natural man

Natural Man (自然人) Concept Dossier

1. What specific claims does Seth make about this concept? How many times does it appear, in which books, and does the wording change over time?

The term "natural person" appears explicitly once in the material, in a private session quoted in the notes to Session 920 of Dreams, Evolution and Value Fulfillment Vol 2 (August 6, 1980), in which Seth states that "The natural person is indeed the magical person," noting that the natural person is the "magical person," and that this involves a contrast between natural time and cultural time, with the natural person operating by means of non-cultural time, and creative work accomplished primarily outside time [dreams-evolution-2 §920].

In addition, Session 828 of The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events, although it does not use the terms "natural man" or "natural person," describes early humanity's close relationship with nature: they saw themselves as concretizations of nature's expression, dealt directly with the material world through imagination, perceived vitality within natural forces, and maintained a conscious alliance with them [mass-events §828]. That session does not directly employ the conceptual term.

2. What mechanism does he give?

The mechanism of the natural person involves a division of labor between the self within time and the self outside time: the self within time adopts the reasoning mind, a creative psychological mask used in the formal structure of the drama of life, which enables the person to perceive only data within the dramatic structure, unable to see the future or the past, and able only to reason about their own circumstances [dreams-evolution-1 §907]. This limitation makes free will meaningful within the physical framework; otherwise the abundance of choices would make it impossible for one to act within time. The achievements of the reasoning mind—civilization, science, art—are precisely its unique products [dreams-evolution-1 §907]. Humanity, however, has over-specialized in the reasoning mind, treating it as the sole yardstick for measuring all consciousness, thereby overlooking other forms of consciousness in the natural world—especially the different kinds of cognition in the animal kingdom, which know in another way while sharing acute emotional experience, and are innately aware of biological and psychic values [dreams-evolution-1 §907]. The natural person, by contrast, is the natural artist: art is first of all a natural characteristic; nature attempts to transcend itself in the most fundamental artistic terms, and painting is the natural attempt of the human being to create an original and coherent psychic-and-material interpretation of their own reality, thereby creating for the species a new version of reality [dreams-evolution-1 §907].

The mechanism of early natural persons also manifests as non-standardized perception: he was aware of vitality in the smallest parts of nature, perceived the individualized consciousness that later became elements or fairies, and was aware of nature's source; his consciousness continually arose anew, not covered over by smooth continuity, so when thoughts came he was filled with curiosity [mass-events §828]. Compared with relatively smooth modern consciousness, his consciousness was more playful, curious, and creative, but precisely for that reason he experienced time in a fundamentally different way [mass-events §828]. Through nature's expression and especially its power, early persons perceived the source of nature and the source of themselves, knowing that that power could bring them to the emotional understanding they needed in order to achieve greater spiritual and psychic development [mass-events §828].

3. Are there observable inferences or explicit predictions (including time, quantity, conditions)?

The material does not address this.

4. Where does he say science at the time was wrong, and in what direction should it look?

Science's errors at the time were as follows. First, it equated its own set of "rational thinking" entirely with thought itself, so that any other angle of thought was automatically deemed irrational, making it overly specialized, biased, and inflexible [magical-approach §?]. Second, it insisted on establishing a worldview based on "provable things," but based only on limited material, leading to fragmented disciplines (biology, psychology, physics, mathematics, etc.) with no comprehensive field among them, unable to provide any overall idea of what reality is [magical-approach §?]. Third, it regarded the human being as a stranger or alien struggling to survive in its own environment, having to contend not only with "indifferent" environmental forces but also with genetic determinism, inherent bodily defects and disease, and a "built-in time bomb" [magical-approach §?]. Fourth, science did not emphasize nature's cooperative forces, being instead preoccupied with distinctions, categories, and subdivisions, and blind to the equally real unitive forces [magical-approach §?]. Fifth, in the early sessions, scientists relied on physical instruments to discover "smaller and smaller particles" or to "see" ever farther, but they became prisoners of their own tools, with data so distorted by instrumental transformation that the original meaning was barely discernible [early-sessions-1 §19]. Sixth, science insisted on a wear-and-tear mechanism model of the body, a model reinforced by beliefs that it should be so, and largely opposed to the Seth material [dreams-evolution-1 §898].

