The SETH and Jane Roberts Chronological Library List

JANE ROBERTS How to Develop Your ESP Power (1966)
Inspired by Jane's first paranormal experience, this book is a set of exercises to help develop one's ESP abilities. The book is illustrated by Jane's accounts of her experiences and those of her husband Rob, the artist Robert F. Butts. It was while trying out the exercises that Seth contacted Jane for the first time. Throughout the book, she gives quotations from his earliest communications. Jane encourages readers to enter their own dreams in a daily journal to help them examine how their sleeping mind continues to function, resolving problems, and sparking waking creativity.

JANE ROBERTS The Seth Material (1970)
The first popular Seth/Jane book, this is an account of how Seth first appeared in the lives of Jane and Rob; it contains their doubts, self-questionings, and tests of him. Excerpts from their early sessions with him sketch the outlines of the world view that he was shortly to present more fully in his own works.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK - Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul (1972)
The first full-scale "Seth book." In it Seth describes the multidimensional nature of the human personality, with its untapped resources, its range in time and space, its connections with all aspects of the universe, and the continuity of consciousness. He discusses in-depth his reality today, and how it compares to physical life. Transcribed and edited by Robert Butts, Jane's husband.

JANE ROBERTS The Education of Oversoul Seven (1973)
Now republished as part of the Oversoul Seven Trilogy
This novel was written by Jane in a state of altered consciousness. Seth's concept of the time-and-space-free personality is developed in a lively and entertaining story.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK - The Nature of Personal Reality: A Seth Book (1974)
Seth's second book. A prerequisite to any further study of the Seth material. In it Seth offers an expanded view of how our bodies constantly recreate themselves, and how the events in our lives are created in line with conscious beliefs and suggestions. Seth also suggests many techniques and exercises for applying the concept of the time-and space-free human personality to whatever difficulti es in which we may find ourselves.

JANE ROBERTS Adventures in Consciousness: An Introduction to Aspect Psychology(1975)
The first part of this book consists of Jane's account of her increased awareness of some of the aspects of her greater self, together with similar discoveries on the part of members of the ESP class that she held every Tuesday night in her home from 1967 to 1975. The second part of the book is her explanation of these paranormal happenings according to Seth's ideas and her ow n intuitions. Helpful diagrams by Rob Butts.

JANE ROBERTS Dialogues of the Soul and Mortal Self in Time* (1975)
The poems in this volume are a moving presentation of Jane's inner conflict between her knowledge that her body must decay, and her sense of living in eternity. Powerful illustrations by Rob.

JANE ROBERTS Psychic Politics: An Aspect Psychology Book (1976)
A sequel to Adventures, this book by Jane relates more of her encounters with her greater self, as well as similar experiences on the part of Rob and individuals with whom they come in contact. Explaining these events are the Codicils, a statement of the rules which underlie the evolvement of their personality and our species--written by Jane in a state of altered consciousness.

JANE ROBERTS The World View of Paul Cezanne (1977)
The current and remarkably Sethian outlook on the world of the artist Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) is presented in this book in words of his received by Jane while in a state of altered consciousness.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK The "Unknown" Reality, Volumes I & II (1977/1979)
Seth's third and fourth books. They offer a fuller explanation of the "unknown" dimensions of ourselves, with exercises that can help us become more familiar with them and thus enrich both our lives and the world in which we live. Cross-references to other of Seth's writings plus extensive annotation by Rob.

JANE ROBERTS The Afterdeath Journal of an American Philosopher: The World View of William James* (1978)
This book presents the world view of the philosopher William James (1842-1910) as he has developed it since he left his body. He comments on the limitations of his outlook when in our reality, analyzes U.S. cultural development in the light of what he has discovered since his "death," and describes the reality in which he is now focused. His account of "God," whom he refers to as the "the knowing light" is deeply moving. This work is one of Jane's productions while in a state of altered consciousness.

