This month I was able to corner Sethnet Journal Editor John McNally. In order to practice my interviewing skills, I begged him for an interview and he agreed. Here is the interview:

Don: Since The Seth Material has moved on to the Internet, with discussion groups like Sethnet, it is possible to share ideas with people all over the world. Do you feel that the benefits of this are apparent already or have we just barely begun to realize the potential of Seth on the Internet?

JOHN: I think we've just scratched the surface. There are still billions of people worldwide who are not on the Internet, and very few (relatively speaking) have even heard of Seth or the concept of "you create your own reality". The Internet helps break down the barriers of ignorance and prejudice. There are cities, even in the U.S. where bookstores can't have a New Age section without drawing Christian protests. The Internet makes it possible for anyone to read this information and decide upon it's validity for themselves.

DON: Is the Internet enough? Is the next step going to be having Seth groups that can meet physically and regularly and can this, at this time, be done in any but the largest cities?

JOHN: Prior to getting on the Internet I had been reading Seth for seven years and only met a few people who had even heard of him, and none of them really believed in the concept of reality creation. Once I was online, I met dozens of people, a bunch of them in the NYC area whom I connected with in person a little later on.

The Internet does have it's limitations though, especially through email and text chats. You lose some of the emotional spontaneity that comes from being physically surrounded by a group of friends; there's a psychic element to this sort of energy too, which can really accelerate you psychically.

When you connect in person with the right group of people however, there is a psychic acceleration that takes place. The group energy just gets magnified and anything seems possible. Of course, there are times when groups just don't mesh, and that sort of magic doesn't happen.

DON: Some people have said that there is too much chit-chat and not enough relevant Seth discussion in Sethnet. Is it enough to have a place where Sethies can just congregate online and at least be able to keep the material alive in their minds?

JOHN: No list can be all things to all people; I think Sethnet is actually pretty focused when compared to other forums on the web. If you try to narrow the range too tightly, the list dies of attrition. The more focused the list, the less people will actually have to say on a daily basis.

The social aspects of these lists are important as well. Many of us have made life long friends (and lovers) through these lists, and those sorts of relationships are bound to bring up conversations that will drift off topic from time to time.

DON: You have so much going on: Sethnet, The Sethnet Journal, your own websites. Obviously you must have great enthusiasm for these projects. Could you tell us a bit about what it does for you?

JOHN: I've spent the last ten years really trying to follow my impulses, which has led me to some interesting discoveries. I really love the Internet and all it's possibilities, and connecting with people all over the world.

DON: Western Civilization seems to be generally portrayed as being somewhat out of touch with inner matters. Do you think this is true? Is Western society generally becoming more aware?

JOHN: I would have to agree that Western Civilization in general is out of touch with it's inner connections, unfortunately the problem is by no means limited to westerners. Look at China for example, they're experiencing an economic boom right now, and materialism is running rampant there. They have yet to realize many of the environmental lessons that Europe and the US have learned, so they're ravaging their local ecology the same way the US and Europe did in the first half of the 20th century.

However, I do believe more and more people are waking up, and that the hundredth monkey theory will eventually kick in. Right now, I believe that New Agers in general are still the leading edge, perhaps the 20th monkey or so. I'm not sure how long it takes for a mass shift in consciousness, but I really hope to see it during my lifetime.

DON: At any rate, society certainly has much to learn from the Seth Material. What do you think are a few concepts that should be worked on first for the most benefit to society?

If I could introduce anything to society at large, it would be the concept of how interconnected we all are. When you see everyone as some sort of reflection of yourself, the concept of violence or even hatred becomes almost funny. It's like trying to fight your own shadow. It's the sort of concept that really has to be absorbed though, you can read it intellectually a thousand times, and still never get it.

DON: How did you first discover the Seth Material and did you, at first, recognize the potential in it?

JOHN: My very first exposure to Seth came from the author Marion Weinstein, in her book Positive Magic which was my favorite source of spiritual wisdom, prior to discovering Seth. There were a few Seth quotes in that book, but I was skeptical of channelers, so I never went looking for any of the Seth books.

Then around 1987, I had my first out of body experience. I found myself floating over a nearby park and had a great time flying around. I was completely conscious during the experience and I wanted to explore it further.

I took a class in OBE's with Rick Stack, one of Jane's former ESP students. It was he who really introduced me to Seth, and I found a copy of The Seth Material in the Walden Books by Wall St. of all places. When I read about Jane's own skepticism and personal integrity, I was hooked. I started buying as many of the books as I could find, which was difficult back then because many were out of print.

