing difficulties when he began to think of her. He hadn’t been able to just shake off the feelings involved.

(Something had helped recently, though. I’d also suggested he return to playing the guitar, in the event the affair represented yearnings toward music or show business that he might have suppressed. He hasn’t gotten a guitar yet—he’d sold the old one years ago, thinking he’d never be good enough to become a professional. I’d said it could still be a worthwhile activity, and he’d agreed to get another instrument as soon as he got some money. At the moment he’s unemployed.

(David has told his parents of his yearnings toward this person, he said, and his father responded by telling him it was “all in his head.” Naturally, I had no idea whether telepathy was involved, but had attempted during the first call to explain our ideas of such possibilities. I doubted it in this particular case.

(I’d meant to write up a more detailed account of what is really an interesting case, but had become sidetracked by the Fred Conyers experience, work, and other things to do. I’d even forgotten I’d told David to write. I was a bit surprised to hear he’d been so free of the feelings so quickly after our talk. I’d immediately suspected that he called us because he needed help that he wasn’t getting from his parents, but didn’t say this to him. I did downplay the telepathy ideas, however, thinking it was much better that he solve the puzzle through ordinary channels and approaches.

(At the same time, I’d been a little concerned to learn of the affair lasting for three years, because that gave something plenty of time to become well entrenched. I didn’t really know whether his attraction to the woman involved had become obsessive, but did think elements of such a state were possibly involved. “Hell,” I’d said to Jane, “you don’t know what to say these days. You hear about something like that and right away you think of John Hinckley and Jodie Foster.” She had agreed. We await David’s letter. I should add that David said the feelings of panic—if that’s what they are—had gotten bad enough lately so that he’d stopped watching the woman involved on television.

(A couple of days ago Jane received from Tam a letter written to Tam by Saul Cohen, the editor at Prentice-Hall who’s evidently been assigned to shepherd Jane’s work through production. [Tam is still her regular editor.] In the letter Cohen had good things to say about her work, and the chances that Prentice-Hall will publish Seven III, the first five chapters of which Tam has forwarded to Prentice-Hall. There seems to be a chance also of trying to get Prentice-Hall to publish the three Seven books in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions, if we interpret the letter correctly. Anyhow, the letter engendered immediate reactions in Jane of a very positive nature. Note: Cohen’s letter is dated October 13—yet according to Tam’s note on it, and postmark, he didn’t receive it until October 21—8 days later.

This may take us a while. Ruburt is having the session now because he wants to make sure he does not miss anything. As I told you last time, you have indeed turned a corner of probabilities into what can only be a new era—which you have, incidentally, prepared for yourselves, as within the integrity of your beings you came to your own decisions.

Ruburt’s interpretation of the letter is correct. Behind the importance of the letter as a triggering agent, however, there is, as he knows, much material still dealing with the so-called sinful-self material that I will be giving you shortly.

(“We’re all going to die,” I said, “so what we’re really talking about is how and when that death takes place.... If you, or anyone, chooses to extract the utmost from whatever experience is decided upon, then you have to go with that. But it’s also like saying that a doctor can’t help people with cancer unless he gets cancer himself, so that he really knows what it’s like. Somewhere along the line you have to decide upon a cutoff point—that is, all portions of the personality have to do that together, or the conscious self is dragged along unwilling to cooperate....”