This month I had the pleasure of interviewing the Sethnet member we know as Anu. She is a regular poster and is kind enough to share her poetry with us.

Anu’s full name is Anita Bal. but her family and friends call her Anu. She is a Chartered Accountant by profession and she works as Manager in a media company in Bombay, India. Presently, she is implementing SOX (Sarbanes Oxley compliance laws) in her company through ERM (Enterprise Wide Risk Management) techniques.

Don: Anu, where were you in life when you discovered the Seth material and what did it do for you at that time?

Anu: I was dealing with a situation where the senior guy in my team used to abuse and humiliate me in public (verbally) by screaming, yelling at me, throwing papers on my face, and giving me wrong or no information to do my reports. I had no time to eat or drink, days and nights both were spent in the office working.

At home, the family was scouting rich, handsome, professional Non-Residential Indians for me. I could neither relate to arranged marriages nor these guys, so the family was upset and very angry with me.

I wanted more than just traveling to a foreign country tagging along with my husband, being stuck at home as a house-wife and being dependent on my husband for everything.

Since I was already a Chartered Accountant in India, I wanted to do a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) course and go work in States on my own merit, travel the world and have a life of my own. So I just stuck on to my job as I knew; if were to leave it, I would be financially dependent on my family and they would force a marriage on me sooner or later.

All of this was my recent past, as recent as 3-4 years ago. And that is where I was in life! My few moments of joy were talking to my grandfather (who loved me unconditionally), some creative work I did at work (even though no one appreciated it) and a long-distance relationship I had with my (now ex) boyfriend who introduced Seth to me.

My work situation is totally resolved now. I've been working with a new set of people since last year. Last year I made a presentation when some Americans from our parent company in Los Angeles visited us and they said my strategies were the best across 53 countries, including the home office, and they want to implement the same in LA. This month, during my appraisal, I’ve been rated 'outstanding' in the same company by my new bosses and I’ve received a promotion.

Don: The Seth material is intended to be liberating, to free us from limiting ideas. What limiting ideas have you thrown away?

Anu: Both the Seth and Elias materials have helped me to understand myself. Earlier I used to work towards ‘freeing myself from limiting ideas’. But that put a strain on me to perform and work, even if it is towards joy.

But since I read Elias (last two months), I am working towards accepting all my ideas without labeling them as limiting or freeing, thereby trying not to be judging them. I am working towards throwing away the idea that ‘any idea can be limiting’. I find it hard to not discount myself but I am paying attention to what energy I am projecting.

Understanding myself has helped me deal with the breakup I went through, after a very intense relationship.

Don, I am beginning to like myself as I am. I am appreciating all my faults and inadequacies too for they are my teachers and I am going to enjoy learning from them.

Don: The Nature of Personal Reality (NOPR) covers a lot of ground. What new areas of reality did reading it open up for you?

Anu: NOPR totally blew my mind away! For the first time in my life, I felt that someone was talking about ‘me’ as a glorious and magnificent person. The book was mystical and magical to me. I would read the same words again and again; each time the words would speak something more to me so, to date, I haven’t finished reading that book LOL!

Don: Have you noticed a feeling that there is more You to discover than you ever thought possible before you read the material?

Anu: Absolutely Don! As Seth says: “I am a poor imitation of your voice. You don’t need me if you can listen to your own voice or the voice of the oak trees and birds.” I can never forget the impact this sentence has had on me when I read it.

I do read Seth. But mostly now days, I listen to the Seth inside me. We all have Seths inside of us, don’t we Don? And the Seth inside me is asking me not to listen to him, but to listen to the Anu in me.

As you once told me Don, “Just try to be the most satisfying Anu you can be!” That is precisely where I am now.

Don: Have you noticed any improvement in your physical health since you started working with Seth's ideas? How about an improvement in your outlook on life in general?

Anu: Unable to bear the pressure at work and home, I started to throw up 5-7 times a day in November 2003. Even at this time, the family had finalized a guy for me from London. And the senior guy at work was promoted and I was demoted!

Then, in December 2003, I got myself hospitalized (I’d just informed my parents I was going to the hospital) and the doctors diagnosed me with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). I remember when the doctors told me I might die by the next day if I didn’t take dialysis and I am going to be on dialysis for life. I probably have 5-7 years more to live, and sitting alone in the hospital bed I called up my friends, my ex-boyfriend and my ex-bosses and asked them, “Doctors say I may die tomorrow, can you surf on the net and tell me about this thing called ESRD and dialysis?”

So I’ve been on dialysis since then. Earlier it used to be three times a week for five hours each session. But since the last 8 months, I’ve just reduced it to twice a week. I wanted my weekends off to do some fun things I love. The doctors don’t advise that and no one here goes against their advice. But I just do what I want and they let me do what I want. They’ve grown fond of me and probably they have the confidence that I can take care of myself.