DON: The Seth material is a huge body of work and Seth addresses many areas of experience. Which concepts encountered in the Seth Material did you have the most trouble with?

JOHN:There were two concepts that really bugged me. The first was that we can (and do) create our past, in the same manner we create our future. We have so much of our identities based on past experienced, it really boggled my mind to think about changing it.

The second concept is one that has been the subject of many a debate on Sethnet, the concept of "no victims." In Conversations With Seth: Volume Two Seth makes it very clear when discussing earthquakes that we are always the creators of our reality and never the victims, no matter how a situation appears.

Reading this, and comparing it with either personal experiences, or the atrocities that are in the news every day, it didn't seem to make sense. There was either some key concept of reality creation that I wasn't getting or Seth was wrong on this key issue.

It was only when I re-read The Seth Material and the session about how five people standing in the same room are in fact creating five separate rooms, all of which are only agreed on telepathically.

I began to piece this together with the idea of probabilities that Seth expressed so well in The Unknown Reality. I began to form a new view of the universe, and really see it as a multiverse. I could finally grasp exactly how each of us formed events via our beliefs and telepathic agreement with the people we chose to share them with.

I came to realize that even the strangers on the subway were actually intimately connected to me in some way, and that each of us were choosing to play a role for each other, even if it was only a walk on part.

This was an epiphany for me that gave me the perspective of really seeing every one as a creator. The old arguments of "How does person who experienced tragedy actually create that reality? - You're just blaming the victim argument fell apart completely. You can't blame a victim, if you no longer actually see people in that framework. I realized that the concept of blame itself was completely meaningless. The minute you look for someone to blame, you've lost your perspective as the creator of your own reality. You are the script writer and the director in this cosmic play, even for events you're only witnessing on TV.

I now view everyone through a perspective of empowerment, and when I meet someone who is struggling, I do my best to share that perspective. This doesn't mean spouting out clichéd phrases, but really getting to know the person and helping them figure out how to empower themselves.

DON: Which areas of the material would you like to work on in the near future?

Over the last year or so I have been doing more work with OBE's, and alpha states. I had a dry spell in which I was not consciously remembering any out of body adventures or lucid dreams, but I've succeeded in turning that around. Most of my OBE's are just me floating around the area where I live, so they're not always worth reporting, but they're fun anyway.

I want to continue working with alpha states. There's a whole creative landscape here that we've barely started to explore. My next step is to study hypnosis, I've had a lot of success with self hypnosis techniques over the years, so I'd like to expand my knowledge and skills in that area.

DON: Do you have a favorite Seth quote and, if so, what is it?

It's tough to narrow it down to just one quote, but I've always liked:

We have never asked anyone to do anything except face up to the abilities of consciousness.

DON: Do you work on expanding your use of the inner senses? If so, what benefits do you notice in your perceptions?

JOHN: I've always enjoyed developing my inner sense of touch, it's one that I grasped intuitively when I first read it. Experimenting with it has led me to communicating with trees and other aspects of nature, and heightening the sense of my surroundings in the moment.

As I mentioned above, I'm also a big fan of playing with Alpha states and psy-time. I slip into altered states fairly easily, which has led me to some pretty amazing experiences. I've come to believe that reality or Framework 1 is far more rich and complex than we realize. There are other 'beings' that are just as real as we are, but existing at vibrational levels beyond our normal perception. Some of them can see us, but others seem as just as surprised as I am when we perceive each other.

DON: Do you keep a dream journal? Have you seen a definite progression with your experiences in the dream state?

JOHN: I used to keep a dream journal, the problem is that I could spend over an hour a day writing down dreams. My dreams come and go in phases. I'll have periods where I remember one or two a night, and then go weeks without any recollection. I have my best recall when I break up my sleep cycles by taking a nap in the afternoons. Most of my out of body experiences, as well as my more vivid dreams often happen during naps.

I have noticed a progression in the type of dreams I have. I seem to be getting less and less anxiety based dreams, and more dreams that involve either unresolved emotional issues from my past, or exploring completely new areas. The latter type often involve scenes that make no sense to my waking mind, and are sometimes harder to recall because of that.

DON: In the March issue, you included material from Gycen. Will you tell us how you met this non-physical entity and what role the relationship plays in your life?

JOHN: I first became aware of Gycen after meeting several other Seth fans at Bill Ingle's Great Coordinate Point Expedition in Central Park, NYC, back in 1997. This was one of my first meetings with other Seth readers, and the first one where I really felt connected to the people I met.

