“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(I made some notes during the session but they are incomplete because of Seth’s fast pace, the exchange of questions and data, etc. If a transcript is needed I will make one and insert it prior to this session. The session ended at midnight.

[...] I know him, and hence I have suggested the periods mentioned in our last session, with weeks set aside for sessions, and time off from them. He knew he was free to take time off at any time, but he was afraid that if he did so he might be deprived of the sessions entirely, and such is not the case.

There is no time when the sessions should be held merely from a sense of responsibility, and the sessions could not be held merely for that reason.

(Notes: Last night, Sunday, March 16, a rather long session was held for Dr. Subadh Roy, who is a professor of philosophy and comparative religion at Mansfield State Teacher’s College [PA]. [...]

(“I’ll tell you something,” Jane said as we sat for the session at 8:55. “I want to have a session, but ever since supper time I’ve had the greatest feelings of healing and relaxation—especially in my legs. [...] I want to have a book session, though.” [...]

(It had been snowing for several hours by the time the session was due. [...] I’d reread the material on myself in the deleted session for January 10, and plan to continue to do so. [...]

(The following material is from the 835th session. [...]

[...] Jane said just before the session began, “but I don’t know how long it’ll be.” [...]

It goes without saying that had Ruburt known beforehand the subject matter of the session, he would have blocked it. I certainly did not myself press for a session, though I was glad to be of help, as far as the personality about whose problems the session revolved.

It is reasonable, logical and even necessary at this time that you do not parade yourselves, giving sessions as one would put on a vaudeville act. Nevertheless when an honest request is made either to attend a session or to hold a session, and when you know that the person making such a request is sincere, and if other conditions are appropriate, then by all means it would behoove you to meet with the request.

[...] It might be added here that at the time of the visit of Jane’s father, on the night in question Jane had, as she was explaining some of the Seth material to her father and Midge, felt definite emotional “nudges” from Seth to hold a session, whereas upon the occasion of our visit with Bill and Ida in Rochester, she had not. Yet in the latter instance she had finally acceded to the lively curiosity, and because both of us felt this welcome, held the session. Neither of us seriously considered holding a session for Jane’s father and Midge, due to the turbulent circumstances.)

Our last session proved to be a most beneficial one. It was good for Ruburt’s confidence to hold a session away from home, and before people who though far from strangers, are nevertheless not closely associated in daily life.

(And what about the very first counterpart references in our sessions? In Chapter 1 of The Seth Material Jane described how we began these sessions [on December 2, 1963] through our use of the Ouija board. During the first three sessions the material came from a Frank Withers — who, it developed in the 4th session, was one of the “personality fragments” making up the Seth entity, or whole self. Just before Seth announced his presence to us in that same session, Frank Withers spelled out a remark through the board that meant little to Jane and me at the time: “One whole entity may need several manifestations, even at simultaneous so-called times.”

(Seth himself first used “counterpart” in the 6th session for December 11, 1963. [...] The newly begun sessions already contained a number of unfamiliar terms and ideas: In the 4th session three days earlier, for instance, Seth had just given us our entity names [Ruburt for Jane, Joseph for me], and touched upon the psychic links connecting the three of us. [...] For that matter, at the time we didn’t know whether or not the sessions would continue. [...]

6. Perhaps I should have briefly discussed it in Volume 1, but ever since Seth originally gave his “Joe, Jane, Jim, and Bob” material (as I call it) in the 683rd session, I’ve wondered about possible connections between the probabilities described in that session and our own reality: How much of our species’ distorted, intuitive knowledge of those probable realities may appear as myth and oddity in our camouflage universe? [...] Considering our personal lack of conscious knowledge about androgyny and such related concepts at the time, Jane and I think it most interesting that Seth came through with that particular material in the 683rd session.

(Now I’d like to present a batch of notes, ideas, and excerpts from sessions about reincarnation, counterparts, and related data, pulling them together into a coherent picture. Although reincarnation and its variations has been discussed by Seth almost from the very beginning of our sessions, the subject didn’t represent one of our own main concerns. [...]

(As far as I can remember, this will be the first time that we held two separate sessions during the same day—if one develops now. [...] I got there at 8:22, after finishing a page of typing from Sunday afternoon’s session. [...]

(Jane’s delivery had been sporadic in an odd way, her Seth voice subdued, making me feel that she could lose the session at any moment by slipping off into sleep. She put her glasses on, telling me that she’d felt my concern during the session. [...]