All of this has a lot to do with the stuff I read in Seth and other channeled material. The visits to the hospitals do not make me depressed or unhappy. And the needle pricks on my arm looks awful to others, LOL, but they don’t pain me either physically or mentally. My family has also begun to respect my feelings and they don’t interfere in my life anymore and they just let me be. So finally I did manage to get to live my own life all by myself !!!

Maybe I will cure my kidneys, maybe I won’t. But in either case, I am just going to give it my best shot and live my life to the fullest!

Don: Do you remember your dreams well? Have you improved your dream recall since you read Seth's teachings about dreams?

Anu: I could never remember my dreams. Just about six months ago, I read about the Gates of Horn and gave myself suggestions to remember my dreams. I waited but nothing happened. Then suddenly a month or two ago, I noticed that I can remember ‘all’ my dreams. In fact, when I wake up, I am still drooling from its effect. I have had three OBEs too at the hospital, of which one was sensual ;-). Normally my dream happens to me, but about a month ago, for the first time, I exercised my choice in my dream and directed it.

Don: Sethnet members have enjoyed reading your poetry. Did you write poetry before you discovered the Seth material?

Anu: I have received much encouragement and appreciation for my poetry from our Sethnet members. I did not write poetry before reading the Seth material. In fact, I started writing last year, in October. My writing was mainly for release of my feelings and to be able to express myself.

Don: Do you consciously choose the subjects for your poems or do they seem to come from 'within'?

Anu: I don’t choose anything to write. In fact, I had no idea that I could ever write. It is something that happened to me, somewhere in my endeavors to try and understand myself.

I don’t think I can write on pre-defined topics. I don’t plan my writings or schedule them. Basically I spend time alone, and at times when I am thinking of nothing in particular I see and feel things and am touched by them. When that happens, I try to express my feelings in words by thinking of the event/image I saw and then the poem happens automatically.

Don: Do you feel that writing allows you to express parts of your Self that had more limited expression before?

Anu: I had started writing to express myself so that I don’t sit and brood over issues perpetually. I also started writing to understand myself. So I began with rambling about the day’s events and initially my writings were just long posts to myself.

As time went by, I got a lot of my frustrated, irritated, hurtful, painful, depressed, sad, bad, mad, ugly feelings out in the open. At first I tried to ignore them - I hated them, did not believe they existed and I even tried hard to disown them. But they lingered around me. It took a while to recognize that they were also 'valid' parts of me. They are communicating something to me. I'm still in the process of acknowledging them and accepting them.

Writing has also helped me to understand my fears - real and imaginary. It has helped me to handle the fears without much ‘fear’ and, of course, pain. Writing has helped me to sit with pain without trying to fix it or get over it, just feel it, experience it and accept it.

As I understand and acknowledge all my beliefs, whatever they are, I become more accepting of myself and in that acceptance I offer less resistance than before and thereby let the gifts and joys of the universe flow into my life - in the form of lovely clouds floating over my head, a full moon, the wonder of a broken string, or a butterfly chasing me... and that is where my poems are born.

Don: Since you started writing, have you thought about other types of writings - short stories for instance?

Anu: I do like to write real events which I see or which happen in my life in the form of a story. I also like to write down my realizations. Like when I was very sick with a bad cough and a fever a few weeks ago, I tried hard to figure out the messages my body is giving me. I tried to decode it and write about it. Whatever I wrote has helped me in developing a greater trust and understanding of myself. Now these writings are just musings about why (I feel) I let certain things happen to me or what I am feeling right now.

Don: Where do you think your writing might take you in the future? Would you ever want to publish any material?

Anu: With my noticing, observing, and expressing through writing I hope to bond strongly with the swift squirrel, the tree, its green leaves, the bright red forest flame flower, jump up and touch the sky, swim on a blade of grass, and sleep in a rose petal.

I want to know myself and understand myself through my own writings and feel my own little joyful self. So I feel my writing might take me closer to myself, to a world where I actually make my own choices, where I am not a victim, and where I will dearly love myself unconditionally, no matter what!

Publishing my poems sounds fantastic. I would be more happy to sit and write, paint and practice martial arts the whole day than make Enterprise Wide Risk Management Models for the company I work with.

Don: Do you express yourself creatively in other ways - do you paint, play a musical instrument, etc?

Anu: I paint and I love painting. But I paint like a 7-year old girl. Since I stopped when I was 7 (to study other subjects), I am still just 7. I paint the same nose, eyes, face like I did when I was a little girl. But what I like about painting is that I can paint from my imaginations and the final product does surprise me. In fact, it delights me, brings me the same joy of a poem :- )

I would like to learn to play the guitar.

