“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(“Do you want to do that now or would you rather wait?”

He responded to his own attraction for her and was able to expand in her direction because she was not an adult. He was essentially childlike in one manner and yet he had little use for most people. Had he lived to see Jane mature the feeling between them might well have dissipated. (Joseph Burdo died in 1948 at the age of 68. Jane was 19.) He could not relate to another adult, and when in his eyes she joined the league of adulthood he would not have been able to retain his strong leaning toward her.

Such relationships, disciplined of course, will nevertheless yield richness for both of you that neither of you would get in any other manner. You do not have to take hordes into your house. On the other hand all stages of relationships are necessary, and a casual give and take between you and friends will expand your spirit in ways that neither you nor Jane personally can do alone. I am going into this matter because it has concerned both of you at various times, and I would like to state that your work will not suffer by expending energy in these other directions.

Perception of beauty through the senses is the trigger on your plane for subsequent inner perceptions. The two are so closely bound, through music for example, which can only be appreciated through the senses. Psychic actions take place which lead the individual beyond the senses. There is much more to be said here. There is a phrase which I will explain at a later date—inner senses—which you will find extremely interesting. By this I mean senses within the senses. I would use behind the senses but I believe this would lead to confusion.

(Break at 9:50. To date the above monologue is the longest answer we have received. During its delivery Jane talked at a steady rate, just slow enough for me to be able to take it down word for word in longhand. Shorthand would be a great help. During this dictation Jane neither stopped, speeded up, backtracked, gave any indication of confusion, stopped or started anew.

Everything on your plane is a materialization of something that exists independent of your plane. Therefore within your senses there are other senses that perceive inward. Your regular senses perceive, or as Jane would like to say create, an outer world. The senses within them, that is within the recognizable senses, perceive and create an inner world, they perceive part of an inner world. This is difficult for me to explain to you. However as your regular senses are limited according to the plane which you inhabit—in your case dear friends on your plane extremely limited, I’m afraid—so are the corresponding inner senses limited.

The time element is something I told you I would discuss, and if my intentions are strong Ruburt at this point is growing weak. And there is a certain element of time in this statement. The material itself has not made either of you weary. Time involved, or your idea of the time involved, has.

I did not intend to make you work so hard this evening, Joseph. If your hand is working as quickly as Ruburt’s mouth then you must be exhausted. Would you like to take a break or would you prefer to end the session? I am always thinking of your convenience, at least when I am not concerned with your education.

I felt extremely pleased with your frames of mind this evening. I would continue if I did not have your physical limitations to contend with. For some reason I am able to come through very well, and when this happens I like to take advantage of the opportunity. After all, do you blame me? I admit that I miss you occasionally between sessions, dear friends; and Ruburt, your voice almost reminds me now of your old one.

In any case I shall say good night. You should know that I too enjoy a moment of social discourse or I would not keep you so long. I regret the necessity to keep Joseph so occupied. However I try to speak to you, Joseph, and answer the questions you would ask if you had the time to open your mouth.

(We debated whether to continue. Jane felt better now, and of course we were interested to try resuming in this fashion since it would be something new. Almost as if by signal Jane began to dictate again. We did not touch the board.)

Feeling acts in many worlds. It is the connective and it strongly connects the three of us. If I sound ponderous it is only because these necessary explanations cannot be given to you in a playful manner. You would discount them. And my dear Joseph, at times I peek in on you between sessions. The twist is a beautifully innocent and wicked contortion that I would enjoy.

The trouble is, you see, you look upon me as a veritable fountain of knowledge, and I would also be known as a personality in myself and as a friend.

The one thing that pleases me immensely is the way Ruburt can translate at least a few of my humorous remarks and inflections of my natural speech. It is difficult to carry to you at this point but I have hopes of doing better. Ruburt’s voice is an experiment. The immediacy of our sessions would be enhanced if more of my personality could come through. I could go on quite happily, you might say blithely, for hours but I shall not. I would if I thought I could get away with it.

As a man’s voice I fear Jane will sound rather unmelodious. I do not have the voice of an angel by any means, but neither do I sound like an asexual eunuch, which is all I’ve been able to make her sound like all night. And incidentally, Ruburt, you were a good brother at one time. The so-called male aspect of your personality has always been strong, but by this I mean powerful. Without the loyalty that you are learning as a woman your character had serious defects. And there, I said I would not get into anything serious.

There is no weather, whether or not you think there is. This involves far more than a playful question, and would take me at least a month to answer.

If I could have a glass of wine with you and enjoy it, I would. If you want Ruburt to talk only for a few moments to me without the record, go ahead. I’ll certainly last as long as Ruburt will and a lot longer.

If ever your wife’s features change imperceptibly some night as we talk, I suggest you do not mention it till the end of the session. Ruburt makes a lovely woman, though he would have been horrified at the transformation.

(Rob thought the concentration of writing a statement on how I felt would help. Instead my efforts showed what a crazy state I was in. My handwriting just wasn’t my own. No pressure was exerted on the pen. The writing was wavery, very small, and grew even smaller. My prose expression was nothing like my own, childish in fact. Thought or messages or bits of conversation popped to mind and I wrote them down in this weird script.

(I can add one fact to Jane’s account. By experimenting we found that she could make a rapid decisive movement while in this trance or dissociated state, but only with great effort. For example, in the kitchen I had her try to lift an empty cup up from the counter. Jane found that the only way she could do this was to concentrate as best she could on what she wanted to do, then make a supreme physical effort. As a result her hand holding the cup would fly up head high suddenly, then just as suddenly bang the cup back down on the counter.)