JANE ROBERTS Emir's Education in the Proper Use of Magical Powers (1979)
This children's book is also suitable for adults. It shows our need to make self-responsible decisions, the value of the change of seasons and the change called death, and the oneness of creation. A young prince learns as he journeys through the universe.

JANE ROBERTS The Further Education of Oversoul Seven (1979)
Now republished as part of the Oversoul Seven Trilogy and a sequel to The Education of Oversoul Seven, this novel was also written by Jane when in a state of altered consciousness. The concepts of simultaneous time, probable realities, the power of an individual's free choice, and the nature of "God" are explored in a lively fashion as the characters become acquainted with their counterparts in space and time.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK The Nature of the Psyche: Its Human Expression (1979)
Seth's fifth book. Who "I" am is explained through a discussion of the mobility of consciousness as distinct from the body. Our relationships with other people--including sexual relationships--are explored as ways in which we can develop fully. Exercises are suggested to assist the reader to experience the concepts. Transcribed and edited by Rob.

JANE ROBERTS The God of Jane: A Psychic Manifesto (1981)
This book relates experiences beginning in Jane's childhood which eventually led her to accept Seth's philosophy and to formulate her own concept of "God."

SETH-DICTATED BOOK The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events: A Seth Book (1981)
In his sixth book, Seth tells us how groups of individuals and societies create their own realities as they produce war and peace; epidemics and good health; geological phenomena such as earthquakes; the weather; technological catastrophes, like Three-Mile Island; and group movements, like the mass suicide by followers of Jim Jones. Seth stresses the power of the individual to choose whether to participate in mass decisions or to follow a separate course. Transcribed and edited by Rob.

JANE ROBERTS If We Live Again: Or, Public Magic and Private Love* (1982)
The poems in this volume were written by Jane about altered states of consciousness as experienced through love for another person, through awareness of one's multidimensional personality, through nature, through dreams, and through a consciousness of the magic in every object we perceive.

JANE ROBERTS Oversoul Seven and the Museum of Time (1984)
Now republished as part of the Oversoul Seven Trilogy, in this third volume, Jane develops the concepts of simultaneous time, the continual alteration of both past and future that is produced by actions in the present, and the importance of our taking steps today to choose a future reality in which our species will survive and flourish. The key to this transformation is contained in the "Codicils," principles of conduct that are presented in her previous work, Psychic Politics.

JANE ROBERTS Seth, Dreams and Projection of Consciousness (1986)
Written between The Seth Material and Seth Speaks but not published until 1986, this book by Jane fills in the chronological gap between those two works. In it, she relates her experiences and experiments with dreams and projection of consciousness, and gives much advice from both Seth and herself about working with one's dreams and engaging in out-of-body travel. The Introduction by Rob Butts describes the circumstances surrounding Jane's death of September 5, 1984.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK Dreams, "Evolution," and Value Fulfillment, Volumes I & II (1986)
These seventh and eighth Seth books recount the "evolution" of material reality moment by moment from the dream state into its manifestation as our physical environment. Seth also describes the goal towards which each aspect of the whole of All That Is is working: value fulfillment. As in previous Seth books, Robert Butts provides notes and commentaries. His Introductory Essays give an account of Jane's final illness and the reasons for the immense physical difficulties which she suffered.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK The Magical Approach (1995)
Dictated by Seth in 1980, this sessies of sessions was gathered into publication form by Rob Butts approximately 10 years after Jane's death.The sessions were given by Seth in an effort to help Jane tap into her ability to heal herself. He urges her (and all of us) to adopt a mindset more in keeping with natural inclinations, and calls this approach the "magical" one as compared to the usual rational one used in our society. Seth encourages us to listen to our inner voices, to heed our impulses, to live spontaneously, and to focus with intent and joyful expectation on what we desire to bring into our lives. A classic example of Seth's perspective, this book is a welcome addition to his reality creation material. Includes artwork by Rob.

