“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The consciousness of each reader of this book existed before the universe was formed—in parentheses: (in your terms)—but that consciousness was unmanifest. Your closest approximation—and it is an approximation only—of the state of being that existed before the universe was formed is the dream state. [...]

(10:02 P.M. “That was short, but I don’t care,” Jane said right after coming out of her trance state. “I thought that was what there was tonight. [...]

(Jane was rather relaxed tonight—again—but decided to try for the session. [...]

[...] Either God “made it,” or physical matter, in some unexplained manner, was formed after an initial explosion of energy, and consciousness emerged from that initially dead matter in a way yet to be explained.

[...] She was pleased—with your talent, per se, but she was jealous of you. [...] You were told in so many words that it was selfish of you to spend so much time by yourself, for often even when you were with Loren (my younger brother), for example, you carried a circle of your own intent about you.

[...] He was used to that. [...] Before, there was a sinus drainage backup or buildup, caused by tension. [...] This was more or less equally deposited in the head area, and tissues of the face.

[...] You would be if the rest of the week were cleared—and it would be cleared if you realized that what was involved was simply a matter of your own quite natural working habits and convenience, and made it clear that people were welcome at another time.

[...] In the past you felt and believed that this was not possible, and so your attempts failed, largely because you were afraid—overly afraid —of hurting other peoples’ feelings, and somewhat afraid that your desire for solitude would cut you off too much from others.

It served to remind him what he was doing—but more, it allowed him to recognize the situation, which you saw clearly while for a time it was invisible to him.

The affair was important because it showed him that such techniques do work, and it is an excellent example of one of the most important ways you have of helping him. You did not lecture him, for example—simply stated your recognition of behavior that you knew he would not want to continue, and was trying to break.

[...] It was hardly a momentous affair, yet it meant that Ruburt could forget his physical problems to a considerable extent, stop worrying about whether he would have to go to the bathroom, or how to get there, or when people would leave so he could get there, and so the evening was effectively altered for the better.

[...] What I was actually doing was trying to point you toward Framework 2, where you do each have faith in the nature of ideas, suggestions, and achievement. [...]

[...] Jane said Seth was going strong tonight, and was apparently quite pleased. [...] She had been pacing very fast, but her voice was little stronger than usual.

[...] She was obviously tiring, and said she thought it was because Seth was giving us a lot of personal material. [...]

It was in the way and he kept waiting for the exact most favorable moment to dispense with it and speak for me, so that he actually became anxious. It was a necessity for you both in the beginning, however, and do not let it go—that is, do not return it. [...]

[...] As break ended I was asking Jane if it would be possible for her, when her ability to receive these concepts was more developed, to then write out what the concept consisted of. [...]

[...] She was done at 3:05 after a good read. [...] I was sleepy.

(Last night had been very cold, and it was still only 18 degrees when I left for 330 this noon. [...]

(Jane said Georgia Cecce was in to see her this morning, and to borrow another pack of cigarettes. [...]

[...] The pendulum told me I was fretting about losing time on Dreams.

(At around 9:15 PM I was in the living room talking to Jane about her book on ESP. [...]

[...] It was like an internal tingling or thrilling, a rich suffusing feeling. [...]

(Unlike last time I was not frightened. [...]

(Two similarities between this time and last time: Although other people weren’t present as they were before, tonight Jane and I were discussing others; and I was also sipping wine [again my first small glass] like before.)

In Ruburt’s case there was a build-up of tension. His response was to hide. The better known he became the greater the belief that he must protect himself, and the greater his feeling of unsafety, for now he became known in a world in which it was only safe to hide. [...]

[...] You did not know where the action was, so your idea about reality kept you in a state of fighting dragons. [...]

[...] You did feel that it was not safe to be an artist in your world. [...]

Not walking properly was an inappropriate defense mechanism no longer needed, a reaction in response to a program that made him feel unsafe.

[...] This automatically meant that emerging man, in that framework, must let go of a certain kind of animal comprehension that was extremely valuable overall, but could inhibit ego growth … For many centuries there was no clear-cut differentiation between various species of man and animal … There were also, of course, parallel developments in the emergence of physical man. [...] At the same time a great give-and-take was occurring at all levels — including vegetation, for example — so that together the creatures and the earth worked out the kind of stability best suited for the particular kind of developments that were to emerge.

(She added that her situation this evening was like the one mentioned by her in the material presented in Appendix 5. She was open to my suggestions: If I prompted her, she could go right into a session and get the information. [...]

[...] Then, as we made ready to retire, Jane announced that she was “getting” information on the subject of ancient man — but not necessarily from Seth. [...]