I am learning a Japanese martial art called Aikido. On a purely physical level it is an art involving some throws and joint locks and rolls. Aikido places great emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement. This is something I LOVE. The classes are held thrice a week and I am so excited to go to the class that I can barely sleep the previous day.

But right now, I’ve fractured my little toe because I stepped on my own toe during a roll, LOL, so it is bandaged and I am waiting for it to heal. Then I will be back in action in my class (smiles). I am very passionate about martial arts. It gives me a high and a thrill. I feel I am meditating when I am in the dojo.

I love to make flower garlands (smiles); my grandma taught me how to make them.

Don: I have seen one of your pictures. It was called "Medusa" and was featured in the September, 2005 issue. I don't think it looks like a 7 year old's painting. Why did you decide to paint that particular subject?

Anu: That was my first painting after so many years Don. I wanted do a glass painting and it seemed very simple and childlike to paint a girl with curly hair and a lotus on her hair.

I like painting faces, Don. I always paint a side face and generally a girl. I don’t know why, I just do and it comes very naturally to me. I’ve made another painting which got partially ruined in the rains, which represents me - girl from another planet, whose hair is the ocean and fire is her breath. I just did it from my imaginations.

Don: Did you grow up with any particular religion? If so, do you notice a conflict between your religious beliefs and what you are learning from the Seth material?

Anu: I was born in a religious Hindu family.

I noticed many conflicting beliefs - I used to go to ‘God’ and beg to him for my needs. Now I just accept things as they are and look for answers in myself. I used to believe that ‘no pains no gains’; now I know that I don’t need pain to be joyful. I used to be taught that God loves me most when he gives me hardships. I know now that God is in me always - how can he not love me? In fact, God is me! I am not feeling guilty anymore about being happy.

Don: In general, I feel, Western society is thought to be relatively ignorant of inner matters. I have a picture of India as being more in touch spiritually. Do you think this is true?

Anu: India is spiritually very powerful and has immense potential, Don. We have a brilliant rich culture with great depth which promotes awareness of the body, mind, spirit and soul. I appreciate my people’s tremendous ability to ‘believe’ and see God in rivers, trees, cows, idols and even snakes. There is yoga, meditation, and a lot here, so India is very naturally and effortlessly in touch with her spirituality.

But that does not mean the Western society is ignorant of inner matters.

But again, true spirituality has probably nothing to do with any of these. Maybe it is just plain joy and the sparkle in the eyes of a child, be it Indian or Western.

Don: You have written about squirrels, swans and probably other animals too. Do you have any animal friends living with you?

Anu: I don’t have any pets Don. But yes, I have animal and bird friends and they are all free. They live in their world and I in mine. We meet when we meet and exchange warm looks and affectionate smiles. The squirrel stays in the Neem tree* beside my bedroom. The bat hangs from another tree at night. The butterflies are in the garden adjacent to my building, and once in a while they visit me at night in my bedroom. The mosquitoes sing at night in my ears (and disturb me ;-) ). The swan floats in a lake which I pass through on my way to work. The street dogs are all over the place and sometimes they run behind me barking and I try to run faster so that they don’t bite me.

*Don's Note: Neem is ecologically very special. It can tolerate very high levels of pollution and has the capacity to recover even if most of its foliage is dropped. Plants with a large leaf area such as neem, accumulate relatively higher quantities of lead. Trees vary widely in their capacity to absorb pollutants like particulate dust, CO2, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. A study of locations in New Delhi, done by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, India in 1996 indicated that Neem tree is one of the most suitable species for checking urban pollution in industrial locations and it has potential in green belt development in hot spots with known history of high air pollution. Find out more at www.neemfoundation.org)

Don: Do you really ride to work in a rickshaw? I feel that must be more pleasant than driving a car to work. Do you often encounter events and scenes that prompt you to write?

Anu: LOL, I really ride a rick to work Don. But I don’t drive it. The rick driver drives the rick. I ride a rick as I don’t have enough resources to invest in a car right now.

Well, honestly, it may not be a very pleasant journey to ride a rickshaw with the dirt and pollution in the city (the rick does not have doors or windows), not to mention the traffic jams.

Don, I have to travel for three hours a day in peak traffic, with honking horns, blaring music, and trucks emitting smoke on my face, LOL. So, while all this is happening, sometimes I cannot look around, so I look up at the sky, the clouds, the moon, and the stars. Sometimes I do get to look around early mornings; those times I see the swans, I see the leaves, and the May flowers. And amidst all this chaos and confusion, I see them sitting there quietly, calm and still, so happy no matter how much dirt and pollution covers them up, they know it will rain soon and they will be fresh and lovelier than ever before. They inspire me!

Thank you so much for your very interesting questions Don. My answers to them have helped me to understand myself better than ever before. It was great fun doing this with interview with you. I hope you had fun too ;- )

Don: Thank you, Anu! I feel that I have learned a few very important things from you and I believe that our readers will enjoy getting to know you better.