SETH-DICTATED BOOK The Way Toward Health (1997)
The last of the Seth-dictated books, it was written from Jane's hospital bed over the months preceding her death. The material in this book was evoked by the questions and considerations Jane and Rob faced during her long illness, and becomes an in-depth examination of the miracle of life in the human body. It also becomes the poignant story of Jane's courageous attempt to understand the crippling condition she had contracted and see the role it played in her life.

The Nine Families of Consciousness

The Nine Families of Consciousness

Compiled by Paul M. Helfrich, Ph.D.

~ from The “Unknown” Reality, Vol. 2, originally published by Prentice Hall, 1979.

It’s interesting to note that The “Unknown” Reality contains 17 Practice Elements, the only organized course of exercises in the entirety of the Seth books. This information on counterparts and families comes after the final Practice Element.

Seth then introduced the counterpart metaphor in session 732. This set up the nine families metaphor that immediately followed in sessions 732 - 740 and closes out this magnum opus.

Seth said,

“... these counterparts form psychic families. They are family representations on another level.

“... now there are races, physically speaking. There are also psychic counterparts of races – families of consciousness, so to speak – all related, yet having different overall characteristics or specialties.” [session 732]

Seth describes eight of these families (all except Sumari which he covers in greater detail earlier), in sessions 736 - 737.

More information on Sumari can be found in Jane Roberts’s Adventures in Consciousness, The Nature of Personal Reality, Psychic Politics, Dreams, “Evolution,” and Value Fulfillment, Vol. 1 and 2, and Sue Watkins’s Conversations With Seth, Vol. 1 ,and 2.

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Is the Concept of “Families” Really Discrete?

Jane said:

“We regard Seth’s material on counterparts and families of consciousness as excellent explanations – as thematic frameworks that help us perceive and organize aspects of our greater reality that are ignored by conventional academic disciplines. Seth’s explanations stand for aspects of reality that usually escape us.” [Rob’s notes, session 737]

To further understand the concept of “families” try to imagine the psychic reality of the collective consciousness; sort of like the science fiction species – the Borg – from the TV series Star Trek. But imagine that this human collective is psychically related and holds the ability to communicate telepathically and clairvoyantly. Next, try to imagine the reality of six billion human beings as individuals that make up this vast group. If you were to think of this group, figuratively speaking, as a Rainbow of Consciousness, then each discrete color would represent an innate “family” leaning or intent. When viewing this Rainbow from afar, you can’t find the exact place where red ends and orange begins, yet you can clearly distinguish both colors. As your vision zooms in each color also reveals infinite shades of gradation and the edges, that seemed separate from a longer distance, literally disappear. So the foundation of nine can easily be extended into an infinite spectrum with plenty of room for individual variations. Therefore, we really aren’t limited to nine discrete “colors”.

Another way of looking at it is to multiply 9x8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1. You get 362,880 whole number permutations. So there’s plenty of room to explore a rich variety from the fundamental nine. And if you think of these “families” of consciousness in terms of human energy – frequency and personality tone – you get a sense of just how wide and vast this spectrum of consciousness really is.

The concepts of counterparts and nine “families” introduce an important foundation for the deeper understanding of this vast spectrum of human consciousness in relationship to its nonphysical source. And just because something is nonphysical or “beneath” the normal range of our five senses doesn’t mean that it’s not real! We need to remind ourselves, again, that these concepts are not absolutes offered in some type of mathematical language or philosophical dialectic based upon the pure reason of the five senses. They must be experienced, conceptualized to be more fully understood. And the gateway to this type of conceptualization is to be found by looking “inward” through our own intuitive, subjective perception by means of our own inner senses.

Here are some additional excerpts from Jane Roberts on counterparts and the nine “families” that shed some light on these related concepts.

“Now it seems so obvious that there must be such alliances as Seth’s families of consciousness, and that each of us alive at any given time takes part in one or more of such psychic groupings – just as we form, say, nationalistic affiliations on ordinary levels.

