The Classic Books for Rev. Susan Snowden
In sixth and seventh grade, I consumed all the books in the religion section found in my local library. In eighth grade, I graduated to the paranormal section and devoured the works of Jane Roberts, starting with Seth Speaks, and the Don Juan series by Carlos Castaneda. Both were very prolific writers; the following list is by no means inclusive of all the books each of them produced.
JANE ROBERTS
In 1963, after experimentation with a Ouija board, Jane Roberts, from a trance state, began voice channeling an Entity who identified himself as Seth. Her husband, Robert Butts, recorded and transcribed the sessions.
The following collection of the Seth books has helped chart the course of my life and Path. I've listed them in the order I read them, as Jane and Robert continued to publish new material throughout my teens and young adulthood.
Seth Speaks (First published 1972)
The picture of Jane channeling Seth on the cover of this book is a bit spooky. That's probably what attracted me to it in eighth grade!
The principle message in the Roberts/Seth works is that we create our own reality. This was a powerful paradigm shift for a fourteen year old. The concepts between the covers are rich and audacious, regardless of your age. If you seek to understand our reality (and our responsibilities in co-creating it), begin by reading Seth.
According to Seth - “Events are not things that happen to you. They are materialized experiences formed by you, according to your expectations and beliefs.”
The Seth Material (First published 1970)
This book was actually published before Seth Speaks, and is a detailed summary of the material given by Seth to Jane and Robert up until 1969.
Seth Speaks is "self dictated" or directly authored by Seth through the medium of Jane's voice and physical body, while The Seth Material describes Jane's and Robert's experiences, from their perspective, of interaction with Seth. It contains portions of various earlier sessions and is of interesting technical and historical note.
According to Seth - "The basic idea is that the senses are developed, not to permit awareness of an already existing material world, but to create it...”
The Education of Oversoul 7 (First published 1973)
The Education of Oversoul 7 is the first book in what would eventually become a trilogy. It is a work of narrative fiction by Jane Roberts that explores the concepts presented by Seth in his sessions.
It is a wonderful teaching tool, demonstrating the principles of our multi dimensional selves through the metaphor of a story. The book helps give context to understanding the nature of our existence, consciousness, and spiritual evolution.
According to Seth - "... each self has its own soul within the oversoul, and the oversoul is itself a part of the entity's multidimensional structure."
The Nature of Personal Reality (First published 1974)
In some ways, this is a mechanical treatise on how we co-create the multiverses we, as consciousness, inhabit. It is revolutionary and startlingly liberating.
Over the years, I've reread this book many times. I always find new insight and meaning, based on my own personal growth. Obviously, the text doesn't change, but I do, and that allows more to be revealed in the original channeling.
I still find I can only read a few passages at a time; then I have to put it down, allowing the ideas to percolate and rearrange my perception. I consider it a MUST READ for all serious students of Life.
According to Seth - "You are a multidimensional personality, and within you lies all the knowledge about yourself, your challenges and problems, that you will ever need to know."
The "Unknown" Reality, Volume 1 (First published 1977)
Seth builds upon his previous works with Volume 1 and Volume 2, pushing the envelop of our understanding regarding the manifestation of possible probabilities (including probable selves!) inherent in every choice we make.
It is important to read at least some of his earlier books to fully grasp this expansive discussion of our greater identities as soul. This book, and the next, will seriously challenge your belief system. I think that was Seth's intent.
According to Seth - "All exterior events, including your own bodies with their insides, all objects, all physical materializations, are the outside structures of inside ones that are composed of interior sound and invisible light, interwoven in electromagnetic patterns."
The "Unknown" Reality, Volume 2 (First published 1979)
In the second volume of The "Unknown" Reality, Seth continues his discussion of the nature and power of free will, demonstrating our infinite potential as beings.
He provides an in depth exploration of dreams, out of body experiences, ESP, and blueprints for conscious creation, including specific exercises.
According to Seth - "The past existed in multitudinous ways. You only experienced one probable past. By changing this past in your mind, now, in your present, you can change not only its nature but its effect, and not only upon yourself but upon others."
CARLOS CASTANEDA
The work of Carlos Castaneda provided a perfect counterpart to my dance with Jane Roberts, and the voice of Don Juan seemed to be an alter ego of Seth. It was a strange brew to shape the evolving awareness of a juvenile. In hindsight, I can say Seth helped me to find my Path, and Don Juan led me to my Practice.
In the following series of books, Carlos recounts his training as an apprentice to a Yaqui Sorcerer named Don Juan Matus from northern Mexico. The first three books were an outgrowth of his research work for a doctoral degree in anthropology from UCLA.