"You create your own reality" is the prime tenet of reality creation, a philosophy that has become one of the cornerstones of New Age thinking over the years. This bold statement empowers you to become the master of all the events in your life, you are no longer a victim of circumstance, but instead are the director of the cosmic play which is your life.

In sharp contrast, astrology appears to be the antithesis of reality creation. Within this philosophy you are not the master of your fate, but instead a mere pawn, whose destiny has been spelled out by the position of the stars when you were born. Astrologers will claim that by looking at your chart, they can read everything from your past lives, to the best times for you to start a business, choose a love partner or even play the lottery. It would seem that these two philosophies are totally divergent and any attempts to reconcile them would be futile; however, a deeper look at the concepts shows that these two philosophies actually compliment each other nicely.

Before these two concepts can be united, some misconceptions about astrology must be cleared up, mainly those having to do with free will and scientific thought. Any astrologer worth his salt will tell you that the positions of the stars in no way actually limit your free will, they merely indicate which direction the energies in your life are flowing.

Astrology is also often mistakenly called a pseudo-science, one that "evolved" into the true science of astronomy. The truth is that astrology is not a science at all, and never has claimed to be one. Like science, it is a belief system based on the observation of elements in the physical world, however that's where the similarity ends. Astrologers have always maintained the old adage "as above so below," believing that the patterns and movements of the stars were merely symbols of the inner forces that drive all of us, and not physically influencing people as many people incorrectly assume. When you realize that astrology is really a belief system based on internal energies and not external forces, no longer moves in direct opposition to reality creation.

In order to really unite these two philosophies though, a deeper look at the mechanics of reality creation is needed as well. What exactly does it mean to create your own reality? How does a baby choose its parents? Why would someone choose to be born in a war zone or with birth defects? There are no scientific answers to these questions, it's something that the reality creator takes on faith. Seth and other entities say that each of us chooses both the location and conditions of our births, and that we map out the major events of our lives prior to actually experiencing them.

Reality creation principles also state that you create reality from the inside out. The world you experience is a reflection of the beliefs you are carrying inside you. Everything is an illusion [construction], including our experience of time. Beyond our experience in the physical, all time is actually simultaneous and not linear, as we experience it.

So, if the outer world is a reflection of the inner, and linear time is an illusion, then it becomes possible to divine some of the circumstances that we chose for ourselves before manifesting in the physical realm. This is where astrology steps forward as a very reliable form of divination.

All systems of divination have value, they provide perspectives that are often obvious to the inner self, but are being blocked from our own conscious perception.What makes astrology unique in that it can map out energies over the centuries with a scientific exactitude. It can indicate times of both personal, and mass challenges, and the flow of human events during any given time period.

Astrology starts from the heart which is symbolized by the Sun to indicate what sort of path you have chosen. The sign your Sun is placed in is only one factor, but it's the one most frequently used for newspaper horoscopes. Equally important are the rising sign and the astrological house that your Sun sign is placed in, and the placement of all the other planets are significant as well. Trying to base an astrological profile solely on someone's sun sign, is like trying to tell someone's whole personality by looking at one photograph. You can discern some generalities, but you'll never really get to know the person that way.

The placement of the Moon for example, symbolizes how you feel and express your emotions. Mars shows how you assert yourself, Jupiter indicates where things come easily and Saturn represents your fears. The list goes on of course, this is only a small sampling. It's when you take the chart as a whole, and examine the angles (aspects) that the planets make to each other as well, that you really can see the complexity of the individual.

None of these factors will ever dictate the choices you will make during your life, nor can they indicate either success or happiness. A person with a chart full of harsh alignments may rise to become a saint, another with a chart full of harmonious angles may never realize his full potential.

The real value of astrology comes in knowing when to act, and when not to act in your life. For example, If Mars, the planet symbolizing aggression is in opposition to Uranus, the planet of radical thoughts, you might find yourself really wanting to punch out your boss or throw a pie in the face of a hated politician. These sorts of impulsive actions might give you immediate satisfaction in the moment, but are likely to be detrimental to your life over all. If you were aware of this alignment in advance, it helps you keep a healthier perspective on those impulses.

One the other side of the coin, if the Sun, representing your life path, were trined to lucky Jupiter, then it's definitely a good day to take some affirmative action in your life, maybe even following those wild impulses. Success with Jupiter doesn't guarantee you'll win the lottery, but taking advantage of the energy will always guide you into a better situation.

As much as reality creation puts the individual in the driver's seat, there are still aspects of living in the physical world that will seem beyond the control of the ordinary person. The weather for example, which arguably might be influenced, will never fully be controlled on the conscious level. A wise reality creator will not try to create 80 degree weather on a January day in Boston instead of putting on a winter coat, he/she adapt himself to the circumstances around themselves.