Where it should look instead: Seth pointed out that the crux of the matter was no longer inventing new instruments, but using the "invisible instrument" one already possesses, namely the mind—the meeting point of inner and outer senses, the place where the secrets of the universe will be discovered, and itself the instrument of discovery [early-sessions-1 §19]. The mind is distributed throughout the entire physical body, able to receive data from the inner senses and form material camouflage; the brain can only process camouflage patterns, while the mind processes the basic principles inherent at all levels and cannot be detected by physical instruments [early-sessions-1 §19]. When speaking of "the natural person as also the magical person," this means that each person's private source is itself part of the energy that supports the entire planet and its inhabitants, and indeed the entire construction of the universe as you understand it [magical-approach §?]. You are not given only a fixed amount of energy; new energy is available everywhere, the environment is alive and conscious, and communication is continuously taking place between all parts of your body and all parts of the environment [magical-approach §?]. In this sense, your intellect is correctly used when it is allowed to perceive material conditions as clearly as possible, without having to rely on it alone to comprehend the whole [magical-approach §?].

5. What experiments or exercises did he suggest? What did Jane and Rob actually do and observe at the time?

I. Experiments and exercise directions suggested by Seth

1. Seth encouraged Jane and Rob to try various experiments on their own, calling them "homework," and said their abilities could be trained to a certain degree [early-sessions-1 §12].
2. Seth suggested regular psychological time practice, noting that during practice one should not try too hard or concentrate willfully, as this would lead to "contraction"; one should seek "expansion" [early-sessions-4 §178].
3. Seth suggested giving the subconscious the suggestion to "develop spiritual abilities," then consciously letting the matter go without anxiety about it [early-sessions-4 §178].
4. In psychological time practice, Seth suggested one should "focus outward into the universe and through the universe," which simultaneously equals expanding inward; one should first seek expansion itself, not the results of expansion [early-sessions-4 §178].
5. Seth encouraged a relaxed, spontaneous attitude in practice, similar to the state one is in when composing poetry [early-sessions-4 §178].

II. Experiments and exercises Jane and Rob actually performed

1. A joint experiment without Seth (evening of January 4, 1964): In a darkened room with curtains drawn and only a red Christmas light on, they sat at a table covered with a black triangular cloth, dressed in dark clothing, placing Jane's wedding ring on the cloth, hands flat and sometimes touching, sitting quietly for about an hour; later they replaced the ring with a brass military insignia and turned off the sole light source [early-sessions-1 §12].
2. After the above sitting experiment, Rob engaged Jane in conversation through random questions, and Jane spontaneously began a monologue in her ordinary speaking voice, which Rob recorded in the dark, with unexpectedly clear and complete handwriting [early-sessions-1 §12].
3. Jane and Rob regularly used a pendulum for experiments, an exercise Seth had suggested [early-sessions-4 §153].
4. Jane regularly practiced psychological time, about half an hour daily, using suggestions such as "completely relaxed, free from time and space"; previously she had used more suggestions, later simplified to the two phrases above [early-sessions-4 §178].
5. Jane also attempted self-tests, including Rhine-style Zener cards and objects in sealed envelopes [early-sessions-4 §178].
6. On the return trip from a vacation, Rob tried an "expectancy" experiment: suggesting to his subconscious that the car would use less fuel than on the outward trip, with the subjective feeling that at least two quarts less were used, and twice gas station attendants told him no refueling was needed or that fuel consumption had been minimal [early-sessions-2 §80].
7. Since Seth began discussing "dream suggestions and health" in Session 172, both Jane and Rob started testing these ideas; Jane obtained some interesting dreams through suggestion [early-sessions-4 §178].