“But the names and designations aren’t meant to be taken too literally; these aren’t to be interpreted as esoteric clubs or brotherhoods, but as natural psychic ‘conglomerations’ to which we all belong.” [session 737]

That last paragraph serves as a very important reminder that it’s all to easy to limit our thinking to nine “clubs” that we can now belong to, using this as yet another means to separate and promote our individuality. In fact, you will discover that this is the first stage that people usually go through when first introduced to the idea. Instead, we need to remind ourselves that the primary “club” we belong to is humanity, and even that distinction will need to blur when we encounter new races in other solar systems and galaxies. So we should afford ourselves the same luxury when identifying with any of the nine family intents.

Now according to Seth, Rob, Jane, and many of their students belonged to the Sumari “family” of consciousness, the very first one introduced:

“Now these families fall generally into certain groups. In greater terms you can ‘cut the pie’ however you want to, but you will still share an emotional and psychic feeling of belonging with the family of which you are a part. And (with broad amusement) most of you here are Sumari, and it demands great discipline of Sumari to take down lists – even of psychic families.” [Appendix 26, session 734]

That last sentence offers a very important clue about Seth’s agenda in offering this information. I have to admit that I felt an initial resistance to the validity of this concept when I first read it in 1979. And in my subsequent experiences and explorations of this particular concept I have discovered that many people share this initial aversion. I mean really, nine families? Not seven? Or sixteen? How can our collective psyches, something that is surely infinite, be expressed in such discrete terms?

I’m reminded of that Monty Python moment from The Search for the Holy Grail in which they explain the use of “the holy hand grenade of Antioch” as a metaphor for the manner in which the original intent of a religious or mystical experience inevitably gets distorted into calcified dogma. When pulling the pin to detonate the holy hand grenade, “the number to count before releasing shall be three, not two, not four, and five is right out!”

Laughing out loud! But seriously, just what is really going on here!? Seth says that you can cut the proverbial pie – of consciousness – any way you wish. And it’s a pretty vast pie that we’re dealing with here. So it’s clear that this is Seth’s best attempt at explaining these very subtle and exceedingly complex ideas within the limits of our linear-based language that reflect nonlinear perception in Framework 2 again. And it takes time to reconcile nonlinear perception into a mind that is culturally habituated to linear thinking and perception.

Even Rob and Jane experienced some initial skepticism with Seth seeming to be so discrete in terms of nine “families”:

“I told [Jane] I’d been rather surprised when Seth had so boldly stated that there were only nine families of (human) consciousness upon our planet. The number seemed too small, too arbitrary. I also remarked upon my understanding that usually neither she nor Seth liked to categorize new information so definitely. Jane, while agreeing, couldn’t elaborate upon this very much, beyond saying that she felt each family could have subdivisions and/or combine with others, so that mathematically at least there existed the possibility of ‘a lot’ of them. I liked that idea much better. Strangely, neither of us had ever asked Seth to name any of the other families of consciousness, following Jane’s Sumari breakthrough some three years ago.” [session 732, notes during break at 10:45]

A reminder from Seth:

“Now these categories do not come first. Your individuality comes first. You have certain characteristics of your own. These place you in a certain position. As you are not a rock or a mineral, but a person, so your individuality places you in a particular family or species of consciousness. This represents your overall viewpoint of reality.” [session 732]

It’s important to remember that our individuality – our own innate intent – precedes, so to speak, any physical incarnations. So our unique intent within nonphysical consciousness, our source consciousness, does express itself through the choice of entering into an incarnational “cycle.” This choice occurs in a nonphysical state which is somewhat beyond the scope of this essay. But the main point here is that once the choice is made and the “cycle” manifests, our pre-existing intent then gets translated through the filter of this nine “families” concept into all of the personalities that manifest and participate in the physical Framework 1 experience. Seems pretty simple.