Paying attention to the movement of the planets, helps a person adapt in the same regard. If you know that Mercury going retrograde frequently screws up travel plans, you leave an hour early and just go with the flow. If Jupiter is passing through your Money House, you might buy an extra lottery ticket or throw a buck into a slot machine, however if Saturn is making the same transit, you would be wiser to save that dollar and put it in the bank instead.

To what degree are beliefs involved with the interpretation of the planets? It's a tough call, since everything in reality creation comes down to beliefs at some point. Science has learned a great deal about the physical nature of the Earth by observation, and those observations have led to the wonders of technology that surround us.

While Astrology depends on observation as well, it's much more interpretive than the physical sciences, so beliefs have certainly played a role in filtering the information. It's a chicken and the egg argument to try and figure out whether the beliefs came before the observations or vice versa, the best you can do is make your own observations and decide what works best for you.

For the reality creator a knowledge of astrology in every day life is akin to the ship captain who knows both the regular weather patterns and the ocean currents he sails on. You have the advantage of knowing when the weather is right to raise the sails and go full speed ahead, or when to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm.

You can obviously create a fulfilling life for yourself without ever knowing about astrology or any other form of divination for that matter. However, if you're (like me) an information junkie, who wants to know the 'why' of every situation, astrology provides unique insight to the world that you have chosen to create, and the role you're choosing to play in it.

John McNally publishes regular astrological reports on the Psychic Weather website.

Seth on “The Garden of Eden (Awakening of the Outer Ego)” (pt.1)

Dreams, “Evolution,” and Value Fulfillment, Vol. 1, Session 899, February 06, 1980.

“The Garden of Eden legend represents a distorted version of man’s awakening as a physical creature. He becomes fully operational in his physical body, and while awake can only sense the dream body that had earlier been so real to him. He now encounters his experience from within a body that must be fed, clothed, protected from the elements – a body that is subject to gravity and to earth’s laws. He must use physical muscles to walk from place to place. He sees himself suddenly, in a leap of comprehension, as existing for the first time not only apart from the environment, but apart from all of earth’s other creatures.

“The sense of separation is, in those terms, initially almost shattering. Yet [man] is to be the part of nature that views itself with perspective [i.e. is self-aware]. He is to be the part of nature that will specialize, again, in the self-conscious use of concepts. He will grow the flower of the intellect – a flower that must have its deep roots buried securely within the earth, and yet a flower that will send new psychic seeds outward, not only for itself but for the rest of nature, of which it is a part.

“But man looked out and felt himself suddenly separate and amazed at the aloneness. Now he must find food, where before his dream body did not need physical nourishment. Before, man had been neither male nor female, combining the characteristics of each, but now the physical bodies also specialized in terms of sexuality. Man has to physically procreate. Some lost ancient legends emphasized in a clearer fashion his sudden sexual division. By the time the biblical legends came into being, however, historical events and social beliefs were transformed into the Adam and Eve version of events.

“On the other hand, man did indeed feel that he had fallen from a high estate, because he remembered that earlier freedom of dream reality – a reality in which the other creatures were still to some degree immersed. Man’s mind, incidentally, at that point had all the abilities that you now assign to it: the great capacity for contrast of imagination and intellect, the drive for objectivity and for subjectivity, the full capacity for the development of language – a keen mind that was as brilliant in any caveman, say, as it is in any man on a modern street.

“But if man felt suddenly alone and isolated, he was immediately struck by the grand variety of the world and its creatures. Each creature apart from himself was a new mystery. He was enchanted also by his own subjective reality, the body in which he found himself, and by the differences between himself and others like him, and the other creatures. He instantly began to explore, to categorize, to point out and to name the other creatures of the earth as they came to his attention.

“In a fashion, it was a great creative and yet cosmic game that consciousness played with itself, and it did represent a new kind of awareness, but I want to emphasize that each version of All-That-Is is unique. Each has its purpose, though that purpose cannot be easily defined in your terms. Many people ask, for example: ‘What is the purpose of my life?’ Meaning: ‘What am I meant to do?’ but the purpose of your life, and each life, is in its being. That being may include certain actions, but the acts themselves are only important in that they spring out of the essence of your life, which simply by being is bound to fulfill its purposes.

“Man’s dream body is still with him, of course, but the physical body now obscures it. The dream body cannot be harmed while the physical one can – as man quickly found out as he transformed his experience largely from one to the other. In the dream body man feared nothing. The dream body does not die. It exists before and after physical death. In their dream bodies men had watched the spectacle of animals ‘killing’ other animals, and they saw the animals’ dream bodies emerge unscathed.

“They saw that the earth was simply changing its forms, but that the identity of each unit of consciousness survived – and so, although they saw the picture of death, they did not recognize it as the death that to many people now seems an inevitable end.

