Speaking of Jane Roberts: Remembering the Author of the Seth Material [Paperback]

Susan M. Watkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

She was one of the most important psychics of the twentieth century. Over 7.5 million copies of her books have sold throughout the world. Now, Speaking of Jane Roberts reveals the story of a woman as fascinating as the material she produced.

Susan Watkins and Jane Roberts were friends for sixteen years. Early on, Seth, the entity who spoke through Roberts, told the two women that they were counterparts, connected in this particular lifetime to work out some shared personal issues. In addition to being a compassionate and sometimes painfully honest look at Roberts' life---her difficult childhood, her constant questioning of psychic abilities and sources of creativity, her resistance to Seth's advice, her dramatic struggles with her health---Speaking of Jane Roberts is also a beautiful and applicable illustration of the counterpart relationship. The connection that Watkins and Roberts share reveals something important about the power and mystery of the connections we all share with the people closest to us.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . very personal and surprising information . . .If you have an interest in Jane Roberts' writings or what her life was like, then you must read this book." -- Magical Blend Magazine, January 2001 (issue 74)

"Roberts was always an eccentric mystery. Now . . . we find she is much more complex than the anointed role of Seth’s conduit." -- ForeWord Magazine, January 2001

Jane Roberts had a unique and perplexing gift. In reading this candid memoir I understood for the first time her complexities as a person and also as an artist... -- Susan Thornton, author of On Broken Glass: Loving and Losing John

Speaking of Jane Roberts is a rich, multidimensional look at one of the true pioneers of consciousness studies. . . Watkins possesses an unflinching gaze. . . -- Lynda Dahl, author of Ten Thousand Whispers and

Speaking of Jane Roberts is a rich, multidimensional look at one of the true pioneers of consciousness studies. -- Lynda Dahl, Author of Ten Thousand Whispers and Beyond the Winning Streak

Sue Watkins has written a compelling, moving story of friendship . . . At the same time she honors Jane Roberts as a vivid individual and a writer. -- Susan Thornton, Author of On Broken Glass: Loving and Losing John Gardner

Sue has done a terrific job. Reading her deeply touching memoir of my wife, I felt a very strong, sad, yet brilliant surge of emotion. -- Robert Butts, co-creator of the Seth material

About the Author

Susan Watkins has spent her adult life exploring consciousness. While the subject matter she chooses to write about has varied widely over the years---from dreams to gardening---her personal experience and insights into consciousness are present in all of her work.

In addition to Speaking of Jane Roberts, Watkins is the author of Conversations with Seth, Dreaming Myself, Dreaming a Town, and Garden Madness: The Unpruned Truth About a Blooming Passion. She lives in upstate New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Moment Point Press (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966132777
• ISBN-13: 978-0966132779
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Channeling

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The truth behind the power of beliefs, November 19, 2000

By 

Ellen Gilbert (Wilmington, DE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speaking of Jane Roberts: Remembering the Author of the Seth Material (Paperback)

This book is a must read for all hard-core Seth fans. Sue Watkins, who was very close to Jane Roberts, writes like a dream, frankly and honestly, no holds barred. One of the most difficult things for most of us to understand (those of us who have been reading and utilizing Seth's concepts for years), is how Jane could have lived and suffered so long with the debilitating effects of rheumatoid arthritis. How, we want to know, could she write those books about creating your own reality, and yet fail so miserably with her own health? With a great deal of compassion and understanding, not to mention 20/20 hindsight, Sue peels away the layers of Jane's psyche and reveals the woman who was the true "mystery person" behind the Seth material. We realize, as we read this memoir, that we knew and understood very little about this amazing woman, and we come away with a lot more compassion for ourselves and our own struggles with our core beliefs. I highly recommend this book, and I will re-read it every time I get discouraged and impatient with myself for hanging on to negative beliefs of my own.

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A balanced, candid look at Jane Roberts and her legacy., March 18, 2001

By 

D. Sinclair - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speaking of Jane Roberts: Remembering the Author of the Seth Material (Paperback)

For some fans of the Seth Material, Jane Roberts is a religious figure. For over 20 years, she had the privilege of being in intimate contact with a highly evolved entity named Seth, out of which came a body of spiritual teaching that has deeply influenced the lifes of many.

Religious devotion, unfortunately, does not necessarily bring out the best in us. Visit a Seth discussion board, and you will immediately find some people who are not only looking for answers for themselves, but for everyone else as well. Who will start fights over who is right and who is wrong. That's how religious orthodoxy always starts; give it a few centuries, and you will have religious wars and the holy inquisition.

At least that is what Jane Roberts was always afraid of - that she would become a religious icon and put on a pedestal, and Seth's message an object of devotion in itself, instead of just an aid to the individual for personal empowerment.

Sue Watkins' book is a great antidote to the poison of religious organizing. It shows Jane Roberts as simply an imperfect, complicated human being - a woman who smoked way too much and loved vulgar jokes. Who happened to channel a spiritual teacher named Seth. And who was a gifted artist in her own right.

Speaking of Jane Roberts is an insightful book that provides some much needed perspective on the woman who gave us the Seth Material. It was not exactly what I expected, meaning that Sue did her job well.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A candid account of a friendship with Jane Roberts, November 14, 2000

By 

John Amenta "jamenta" (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Speaking of Jane Roberts: Remembering the Author of the Seth Material (Paperback)

A long time ago it seems, Susan Watkins published her two excellent books on Jane Robert's ESP class in Elmira New York called "Conversations I & II". In those books, Watkins described in a clear and warm manner her and other classmates experiences with Jane Roberts and the many times Seth spoke during those classes.

Sue Watkins is back with yet another excellent book about primarily her friendship with Jane Roberts, her own psychological differences and insights given the relationship she shared with perhaps the greatest medium our century has known outside of Mrs. Piper or Pearl Curran.

One of the hallmarks of Susan Watkin's writing is her remarkable candour and detail in describing her own feelings and experiences with Jane Roberts, and some rare and exciting excerpts from Jane Roberts own personal journals. The book, as was Conversations I & II flows evenly and clearly, providing a unique and solid style that delivers a clear vision of Sue Watkins friendship with Jane and a most candid and mesmerizing chapter about the last time she met with Jane Roberts, as Jane found herself confined to a hospital for many months before her death.

For anyone who has read the Seth Material, and would like more insight into the woman who helped bring it all about, this book is a definite buy IMHO. In addition, the accounts of Susan Watkins own life, and how it intertwined with Jane Roberts are most fascinating and interesting, and deliver a human and "honest" style and feeling to the entire book.