“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The overly conscientious self is also deeply emotional, though in Ruburt it often hides under the guise of intellectualism. In one way the spontaneous self used the church as long as it could, as an outlet for its own rich emotional extension. The overly conscientious self fears to use the word of God, or the word God. Ruburt thinks this is because he is afraid of being made to feel a fool. In actuality the overly conscientious self has not been educated, and is deeply terrified that Ruburt is taking false gods.

The overly conscientious self defines good in rather narrow terms, and no effort has been made to reeducate it, or very little. Ruburt as a child was highly mystical, and also overly conscientious and overdemanding of himself, and afraid of his own spontaneity and natural appetites.

Some of the very attitudes considered good by the spontaneous self were diametrically opposed to the ideas of good held by the overly conscientious self. Writing had always united the personality. The direction of the writing changed, and this further seemed to threaten basic held inner beliefs of the overly conscientious self.

The overly conscientious self is afraid of emotion and display, and hence quite terrified of any ideas of communicating with survival personalities. The word God embarrasses it beyond measure, simply because the word no longer means what the overly conscientious self was taught to believe what it meant. It was not the Catholic God. It fears the taking of false gods, you see.

[...] The super-conscientious self represents the purposes to which these abilities will be put—how and when they shall be used. The super-conscientious self is the motivation power or purpose.

The energy of the overly conscientious self is as strong as that of the spontaneous self, hence the impasse that had been reached. [...]

The message (the contents of the last session, the 367th), so far has reached the super-conscientious self. [...]

You, as teacher in this love relationship now, can count oddly enough on the passivity of his nature, and play on this, for then assured, reassured, the super-conscientious self can allow the spontaneous self to emerge in the sex relationship.

[...] The anger, for there is anger, is against the overly conscientious self, and he should know this. [...] The affection without demand must first lull the overly conscientious self, for it needs to be quieted and relaxed.

[...] Finally we used her pendulum to learn that her overly conscientious self did not want a session this evening. [...]

[...] This will also get the overly conscientious self on your side. [...]

[...] The overly conscientious self was angry (today and tonight), and he projected this anger at you, so that he thought he was simply a bother to you, and of no benefit. [...]

This session you read (the 367th) applied mostly to Ruburt, yet you also have what I will call an overly conscientious self in battle with the spontaneous self (a fact I’m well aware of, and had discussed with Jane before tonight’s session). [...] Why not—since Ruburt was nicely expressing the overly conscientious selves of both of you?

[...] They are in a certain fashion overly conscientious, and they fear spontaneity lest it be less than perfect. [...]

[...] Ruburt’s spontaneous self was by far the most active, and so his defenses against it, as the overly conscientious self, were more obvious than yours.

[...] When you fell in love with Ruburt, a part of you was appalled, for it felt it must hold itself ever aloof—and in those days Ruburt’s spontaneous self often met a response from your overly conscientious self, so that you appeared cold to him, and in repelling his spontaneity you were of course frightened to reveal your own.

[...] I think the continual repressions over the years have let the conscientious self grow out of proportion. I think also that the conscientious-self or “it” made a creative advance on February 19 when it stated its tactics were bringing about the very thing it did not want—Jane’s inability to work in freedom. My thought at the moment is that more expression on Jane’s part will free the conscientious-self to perform its own balanced role, and to actually retreat in doing so. [...]

[...] I think though that this part of Jane’s personality would have spoken also, since the conscientious self had its say on February 17. Now that the conscientious and creative selves have spoken, probably Seth will speak next.

(This morning Jane got quite angry at her conscientious and creative self. [...] This morning she found herself rebelling against what she considered to be the conscientious self’s domineering tactics—work before anything else—etc. [...]

(I told Jane I think that if it is not fed a steady diet of repressed material—which it may not even want—the conscientious or creative self is perfectly capable of doing its job without excesses. [...] All of these ideas, I feel, evidently grow out of repressed, unexpressed fears that have built up over the years, and have been taken over, or dumped upon, the conscientious and/or creative self. [...]

Now: the overly conscientious self is opinionated, closed-minded, pedantic. [...]

It is possible to be opinionated at times, closed-minded, and pedantic, in good normal behavior—but when certain characteristics group together, then you have the formation of an overly-conscientious self, which acts in a repetitive manner, always showing these fairly rigid characteristics. [...]

[...] The conscientious self groups about ideas of right and wrong. [...]

[...] But the overly conscientious selves are not separate versions of you, really. [...]

The overly conscientious self also wants freedom of motion toward goals with which it agrees. [...]

The overly conscientious self is life-sustaining, however. [...]

The overly conscientious self has distrusted frivolity. [...]

[...] This will take care of any lingering doubts on the part of the overly conscientious self concerning the success implied in the Fell letter.

[...] The hidden and bedrock, latent, strong conscientious self then rose up and took over control, and would not give the spontaneous self then back any of the reins.

Now, the overly conscientious or disciplined self is letting go as the integration takes place. [...]

Some of the confusion was the result of Ruburt’s attitudes toward spontaneity and discipline, toward the spontaneous and strongly conscientious aspects of his personality.

He thought of the overly conscientious self as stern, good, boring, constricting and uncreative, but very safe. [...]

[...] Several portions of the personality have already helped in the release of repressed feelings; the conscientious self particularly, which was the greatest repressor. [...]

[...] In what has happened in the last few days, the conscientious self gave its consent to the release of various groups of thought and feeling it previously kept hidden.

[...] The sexual implications last evening, generally under several various areas of personality, could not have come into consciousness, for example, without the consent of the conscientious self, which says often “No work, no sex.” [...]

[...] To that degree and in the light of this discussion, you end up with what I will call —and have in the past called—the overly conscientious self, which attempts to deal with the attitudes of the Sinful Self by checking and double-checking all the time, by being, in other words, overly conscientious: is Ruburt dealing with “the truth,” and so forth? That kind of question is endlessly considered by the conscientious self. [...]

[...] It is the conscientious self, incidentally, who attaches the idea of good and bad to emotions. I suggest that in a joint pendulum session you address Ruburt’s conscientious self with this in mind.

(“In the light of the recent information, do you want to say something about the role of the conscientious self?”)

(In the terms of the overly conscientious self, Seth said in answer to my question.)

[...] Ruburt’s “overly conscientious self” was indeed built up in response to his belief that he was, to begin with, overly enthusiastic, overly impulsive, overly spontaneous. [...] He was creatively gifted—but an overly impulsive child does not care for an invalid mother, conscientiously, for 21 years.

[...] From the viewpoint of the concerned and conscientious ego-self, truly there appears to be great and disastrous evils that overflow like poison the cup of human existence.

When he sips of it, as you have sipped of it, and as all conscientious human beings sip of it, then indeed the taste is bitter. [...]

He did therefore develop a strong conscientious self, so that these abilities would be put to good purposes, and not frittered away. [...]

The overconscientious self therefore equates, you see, with Nebene’s over-conscientious self in other areas. [...]

[...] The conscientious self becomes much more pleased as time goes on and others are helped.

[...] We’ve learned that Dr. K. is an extremely conscientious person, but our way of thinking is quite outside of hers. The nurses told us she’d called several times the night Jane was admitted, and that she had the reputation of being very caring and conscientious—qualities we can certainly admire and respect. [...]

[...] While they still allowed him to pursue those activities in which he was interested, the conscientious nature, the questioning mind that led him to investigate psychic realities, and that led him to learn so much, did not change overnight. [...]

In that regard he becomes overly conscientious. [...]

[...] I use terms like the overly conscientious self to help you. [...]