(8:46.) In many instances, you “get the session” whether or not it seems to you (much louder suddenly) that it has any important material at all. Some sessions, therefore, are their own effect. [...]

(“That wouldn’t keep you awake any more than trying to have a session,” I said. [...]

[...] Jane was not as well dissociated as she has been in recent sessions. Toward the end of the session she received a feeling, a concept, from Seth to the effect that she shouldn’t feel bad at the short session. [...]

[...] See the 103rd session. [...] See the 130th session.

(Jane did not feel overly tired as session time approached. [...] Once again we held the session in our small back room, and Jane spoke sitting down and with her eyes closed. [...]

[...] However, even the action of speaking for me this session is beneficial, as far as he is concerned. That is why I held the session to begin with.

[...] There are certain sessions I’ve labelled ‘fill-in’ sessions in my mind for some time now, or thought of them as covering ‘floating material.’ They aren’t book sessions or specifically personal ones. They keep the sessions going over periods of time. Like maintenance sessions, but usually by discussing past material — connecting it with the present [‘connective sessions’ is more like it] — while not necessarily adding new thrust. [...]

(During her mid-morning exercise-and-rest break today, I asked Jane if she had any idea why Seth had come through with the material he’d given us in last Monday evening’s session. [...] Then: “Well, I don’t tell you everything, but for some time now I’ve known Seth gives what I call ‘fill-in’ sessions, or ‘floating material’— stuff he could give any time. [...] They’re like ‘maintenance sessions.’ It’s good material, all right, but. [...]

(After the session I reminded Jane that she’d just given a terrific session — something that no one else could do — but that she didn’t give herself much credit for it. My remarks came about because as she sat on the couch after the session she said that she hadn’t done anything today “… but sleep and lay around. [...]

(“I think such connective sessions happen between book sessions, for a change of pace — where material doesn’t have to fit a more concentrated overall book focus. [...]

(Seth has discussed dreams to some extent in many sessions; too many to list here. He was discussing nightmares as far back as the 15th session, dream locations in the 44th session among others, the layers of the subconscious and dreams in the 92nd session. For a few examples of the manner in which Seth interprets dreams, see the 85th, 93rd and 94th sessions. See the 151st session for material on dreams, moment points and time, the 162nd for dreams and the electrical field, the 164th for dreams and impeding actions.

(The above paragraph brings to mind the fact that Seth discussed a dream of Bill Macdonnel’s during the 84th session; Bill witnessed the session, and afterwards told us he had no conscious memory of the dream, which had taken place a few days before the session according to Seth. [...]

(This evening’s session was held in our small back room, and was very peaceful and quiet. [...] Her voice was quiet and she used pauses for the first time in quite a few sessions.)

(The word fragment was first used in the 4th session, Volume 1, page 22, by Frank Watts. [...] The word compartment had been used in the third session, with a similar meaning.)

(Jane also said she likes my word, “dehypnosis,” which I’d mentioned in the last session. [...] I also went over the two previous sessions in this new batch with her. Her eating had improved considerably also since the sessions began, although I’ve seen indications of this before the sessions started. She finally managed to read portions of yesterday’s session, on a second try. [...]

(At 2:45 PM Jane tried to read the typed session from yesterday, but couldn’t, in spite of her struggles. I was upset, thinking that if she couldn’t read it would be a great handicap, especially since we’d started up the sessions again. She asked me to read the session to her, saying that she’d try again later to read it. [...]

[...] This was a most heartening development, and evidently directly related to the onset of the sessions, and our learning and healing processes.

(Even though she said she wanted to try for a session, later in the afternoon, when she started in Jane caught me by surprise. [...]

It might be interesting to note that with the rather generous average of 3 hours per session, for 43 sessions, the material in this book was collected in about 129 hours. (This includes a few sessions other than the Seth material.) There are 168 hours in a week.

Unless otherwise indicated in the early sessions, the pointer gave yes and no answers by moving to the appropriate word printed on the board, rather than by spelling out the answer letter by letter. Also in the first few sessions the pointer very often indicated the word yes between each word of the message being received. [...] Everything else, misspellings included, is presented just as received, and is taken from my handwritten transcripts of the actual sessions.

From the very beginning we kept detailed notes of the sessions, even when we were writing down strings of meaningless letters. Early in November/63 we had several sessions in which we received only gibberish, and rather lost interest. [...] And from that session on the material began to flow.

This rather cumbersome method was greatly simplified as soon as Jane began to dictate the bulk of the sessions. For a time we needed the board to open and close the sessions, but now we do not require it at all. [...]