I definitely experienced a psychic acceleration during that event. One of the other attendees, Marsha Brown had just started channeling, and in a post to the old Sethworks email group she said: "Say hello to Gicen." The name sounded very familiar to me at the time, and by the next day I started to feel that something wanted to communicate with me. I sat down at the keyboard, closed my eyes and just let the information come. It was a weird feeling at first, I felt as if my arms were incredibly long and the keyboard was miles away from me. I still get that sensation when I auto-write, but I've become used to it over the years.

I wish I could say that communicating with Gycen solved all my problems, but it just doesn't work like that. For one thing, I have a determined "go it alone" streak that often prevents me from asking anyone for help, physical or non-physical. This has been a source of amusement for Gycen many times.

Another factor seems to be the total difference in perspective. Non physical entities, including such giants as Seth and Abraham, don't really know how difficult life in the physical can be. To them, the solutions to our problems seem ridiculously simple, "just change your beliefs!" But I've found some beliefs harder to change than others.

But, it has been very reassuring to have this source of inner wisdom on tap whenever I want to access it. Gycen has provided me with a lot of valuable perspectives over the years. He often breaks me out of my ruts, where I feel like nothing is going right. Something that used to happen more frequently, even after discovering Seth.

DON: You must spend a lot of time at your computer. Do you also engage in activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, or other outdoor activities?

I spend quite a bit of time outdoors. I live in the country and there's nothing around us but rolling hills for miles. I often take my dogs on long walks, sometimes in search of interesting things to photograph. I also enjoy bicycle riding, which is by far my favorite outdoor activity.

DON: Your significant other, Kristen Fox has been a part of the Seth community as well, and written a considerable number of reality creation articles over the years. How did you two meet, and what is life like, living with another person who believes in "you create your own reality"?

JOHN: I met Kristen in that magical year of 1997, shortly after the Great Coordinate Point Expedition. We had emailed each other a few times on Sethworks, but never really got to know each other until we met at the Elmira 97 Sethnet conference. Our meeting was very synchronistic, I actually had other plans that weekend, but they were canceled last minute and a friend invited me to come and hang out at the conference. Kristen had a sudden impulse to go to the conference, and bought her tickets at the last minute. When we met, we instantly sensed the connection between us. We exchanged emails for a couple of months (she lived on the West Coast, I was in NYC) and very quickly moved in together.

We have a great relationship, she has been my best friend as well as my love for almost 9 years now. Both of us believe in taking complete responsibility for our realities, one benefit of which is that we almost never fight. When one of us is having some sort of mood, we just give each other a little space until the moody person works it out. Both of us have become really good at owning up to our own issues and not projecting them on the other.

We also combine our abilities to help bring about our creations faster. There are some challenges we still haven't overcome, but together we have both expanded our abilities as creators, which can be seen in our various websites, projects, writings and artistry. There are links to our many websites in the Conscious Creation Resources section below.

DON: Do you have any cat, dog, bird, fish or other animal friends living with you?

JOHN: We have two dogs, Merlin and Pepper who are like our children. Merlin is a highly intelligent Queensland Heeler/Labrador mix, who sometimes acts like a grumpy old man. Pepper is a Labrador whom we adopted as an adult, but she's an eternal puppy and a constant source of joy.

We also have two Red Eared Slider turtles who are about 13 years old. I had bought one of them from a vendor on Wall St. when it was only the size of a quarter. The turtles have taken over my garden and enjoy their choice of two kiddie pools to swim in.

DON: Thanks a lot John and I look forward to the next Sethnet Journal!

JOHN: Glad to do it, I just hope someone helps me find my own grammatical slips.

When people ask me if I am religious, I tell them I love God far too much to be religious. "Oh, then you must believe in God?" they inevitably ask. "Of course not," I reply with a smile, "does a fish believe in water?" For me, God is all there is. What's to believe?

Although the world's major religions all agree that God (however they define the term) is omnipresent, it seems that very few of their followers—including their clerical hierarchy—actually understand what omnipresence really means. And therein lies the source of the world's ills.

For a start, we take our relationship to God far too seriously. We bring so much solemnity to the way we view God—awe, veneration, obedience, and the like—that we end up creating distance between us and the object of our worship. Expressions such as "God is my judge," "God forbid," and "God bless you" creep into our language, and consequently our thoughts. People are actually proud to call themselves God-fearing folk. For too many of us, God is somewhere out there, watching and judging us as we struggle through our imperfect lives.

