“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(On Saturday evening, May 4, Jane briefly came through with some trance information of her own. At least Seth wasn’t overtly present. The last time she’d done this had been early on March 4; her material then was on parallel man, alternate man, and probable man; Seth mentioned it that same evening in the 687th session, and it furnished the basis for Section 2 of this volume. [The material itself is presented as Appendix 6.]

(It isn’t necessary to quote Jane’s delivery of Saturday evening, however. It came about because we’d been discussing our deceased parents and probabilities, in connection with the first two sessions [679–80] of “Unknown” Reality. To launch his book Seth had used a childhood photograph of each of us. The night before last, then, I told Jane about my idea of asking Seth to comment upon early photographs of her parents, Marie and Delmer,¹ to see what would develop in the material.

(We discussed the data given above as we waited for tonight’s session to begin. “Seth’s book reminds me of an old-fashioned diary,” I remarked, “but with a new twist — that of probabilities.” I continued that I was somewhat concerned because the notes for Unknown” Reality were running considerably longer than they had for either Seth Speaks or Personal Reality. Yet I felt there were reasons for this, and had chosen to go along. Jane agreed. She said the notes were intended to furnish a mundane account of our lives that would “parallel” Seth’s more complicated data on probabilities and other concepts. She thought he would have more to say on the subject of notes later in the book.

(“What we know of the species can be compared to what we know about ourselves as individuals. In one way both concepts are on the same level, and deal with realities in consecutive time sequences. The individual, like the species, exists in multidimensional terms; and hovers around focuses of probabilities, weaving in and out of alternate realities constantly.

(“In the same way, a ‘picture’ of the species represents only one version of the species, ‘snapped’ in a particular time sequence, valid because of the invisible realities not focused upon, but upon which reality rides.”

(In a few moments Jane left her altered state of consciousness. “I don’t know where that came from,” she said, laughing, “but anything you want to know, just ask …” At this time we’re content to keep a record of such instances while “Unknown” Reality grows. Echoes of Saturday night’s experience do show up in tonight’s session, although it doesn’t appear that the material will have the long-range effects of Jane’s March 4 delivery.

(9:40.) We have been speaking about probable men, and do intend to deal more deeply with probable man [or woman], as that is applied to your species. The events of the species begin with the individual, however. All of the powers, abilities, and characteristics inherent in the species are inherent in any individual member of it. Through understanding your own unknown reality, therefore, you can learn much about the unknown reality of the species.

Now: Look up. The picture, the photograph, is but one small object in the entire range of your vision. You are not only outside yourself in the photograph, but now it represents only a small portion of your reality. Yet the photograph remains inviolate within its own framework; you cannot alter the position of one object within it. If you destroy the photograph itself, you can in no way destroy the reality that was behind it. You cannot, for instance, kill the tree that may be depicted in the picture.

The person within the photograph is beyond your reach. The you that you are can make any changes you want to in your experience: You can change probabilities for your own purposes, but you cannot change the courses of other probable selves that have gone their own ways. All probable selves are connected. They each influence one another. There is a natural interaction, but no coercion. Each probable self has its own free will and uniqueness. You can change your own experience in the probability you know — which itself rides upon infinite other probabilities. You can bring into your own experience any number of probable events, but you cannot deny the probable experience of another portion of your reality. That is, you cannot annihilate it.

As you are looking at one photograph in your personal history, that represents your emergence in this particular reality — or the reality that was accepted as official at the time it was taken — so you are looking at a picture of a representative of your species, caught in a particular moment of probability. That species has as many offshoots and developments as you have privately. As there are probable selves in private terms, there are probable selves in terms of the species. As you have your recognized, official personal past, so in your system of actuality you have more or less accepted an official mass history (see Note 2). Under examination, however, that history of the species shows many gaps and discrepancies, and it leaves many questions to be answered.