Therefore, the nine “families” concept is most importantly about the innate intention of consciousness. And by intentions we mean a predisposition to being a healer, scientist, artist, parent, soldier, shaman, teacher, entrepreneur, etc. And within the principle of value fulfillment, it’s clear that these innate intents must complement each other in such a way as to create a propensity for equilibrium, balance, and healthy communities and ecosystems. So the nine “families” of consciousness is just Seth’s way of presenting a concept that hints at the innate intention toward value fulfillment of the collective human consciousness, our inner egos, whose source is found in the “unknown” reality of Frameworks 2, 3, 4, and inward.

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Family Subgroupings

Seth said,

“Now you can expand the functions of any particular family group, or you can cut it down, by deciding how precise you want to be. If one family deals with the nature of healing then you can slice it down to the healing of a toe … and ear … an eye.

“The categories [healing, teaching, or whatever] are general descriptions of the families of consciousness. You can split them up also and make further distinction if you choose. You cut those divisions down. They merely represent interpretations that you can understand in you realty. In the most mundane terms, some families are travelers, and some prefer to say at home. But generally speaking I have simply given you an outline which follow the characteristics of consciousness as it is embarked in physical form. I am mot giving you these groups to set up divisions, but to help you understand that consciousness is diversified – that usually each of you falls, because you want to, into a certain family. And there you acquire friends, alliances and counterparts.”

Sue Watkins, former ESP class member, family friend, and author tuned into the Grunaargh family, a sub-group of Gramada during session 598. From her note to Rob:

“In a session on Sumari I witnessed in 1971 or early 1972 – I picked up a family-of-consciousness name, and Seth said it was ‘Grunaargh.’ It wasn’t on the list given last month [referring to the nine families given in session 732].”

Rob comments,

“Sue had picked up on the Grunaargh during the 598th session, which she’d recorded for me the evening after Jane had made the whole Sumari break through in [ESP class], on November 23, 1971.

“The point I want to make here is that others beside Jane can intuitively divine material on the families’ of consciousness. Actually, for whatever reasons, Sue had glimpsed a family other than Sumari before Jane had.” [session 737]

So Sue actually was the first person on record to really dive into and explore this concept!

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The Nine Families of Consciousness

Sumafi (Su-ma’-fi)

SETH: deals primarily with teaching, passing on their knowledge or that of others.

ROB: to transmit “originality” through teaching.

Milumet (Mil’-u-met)

SETH: composed of mystics, most of their energy is directed in an inward fashion, deeply involved in nature, in that sense more highly attuned psychically than most.

ROB: to mystically nourish mankind’s psyche.

Gramada (Gra-ma’-da)

SETH: specializes in organization, founders of large businesses, statesmen, politicians, vital, active, creatively aggressive.

ROB: to found social systems.

Vold

SETH: primarily reformers, activists, revolutionaries, with excellent precognitive abilities in terms of probabilities, one purpose in mind: to change the status quo in whatever the area of primary interest.

ROB: to reform the status quo.

Ilda (Il’-da)

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 (Sum-mar’-i)

SETH: innovators, naturally playful, humorous, 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 (Tu-mold’)

SETH: primarily devoted to healing, though don’t have to literally be practicing medicine, found as psychics, social workers, psychologists, priests/shamans, florists, politicians, royalty in past history.

ROB: to heal, regardless of individual occupation.

Zuli (Zu’-li)

SETH: involved mainly with the fulfillment of bodily activity, athletes, dedicated to perfecting the beautiful, elegant, and performance capacities of the body, often appear at the beginnings of civilizations where direct physical bodily manipulation within the environment was of supreme importance.

ROB: to serve as physical athletic models.

Borledim (Bor-le’-dim)

SETH: deals primarily with parenthood, often have large families, focus on nurturing healthy children with brilliant minds, healthy bodies, and strong clear emotions. Their ideas often spring to prominence before large social changes, and help initiate them. Closest to Sumari.