And consider this: Some religions consider the name of God so holy that it is never pronounced. Instead they create a litany of substitute terms so they can talk about God without having to commit the blasphemy of actually using his name—much as many of the characters in the Harry Potter novels avoid pronouncing the name of Lord Voldemort lest they unleash some fearsome effect. When practitioners of these religions write about their deity, they are instructed to omit the vowel: G-d. Other religions take the opposite tack. They encourage their devotees to chant or meditate on the name of God for hours at a time. To their way of believing, focusing on God leads to a state of bliss that opens the door to transcendence and enlightenment. But if God is truly all that is, what can possibly make one of his names more powerful than any other?

For that matter, what is the purpose of naming him (or her or it) in the first place? Naming anything creates a subject/object relationship between you and the thing named, and that in and of itself means a separation. Every name of God, no matter how holy, drives a wedge between the creator and the created—which includes you and me. This separation is the primal breeding ground for fear, for we then see ourselves as tiny beings, abandoned (or evicted from Paradise) and living on the fringe of an incomprehensibly huge cosmos. It's no wonder most of humanity takes this whole God business so seriously—it appears to be no less than a matter of life and death.

But what if the phrase "God is all that is" were literally true? This is what R. Buckminster Fuller must have understood when he said, "God, to me, it seems, is a verb not a noun." His words, when I first read them, lodged in my mind. But I didn't get their full import until many years later, during my first visit to Findhorn, the renowned spiritual community in northeast Scotland. It was there, sitting in a circle with my fellow newbies, that the penny dropped. One young man in our group, Peter, suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, wow, I finally see it. It's not that God is in all things; it's that God is all things."

His exclamation triggered two remarkable realizations for me. First, the obvious is obvious only to those who are sufficiently present to see it. The delivery of Peter's life-changing epiphany had virtually no effect on the rest of the group. Our facilitator was so consumed by his orientation agenda that he missed the moment completely. Thanking Peter for his contribution, he simply asked the group if anyone else had anything to share.

Second, what Peter said is literally true. In an instant, Bucky's words became crystal clear. God is indeed a verb. He is not the creator. He is the ongoing unfoldment of creation itself. There is nothing that is not a part of this unfolding. Thus there can be nothing separate from God. God is infinite and infinity is One.

From that moment, everything in my life began to change. It wasn't immediate; it was rather like a giant oil tanker slowly making a U-turn. As if I were facing in a new direction, I looked at the world in a new way "How," I asked myself, "do we dupe ourselves so completely? How come so few people see what Bucky and Peter see? How could I myself have been so blind?"

When we perceive God as a noun, we envision him as the creator, the architect of, and therefore separate from, his creation. Identifying ourselves as part of that creation, we see ourselves not only separate from our source but separate from each other and all other manifest things as well. This is the fatally flawed axiom underlying virtually all of the world's faiths. They may collectively call for love and peace, but the rampant divisiveness, greed, and competition that currently pervade human culture are the only inevitable outcomes of their separative philosophies.

Once I viewed God as a verb instead of a noun, my perception of life shifted. Everything around me, manifest or no, became God. There was only God. When someone spoke to me, it was with God's voice; when I listened, it was with God's heart. I invite you to try it. The small shift from noun to verb may well be the antidote to the forbidden fruit that banished us from Eden. As you begin to view God not as the creator but as the constantly changing dance of creation itself, you'll discover him in everything you see—including yourself. The old you—that fish swimming blindly in search of water—fades away as you dissolve into the simple meaning of it all. Perhaps, when your vision finally clears, you will find yourself living in the Promised Land that so many others are still praying for.

© 2006. Jean-Claude Koven. All Rights Reserved. Jean-Claude Koven is a writer and speaker based in Rancho Mirage, CA. He is the author of Going Deeper: How to Make Sense of Your Life When Your Life Makes No Sense acclaimed as the best metaphysical book of the year by both Allbooks Reviews and USABookNews.com.

“Again, your world was not created, then, by some exteriorized, objectified God who created it from the outside, so to speak, and set it into motion. Many [religious] theorists believe, for example, that such a God created the world in such a fashion, and that the process of decay began at almost the same hypothetical moment that the creation ended.

“Such an idea is much like some scientific ones, that see the universe running down, [with energy] being dissipated and order gradually disintegrating into chaos. Both versions conceive of a finished creation, though one is a divine production and the other is a result of nothing more than happenstance.

“All in all, however, we are speaking of a constant creation, even though I must explain it in serial terms. We are discussing a model of the universe in which creation is continuous, spontaneously occurring everywhere, and everywhere simultaneously, in a kind of spacious present, from which all experiences with time emerge. In this model there is always new energy, and all systems are open, even though they may seem to operate separately. Once again, also, we are considering a model that is based upon the active cooperation of each of its parts, which in one way or another also participate in the experience of the whole.

