“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

She was in her early thirties, with a good job, but she looked down on all of the other employees. Her marriage had ended in divorce before she moved here, and while she was always talking about getting married again, she had a great distrust of men. I think she really hated them. She didn’t think much better of women, yet at times she could be very warmhearted. She took a liking to Rob and myself, and often we would sit, she and I at this same table where I’m writing this book, and chat.

“If, on the other hand, under the same circumstances, you stop yourself and say gently to yourself, ‘He will begin to feel better now, or his drinking is temporary, and there is indeed hope here,’ then you have given him aid, for the suggestions will at least represent some small telepathic ammunition to help fight off the war of despondency.

We had a new student that evening, and someone made the remark that Seth could be quite stern. Now he said, jokingly, “I have been drastically maligned this evening, and so I come to show our new friend here that I am a jolly fellow. That, at least, was my initial intention. Now it has changed. For I must tell you again that the inner self, acting spontaneously, automatically shows the discipline that you do not as yet understand.”

Again, Seth stared at “the Dean,” but now he spoke to the others in the group. “In the spontaneous working of your nervous system, what do we find? We see here the head of ‘the Dean’ that rests upon his shoulders, and the intellect that demands discipline. And yet all of this rests upon the spontaneous workings of the inner self, and the nervous system of which the intellect knows little. And without that spontaneous discipline, there would be no ego to sit upon the shoulders and demand discipline. . . . Now that I have proven how jovial I am, you may all take a break.”

As you read this, think back to various illnesses you have had, and see how this applies. Here Seth discusses illness in its relationship not only to the surface personality but to our deepest biological frameworks. Seth had previously spoken about Sally’s (Jon’s wife’s) need to disassociate herself from her “sick” identity. Now he elaborated:

“All illness is momentarily accepted by the personality as a part of the self, and here lies its danger. It is not just symbolically accepted, and I am not speaking in symbolic terms. An impeding action such as an illness is quite literally accepted by the personality structure, and once this occurs, a conflict develops. The self does not want to give up a portion of itself, even while that portion may be painful or disadvantageous. There are many reasons behind this.

Now Seth comes to this point, very important in his theories: “This acquiescence to even painful stimuli is a basic part of the nature of consciousness. Action does not differentiate between pleasant, painful, or joyful stimuli. These distinctions come much later, and on another level [here Seth is considering personality as composed of energy or action].

Remember our friend who kept falling in love with men she couldn’t have? Finally she grew more and more morose, and attempted suicide several times. One night in her absence we had a session for her, and Seth’s advice here has important general implications.

“You cannot pervert them by trying to force them to serve purposes that you have set up as a condition of existence. You must live in the faith that your purpose is, and will be fulfilled, is being fulfilled. You must live in the faith that you have such a purpose and meaning, or you would not be here.

Here and on the following pages, Janes trance expressions and gestures change dramatically to those of Seth. (Rich Conz)

The Seth “apparition” as seen and sketched by William Cameron Macdonnel. The original drawings were done in blue ballpoint on separate sheets of paper, and here have been superimposed and traced in black to facilitate reproduction. The first drawing is in the upper left; note the obvious improvement in the later sketch.