III. Phenomena they observed

1. In the sitting experiment, Jane sometimes found her hands seemed to "disappear," i.e., she could not see her own hands (without worrying that they did not exist), and the same phenomenon sometimes occurred with the metal insignia; after an hour there were no other results, and Jane thought that perhaps some kind of communication or speaking was needed to achieve something [early-sessions-1 §12].
2. In the conversation with Rob, Jane spontaneously produced a narrative about "Sarah Wellington": in England in 1748, a seventeen-year-old girl died of burns in a cobbler's shop, with details such as her father exchanging his craft of making fishing nets for shoes [early-sessions-1 §12].
3. In the above sitting experiment, Rob, with eyes closed, obtained a colored vision: a man walking on a road, which he took to be part of the "Joseph series" and planned to ask Seth about afterwards [early-sessions-1 §12].
4. One morning in a drowsy state, Jane heard the words "twelve-o-five," whispered slowly and hoarsely in a male voice at her ear; using the pendulum she determined that she had received a "random telepathy" [early-sessions-4 §153].
5. That same morning, Jane stood in gray-white smoke, knowing she was not dreaming, smelling smoke, feeling brief panic, after which the experience ended [early-sessions-4 §153].
6. In psychological time practice, Jane could usually reach a good state, but apart from relaxation little else occurred; Seth pointed out that she was "trying too hard," leading to contraction, and should seek expansion [early-sessions-4 §178].
7. In Rob's fuel consumption experiment, his subjective feeling on the return was that the car used at least two quarts less fuel, and two gas station attendants confirmed that no refueling was needed, consistent with his expectation [early-sessions-2 §80].

6. Supplementary or contradictory concepts from other material related to this concept

• Early humanity had a more direct relationship with Framework 2; they used consciousness in ways different from modern people, perceiving imagined products as already-objectified sensory data [mass-events §828].
• Early humans knew they would inevitably die, but their awareness of Framework 2 gave them a greater sense of identity, enabling them to understand that death was not only a natural necessity but also an opportunity for other experiences and development [mass-events §828].
• Early humans felt that nature was a larger expression of their own emotions and temperaments, a materialization of self-events, and felt that nature needed humans to give nature another voice [mass-events §828].
• Early humans' intentions were largely the same as nature's: they protected themselves against storms, but when a companion was taken by a storm, they did not begrudge surrendering the victim, merely changing the alliance of consciousness, shifting identity from "the self within the flesh" to "the self within the storm" [mass-events §828].
• Early humans were not afraid of natural forces, which differs from the usual modern assumption [mass-events §828].
• Early humans projected themselves into nature and the sky, imagining personified forms that later became the Olympian deities, while also perceiving the vitality in the smallest parts of nature and the individualized consciousness that later became the elements of earth, water, fire, and air, or fairies [mass-events §828].
• Early humans were curious and delighted by their own consciousness, whereas the relative smoothness of modern consciousness was gained at the expense of certain other experiences [mass-events §828].
• Modern people regard the mass events of nature as entirely beyond their own jurisdiction, thinking themselves unrelated to nature except through technological control or damage to it [mass-events §828].
• Mind-body duality is primarily artificial, stronger in so-called more civilized societies; many so-called primitive societies do not experience this duality to the same degree, so it is not a natural innate state of the human being [early-sessions-1 §25].
• When people invent and create in a more purely mechanical way, this sense of duality intrudes; many indigenous societies value camouflage patterns and retain the ability to separate the whole self from camouflage [early-sessions-1 §25].
• In many primitive communities, communication and reality through the inner senses (the inner self's senses) are accepted as real, whereas in the entire civilized world they are not [early-sessions-1 §25].
• Western people, by insisting on an artificial dual nature, have cut themselves off from half their abilities and knowledge, and also from the primitive societies that could teach them these abilities [early-sessions-1 §25].
• In early human history, for several centuries after "awakening," people lived healthily longer, in some cases even for several centuries, because they had not been told it was impossible; their sense of wonder, curiosity, creativity, and fields of exploration kept them vigorous [dreams-evolution-1 §902].
• In those times, older people were needed and respected for their accumulated knowledge, old age was a revered state, and sensory effectiveness had not declined [dreams-evolution-1 §902].
• An important example of the natural person's abilities: so-called miracles are merely the unimpeded result of nature [dreams-evolution-1 §902].
• Animals' sense of biological integrity supports their place in nature's structure, whereas humans must struggle with many ambiguous beliefs and feelings that taint their innate psychological and biological integrity [mass-events §805].
• Humanity is in a transitional state, a transition that began when humans attempted to leave nature in order to develop their present distinctive consciousness; but that consciousness is not a finished product, it was meant to evolve; in this process certain artificial distinctions were manufactured that must be eliminated [mass-events §805].