“In this model, changes of form are the result of creative syntheses. This model is seen to have its origin within a vast, infinite, divine subjectivity – a subjectivity that is within each unit of consciousness, whatever its degree. A subjective divinity, then, that is within creation itself, a multidimensional creativity of such proportions that it is itself the creator and its creations at the same time.

“... In a manner of speaking, your universe and all others spring from a dimension that is the creative source for all realities – a basic dream universe, so to speak, a divine psychological bed where subjective being is sparked, illuminated, stimulated, pierced, by its own infinite desire for creativity. The source of its power is so great that its imaginings become worlds, but it is endowed with a creativity of such splendor that it seeks the finest fulfillment, for even the smallest of its thoughts and all of its potentials are directed with a good intent that is literally beyond all imagining.

“That good intent is apparent within your world. It is obvious in the cooperative ventures that unite, say, the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms, the relationship of bee to flower. And [in] your beliefs to the contrary, you have closed your minds to man’s own cooperative nature, to his innate desire for fellowship, his natural bent for taking care of others, and for altruistic behavior.”

Session 898, January 30, 1980.

“The waking state as you think of it is a specialized extension of the dream state, and emerges from it to the surface of your awareness, just as your physical locations are specified extensions of locations that exist first within the realm of mind.

“The waking state, then, has its source in the dream state, and all of the objects, environment, and experience that are familiar to you in the waking state also originate in that inner dimension.

“... Also, in a manner of speaking, you are yourselves the ancient dreamers who dreamed your world into being. You must understand that I am not saying that you are passive, fleeting dreamers, lost in some divine mind, but that you are the unique creative manifestations of a divine intelligence whose creativity is responsible for all realities, which are themselves endowed with creative abilities of their own, with the potential and desire for fulfillment – inheritors indeed of the divine processes themselves.

“Spontaneity knows its own order.

“I have said this many times. The world’s parts come spontaneously together, with an order that basically defies the smaller laws of cause and effect, or before and afterward. In that regard, again, your dreaming state presents you with many clues about the source of your own lives and that of your world.

“... In the most basic of ways, the world is formed from the inside out, and from dreaming reality into the physical one – and those processes happen at another level of consciousness.”

Session 899, February 06, 1980.

“While men had their dream bodies alone they enjoyed a remarkable freedom, of course, for those bodies did not have to be fed or clothed. They did not have to operate under the law of gravity. Men could wander as they wished about the landscape. They did not yet identify themselves to any great degree as being themselves separate from either the environment or other creatures. They knew themselves to be themselves, but their identities were not as closely allied with their forms as is now the case.

“The dream world was bound to waken, however, for that was the course it had set itself upon. This awakening, again, happened spontaneously, and yet with its own order. In the terms of this discussion the other creatures of the earth actually awakened before man did, and relatively speaking, their dream bodies formed themselves into physical ones before man’s did. The animals became physically effective, therefore, while to some degree man still lingered in that dream reality.

“The plants awakened before the animals – and there are reasons for these varying degrees of ‘wakefulness’ that have nothing to do basically with the differentiations of specieshood as defined by science from the outside but have to do with the inner affiliations of consciousness, and with species or families of consciousness. (11) Those affiliations fell into being as all of the consciousnesses that were embarked upon physical reality divided up the almost unimaginable creative achievements that would be responsible for the physically effective world.”

© Robert F. Butts, All Rights Reserved.

Summary of Concepts:

• All-That-Is/consciousness units (CUs/causal field)
• sleepwalkers/electromagnetic energy units (EEs/subtle field)
• Frameworks 4, 3, 2 (subtle field)
• the dream state (subtle field) functions as a “language of translation” for the waking state (physical field)
• Framework 1 (physical field)
• the paradoxical “before the beginning”
• families of consciousness (innate intention)
• the multidimensional psyche (outer ego, subconscious, inner ego)
• the inner senses (deep intuitions/translogical hyperception)
• reincarnation in the context of simultaneous time frameworks
• probabilities

– The premodern Genesis story and modern Science’s Big Bang myth imply that when the origin of our universe was completed things were left to run on their own. That is, Primal Cause remained “outside” of the physical field as a Judeo-Christian-Islamic God, or as yet unexplained scientific phenomenon. In this Sethian tale, however, Causal Consciousness remains immanent in the physical world, and is never separate. (See Comments.)