“[Men] saw that there must be an exchange of physical energy for the world to continue. They watched the drama of the ‘hunter’ and the ‘prey,’ seeing that each animal contributed so that the physical form of the earth could continue – but the rabbit eaten by the wolf survived in a dream body that men knew was its true form. When man ‘awakened’ in his physical body, however, and specialized in the use of its senses, he no longer perceived the released dream body of the slain animal running away, still cavorting on the hillside. He retained memory of his earlier knowledge, and for a considerable period he could now and then recapture that knowledge. He became more and more aware of his physical senses, however: Some things were definitely pleasant and some were not. Some stimuli were to be sought out, and others avoided, and so over a period of time he translated the pleasant and the unpleasant into rough versions of good and evil.

“Basically, what made him feel good was good. He was gifted with strong clear instincts that were meant to lead him toward his own greatest development, to his own greatest fulfillment, in such a way that he also helped to bring about the highest potentials of all of the other species of consciousness. His natural impulses were meant to provide inner directives that would guide him in just such a direction, so that he sought what was the best for himself and for others.”

Session 901, February 18, 1980.

“At the time of this awakening man did experience, then, some sense of separation from his dream body, and from his own inner reality – the world of his dreams – but he was still far more aware of that subjective existence than you are now.

“The practical nature of his own dreams was also more apparent, for again, his dreams sent him precise visions as to where food might be located, for example, and for some centuries there were human migrations of a kind that now you see the geese make. All of those journeys followed literal paths that were given as information in the dream state. [But] more and more man began to identify himself with his exterior environment. He began to think of his inner ego almost as if it were a stranger to himself. It became his version of the soul, and there seemed to be a duality – a self who acted in the physical universe, and a separate spiritlike soul that acted in an immaterial world.

“... Man does have an instinct and a desire to live, and he has an instinct and a desire to die. The same applies to other creatures. In his life [each] man is embarked upon a cooperative venture with his own species, and with the other species, and dying he also in that regard acts in a cooperative manner, returning his physical substance to the earth. Physically speaking, man’s ‘purpose’ is to understand the qualities of love and creativity, to intellectually and psychically understand the sources of his being, and to lovingly create other dimensions of reality of which he is presently unaware. In his thinking, the quality of his thoughts, in their motion, he is indeed experimenting with a unique and a new kind of reality, forming other subjective worlds which will in their turn grow into consciousness and song, which will in their turn flower from a dream dimension into other ones. Man is learning to create new worlds. In order to do so he has taken on many challenges.

“... You are aware of such activities now as automatic speaking and automatic writing, and of sleepwalking. These all give signs in modern times of some very important evidence in man’s early relationship with the world and with himself.

“Sleepwalking was once, in that beginning, a very common experience – far more so than now – in which the inner self actually taught the physical body to walk and hence prevented the newly emerged physically oriented intellect from getting in its own way, asking too many questions that might otherwise impede the body’s smooth spontaneous motion.

“In the same fashion man is born with an inbuilt propensity for language, and for the communication of symbols through pictures and writing. He spoke first in an automatic fashion that began in his dreams. In a fashion, you could almost say that he used language before he consciously understood it. It is not just that he learned by doing, but that the doing did the teaching. Again, lest there be a sharply inquiring intellect, wondering overmuch about how the words were formed or what motions were necessary, his drawing was in the same way automatic. You might say – almost – that he used the language ‘despite himself.’ Therefore, it possessed an almost magical quality, and the ‘word’ was seen as coming directly from God.”

© Robert F. Butts, All Rights Reserved.

Summary of Concepts:

– The Garden of Eden myths found in Juedo-Christian-Islamic texts are premodern interpretations of the “awakening” of the fully self-aware outer ego in the physical body. Seth mentioned earlier that plants and animals preceded humans in this “awakening” process. There was an inherent, natural order to the involutionary/evolutionary process in which humans “awakened” and “evolved” after other “species of consciousness” like plants and animals.

Yet, Seth doesn’t specify many details. Of necessity his story is very general. Was there was a global, simultaneous awakening achieved after some inner criteria achieved a critical mass, or that it was a gradual process across the planet. He uses variations of the word “sudden,” for example, “suddenly, in a leap of comprehension,” and “But man looked out and felt himself suddenly separate and amazed at the aloneness.” But how sudden is sudden? Nanoseconds, weeks, or centuries? We don’t yet know.

Still, the dream body that had served as the primary focal point “before the beginning” faded into a deeper, more subconscious area as the dazzling array of physical sense data more fully dominated the waking state. The waking ego (“particle focus”) that made decisions in space-time through free will was constructed with increasing stability from the depths of the inner ego (“wave focus”).

