Seth, life and the Law of Attraction: How an Elmira supernatural being defined reality

Ever heard the phrase, "You create your own reality?"

It's a cornerstone of New Age philosophy and a topic covered in many authors' books, YouTube videos and national conferences focused on the metaphysical.

It's also one of the primary teachings of a nonphysical being named Seth.

At least, that's the name he gave himself when he first spoke to Elmira resident Jane Roberts in 1963, delivering his message through a Ouija board.

In their apartment on West Water Street, Roberts and her husband, Robert Butts, conducted hundreds of similar sessions — at first through the Ouija board, later through Jane when she spoke Seth's messages aloud — and transcribed, wrote and published Seth's teachings into an extensive anthology of metaphysical teaching.

Jane Roberts authored dozens of books — several were published posthumously — as a medium for Seth, including "The Seth Material," "Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul" and "The Nature of Personal Reality." His ideas also attracted a global following.

Seth talked about consciousness, claiming it exists independently of matter. He told his readers they were all multi-dimensional beings, living in a multi-dimensional world, and that, through reincarnation, what happens in their current life stems from actions taken in a previous one. 

Chief among his teachings was the idea that human beings create their own reality.

"Events are not things that happen to you," Roberts quoted Seth said in "Seth Speaks." "They are materialized experiences formed by you, according to your expectations and beliefs.” 

Hundreds of people showed up at Roberts' apartment through the years to hear Seth, including filmmaker Jim Henson and author Richard Bach.

Inside a republished book jacket of "Seth Speaks," Bach, along with other noted authors like Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra offered testimonials to Seth's influence.

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Esther Hicks, Law of Attraction and Seth

Half a century after Jane first claimed to hear Seth, the idea of creating your own reality resonates with current proponents of the Law of Attraction, the belief that positive thoughts bring positive experiences, and negative thoughts bring negative experiences.

Esther Hicks, who appeared in the original version of the 2006 film "The Secret" and has presented workshops across the country on the Law of Attraction, claims to interpret for a group of non-physical entities called Abraham. She and her husband, Jerry Hicks, who together co-wrote nine books, were first introduced to such ideas and to mediumship from reading "Seth Speaks."

"I never looked in metaphysical books in that part of the library, but for some reason I was down that aisle, and way up on a top shelf, I saw a book and it said, 'Seth Speaks,'" Jerry Hicks recalled in a 2010 video interview. "It rang some kind of bell."

The couple studied the material for years, then in 1987, they hosted their first workshop, three years after Jane Roberts' death.

"I was so afraid of the Ouija board," Esther Hicks said in the video interview, "and now I am one."

Abraham-Hicks Publications has produced workshop cruises, audio subscriptions, books, audio books, DVDs and children's books. There are YouTube videos and guided meditations for those looking to manifest goals in their life and change their reality.

"Seth couldn’t be happier," says Oshara Waago, co-founder of The Seth House. "Spread the word, Seth wants these ideas out there." 

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