– Cosmogenesis was, is, and will be constantly occurring as our universe emerges via an “inner language of translation” from the Causal field through the dream field. Thus, in Seth’s model of the universe “creation is continuous, spontaneously occurring everywhere, and everywhere simultaneously, in a kind of spacious present, from which all experiences with time emerge.” All apparent boundaries, fields, and frameworks of consciousness are open, not closed. Again, this model is based upon the foundational principle of value fulfillment – “the active cooperation of each of its parts, which in one way or another also participate in the experience of the whole.”

– Seth talks about All-That-Is in a variety of ways throughout the material. He uses analogies and metaphors like “divine subjectivity,” “vitality,” “consciousness units,” and “frameworks of consciousness” to describe the vast Causal Consciousness within All-That-Is.

Seth also uses the concept of inner laws of the universe to describe innate qualities within All-That-Is that provide inner guidance for all conscious creation. In terms of value fulfillment, then, our universe innately nurtures the maximum potentials within “Great Chain of Being.” In human terms, value fulfillment is expressed through the emotion of unconditional love, a love almost beyond comprehension in which nothing is ever really destroyed, but always supported.

– Seth says All-That-Is holds “a good intent that is literally beyond all imagining.” This is reflected in the innate cooperation that Professors Darwin and Dawkins lost sight of in their speculations on natural selection and selfish genes. Humans have an innate desire for fellowship, taking care of others, and altruism. Here Seth continues to explore ethical implications mentioned earlier in CUs and the laws of the inner universe.

– Seth points out that the waking state is a “specialized extension of the dream state... [and] has its source in the dream state.” If we include the deep dreamless state, we discover the three simultaneous, interpenetrated fields of conscious creation – physical, subtle, and causal – are also accessible as temporary states. (More on the relationship between fields and states later.)

– Seth mentions that “spontaneity knows its own order.” Spontaneity is another law of the inner universe that further hints at deeper psychological processes within the subtle field (Frameworks ... 4, 3, 2).

Again, the physical world that we know is only the thin outer crust of a multiverse. “... In the most basic of ways, the world is formed from the inside out, and from [subtle] dreaming reality into the physical one – and those processes happen at another level of consciousness.”

– The first people were those aspects of the ancient dreamers known as the sleepwalkers. But they existed in the subtle, dream field “before” they were physical. There they worked out the maximum potentials for the physical field so it could follow its own glorious course. Stabilizing the body consciousness was a preliminary task before the outer ego could fully emerge. In terms of linear time, early people’s first forays onto the planet were in dream bodies, not physical ones.

Now the tale gets even more interesting. Seth says that there was a spontaneous, natural “awakening” of various aspects of the physical field that began with plants, then animals, and then people. Thus, there was an evolutionary unfolding of increasing hierarchical complexity after the Big Bang. This also implies that all species and people didn’t magically “blink in” during a seven day period.

Now, the “reasons for these varying degrees of ‘wakefulness’” were originally worked out by “inner affiliations of consciousness, and with species or families of consciousness.” The sleepwalkers divided into nine main “families” of intention. They “divided up the almost unimaginable creative achievements that would be responsible for the physically effective world.” Thus, the potentials for a “physically effective world” were first worked out in the subtle field by the sleepwalkers “before” they would emerge within physical reality.

(This is another nonlinear/linear paradox Seth plays with in his story-telling. Seth introduced a typology of intention called “families of consciousness” in The “Unknown” Reality, Vol. 2 (1977). He detailed nine main types along with innumerable subdivisions, much like a rainbow has seven primary colors but can produce millions of shades. See endnote 11 for more information.)

This brief mention of the “families of consciousness” closes this segment. After making this connection, Seth has all the elements necessary to deal with the birth of the outer ego as a self-aware structure.

– Seth opens this segment and points out the inadequacy in premodern and modern creation myths. To elaborate, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic universe was considered perfect in the beginning, but once people got involved things steadily got worse. There was a fall from grace in the Garden of Eden that was a woman’s fault (convenient for societies bent on keeping women subservient to men). In the angelic (subtle) realm things didn’t fare much better. The archangel Lucifer, originally a “good guy,” betrayed his “father” and was cursed to become the root of all the evil. It is rumored, for example, that he would later invent money.

The modern scientific universe is even more bleak and depressing because it still denies Causal Consciousness. Once set into motion, the universe simply runs on its own chaotic manner, with no guiding principles beyond the laws of physics (what Seth calls “smaller laws of cause and effect”). Galaxies, sunsets, and symphonies are all simple “accidents” of the laws of physics and “dumb” energy-matter. The universe itself will eventually run down through the process of entropy and destroy all life. However, with the absence of Causal Consciousness, in fact, ANY kind of consciousness, we’re stuck with theories about how dirt somehow became self-aware – sentient – with no larger purpose or goal.