Success at last! But our success had a double edge to it, the physical body now had to be fed, clothed, protected from the elements. It was now subject to the basic root assumptions that govern our universe, like the law of gravity and the speed of light. We, as outer egos, now saw ourselves “suddenly, in a leap of comprehension, as existing for the first time not only apart from the environment, but apart from all of earth’s other creatures.” This initial awakening, the sense of individuality and “separation” from the inner ego was almost shattering for many of us.

“Yet [man] is to be the part of nature that views itself with [self-aware] perspective.” In other words, as British biologist Julian Huxley (1887-1975) marveled, with the emergence of the outer ego, for the first time “evolution became aware of itSelf.”

– The Adam and Eve myth also represents the manifestation of genders from our inner ego. “Before the beginning” there was no need for this type of specialization in the subtle field which is inherently transsexual.

– With the manifestation of the outer ego more or less completed, we began to hone our intellects and intuitions. Intellectually, we were now able to discern differences and were amazed to discern a world of objects, processes, and qualities. This must have been when penis envy began :-). Intuitionally we were still deeply connected to the subtle “dreamtime” and relied heavily on our dreams and subjective knowing as we settled into a precise type of linear neurological “particle focus.”

– At some time we are each bound to wonder just what our purpose in life is? Our purpose is contained within our own spontaneous being and is much simpler than some philosophies make it out to be. As physically manifest creatures, our purpose is simply to be ourselves, to experience our own nature to its fullest potentials. For example, Seth said elsewhere that, “We have never told anybody to do anything, except to face up to the abilities of consciousness.” ~ The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events (1981).

– As our physical senses fully blossomed we began to lock into a narrow spectrum of sequential neurological focus. We thus ignored other spectrums, for example our inner senses, that faded into ghostly, subtle traces that still remain. Today we call the affects of this ghost spectrum “paranormal,” psychic, non-ordinary, and altered states.

Also, as we more fully immersed ourselves within physical egoic consciousness, we created a belief system of good and evil based upon our perception of pleasant and unpleasant physical sensations and experiences. This led, however, to all sorts of premodern religious belief systems of right and wrong that still exist today. And that is a much longer story!

– Value fulfillment, one of the laws of the inner universe, was the driving force that constantly fueled our impulses, like nuclear reactions fuel the sun. Our impulses are important reminders from our inner egos about certain choices within probabilities that could lead to our greatest fulfillment as individuals, a species, and as part of the “Great Chain of Being” (causal, subtle, and physical fields).

– With the stable emergence of the outer ego, the classical sense of duality was created. There was now me and you, us and them, subjects and objects, inner and outer. We had a physical body and senses, but also an inner body and senses. As we became more fully reliant on our physical senses, activities like automatic speaking, automatic writing, and sleepwalking remained as evidence of our inner knowing and heritage. Sleepwalking is how we taught our bodies to walk, we dreamed our languages, and further honed our intellects and intuitions.

– Our ability to use language initially appeared so magical that words were perceived by our newly “separated” outer egos as coming directly from God. This may be one reason why there are so many references in the Old Testament to God and Angels “speaking” to various people.

Comments:

Modern anthropological myths based on current fossil records claim that homo sapiens sapiens initially manifest in Olduvai Gorge, descended from great apes via natural selection and “random” genetic mutation, then slowly spread over the African continent, eventually crossing the Bering Straits to populate the North Americas. How accurate this tale is remains the subject of continued research since fossil records tell very true but partial stories.

However, according to Seth, our sleepwalker aspects experimented with dream plants, animals, and bodies in the subtle field during the eons that preceded this in physical terms. This is an important postmodern distinction in Seth’s creation myth, one that shows how the evolution of our bodies is really part of a much larger involutionary/evolutionary scheme. Also, it doesn’t contradict or deny the modern myths based on fossil records, it simply transcends and includes them.

The transitional experience from the subtle “dreamtime” to the physical “waking time,” terrifying as it was, has been safely tucked away in our collective subconscious (there is no UNconscious) so as not to scare the bejeebers out of us. This repression was a necessary side effect of the “forgetting” of All-That-Is (causal) and the inner ego (subtle) by the emerging outer ego (physical). This forgetting, this sense of separation, is where the Garden of Eden myth and belief system of good and evil (classical dualities) originated.

The concept of Satan actually represents our anthropomorphosized projection of this deep seated archetypal fear of separation from All-That-Is and inner ego. Satan is “real” in this sense, but that is another loaded statement. In psychological terms, it is an effect of the early repression into the collective subconscious of this birth terror, or sense of separation from Consciousness, and subsequent death terror, or sense of return to Consciousness. For instance, Seth mentioned that “... Man does have an instinct and a desire to live, and he has an instinct and a desire to die.”