7. Questions not yet asked

1. Based on Seth's claim that the natural person operates by means of non-cultural time, could behavioral experiments be designed to compare performance differences in creative tasks (e.g., divergent thinking tests) between individuals under natural time perception versus cultural time pressure?
2. Seth described early natural persons perceiving "vitality in the smallest parts of nature"; could the neural correlates of this description be tested by measuring modern individuals' attentional bias toward natural soundscapes (e.g., birdsong, wind) and default mode network activity?
3. Seth held that over-specialization in the reasoning mind leads to neglect of cognitive forms in the animal kingdom; could cross-species comparative research test metacognitive changes in human reliance on their own reasoning mind after engaging in animal behavior observation?
4. Seth suggested that psychological time practice should "focus outward into the universe" to achieve expansion rather than contraction; could a randomized controlled trial compare the effects of different psychological time practice instructions (expansion-type vs. concentration-type) on subsequent creative task performance and state anxiety?
5. Rob's fuel experiment suggested that expectancy values may affect actual fuel consumption; could controlled in-vehicle tests use blinded expectancy cues (e.g., informing of fuel-saving suggestions versus placebo) to record fuel consumption differences, testing whether the expectancy effect is partially mediated by driving behavior?

Appendix: Claim List (for Phase C)

id	Claim	Type	Source
natural-man-1	The natural person is indeed the magical person, whose creative work is accomplished primarily outside time, operating by means of non-cultural time.	Ontological assertion	dreams-evolution-2 §920
natural-man-2	The reasoning mind is a creative psychological mask that enables the person to perceive only data within the dramatic structure, thereby making free will meaningful within the physical framework.	Mechanism description	dreams-evolution-1 §907
natural-man-3	Humanity has over-specialized in the reasoning mind, overlooking the different kinds of cognition in the animal kingdom, which know in another way while sharing acute emotional experience.	Mechanism description	dreams-evolution-1 §907
natural-man-4	Art is a characteristic of nature; nature attempts to transcend itself in the most fundamental artistic terms, and painting is an original and coherent psychic-and-material interpretation of one's own reality.	Ontological assertion	dreams-evolution-1 §907
natural-man-5	Early humans were aware of vitality in the smallest parts of nature and perceived the individualized consciousness that later became elements or fairies.	Mechanism description	mass-events §828
natural-man-6	Early human consciousness was more playful, curious, and creative, and therefore they experienced time in a fundamentally different way from modern people.	Mechanism description	mass-events §828
natural-man-7	Science equated rational thinking entirely with thought itself and insisted on provable things, leading to fragmented disciplines and bias.	Ontological assertion	magical-approach §?
natural-man-8	Science regarded the human being as a stranger struggling to survive in its own environment, contending with genetic determinism and inherent bodily defects.	Ontological assertion	magical-approach §?
natural-man-9	Science relied on physical instruments and became their prisoner; it should use the mind, the invisible instrument, to discover the secrets of the universe.	Methodological recommendation	early-sessions-1 §19
natural-man-10	The mind is distributed throughout the entire physical body, able to receive data from the inner senses and form material camouflage; the brain can only process camouflage patterns.	Ontological assertion	early-sessions-1 §19
natural-man-11	Early humanity had a more direct relationship with Framework 2, was not afraid of natural forces, projected itself into nature, and imagined deities.	Mechanism description	mass-events §828
natural-man-12	In psychological time practice one should seek expansion rather than contraction; focusing outward into the universe is equivalent to expanding inward.	Methodological recommendation	early-sessions-4 §178