“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Tonight our first formal witness, Bill Macdonnel, was to attend a full session. Jane and I found ourselves anticipating the event with a good deal of interest. At 8:00 PM. Jane lay down for a rest, and gave herself positive suggestions concerning the session. Bill was due at 8:30.

(“Mark the mark; Mark has arrived.” At 8:50 this phrase came into Jane’s mind. She said she almost didn’t bother to tell me about it, that she wasn’t sure it was from Seth. She didn’t hear it clearly within as she ordinarily would if it was a message from Seth before a session was to begin. Her own thought was that it indicated Bill’s arrival sometime after the session had begun.

(At 9:00 PM Bill had not arrived. I for one was quite upset by this. Jane was not beginning the session, either. She did say, “I feel a great humorous sense of waiting that isn’t mine.” She said this concept hung above her. As the minutes passed she began to pace slowly back and forth. At 9:05 she began to dictate. Throughout the session her voice was a bit stronger than normal, her pace rather slow, her eyes dark as usual.)

(The letter Seth referred to was one from Jane’s publisher, received today, concerning her book on ESP. Jane had thought the project dead, but it seems the publisher is still interested.)

(Jane broke off dictation. It was 9:20. Her sudden change in direction had distracted me. While I sat staring at her she said:)

(Jane now motioned toward the door. Recovering my wits by now and realizing that the name Mark referred to Bill’s entity name, given to us by Seth at our seance, I went to the door and opened it. No one was there. Nor had I heard anyone coming up the stairs.

(By now I was completely puzzled; and Jane, evidently not wanting to speak on her own yet, looked at me and shrugged. We had heard the sound of a car, I remembered, and people going into the apartment downstairs; perhaps that had caused our confusion. I had a peculiar feeling of dismay, as though we had lost control somehow.

(I went back to my desk. It was 9:21. Jane resumed pacing and dictating.)

Your Ruburt saw a car, was expecting your friend, had imagined my comment, and leaped to the lightning fast conclusion, along with a rather flattering desire to prove me supposedly right in an instance that could be checked. Dear Ruburt, sometimes you are like a dumbskull if not a numbskull, and I will give my own proof in my own good time, and without such flattering but ineffectual help as this.

You should not, and I repeat this, grow panicky at the thought of distortions occurring, simply because to expect no distortions is just as unrealistic, and would send you flying headlong against an eventual wall of disillusion. We are not dealing with rigidities. Ruburt will improve. I do not want to set up a fear that is an exaggerated fear of distortions, since this might well make him so rigid that he would block perfectly valid material, fearing he was adding distortion.

I realize that the distortions bother you more than they bother me. However, to be truthful I anticipated more distortions than we have been getting, and my cronies have been amazed, particularly since Ruburt is not in a deep trance. It was unfortunate that your friend did not arrive on time. It was this extra element of anticipation that kept Ruburt from the usual excellent state of dissociation in the beginning of the session.

Had the visitor arrived on time Ruburt would have been able to handle the situation. It was the extra conscious and subconscious element of anticipation that got him into trouble.

(Break at 10:00. Jane was dissociated as usual toward the end of the above monologue. We were both disappointed at Bill’s failure to appear. For my part I tried to snap out of it by making some jokes, but Jane did not join in. She resumed dictating at 10:05.)

I am quite certain, Joseph, that for once Ruburt does not appreciate your humorous remarks made during break. Quite innocently and oh so exuberantly he leaped upon the chance to show in the record how right I was and how wrong he was, but there you have it.

And incidentally, do not blame your friend for not arriving. You are not going to make him over, and he tries very hard within the limits set by his entity. And now if all the fireworks are over, may I return to the subject from which I was so uproariously interrupted.

We were discussing free will, and if I may say so Ruburt’s little distortion was a beautiful example in kind.

(Break at 10:34. Jane was dissociated this time as usual. She resumed dictating at 10:41.)

The ache in Ruburt’s shoulder for example was an indication of nervousness; although consciously he was not bothered, unconsciously he knew that your friend would not arrive on time, and this disturbed him to some degree.

The ache was the physical and nervous construction of his subconscious irritation. I would like to make another note, and I believe I may have mentioned this. I know Ruburt at one time or another was aware of it. I have nothing against Ruburt’s reading of the material of course. I strongly suggest, however, that he does not in the future read the material on the night of a session. It only makes him apprehensive and nervous.

You use abilities, and so does Joseph, that cannot be used effectively at this present stage simultaneously with outer egotistical intellectual judgments. I am just saying, don’t try to use both at once during sessions. And that was a mouthful.

(Break at 11:05. Jane was dissociated as usual. The ache in her shoulder had let up somewhat, but she was not too surprised now to develop a pain in a foot. During break she hopped about until it too eased up. Discussing distortions during break, we recalled that once or twice Seth had mentioned using the deep trance state. Neither of us cared much for the idea. Jane resumed at 11:12.)

(Break at 11:36. Jane was dissociated as usual. She said Seth had been trying to get the above paragraph in all evening. Jane was obviously tired now, so I told Seth we’d hear from him next Monday as usual. Jane resumed at 11:37.)