Jane Roberts, the Seth Books: An Overlooked Giant
by Arthur Telling
Seth Books – Entity Essence is Popular Material
“You make your own reality. There is no other rule.” The phenomenally simple yet powerful plainspoken statement comes from a gestalt awareness that has lived numerous lives and is older than the Earth itself. Eighteen volumes were dictated by an entity calling himself Seth through author Jane Roberts speaking in trance, from the late 1960’s until her death in the 1980’s. Her husband at her side transcribing her words, it came to be called the “Seth material”. Her books now in reprint, various forums and classes about her material remain popular. YouTube videos of her speaking in trance are freely available. Yet while alive she stayed low-profile and didn’t seek fame.
The Seth books speak authoritatively, eyewitness observation on the big philosophical question of death and the beyond. In Seth’s realm, thoughts create mental patterns of which emerge before our eyes as our living space. There are no “permanent structures”, he says in “Seth Speaks” (1972), his first book.
Seth Speaks through Jane Roberts as Facilitator
In his “home environment” Seth takes whatever physical shape he chooses, and it may vary according to his thoughts. We too do this, but not at a conscious level, our thoughts constantly changing our bodies in “important chemical and electromagnetic ways.” The only difference between us and Seth is “the degree of proficiency and actualization”; Seth and his peers changing forms with full awareness.
Upon passing from this world at death, our bodies – now more dynamic — will reflect our immediate thoughts. We may become younger or older as our imaginations dictate. Most individuals will choose a form that corresponds to their image at greatest point in their career, “regardless of the beauty or age that characterized that form.” And for communicating with others you may adopt the form that you had at the time when you had known the individual.
Multiple Seth Books with Dynamic Messages
His second book, “The Nature of Personal Reality” (1974), explains the growth of “feelings, sensations, I am-ness, concepts, and beliefs”, as the source of the world’s formation. Earthquakes and overall weather patterns result from mental properties, not exterior ones, and follow deep inner rhythms of emotion. Enhanced and unstable energy found in fault zones draw highly creative individuals.
In a later book, “The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events” (1981), Seth tells of how our private experience grows outwardly “in almost vinelike fashion”, pragmatically forming our daily experiences. We plan events in the upper reaches of the mind, individually and collectively. We draw to those events that most suit us. All sorts of dramas – religious movements, earthquakes, hurricanes – are being planned and will emerge into full-blown spatial reality when interest and emotion reach the required intensity.
Vital Messages are Studied to Open Awareness
Our well-being is entirely dependent on internal elements. Apathy, despair, and hopelessness change the body’s chemistry, opening it to deadly viruses that otherwise normally contribute to the body’s overall health. Despair rages inwardly like a raging fire, and moves “faster than a mosquito or any outward carrier of a given disease”. To allow the individual to enter a more productive state, we even plan death. Those wanting to continue with life here will never succumb to the illness “in fashion”. Seth ends this book with these words: “Acknowledge your impulses. Explore their meanings. Rely upon yourselves. You will find far greater power, achievement, and virtue than you suppose.”
Jane’s many volumes of metaphysical and psychological information dictated by this powerful voice from another dimension should be regarded as the crown jewel of the Western world. The vast information in these books is in league with and consistent with the East’s religions and the West’s mystic religions teaching self-realization and liberation from the entrapping physical matter – Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Gnosticism, New Age spiritualism, and more – yet with a detailed exactness that transcends the recorded wisdom of this age. Jane was just an author and a spiritualist from Elmira, New York. She had no following except a group that came to her ESP classes at her home, and she made few appearances, holding no title or honors. A world recognition of this marvelous giant is overdue.
About the Author
Arthur Telling has written numerous stories and articles on religion, philosophy, and metaphysics. His article, “A Different Jesus Message” appeared in the Nov. 2011 AMORC Rosicrucian Digest. Telling is the author of “Johann’s Awakening” (a parody of Jonathan Livingston Seagull). He also authored three novels including “Kaitlin’s Message,” exploring the secret sayings of the Gospel of Thomas. His web site is: www.arthurtelling.com