These birth and death instincts strongly colored the premodern era which current research suggests lasted for millions of years. Thus, our use of “premodern era” is really very, very broad and can be broken down into dozens of epochs with further research. The modern period, however, is only four hundred years old, and includes these instincts, but also contains the progressive dissociation of the “value spheres” of science, art, and morals mentioned in the Foreword. Again, this repression is considered pathological because it prevents further growth. The side effects include the horrors of two world wars, global warming, enforced poverty, addictions, etc. on a planetary scale. There is hope, however, as postmodern worldviews are struggling to heal the fragmentation, dissociation, alienation of modern worldviews.

– Now that our story has reached the premodern era, I want to review the “order of play” of evolution supported by Seth’s narrative. Again, what makes this myth unique is how it integrates involutionary and evolutionary ideas. As we saw in the previous segment this is no small feat and requires a bevy of concepts skillfully woven together. But I want to concentrate on the linear aspects for a moment because they support the case made by Ken Wilber in his postmodern magnum opus Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution (1995).

The connective concept is the issue of sexual reproduction. Seth mentions there is no need for genders in the causal or subtle fields, but obviously there is a need for that in the physical. Though he doesn’t cover it specifically, the moment that the first cell or cells formed, they began to reproduce. This remains one of the most beautiful and amazing facts of our physical existence. Modern science still claims it to be a meaningless accident. Postmodern sources, like Seth, claim otherwise, that Causal Consciousness was involved from “before the beginning.”

Now, according to Seth the Adam and Eve myth also represents the manifestation of human genders by an inner ego that is inherently transsexual. “Before the beginning” there was no need for this type of specialization in the subtle field. However, with the Big Bang all the energy-matter within the physical field emerged from the subtle field. In Seth’s terms, EEs finally slowed down en masse to form physical matter.

BANG! WHAM! ZOOM! WHOOSH......... Space-time and energy-matter were born....

We can characterize all initial matter as a physiosphere, the first great act of conscious creation in the physical field. Billions of years unfolded as matter slowly morphed into galaxies, solar systems, and planets. The Earth is born. But there is still no cellular life, just energy-matter ever morphing....

The next major phase of conscious creation on our planet was the emergence of cellular life, what we will call an early biosphere that featured all kinds of experiments with sexual reproduction. It included algae, bacteria, viruses, plants, and basic water-life.

The next minor phase of conscious creation was the emergence of land-life – dinosaurs, birds, mammals, etc. as the late biosphere grew in complexity. Land-life now contains limbic systems, nervous systems, immune systems, and circulatory systems. Still, up to this point evolution is not yet self-aware in terms of the outer ego. It is conscious, make no mistake, but not yet in an order of complexity that gives rise to self-reflexive awareness. Thus, we still have only the biosphere at this stage. It is likely billions of years old, but there’s no way to prove this empirically at this point.

Now the stage is set for the most recent major phase of conscious creation, the emergence of human beings, or what we will call the noosphere, coined by Jesuit Paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). This stage is defined in terms of increased complexity and hierarchical unfolding. Each stage transcends and includes its predecessors but not vice versa. This “not vice versa” is the key. If we destroy the noosphere, for instance, the biosphere will still exist. However, if we destroy the biosphere, the noosphere is also destroyed. Thus, we have a directional, hierarchical unfolding of evolution supported by Seth’s narrative, one that blends the gems of premodern and modern myths.

Overall, then, we find three major phases of conscious creation in the physical field to date:

1. physiosphere (all matter, @16 billion years old)
2. biosphere (all biological life, includes matter, @2 billion years old)
3. noosphere (all humans, includes biological life and matter, @2-6 million years old).

Thus, human beings are compound creatures, the result of three major evolutionary phases (physios, bios, and noos). Our bodies are literally made of stardust, our minds the stuff of dreams.

Finally, we can now clearly see a direction, pull, or telos to conscious creation in the physical field. Over the last 16 billion years our universe has gradually become increasingly complex, conscious, and now self-aware. But this is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the human noosphere yearns toward the “remembrance” of subtle and causal fields. This hints at what may lie in store in the future. Teilhard de Chardin speculated about a physical Omega point, Ken Wilber speculates about the potential for psychic, subtle, and causal stages in the physical field. However, the bad news is that we can create physical, mental, and even spiritual dis-ease along the way. As the world becomes increasingly complex, so do the good news/bad news potentials. The evidence is all too plain to see in the twenty-first century world around us.

Still, our collective purpose according to Seth “is to understand the qualities of love and creativity, to intellectually and psychically understand the sources of [our] being, and to lovingly create other dimensions of reality of which [we are] presently unaware. ... In order to do so [we have] taken on many challenges.” Wow! We can also find plenty of evidence of love, creativity, psychic understanding, and so on in the world around us. I don’t know about you, but I see a cup that is half-full, not half-empty!

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.

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

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