(“It came to me rather clearly just now that you don’t want to continue with the sessions anymore,” I said. [...] Every delay or missed session is a clue, for you never offer to make them up, nor have you for a long time now said let’s have a spontaneous session. [...] How far do you want to carry this business before we make some changes, like dispensing with the sessions and the psychic life?”

(I’m bypassing the lengthy notes I wrote prefacing this session in order to get the material typed up itself the next day so that Jane can begin studying it. The session itself indicates, of course, the nature of the notes. I’ll add them to the end of the session. [...]

[...] She’d told me a few minutes earlier that she wanted to have a session on herself tonight, and when I came out into the living room with my notebook I found her asleep for the second or third time since supper. The cigarette event was bad news, I saw at once, let alone Jane’s sleeping after stating that she wanted the session. [...] A long cone of ashes fell onto her lap while I wondered what to do about the session. [...]

[...] Don’t have Seth tell me in the sessions that you’re working out problems and that we’ll soon see improvements, because it doesn’t happen. [...] I’m on the point—I’m very close—to telling you that I’ll refuse to cooperate on the sessions any longer, meaning that I’ll be trying once more to save you from disaster. You’ll end up talking to the wall if you want to have a session, or into a recorder if you can learn to do it. [...]

(The 18th envelope test was held during the session. The test object is simply a drawing in black ink of the same symbol used in the first envelope test, of August 18,1965, in the 179th session. See that session for an explanation of the personal meaning this symbol has for us. [...]

(Before tonight’s session Jane and I were discussing ways and means of taking her blood pressure, her weight and various other measurements of a physiological nature before, during and after sessions. Seth referred to this in the last session briefly. [...]

[...] You see here that if temperature and pulse is noted before sessions, you may find a correlation that exists between these and specific instances of clairvoyance as demonstrated during a given session, and another given session. [...]

(Jane has decided that she smokes too much during sessions; as a result she did not smoke while dictating this evening, but did light up at breaks. The session was held in our back room, and was a quiet one. [...]

[...] We agreed that from now on the sessions, and Jane’s own sessions, will have to come first in our lives, even before books or deadlines, so we take it from there. “Boy, it sure seems like a strange night to me,” Jane said as we sat waiting for a session at the card table at 8:27. [...] “What if I try to have the session and nothing happens?” she asked. [...] Part of the reason we both felt better was that we had made some decisions that offered hope: the food therapy, the sessions, etc. [...]

[...] This was to be our first session since June 7, 1982. [...] I may add some of that material at the end of the session. I’ve just reread the last session, as has Jane, and will merely note here that I agree with much of it, especially with what I said in the notes —yet, rereading them, I can see how our attitudes brought about that material and its consequences. [...]

[...] It’s interesting to note that after last June’s session Rusty and Hal had also visited us, and he had done the same thing for Jane then. [...] So they showed up today as we decided to resume sessions. [...]

It took Ruburt some time to establish a certain kind of “equilibrium” for this evening’s session, but there will be no future difficulties in that direction. I am pleased, myself, that you indeed consider a return to the sessions. [...]

[...] It’s with much feeling indeed that I try to write briefly about the 16 private or “deleted” Seth sessions, ranging from numbers 367 to 387, that aren’t included in this Volume 8 of The Early Sessions. This is the first group of full-length sessions to be omitted in all of the volumes of The Early Sessions so far. Jane held only five “regular” or public sessions while delivering this large group, and those five are presented in Volume 8.

Not that those personal sessions in Volume 7 represent the beginnings of Seth’s efforts—always with Jane’s and my permission, indeed encouragement—to offer his understandings of our challenges. Such material began to come through the Ouija board as mostly reincarnational data way back in the second session, for December 4, 1963. See Volume I of The Early Sessions. [...] Seth himself didn’t announce his presence to us most definitely until December 8, in the fourth session. [...]

In 10 of the sessions between the numbers 314 and 325 in Volume 7 we see how, with Jane’s need and consent, Seth was reaching into deeper, more penetrating material involving her conscious and unconscious lives. [...] (I’m correcting the page proofs for Volume 7 now.) We had never called those sessions in Volume 7 deleted, though, and I’m happy now to trust that they may help readers gain insight into some of their own challenges. [...] Rick has of course published the first six volumes of The Early Sessions.

For the most part over the six years and 510 sessions covered in The Early Sessions, from December 2, 1963 to January19, 1970, Jane spoke for Seth in her own creative yet also objective manner. [...]

