“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(I finally decided that the best way to present the variety of material desired, whether from Seth, Jane, or myself, was in chronological order, letting a composite picture emerge as the work progresses. This system automatically makes room for any references in Volume 1. In actuality the chronology begins long before “Unknown” Reality was started, and continues well beyond the date of its ending, in April 1975. Since the excerpts are still more representative than complete, however, due to the accumulated mass of information available, my own choices enter in: ESP class data are quoted a number of times; included is material summarizing Jane’s own theories about the Seth phenomena, as she worked them out in her recently completed Adventures in Consciousness; but reincarnation, while mentioned often, isn’t stressed in terms of particulars — that is, I refer to Seth’s statements that he, Jane and I led closely involved lives in Denmark in the 1600’s, but those lives aren’t studied per se. Within our ordinary context of linear time I think of reincarnation, even though in Seth’s terms it’s really a simultaneous phenomenon, as being further away, or more removed, from us physical creatures than the more “immediate” psychic connections and mechanics I want to show as linking Seth, Jane, and myself. And also because of that sense of removal, Seth Two¹ is hardly mentioned at all.

(From the 119th session for January 6, 1965:) Ruburt should learn much of advantage from the book by Jung¹⁶ which he is reading. And I would like to mention here that I am not Jane’s animus … Nor could I possibly live up to Jane’s animus. I use the name “Jane” here rather than “Ruburt” because the animus belongs to Jane and to the present personality. Talk about reflections — because Ruburt has an anima!¹⁷

(The tests concerned two main approaches. The first, for our own study, was for Seth to describe objects thoroughly sealed in double envelopes; the envelopes were prepared [unknown to Jane, of course] by myself and by others. The second was for Seth to give long-distance impressions on a regular basis about the reality of an eminent, elderly psychologist at an Eastern university. We met “Dr. Instream,” as Jane called him in The Seth Material, but once, a few weeks after I’d written him in the spring of 1965 about Jane’s growing psychic abilities. Seth conducted 83 envelope tests for Jane and me, and within a concentrated period of nine months during that “year of testing,” gave impressions for Dr. Instream on 75 occasions; those I mailed to the doctor as they came through.¹⁸ Often both tests were held during each of our twice-weekly sessions.

(Now I’ll refer the reader to Chapter 20 of Jane’s The Seth Material. She called the chapter “Personal Evaluations — Who or What is Seth?” In it she made a number of excellent points concerning her relationship with Seth and Seth Two; for example: “If physical life evolves [in ordinary terms], why not consciousness itself?” The questions we had at the time can be found throughout the chapter. Indeed, we still have many of them — or, I should note, we’re still intrigued by the latest versions of those “old” questions, for like consciousness itself they’re endless in their ramifications. But here I want to call attention mainly to the excerpt in Chapter 20 that Jane presented from the 458th session for January 20, 1969. Seth discussed the psychological bridge Jane and he have created between themselves for purposes of communication; yet most of his material came through in response to my question about his availability to us. “We [Rob and I] both know that some sessions seem more ‘immediate’ than others, and now as Seth continued we saw why,” Jane wrote in Chapter 20. Seth, briefly, from the 458th session:)

(We read that in ordinary terms highly creative people [like Jane] usually generate large amounts of theta and low-alpha waves pretty constantly while doing their thing. [...] Nor at this time, given the minimum premise that Jane’s speaking for Seth constitutes any indication of “paranormal” activity, do we think that her performance could be identified as such per se on the graphs of her brain waves. [...] Presumably, however, when speaking for Seth, Jane would show definite changes in all frequency areas in both hemispheres, with the theta and delta ranges altered the most. [...]

[...] Jane and I have seldom been concerned with trying for strict definitions of qualities like “altered states of consciousness.” All of us experience such altered states of consciousness often throughout each day, so the phrase itself should hardly mean anything mysterious — even though others usually look at Jane or me questioningly if either of us uses it in conversation.

(Jane, for instance, hasn’t had her brain waves formally recorded by an EEG, or electroencephalograph. [...]

(Even if beta waves, then, seem to be the “official pulses” of our civilization [to use Seth’s phrase from a session that will be quoted in part below], still Jane and I wonder: When aren’t we actually in a state of altered consciousness? [...]

2. Seth didn’t quote Jane’s little poem exactly from 26 years ago, but paraphrased it. It’s called Echo, and Jane wrote it in 1948, when she was 19 years old. [...]

[...] When Jane and I received the transcript of his material at next week’s class, we saw that it ran to five single-spaced typewritten pages. [...]

[...] When Ruburt (as Seth calls Jane) was a young girl he wrote a poem in which he declares:

[...] Because of the individual freedom of creation implied in the city’s very existence, and in Jane’s early poem in Note 2, I’ll close this appendix with another of her verses. [...]

Perhaps it’s been remiss on our parts, but Jane and I haven’t concerned ourselves with any connections her Seth may have with ancient Seths. [...] We think the name of Jane’s Seth came about through much more pragmatic needs. In Chapter 1 of The Seth Material, Jane quoted Seth-to-be from the 4th session for December 8, 1963, as that personality came through on the Ouija board (which we’d used to initiate these sessions): “You may call me whatever you choose. [...] I’m sure that at the time Jane had no conscious knowledge about Egyptian, Hebrew, or even Christian origins or uses connected with the name, Seth.

[...] The 32 people crowded into  our living room enjoyed rich, active, loud, and even profane exchanges among themselves, with Jane, and with Seth. [...] As usual, Jane found herself learning along with her students. [...]

(I reminded Jane that during Monday’s session, the 710th, Seth had promised to “shortly explain” her hearing his booming voice in her sleep state last Saturday night. See Jane’s description of the event preceding that session.

(Jane also came through with material about Atlantis right after the 708th session was held, less than two weeks ago; see Appendix 14. [...] But it’s also quite interesting to note that on both occasions Jane tuned in to data on Atlantis within hours after Seth had discussed ideas involving alternate realities.)