The Education of Oversoul Seven

Oversoul Seven

by Jane Roberts

The Education of Oversoul Seven. Jane Roberts, channel of the Seth material, wrote the fictional Oversoul Seven series to further illuminate the ideas described in her nonfiction books. The Education of Oversoul Seven is a playful parable of time and space that opens up a whole new vision of life.

Genres: Fiction, Spirituality, Science Fiction, Metaphysics, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Philosophy

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Roberts was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. After attending public schools, she attended Skidmore College. She wrote in a variety of genres: poetry, short stories, children’s literature, and novels. When she was in her 30s, she and her husband began to record what she said were messages from a personality named "Seth", and she wrote several books about the experience.

Reviews

[Wilma Reiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes quite some brain acrobatics to follow this story. But I loved it. Although it's fiction and contradicts what we have learned in school how the world works, it makes you wonder. And at the end, you feel quite comfortable following Oversoul Seven around with no time and no space. It makes all perfect sense ... until you put the book down and come back to time-space reality, and then you wonder some more.

[Sari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only recently remembered the name of this book, which was frustrating because I had such a strong reaction to its storyline. I read one of the three books in the trilogy about a decade ago and have not stopped pondering its premise.

During the time I was reading the book, my husband was away on a business trip. He didn't know what I was reading. One morning he called to tell me that during the night I had appeared to him on the balcony of his hotel room. He was absolutely convinced he saw me there. Only after he relayed his experience did I tell him what I had been reading the night before and that I had gone to sleep mulling the concept of astral projection in my head.

While this may not be the strongest piece of literary fiction, I had one of the most profound experiences of my life because of it.

[Venu Madhav Reddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book breaks all your preconceptions of the world and how the universe works, but for this you have to be broadminded and welcoming the thought that's being told in the book. The author, Jane Roberts explains the point very well. She start's off with a slow rhythm and then increases the pace pulling us into the concept and the story line.
The book is quite an interesting read, it explores many of the minute details of consciousness and universe which many people just over look or take them for granted.
Enjoy your education. :) *thumbs up*

[Chestelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book back in the early 80's and remembering some of the thoughts in it made me want to read it again. This is a book written by Jane Roberts (her first and maybe only fiction book) who, until her death was a channel for an entity who called itself "Seth". If you are into metaphysical ideas, you will enjoy it. It's well written and is a fascinating treatise on time. However, I think it's out of print. I had to get a used copy from Amazon.

[Evon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would give this book a 5 for tackling a difficult and fascinating subject of energetic (or spiritual) connections through time and space. I didn't enjoy the dialogue heavy last half of the book as much as the set up. I initially read this book in the 80's, and seem to recall that the second book in the series improves.

[B. Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the teachings of Seth! Seth is apparently a spirit - or oversoul, I guess- who communicated with the author, Jane Roberts, in a psychic fashion. The Books of Seth are transcripts of her conversations with Seth. This I learned from wikipedia. The Education of Oversoul 7 is a fictionalized account of the history and future of mankind as described by Seth. I guess. I inherited this book in a collection of science fiction novels from an out-of business bookstore, and sci-fi is definately where this book belongs, regardless of how much anyone may beleve in Seth. There are some suprisingly advanced sci-fi concepts to be found in the story, but the overall kookiness of the oversoul structure and 'Ancient Astronauts' concepts so popular in the seventies leave the reader quite confused about how to regard this book. I regard it as somethg fun I read but better left in a used-bookstore shelf.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very intriguing book. It follows four people that are the same soul at different points in time. I had very strange dreams the whole time I read this book, and have tried to meditate a lot more lately. Very different, but kind of reminds me of the book Ishmael.

[Universe Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! I wanted to read a book about perception and perspective and creation and all that, and this was perfect. There was materialization and dematerialization of matter and jumping in and out of different bodies, little points of light just hanging out, hahaha! Really good story.

[Angelica Taggart]

After being confused at first, our Book Circle had great conversations about time, and life, and the story itself. An older novel that makes you think about possibilities by the author of the Seth Materials, Jane Roberts.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a theory on what happens to our soul before and after our earthly life, read this.

[Sandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldnt get past the first few pages!! almost science fiction and very hard to read

[Laura JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in a trilogy. I liked the concepts these books are based on. Read it again a couple of decades later and still liked it.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this stage in my evolution, this book was exactly what I needed.

[Sidney Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A facinating book discussing how all time is happening at once. It challenges your mind.

[Jenny Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was written by the celebrated spirit channeler, Jane Roberts, and it’s imbued with her philosophy about multi-dimensional souls. There are four characters, all in different time periods – a woman in pre-history, a 17th-century painter, an old woman in the current day, and a young man in a future floating world. All these personalities are part of Oversoul Seven, who is being given an examination to determine how well she/he can flit in and out of manifestation.

Does it work as a novel? Sometimes it really does. The four earthly characters are all pretty distinct, and the painter and the old woman are particularly human and interesting. The others are a bit too abstract. This novel is mostly a vehicle for experimenting with particular ideas, and it lectures the reader a bit too often. I first read it about fifty years ago, and I was curious to see what rereading it would do for me. I still feel a certain fondness for it, but I prefer her metaphysical works.