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

The Seth Audio Collection - Excerpt 28

When you do not express it, then you dam it up. And you can express it against yourself in terms of physical symptoms, or in your relationship with others. But if you realize it is nothing to be frightened of, then you are free of it.

Hate is, as I have said before, like a summer storm. When you let it go, it lets forth energy and rain that heals the earth. It is turned into quite constructive framework—it is good and natural.' sky would never think of holding back its storm—again, it has better sense.

Do not fear negative thoughts. That simply adds to what you consider negative energy. Where would the world be without thunderstorms, and even floods, and hurricanes, and earthquakes? That is how the earth changes and renews itself. To deny your emotions, any of them, is denying the aspect of your own reality, an it is, literally, impossible.

Let it go and no one will be hurt. The universe is not afraid of your hatred. It can hold it easily. Each individual has their own built-in defense and energy, and your hatred, directed even against them, will not hurt them.

The Seth Audio Collection - Excerpt 27

Or, to be aware of the identification. There is no one point of perfection. When you think you have an enemy, you simply begin to focus upon the distances that exist between what you think the enemy is, and what your love tells you the enemy should be. But because you think hate is so wrong, you then do not focus upon the similarities between your enemy and the love that is involved. You are blind, for example, to his good points, and focus instead upon those qualities that separate you from what you think he should be and what he is.

The Seth Audio Collection - Excerpt 26

To some extent, yes. Now when you love someone, you are able to see what you think of, or feel, or interpret, as the ideal. You are also aware of the separations from that ideal. But these do not bother you—you accept them, but you do not focus upon them. Now you may also however, because of your identification, see in the other person your own ideal of yourself, and then perceive, as they seem to fall in their behavior from your ideal pattern, also your own failures, and be twice as angry, because it seems to you they are failing for themselves and for you.

The Seth Audio Collection - Excerpt 25

When a child says to a parent, "I hate you," often the parent is appalled. The parent says, "You should not say hate," or, "That is bad," and the child quickly learns not to be so honest!

Now this is from my book.*(THE NATURE OF PERSONAL REALITY) But what the child is saying: "I love you so much, and I sense this great love. What separates me from it now, and how can I return to it, and what has happened, and what is wrong?" And hate operates in the same manner, regardless of your age and the personalities involved. And if you are taught to believe it is wrong, it is then more difficult to get back to love because you begin to inhibit the feeling.

The Seth Audio Collection - Excerpt 24

You are here because you are beginning to believe in the freedom of yourself, and in your own integrity. You are ready to sit and listen to someone who says, "Look into your self—know your self," and who, at least, will help you do so.

Now, in your terms I have some very good points to say for me, and yet some liabilities. After all, you have bodies that you have to live in every day, and what you think of as intimate personal problems that go on all the time. On the other hand, because I am not physically focused, I have the time, the energy, and the inclination to travel in other realms, and tell you about what goodies I can bring back.

But I always remind you that in whatever terms you think, your consciousness is your own. Your abilities are your own, and those realities that I know are not necessarily yours. I will travel in my own way through reality, and you will travel through your own way in reality.

Now, listen! In a manner of speaking now, and as an analogy, you are entities to the molecules within you. In your terms, they send you out into realities of sensation and dimension that they cannot understand.

You make a conscious decision to drive a car, or not to drive a car. The molecules within you do not know what a car is. Yet your ability to drive that car is dependent upon the existence of those atoms and molecules. Yet, for them, you go out into a reality that they do not know. They join their reality with yours, and theirs is vivid and valid and real, but it is not yours, and yet it is a part of yours, and they send you out. Speaking now again as an analogy, in terms of time, you are what they will be.

Now, in terms of time and following (he analogy—for all you literal minded people—portions of you go out as you go out from your molecules, and speak back to you, and tell you of realities that now you do not consciously perceive, but that are yours. Now think that!