(I asked Jane if she thought the sessions served as a balance to those sinful-self, very restrictive ideas — that when she gave up on the sessions that other self was free to exert its power and beliefs. [...] I added that the whole bit put me on the spot, and always had, because I was never sure whether to insist that she have the sessions, or forget them. [...] It even appears to me right now, at least, that that more damaging avoidance of sessions has had a very negative impact.

[...] Hidden within the sessions there is the splendid vitality of Father Trenton, his (Jane’s) mother, his neighbors and teachers — but beyond that the sessions connect and unite the annals of existence as he has experienced them, so that in speaking with my voice, and for me (quavering), he expresses the blessed vitality and acknowledgments of the universe, as even through the sessions the sweet universe acknowledges his own presence and being. [...]

(4:10.) To one extent or another, Ruburt then speaks in the sessions for all peoples, for the united psyches that overflow with thoughts and feelings that are registered by the wind, giving voice to the private, intimate, yet connected lives of men and women throughout the centuries — so that many people, listening to or reading the sessions, hear their own inner voices also, and feel the contours of their own natures, and universal nature as well.

(After lunch I read her the session for yesterday, after she’d been unable to read it with either pair of her glasses. [...]

(This is the shortest session to date. [...] At 8 PM Jane began to clean up after her baking marathon in the event there was a session, although she wasn’t sure there would be one. [...]

(The session was over in a minute or two. [...] The sensation passed as soon as the session ended.)

[...] The following is my reconstruction of the brief and somewhat enigmatic session.)

[...] Nevertheless you can use it, and we will go into this in sessions in the near future.

[...] (One of the points we discussed before the session.) Ruburt feels my presence now, and during many sessions, and he knows it well. [...] The help that the sessions afforded you has been given. [...]

[...] Much of what we talked about is developed in the brief session that followed. For the first time, however, Jane gave voice to some doubts about the sessions that I had not realized she entertained. [...]

(This session is deleted from the record.

(I did not expect a session to follow the discussion, but at 10:15 Jane announced she could hold one. [...]

(This was the first manifestation either of us had had of such a sign for many sessions. The 59th session furnishes an example of hand enlargement, which Seth labels as the attempt of the physical body to expand in rhythm with psychic, or inner, expansion. See the detailed measurement data in the 55th session also. As in the past, Jane’s sensation began to diminish as soon as the session ended; by the time I looked at her hand I could not see anything out of the ordinary.

(Seth’s remarks about the recorder point up the reason we do not use it to routinely record the sessions for later transcription. Not only would I sit through the session with Jane even though we were recording, but in doing the transcription I would have to expend an equal amount of time listening to the session again, plus the time necessary for typing, and starting and stopping many times.)

(Offhand, I do not recall any instance where Seth has eliminated a session entirely. But I can think of many instances where a succeeding session has been cut short in compensation.)

For reasons of convenience on your part, completely unscheduled sessions would not be practical. With your permission, we may attempt to take better advantage of such peaks of activity in the future, but if and when we do we will still maintain a general practice of not holding more than two sessions a week.

(The session was not held last night because of Tam Mossman’s visit.... I told Jane before the session that all day I’d been thinking that there was still a cause or causes for the symptoms that we didn’t know, or hadn’t uncovered yet. Perhaps a relationship between the intent to publish the sessions, and the idea of exposure or threat for not “toeing the mark.” [...]

(I also asked Jane why she hadn’t done much about her eye condition since it began a year ago, other than an occasional pendulum question, or the sessions Seth had mentioned it in. [...] She added that it touched something within, leading to feelings of hopelessness—and that now she had to get out of them before she could have the session. [...]

(The next day, before I began typing this session, Jane outlined material she’d picked up about her eye condition this morning, evidently in response to the question of the night before. I don’t know it well enough to quote it here, but suggest that she write it up and add it to this session, for it sounded very good.)

Ten pages is too much to do in one session with the pendulum. Look at your questions as if you were asking them of a person, so that in one session do not act as if an answer given before has not been given. [...]

Seth devoted three full sessions and portions of two others to this Appendix. [...] Sessions 592 and 594 are particularly intriguing in that events occurring during the sessions highlighted and illustrated the dictated material.

We also added portions of six other sessions. Five are class sessions; one is included because it is relevant to the discussion on after-life organization in Chapter Nine. [...]

These sessions also show Seth as he relates to others in personal contact. [...] The sixth presentation is from a session held for a student in which Seth mentioned the Speakers for the first time.