[...] “Well,” she commented, “I gave the material while I was in an altered state of consciousness, but I don’t know where it came from. [...]

I did not then distinguish as to whether or not, in this particular case, what you thought was true. It was true enough on certain levels. [...]

[...] Once again Jane was far-out, her eyes opening slowly. [...] She said that giving the material tonight was something like taking a test or examination, because Seth wanted her to give voice to his meaning as accurately as possible.

[...] Her voice was average, her pace on the slow side.)

(Here Seth refers to the last session, and the confusing envelope data in which Seth told us, in error, that certain data pertaining to a medical building was correct. [...]

Though Ruburt was a good-looking young woman, with much vitality, he had no children, and indeed had been determined not to, for writing was the overwhelming interest in his life. [...] Though you were in your thirties, you had not married, and your sex life was rather controlled. [...]

All of this meant he was left with body beliefs, so that he believed his body could not respond normally. Again, the evidence gave seeming confirmation, so that his confidence in his body was lessened. You both used his condition as an excuse for not doing certain things because you believed an excuse was necessary.

[...] This noon she’d made a very revealing remark, to the effect that her being out of condition was of service to me, also. [...]

If you doubted yourselves and feared for the basic goodness of your beings, Ruburt far more than you, then this doubt was still relative and not absolute. [...]

[...] A lack of understanding is behind the issue, of course, but the spontaneous self was also taken into consideration, so that inner mobility—the acceleration of ideas and experience—was allowed for. [...] It was a give-and-take situation; protection being used where it was felt it was needed.

[...] I could list many more, but probably won’t. I still don’t think Seth would want to spend much time discussing that old material in any detail, since he’s said many times that focusing on what was wrong in the past is negative and self-defeating. [...]

[...] It was loose.)

Now: it is fruitless to go back to old sessions seeking to find out what is wrong, or what was wrong and self-defeating. [...]

[...] It was carried to such an extreme finally that often, at least, his best creativity came after hours. [...] For both of you however, you must understand that work was the rule for a long time.

[...] He used to feel that you were accusing him when you said that he did not know what it was to punch a time clock, meaning that he did not have the guts or the ability. [...] Creative work was his joy, but that creativity also had more and more connotations that applied to work and money.

[...] It had to be scheduled, and even the time within the writing hours was watched so that it was productive. [...]

[...] Poverty in youth was counterbalanced by ideas of wealth because of the father’s background. [...]

He was not upset in that regard. He was upset with Prentice on some other matters, and then began to worry that “Unknown” might be too long — might run into difficulties. [...]

[...] At the same time, by session time she was quite upset and irritable—appalled, really—at the content of some of the letters she’d read—this, we agreed, because we usually would focus more on the one negative letter compared to the ten positive ones—and by far most of them were very positive, friendly, sometimes even adulatory. [...]

Ruburt once received a few interesting pages from a world view, in which the author spoke, in archaic terms, of being a person who was a “life-taster,” sent by God to taste the quality of man’s experience, so that God might know what new ingredients might be added.

[...] He was busily tracing these out as he aged—he’s now 74—in order to prove out his own theory of aging and senility, about which he’s evidently written extensively. [...]

(No doubt, of course, that extrasensory information was obtained; telepathy from Jerry in some cases perhaps—from her conscious and subconscious mind. No information given to my knowledge that was unknown to any living person; some given that was not known consciously by Jerry but she could have picked up the knowledge and forgotten it.)

[...] Jane had responded beautifully to my suggestion when she began dictating Seth’s The Nature of the Psyche: I’d playfully told her at suppertime that she was going to start a new Seth book in the session which was due that evening—and three hours later [...] Although she was writing her own Psychic Politics while I worked on the notes for “Unknown” Reality, she was between Seth books, and I wanted her to have one in progress so that it “could underlie her daily life like a foundation.” [...]

[...] As with her speaking for Seth, her greatest power and drama in singing was engendered in class. For the most part in our regular, private, and book sessions, Seth speaks to me with a quieter, businesslike energy; I always feel his vigor and humor, but he isn’t nearly as loud or quick or boisterous as he was in class. Jane was obviously sensitive to the infusion of energy from 30 or more people during those gatherings, and through her Seth responded masterfully. The same was true of her singing, when she ranged from the most delicate soprano trills and nuances to powerful, much deeper emanations.

