“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

There are many things of which I would like to speak. I have more to discuss on the nature of matter, and some remarks, at least, pertaining to the house; and Ruburt’s position at the gallery, if he decides to let me through.

Now Mark, you cannot see Joseph’s glass, nor can he see your glass. This can be proven mathematically, and scientists are already working with the problem, though they do not understand the principles behind it.

He creates an entirely different object, which his own outer senses then perceive. Since we have here this evening such an elegant and welcome guest, let us then perceive him in terms of a slight discussion of matter, in which he shall be our guinea pig.

(From my writing table, to my right of the entrance to our bath, I could look easily at Bill as he sat in our Kennedy rocker, facing the bath entrance itself from the other side of the same door. As Jane continued her delivery I noticed that Bill was staring quite consistently into the open bath doorway; yet I did not pay great attention to this, taking it somewhat for granted that Seth would use Bill/Mark only as a talking point relating to whatever subject he discussed.)

You perceive Mark, Joseph, sitting in your chair. He sits in his own chair, which he has constructed in his own space continuum and personal perspective.

You and Ruburt perceive Mark, and yet neither of you sees Mark’s Mark. As he sits in his chair, constantly he creates his own image physically, using his own psychic energy, and using particular atoms and molecules for the construction of his body.

(As soon as break arrived, Bill announced that he had seen an image in the doorway of the bath; it was this that had drawn his attention as Jane dictated. Bill asked for a sheet of paper and immediately set to work on a sketch of what he had seen. He is an artist and schoolteacher.

(Jane and I of course looked into the doorway but saw nothing. Bill has seen many images and apparitions during his life, and Seth has in past sessions discussed some of them, and their origin, briefly; so Jane and I were not surprised when Bill said he had another sighting.

(For one who felt poorly at the start of the session, Jane now said she felt fine. Seth had “knocked her out quickly.” Our cat, Willy, now became active as break wore on, and as he has done for most recent sessions. Willy began to stalk through the apartment, crying out; it was a cool night and no bugs were to be seen. Willy behaved in quite a scary fashion, looking all about him.

(Jane began dictating again in the same strong and very deep voice. Bill continued working on his sketch, saying he was not satisfied with it and would try another. Resume at 9:32.)

(First Jane pointed at Bill as he sat in the Kennedy rocker, working on his sketch of the apparition; then she pointed at me. Bill in the meantime kept staring into the open bath doorway, and as before I could see nothing from my position at the table.)

(From my studio at the back of the apartment came Willie’s cry. He was still stalking about.)

Your friend Mark, to digress, is an excellent witness in one way, because he is sensitive to appearances and constructions that appear within the physical realm from other planes.

His span of attention in one respect is short. As far as his psychic energy is concerned he is very gifted. I did, indeed, stand momentarily in the doorway; though if I may say so—

(Here Jane paused beside Bill and picked up the first pen drawing he had made of his sighting of the apparition of Seth.)

The image in the doorway is indeed my own, though there is bound to be a distortion in Mark’s perception of me. It is through the inner senses that he perceives me, and this data he then attempts to transform into information that can be perceived by the outer senses.

(Now Jane stood in back of Bill, looking over his shoulder as he sketched.)

(Bill Macdonnel said that the dark bath doorway turned into a foggy white; he then saw the form of Seth’s apparition stand out against this lighter background. The form was mainly a silhouette, he said, without much detail; yet during the first monologue he obtained a strong look or glimpse of the face. The effect was rather like that of a reversed negative. Bill said the face of the apparition was about six feet above floor level.

(Jane by now felt very good, fully recovered from her below-par feeling preceding the session. Clowning around, she moved into the doorway, into the exact spot in which, Bill said, Seth’s apparition was appearing. At this time, this moment, Bill said he could not see the image. I was standing beside the rocker Bill occupied, and both of us were watching Jane as she stood smiling and laughing in the bath doorway.

(I then asked Jane to move a few inches forward. She did, and the effect diminished then disappeared. For me, the change in feature appeared to take place on a plane an inch or so in front of Jane’s actual physical features. This new set of features might have been suspended on a clear screen of some kind; and as I watched them, at the same time I saw or sensed behind them or through them Jane’s real features as I knew them. Bill Macdonnel did not dispute my interpretation of the effect, although I have the feeling he did not see the effect just that way.