Is it any wonder, then, why there is so much despair, dysfunction, and suffering in many premodern and modern societies founded on these core belief systems? Still, this is why postmodern worldviews are struggling to emerge. Seth’s postmodern myth includes important truths from premodern and modern myths. Again, the shining gems in premodern myths are Causal Consciousness within a “Great Chain of Being.” That gem, however, was discarded in the modern Big Bang myth. But in turn, science produced its own gems by mapping various stages of evolution and human development.

In hindsight it seems obvious, but Seth takes premodern peanut butter, puts it together with modern chocolate to create a postmodern Reeses Cup! Hmmm.

– Seth’s tale is also a variation of the ancient Hindu story of Involution/Evolution described by Sri Aurobindo in The Life Divine (1949). In Aurobindo’s creation mythos, the physical field was created by “the Absolute” dividing into three Aspects: 1. Existence (All-That-Is), 2. Consciousness-Force (self-aware CUs), and 3. Delight (value fulfillment). There was a fourth Aspect, a Supramental power (subtle EEs) that enabled the Consciousness Force (causal CUs) to create physical matter. Thus, the Supramental power (EEs) organized the Absolute into all fields within creation. As such, Existence (All-That-Is) is nested within all fields and is both immanent and transcendent. Finally, once manifest in physical terms, there is an unfolding or evolution in order of increasing hierarchical embrace.

The similarities are striking. In Seth’s version, involution and evolution are not strictly linear processes, but ongoing simultaneous interactions between causal, subtle, and physical fields. Therefore, involution doesn’t occur only prior to the Big Bang, but constantly thereafter in concert with evolution. Involution thus helps to explain, or at least put forth as plausible, some of the paradoxes inherent in Seth’s creation myth, for example, CUs and EEs involutionary and evolutionary properties. (More on this later.)

– Finally, to summarize our story thus far: in nonphysical terms, the sleepwalkers created, involved, and divided into nine species of innate intention in the subtle field “before the beginning” of the physical universe. In physical terms, there is an “order of play” that unfolds first as a Big Bang, then as energy-matter, then plants, then animals, and then pre-egoic human beings influenced by innate intention that informs the purpose and meaning of life.

• Interpenetrated Causal (CUs), subtle (EEs), and physical (quantum fields) fields (“Great Chain of Being”)
• Causal Consciousness (All-that-Is, causal field)
• Intelligent Designers (sleepwalkers, subtle field)
• Purpose and meaning (value fulfillment)
• “Families” of subtle consciousness (innate intention)
• General stages of Involution (“before the beginning”: Causal CUs ==> subtle EEs==>)
• A Big Bang (“in the beginning,” physical field)
• General stages of Evolution (matter first, then biological forms, then human beings)

(11) Jane Roberts, The “Unknown” Reality, Vol. 2, Amber-Allen, San Rafael, CA, 1996, p. 599.

Below is a summary of the innate, basic “family” of consciousness intents according to Seth and Rob Butts.

Borledim

Seth: closest to Sumari, deals primarily with parenthood.

Rob: to provide an Earth stock for the species through parenthood.

Milumet

Seth: composed of mystics.

Rob: to mystically nourish mankind’s psyche.

Gramada

Seth: specializes in organization.

Rob: to found social systems.

Vold

Seth: primarily reformers. ...one purpose in mind: to change the status quo in whatever the area of primary interest.

Rob: to reform the status quo.

Ilda

Seth: they deal primarily in the great play of exchange and interchange of ideas, products, social and political concepts. They are travelers, carrying with them ideas of one country to another, mixing cultures, religions, attitudes, political structures. Seth has great affection for these folks!

Rob: to spread and exchange ideas.

Sumari

Seth: initiators, naturally playful – inventors, and relatively unfettered. They are impatient however. They will be found in the arts and in the less conventional sciences.

Rob: to provide the cultural, spiritual, and artistic heritage for the species.

Tumold

Seth: primarily devoted to healing.

Rob: to heal, regardless of individual occupation.

Zuli

Seth: involved mainly with the fulfillment of bodily activity.

Rob: to serve as physical athletic models.

Sumafi

Seth: deals primarily with teaching, their primary interest of passing on knowledge to others.

Rob: to transmit “originality” through teaching.

Find out more about the nine “families” of consciousness.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sethworld - A board game based on the Seth Material

Explore your beliefs! Stretch your imagination! Delve into your dreams! Challenge your creativity!

