“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(We were discussing the letter and half-facetiously wondering whether Seth might respond in any way, when Jane suddenly told me that she was picking up material on the “essence” of William James. Because of his own persistent melancholy, she said, James had been able to understand others with the same kind of disposition. As she continued to give her impressions, though, I wondered: Why James? He wasn’t mentioned in the psychologist’s letter, for instance. Why this picking up on, and identifying with, a famous dead personality? Most likely my own interest in James’s work exerted some kind of influence upon Jane’s newly developing abilities, I thought; but still, that didn’t answer my questions.

(Idly now, not intending that Jane do any more work this evening, I read my question aloud. She raised a hand in dismay. “I’m tired,” she said, “but wait a minute — I’ve got the answer. Seth’s all ready. Get me a pack of cigarettes, and I’ll do it….”

(With a laugh: “Thank you very much” 12:19 A.M. And so it turned out that I brought up my questions about self-consciousness, and Seth answered them, when that material did fit.

6. Since William James died in 1910, this means that in our terms Jane picked up on his world view as it existed some 54 years after his physical death. We could easily ask Seth a dozen questions about the ideas he’s given in just this one paragraph of material. Very lengthy answers could result, leading to more queries. A book on world views could even develop. But the questions always pile up ahead of us; often they’re never voiced, no matter how interesting they may be. Whether Seth will ever deal with this latest batch, implied as they are, is very problematical.