[...] Jane was concerned and not concerned, and once again I saw in her that innocent acceptance of the reality she was creating—the one I often had such trouble understanding [as well as my own participation in creating it!]. [...] Before we held the private session for last December 1, I had admitted to her my fear that she was gradually cutting down on her communication with the world.¹¹

[...] We had looked forward to seeing that handsome little volume ever since she first conceived of it well over two years ago, before she had a title.⁴ If possible, Jane was even more pleased at the publication of If We Live Again than she had been when her book of poetic narrative, Dialogues of the Soul and Mortal Self in Time, came out in 1975. If We Live Again once more carried her back to her earliest days of creative work, which in turn had led to her teenage dreams of becoming a published poet [she was born in 1929]. [...]

Now I do not mind your chasing the cat (Seth’s voice was suddenly loud; I had taken a swipe at our cat Willy with my notepaper, when he was about to jump up into Jane’s lap), but chasing my foot is another matter… this energy is then picked up by the families of the students, and their lives indirectly benefited.

[...] Our talk covered quite a few topics and was very enjoyable, although I was in a somewhat quiet and depressed mood this evening. [...]

[...] What he felt this week, and in beginning his book, was the rousing of his energies. [...]

It is somewhat for this reason that you do not more actively (underlined) use the positive encouragement of which Ruburt was earlier speaking. [...]

[...] I was tempted, but it was after midnight; we had ESP class coming up in 19 hours, with much to do in the meantime. And my writing hand was getting tired.

(9:45.) Give us a moment … A young man was here last evening. [...] As he played, it was obvious that any given composition “grew” from the first note, and had always been latent within it. [...]

[...] What you learn in your present about industry — “progress” — and the equitable sharing of the earth’s products, could only be learned in a context in which industrialism was experienced as going too far, where technology was seen and known as a growing jeopardy.

[...] This included data on my starting to take violin lessons when I was eight years old — an event I hadn’t thought of for what seemed to be decades [it took place in 1927], but which I was able to instantly recall as soon as Jane mentioned it.)

[...] At first I’d thought I was going into a beneficial relaxation episode like that I’d experienced on April 23, 1979. [...] But I ended up with the cold chills, and for the next week was in often severe pain in the joints and muscles. We’d seen recent notices on TV of a local bug going around, but I didn’t know if that was involved or not. The worst part of the whole thing was that I developed urinary difficulties during the malaise: urination became very painful indeed, and I had a strong sense of blockage and impairment at times. I always managed to “go,” but it often took a while, and was very uncomfortable.

[...] But I was determined that he understand our feelings—or mine, at least, in no uncertain terms, for as we talked I could feel him start using words to paper over our upset about foreign rights; I felt that his tactics would only make it possible for the whole thing to happen again with succeeding books, and that I was going to short-circuit at once. I believe my reactions, which were loud and clear, paid off, for Tam called Jane yesterday to find out, in his own way, whether I was mad at him personally. Jane said I wasn’t, of course—but of course I was.

[...] My strength was coming back by now, but yet I was too down or disgusted with myself to accent help: that may be the most honest way to put it. The urinary problem still plagued me no end, and tonight the pressure was heavy; hence, I gave in and asked Jane for help. [...]

[...] I thought I was doing something by working hard on that book, to get it underway in an organized fashion, I told Jane as we sat for the session—so what happened? [...]

(Tonight I didn’t know whether it was worthwhile having a session or not. [...] I might add that although Seth said losing the teeth was a minor thing, comparatively, it doesn’t seem so to us. Also: when Sue arrived, she reported that on her visit to the dentist this afternoon a large cavity was discovered that she didn’t know existed. [...]

[...] It was not, of course. It was not because Ruburt’s confidence failed, and so did yours. Then Ruburt did not communicate because he did not want to worry you, since he knew your confidence was no better than his.

[...] Shortly after she left, the second caller, a “parapsychologist” from a college in Massachusetts, was camping in Pine Valley with her family. I arranged that both women would meet here at 4:00 PM to talk with Jane for an hour before supper time; Sue Watkins was also due that afternoon with some typed material for Psyche—which is why I made the arrangement to begin with.

[...] Ruburt was not hiding (as I suggested) in that particular instance. The other woman was an entirely different matter, yet you saw her also because you thought you must, or should. [...]

[...] She was immediately fully dissociated, although she remembered the trouble with Willy. She said that one moment she was talking to me, and the next she was on her feet dictating.

[...] While she was telling me about it in the few minutes we had before the session was due, she did not appear to be nervous.

(Although Jane had slept she was still tired. While she was talking to me our cat Willy lay purring on her lap. [...]

[...] Now, the strange sensation experienced by Ruburt just before this session was a taste of our seventh inner sense, but only a small portion. [...]