“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

SESSION 16

(This morning at breakfast I had announced that light was also a mental enzyme, to Jane’s surprise and somewhat to my own. We opened this session by sitting at the board as usual, without asking questions. The answers, once we were underway, began through the board.

(“Seth, why do Jane’s eyes appear to be darker and more luminous now, when she’s delivering your messages? Our cat’s eyes also had that same look in the last session.”)

As far as light being a mental enzyme, this is true. I’m pleased that you came forward with this yourself. There are other mental enzymes of course. Whether we will go into this during tonight’s session I don’t know.

(Break at 9:45. Jane and I both were surprised at the amount of material we had gathered in forty-five minutes. The time seemed to fly. During this session our cat Willy slept the whole time. Jane’s voice never went beyond a certain medium deepening and a small increase in volume. At times as she talked it was quite normal. During this break I mentioned that I would like to ask Seth about flying saucers. Jane resumed dictating at 9:51.)

Ruburt, you can stop playing ring around the rosy. (Break at 10:20. Seth referred to Jane’s habit of pacing endlessly around the room as she talked. Although her voice sounded normal to me, Jane said that during this session even so she has a subjective feeling that her voice is different, and that sometimes it is a strain to pause in the middle of a monologue to speak to me as herself and not Seth. At these times she reports that she would rather nod her head to a remark or question of mine, so as not to break her continuity with Seth. Jane resumed dictation at 10:28.)

(“Seth, when you were speaking to us as Frank Watts in the 2nd session, you said you came from the state of sorrows.

I have seen Ruburt glance at the clock. You may take a break or end the session, as you choose. I would say that you had enough material to keep you busy.

(Break at 11:28. We were both very tired by now, Jane especially. We decided to end the session with one more question. During this answer Jane spoke in a low and quiet voice. Resume at 11:30.

I really could keep going for hours again but it is not a good idea. These sessions should be regular above all else. If we begin stretching them into longer sessions within one night, you will not have time to correlate the material or to completely recover from the effort involved. I am afraid we would then end up with only one session a week, and I prefer the two. So, because of this flawless logic and again because of my innate consideration for your convenience, I hereby bid you a fond good night.

(According to her, ectoplasm formed the various changes and materializations about my hand in our previous seance with Bill Macdonnel. Sessions, she said, should be regular. Darkness or very dim red light will produce the best results for beginners. Rob asked if it would be possible for me to continue in full light. Malba said light would not bother her, but might bother me. She said that the way Rob and I work together, we need both of us to succeed, and that our channels were open before the session. The color experiments failed because we were not prepared. The closet experiment failed because I did not believe it would work. [Reading about mediums and their cabinets, I stationed myself in a dark closet while Rob checked from outside for any ectoplasm or aura.]

(Tired consciousness sometimes yields good results; so may a clogged-up consciousness. The middle state is usually too concerned with practical matters. Bill Macdonnel should be good in seance sessions, though he is somewhat like mercury, changeable; at times he may not do well, other times good. James Spaziani might be good. [Our landlord.]

(The term midplane is nearest she could come to a translation, they don’t use words on her plane. Better to keep our group small, and practice. Can’t expect too much yet. Rob told to try sessions with Bill and myself as we did last year, when Rob saw house and other material so clearly. Will not take so much energy from him now; then, he was sick. Keep pencil and paper handy for Rob’s visions, and expand ability.

(Malba said connection with her could be renewed by asking questions. Seth, she said, was an excellent teacher, a philosopher where she was not. Don’t be discouraged, remember poor Ouija sessions before success. We have been preparing ourselves for this since before our marriage nine years ago, but marriage reinforced our energies. Ego spits like a cat to maintain conscious control, but will relax when it sees it can come to itself whenever it chooses. A drink helps, a darkened room, pre-seance preparation.

(Session lasted from about 9:15 until 10:30 PM. Rob wrote up his notes immediately after, then I checked them to add what I could that he might have forgotten.)