Seven years in the making, I am so pleased to be able to offer you SethWorld - The Game of All That Is! SethWorld is a totally unique game, the first metaphysical board game based on the Seth material - maybe the first metaphysical board game, ever! It is designed to explore and uncover beliefs while having fun. There are no winners, no losers, and NO RULES! A 24-page pamphlet included with the game gives a probable framework for play, 6 sample "moves," and a glossary of 61 concepts.

SethWorld -- You've never played anything like it!

Marion the Magnet’s First Mission
By Sharon Hackleman
Illustrated by John Blair Moore

Marion the Magnet is chosen to travel to the planet Earth with his wise grandfather to teach the children about their own magnetic powers…the magnetic power of thought!

In the book Marion helps a young girl, Katie, understand the importance of thinking and daydreaming about what she wants to attract with her magnetic powers of thought. When the other children are using their magnetic powers to attract fun things such as skateboards and new video games Katie is trying to use her magnetic powers to help her family through a challenging situation. Her father has been out of work for sometime and they are close to the point of becoming homeless.

WHAT A COINCIDENCE Understanding Synchronicity In Everyday Life
by Susan M Watkins

Overview:

What if all those seemingly insignificant little What a coincidence! moments you've experienced were actually connected, were part of a larger, more complex coincidence story?

What if they were hinting at something very personal and important about yourself—and about the workings of human consciousness?

Would you listen?

Susan Watkins does. For more than 35 years she's been documenting and studying the coincidences that have happened in her life. What she's discovered is that seemingly simple coincidences—thinking of an old friend and their calling seconds later, for example—are often pieces of larger, more complex and meaningful "coincidence clusters."

A former newspaper reporter and the author of five books, Watkins has always been intrigued by coincidences—what they mean in our everyday lives, and in the grander scheme of things. What, she asks, do these coincidence clusters say about human consciousness and human connection? In What a Coincidence! she presents coincidence clusters that are utterly astounding. What they reveal is life- altering.

What a Coincidence! is an exciting, groundbreaking journey. Along the way Watkins offers profound insights as well as practical pointers on how to become aware of the coincidence clusters in our own lives. She also shows us how to document coincidences so that we, too, can reap their valuable rewards. We'll never brush off those What a Coincidence! moments again.

Bay Area Seth Group 2005-06 Season!

After a lovely but too-short summer we are ready to ramp up again for even more lively gatherings of the Bay Area Seth Group. We meet the 2nd Saturday of each month from 3-6pm in the Excelsior District of San Francisco (we take off December and June-August). The next gathering is Saturday, September 10th. You can read a general overview at: http://www.consciousnessarts.com/seth_group.html

This year we are going to be even more experiential and will be using the Practice Elements from The Unknown Reality as a jumping off point. We also plan to do some explorations into group dreams. Of course, we are SPONTANEOUS beings and often don't follow our plans at all, so anything can happen!

If you are interested in attending or getting notices of upcoming meetings, please send me your email address and I'll put you on our Evite list.

Blissful Blessings, Kerstin

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Sethnet Speaks, January 2006 – compiled by Paul Helfrich.

Seth Sessions Overview – compiled by Shawn Regan & Rick.

See what we look like. Add your own picture! – John M. set up a webpage where we can add our photos. It also features a global map that shows where folks are located.

The Personal Sessions, Vol. 5/6 – The series deleted sessions dealing with personal material are now available. Vol. 7, now in process, will complete publication of ALL the Seth Material! By Rick Stack and New Awareness Network.

The Classic Seth Portrait by Rob Butts This is a low resolution scan for those interested.

Check out the Mindscapes Music CD - Listen online to 22 tracks of music from Paul Helfrich. Also available for purchase.

Conscious Creation Links – Conscious Creation Publishers, Book Stores, Websites, Journals, Newsletters, Mailing Lists, Message Boards, and more.

The Elias forum - website by Paul & Joanne Helfrich contains an expansion of many of the conscious creation concepts introduced by Seth/Jane Roberts, channeled by Mary Ennis.

What if the Seth material was a foundation to be expanded later by other channeled sources? Can any perennial source ever be considered complete AND infallible?

Seth readers will want to check out:
Introduction & Overview
A Seth, Elias Comparative Overview (Updated!)
Digest: Seth, Jane Roberts

The Kris Chronicles - an expansion of many of the conscious creation concepts introduced by Seth/Jane Roberts, channeled by Serge Grandbois.

A Kris, Seth, Elias Comparative Overview (Updated!) - a preliminary comparison of core concepts in the Seth material, information offered by Elias, and Kris Chronicles

Useful Links

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