Jane Butts (nee Roberts) (May 8, 1929 – September 5, 1984) was an American author, poet, and trance medium, who became the “channel” for a discarnate spirit entity she called “Seth.”

In 1963, Jane and her husband, Robert Butts, were experimenting with a Ouija board and they began receiving messages. The transmitter of the messages identified himself as “Seth”. Shortly afterwards Jane began to go into trance and when “Seth” spoke through her, her voice and features changed character. As she spoke Robert acted as a stenographer and wrote down and recorded everything “Seth” said.

When asked about the name “Seth” the entity stated;

“So I ask you: ‘What is your name, each of you?’ My name is nameless. I have no name. I give you the name of Seth because it is a name and you want names. You give yourselves names because you believe they are important. “Your existence is nameless. It is not voiceless, but it is nameless. The names you take are structures upon which you hang your images . . . What you are cannot be uttered, and no letter or alphabet can contain it. Yet, now you need words and letters, and names and objects. You want magic that will tell you what you are. “You believe that you cannot speak to me unless I have a name, so I am Seth…. I told Ruburt [Seth ascribes a male name, Rubert, to Jane Roberts] from our earliest sessions that he could call me Seth. I never said, ‘My name is Seth,’ (but ‘I call myself Seth’—my emphasis), for I am nameless. I have had too many identities to cling to one name!”

The topics “channeled” covered included good and evil, religious & spiritual belief, mental and physical health, illumination, sexuality, art, creativity, spiritual grace, and the problems of modern society.

The writings were published in a number of books including the titles, Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul (1972) The Nature of Personal Reality: and The Seth Material (1972).

The books were a huge success gaining many admirers including Richard Bach Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Louise Hays, and Dan Millman. The writings boosted New Age popularity particularly in the USA as they identified with the concepts of reincarnation and “Christ consciousness”.

On reincarnation Seth had this to say; “You will reincarnate whether or not you believe that you will. It is much easier if your theories fit reality; but if they do not, you will not change the nature of reincarnation one iota.

He added,

“What you call death is rather your choice to focus in other dimensions and realities. You do not acquire a ‘spirit’ at death. You are one, now! You adopt a body as a space traveler wears a space suit, and for much the same reason.”
“You are not any of those past selves, even though they are a part of the history of your being. They are themselves in their own space and time. You are as different from those reincarnational selves, therefore, as you are from your parents, though you share certain backgrounds and characteristics. So you can theoretically expand your consciousness to include the knowledge of your past lives, though those lives were yours and not yours. The next step is taken when identity is able to include within itself the intimate knowledge of all incarnations. Yet in this state, the independence of the various reincarnated selves is not diminished as each separate identity then seeks to know and experience its other portions, then All That Is learns who and What It Is. Action never ceases its exploration of itself.”

According to Jane, Seth described himself as an “energy personality essence no longer focused in physical reality”, who was independent of Roberts’ subconscious. She claimed no authorship of the writings other than as a medium and channel.

The Books are available in paperback on Amazon

And on Kindle…

Jane Roberts - The Seth Video - Part 1/3