There are many critics who believe these books are a work of fiction. This was not helped by the enigmatic persona of Castaneda during limited interviews while he was alive. The truth has become even more mysterious with his death.
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (First published 1968)
Carlos Castaneda's inaugural book was published by the University of California Press, and was submitted as his master’s thesis in the school of anthropology. In some ways, it reads as such. The first part is a compelling narrative, and the second half is an academic dissection of the concepts related in the story.
It presents as a study in the ethnobotanical use of plant substances by native peoples for revelatory spiritual experience. Carlos met Don Juan while searching for a subject to interview about hallucinogenic plants utilized in religious worship.
During their chance encounter at a bus stop, it is revealed to Don Juan that Carlos is to be his apprentice. Otherwise, Don Juan states he would have never agreed to the tutelage.
According to Don Juan - “Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use.”
A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan (First published 1971)
The books that followed were much different from the first. In them we learn Don Juan has lured Carlos into apprenticeship with the promise to help him with his studies about plant medicine. The story begins when Carlos returns to visit Don Juan and show him his thesis.
At the core of Carlos's training with Don Juan is the idea that what we normally perceive as reality is not how the world actually is. Through the use of ethnobotanicals, Don Juan seeks to teach Carlos to See as a Warrior, a practice best described as "perceiving energy directly as it flows through the universe".
According to Don Juan - “We are perceivers. The world that we perceive, though, is an illusion. It was created by a description that was told to us since the moment we were born. We, the luminous beings, are born with two rings of power, but we use only one to create the world. That ring, which is hooked very soon after we are born, is reason, and its companion is talking. Between the two they concoct and maintain the world.”
Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan (First published 1972)
In the third book, Carlos reevaluates his position and studies with Don Juan, struggling to maintain the teachings as metaphor, and not as the true nature of reality. Castaneda is finding it impossible to intellectually guard the conceptual framework of his westernized belief system.
As Carlos abandons reason and rationality in favor of the Will and Intent of a warrior, he is finally ready to begin learning from Don Juan in earnest.
According to Don Juan - “When a warrior learns to stop the internal dialogue, everything becomes possible; the most far-fetched schemes become attainable.”
Tales of Power (First published 1974)
By the fourth book, Carlos is in the throes of the Path of a Toltec Warrior, whose goal is to become a Man of Knowledge. He recounts his experiences with the particular secret spiritual practices of the Yaqui brujos. With his teacher, Castaneda jumps into the abyss of the unknown.
According to Don Juan - “You are aware of everything only when you think you should be; the condition of a warrior, however, is to be aware of everything at all times.”
The Second Ring of Power (First published 1977)
In this book, we meet other apprentices in Carlos's group as they learn about power and impeccability, as defined by their teachers. We get a glimpse of what comes next, as we move from the personal to the impersonal, where we are all one being.
According to Don Juan - “To be sensitive is a natural condition of certain people. In the final analysis sensitivity matters very little. What matters is that a warrior be impeccable. What matters to a warrior is arriving at the totality of oneself.”
The Eagle's Gift (First published 1981)
This installment in the story covers memories that begin to surface in Carlos's awareness concerning parallel non ordinary experiences he had during his apprenticeship with Don Juan, specifically as a Dreamer.
According to Don Juan - “The first attention, the attention that makes the world, can never be completely overcome; it can only be turned off for a moment and replaced with the second attention, providing that the body had stored enough of it. Dreaming is naturally a way of storing the second attention. In order to shift into your dreaming body when awake you have to practice dreaming until it comes out your ears.”
The Fire From Within (First published 1984)
This book reveals the final hidden teachings of the New Seers of Don Juan's linage before he departs this world. We learn the old Toltec Warriors used their power for personal gain, which led to their destruction. Don Juan tells Carlos the goal of a Man of Knowledge is to ascend at the moment of his death---to have amassed enough lifeforce energy as a warrior to simply step out of this reality into another.
According to Don Juan - “Warriors end their training when they are capable of breaking the barrier of perception, unaided, starting from a normal state of awareness.”
The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan (First published 1987)
This is the last book that Carlos Castaneda writes as a student of Don Juan. The books that come after detail his own journey to mastery of the skills shared by his mentor.
The Power of Silence recounts Don Juan's time as an apprentice with his teachers. Using the tradition of oral history, Don Juan learns the six successive abstract cores of knowledge, which can only be gained through subjective experience, and only by the initiation of Spirit.
According to Don Juan - “There are two different issues. One, the need to understand indirectly what the spirit is, and the other, to understand the spirit directly. Once you understand what the spirit is, the second issue will be resolved automatically, and vice versa. If the spirit speaks to you, using its silent words, you will certainly know immediately what the spirit is. The difficulty is our reluctance to accept the idea that knowledge can exist without words to explain it.”
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