The God of Jane: A Psychic Manifesto

by Jane Roberts

. . . The God of Jane, the God of Joe, the God of Lester, the God of Sarah . . . An appeal to that "God" would be an appeal to that portion of universal creativity from which we personally emerge . . . It would stand for that otherwise inconceivable intersection between Being and our being . . .(from chapter 7) In The God of Jane, the most personal of her books, Jane Roberts bravely questions the very material she produced (the many volumes of Seth material) as well as her own psychic abilities. "This book," she writes, "is the story of my efforts to put Seth's material to work in daily life; to free myself from many hampering cultural beliefs; and most of all, to encounter and understand the nature of impulses . . ." What Roberts discovers is her individual connection to the larger consciousness-or "God." With a new introduction by Susan M. Watkins, author of Conversations with Seth.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Memoir, Religion, Autobiography, Metaphysics

262 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1984

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Roberts was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. After attending public schools, she attended Skidmore College. She wrote in a variety of genres: poetry, short stories, children’s literature, and novels. When she was in her 30s, she and her husband began to record what she said were messages from a personality named "Seth", and she wrote several books about the experience.

Reviews

[Sylvia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm… somewhere along the way she lost me. Although favored by many, it’s by no means my favorite of J.Roberts books.

[Glo Sollecito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight into Jane Robert’s perspective. The best part for me was the Big Flats incident which begins on page 113. That certainly gave me a lot to think about.

[Avid Cobwebber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love in the Aftertime of Jane Roberts

Her work resounds with such warmth. I have read maybe 10 Seth books, 2 Janes, and the William James one. Recommend all. To fit this title in the mix...

Like "The Magical Approach", which is a companion book Robert assembled around the death of Jane his wife (so pretty much the End of Seth), "God of Jane" is a companion book, in this case to "Dreams, Evolution, and Wish Fulfillment" which came in the final years. That one argues that dreams are simply another equal form of consciousness for all living things, and sets about comparing our overlapping minds: "waking reality", where mental manifestation is instant but physical manifestation is limited, and "dream reality" where physical manifestation is instant and mental manifestation seems not, but perhaps can be to some extent as a person gets more lucid.

If you want "God of Jane," then read "Dreams" too. That is a tough book to top. Far out ideas delivered in a methodical, consistent fashion, and reminders of things we all know (I should focus on grateful thoughts and suggest good dreams to myself as I fall asleep). All with a power to enter deeply in one's mind and avoid New Age triteness, in my opinion.

Here, Jane is having her say. The topics are too big for any mere mortal: 1. What's the deal with religion? 2. (Related) Why do individuals take their personal ideas to such crazy extremes? 3. What will my legacy be--not just books written, jobs done, whatever--I mean, can a person quantify their impact through every action, every thought and the sum total effects?- for all time?- backward and forward?

Her contribution is meant to show a voice quite different from Seth: at times insecure, baffled, oh-so-human. One wants to raise a finger and say this is all part of the web of deception. But it doesn't feel like it, for its warmth is guileless.

And it creates its own profound effect. Even if you think channeling Seth was a big farce--the books still exist, and are a staggering, coherent body of work. Even if Rob and Jane made Seth up on purpose, they practiced deception (she does not say that), here she is riding out the equation of how such creativity still had a good purpose. Gee, and to pair such reflections with Seth's remarks on Jesus, and the evangelical craze all around her, cannot be a coincidence at all.

It's a real Third Mind thing. She thought her way into Seth, then she thought about it, and often thinks about how she must think about this other voice in her. And we join that loop in "God of Jane", thinking about her thoughts with her.

The optimistic basis of all Jane Roberts material is that humans are "godmaking" people, chronically creative from high to low. All your energy goes into the weave, way beyond what you will ever know.

Eat all you want, take all you want--as far as reality is concerned, it will eat all you take in the end.

[Suzanne]

Having been a Jane Roberts fan for decades, just read this for the first time. Fabulous read and I know I will be re-reading it again.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Lydia]

Excellent

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least half of this could be cut with her ideas intact.

[Nathaniel]

She was more talented and more of an intellectual than I had known. An insightful book.