[Suze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read some of the Seth material, I was still attempting to get my head around some of the concepts. This fictional format was a practical application to demonstrate the Seth teachings. Throughout it, Oversoul Seven is linked to four different soul-bodies, each inhabiting a separate era in Earth history, and the plot follows their life progressions. Ultimately, Seven understands that all time is concurrent - Now, not linear past/present/future; that our thoughts create our concrete reality; and that spirit has many soul-bodies. The genre could be variously described as fantasy or sci-fi or spiritual.
I found myself somewhat impatient with Roberts’ lackluster writing style, although some of her poetry attributed to the ancient era was profound and insightful. I was intrigued enough to likely read the next story in the trilogy someday.

[Laswa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it hard to rate this book and the next in the series.
I read them many years ago because I found so much I loved in the Seth books. Recently I was downsizing my books and thought I’d re-read these before deciding to keep them or not. I’m (sort of) glad I did. “Sort of” because it was like wading through hip deep mud in a cold rain for no good reason.
The charm and elucidation that I remember from my previous readings was gone, replaced by ennui and dissatisfaction that the clear and inspiring workings of spirit were dumbed down and just didn’t work translated into human analogs (an oversoul who acts just as confused as his earthly personalities, for example).
And why does everyone yell all the time?
Life is weird and lovely when I can gladly part with some books.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Unique book. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it certainly surprised me. It is a fiction story that somehow manages to simply the concept of simultaneous time, which can be a little hard for the imagination to grasp as we are so used to thinking in a linear fashion. So I really loved the way this unique story opened my mind to the concept. This is not your grand fictional read where you might be totally engrossed within the story. This book is entertaining, but it is the kind of book you reflect on based on the perspective it offers.

[Maddalena Di · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over 30 years ago and still have it in my bookshelf, after transferring across the Atlantic to Europe. It is a special book, my favorite from the trilogy. You may read it as fiction, fantasy or you may allow yourself to go further with the writing. All up to you.
Having read Jane Robert's non fiction books, gave a whole other life to her fiction.
A book that will stay with me forever, with its wonderfully eclectic characters.
A Story that gives us hope, that we are not alone, that we are all connected through time and space.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to give 5 stars to the organized brain that weaved this complicated and heady tale together. Impressive work. Interesting story with complicated themes I wish more people would spend time discussing rather than the garbage we witness in the daily news... we might have a different world if we did.

[David Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dates are approximate. This is a work of fiction based upon the Seth Material. I read only bits and pieces of the other books at this book, being a work of fiction, the same thing I was much more open to. I enjoyed the ideas in the book very much as I recall. As you can see it’s decades ago.

On the strength of that initial opinion I do want to read the trilogy.

[Becky Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have read the Seth books, and enjoyed them this novel puts Seth's words into a story to help you grasp the concepts he tries to convey. IT just makes sense of all Seth teaches. With that being said I can't wait to get the further education of oversoul seven.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, but I can't for the life of me remember how it ends, and I finished it only a few weeks ago! I probably won't read the others in the series, especially since I'd have to buy them, as my library doesn't carry much by Jane Roberts.

[Kevin]

Kind of a slog. I suppose the purpose of these is to explain the "Seth" ideas, but it's so clunky that I don't want to continue this fiction series.

[Brooklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun and fictional while also spiritually enlightening. loved this book as well as the truth it taught

[Julia Mikes · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the Seth books are the theorem, then this is the practical application to it. The whole world view seems much more vivid and clear as it plays out in front of you. I wonder how much sense it would have made if I hadn't been familiar with Seth's teachings, but I guess not many people will read this book who never previously read a Seth book.
As novels go, it was catching. I loved the different time locations, I found fascinating both 35,000BC and the 23rd century. The characters were vibrant and complex but I didn't share Seven's partiality to Josef, I found him rather irritating. I loved Ma-ah best of all and little valiant Proteus. It was very interesting that the out-of-body experience played such a big role in it. I guess it was the only way to tie in the different time frames but still, every important thing happened in dream states. Makes you want to go to sleep.
The sequence in the retirement home and Lydia's passing will haunt me for a long time. I will forever wonder what's really going on in the mind of someone in their advanced old age who apparently seem so disconnected from reality. The picture painted here is so ... for lack of a better word: happy. If this is true, then there's no tragedy in death, it's truly just another joyous experience, like everything else should be.

I don't pretend that I fully understand the time concepts involved here, Seven's formula and effort to explain it notwithstanding. I will take me a while before I can wrap my brain around statements such as this one:

“The nineteenth-or twentieth-century ruins are underneath the new 35,000 B.C. ones because those appeared “later” from the future of Past Time, where there’s always fresh action and new things happening."

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I knew this was going to be an amazing book, but I wasn't expecting that I would love the story. The characters were amazing and engaging. And of course the ideas behind all of this. Definitely need to reread this at some point, to let it all sink in. But wow.

[Randall Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Roberts was a first for me in the discovery of self. I insatiably read each and every Jane Roberts book I could find. This book in particular is wonderful as it spells out the progression of spirit in a fictionalized manner with basis in the Seth Speaks books. It was written in story-form to help readers understand the overall teaching of Seth. It is a must read for anyone desiring to understand their soul progression as seen from the 'other side'!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the premise of the book, for whatever reason, I couldn't even get through the first few chapters of this book. Whether it was the writing style of the author or something else, I felt like I was traipsing through a peat bog, waiting for it to get easier, and it never did, so I put down the book and never finished it.

[Tammy K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in the 90's.
I enjoyed the way the lives of the characters dovetailed.
I recall loaning my copy to a friend years ago and never getting it back.
Seeing it here on Goodreads reminds me that I want it back!
This is an interesting take on reincarnation and past lives.