(Bill told Jane and me that the “feeling” of the apparition’s form lingered in the doorway even during break, though in a weaker state. He said that the image would at intervals become quite a bit stronger, so that he could then glimpse details. His drawings of Seth revealed a set of rather chiseled features, with the obvious difference of a very large and high cranium. He said he felt the cranium was gigantic.

—represents an outward transformation as Mark attempted to construct an accurate replica of material that he sensed with the inner senses, and as such it is the reconstruction of what I am. It represents the appearance that these abilities of mine take when at all closely connected with the physical plane. This does not necessarily mean that in all planes I have the same image.

I would also suggest before the session ends that you ask Mark once more what he saw, for the record, as well as including the excellent representation of me in the record. I also suggest that you notice the change once again in Ruburt’s voice; and if I perhaps sound severe, it is only the result of the transition. I can do best along this line in the presence of particular individuals who cooperate with me in the effort.

Also a brief notice: Your doctor across the way even now looked up and saw me, as he has done upon various occasions. And yet this time he knew that something was different, and sensed the proximity.

(We live on the second floor. The offices of Dr. Levine, our friend and physician, are perhaps forty feet away, on the ground floor of a house that he owns. The side entrance to his suite is directly opposite our windows, and we often see Sam Levine coming and going. He does much night work, and his office lights have many times been burning while a session was in progress.

(Sam Levine knows about Seth but has never attended a session. He has been invited to. He has expressed neither belief nor disbelief; he has also listened to part of the tape recording we made of Jane when delivering the 25th session. See page 183. Someday Jane and I intend to put the pressure on Sam and make him attend a session, no matter how busy he is. [Session 25 is in Vol. 1.])

For your information, he is in command of his facilities, and is cooperating with me of his own volition, and there is no invasion of any kind.

The material did not come through clearly because the man who sought to come through has not been trained enough to perform the particular task which he set himself.

There will be no long period when he is not employed. I have been doing so well this evening; and I suggest that you notice that Ruburt’s voice is neither dry nor hoarse.

There is nothing to be feared for Mark. His lung will remain in excellent condition for the summer. Nevertheless, I still maintain that it becomes imperative for him to live alone, or the condition will continue. He will cause the return of symptoms, if he does not seriously take steps to assure his inner self of his intention. This is by no means meant to alarm, but to help him evade such a difficulty.

He is, in any case, not in danger of a more serious attack than the first one. Other attacks, if he allows them to continue, would not be as difficult, but they would be unnecessary.

(At Seth’s suggestion, I again quizzed Bill on his sighting of Seth’s image; Bill verified the notes I had already taken and have included in this record. Once again he emphasized the great rise of the cranium of the image.

(Bill Macdonnel also stated that in his opinion Jane’s voice was at least an octave lower than its usual range. During the last monologue he stated he had seen nothing additional relating to the image in the doorway, and that he was not now seeing it.

It is true that in some ways he is in need of discipline, but in other ways he is in need of freedom, and he will discover his discipline in terms of freedom.

(End at 11:13. Jane was dissociated as usual. She said this was one of the occasions when Seth could have gone on for hours; he felt fine and was in a rare mood. Also, Jane said Seth had played a trick on her during the last delivery: He had not let her approach my writing table, where she usually let her cigarettes lay, and she had been unable to smoke.

(My hand was somewhat tired from writing, but not in bad shape. Jane, Bill and I discussed an experiment the three of us could try while Bill was on his trip. He planned to go to Cape Cod; as soon as he was settled for his projected stay of several weeks, Bill was to write us. He would give us certain times during evening hours when the three of us would try to contact each other telepathically, and make notes of whatever impressions we might receive.

(“How about Bill’s trip? Will he have a good one?”)

I leave ordinarily close to ten past eleven, often when I could stay longer; but Ruburt has decided upon the hour and he—

—he pushes me away. He is a stubborn lunkhead half of the time, and a stubborn donkeyhead the other half. All in all, he will do, but it shows what I must put up with.

Indeed we are. If we were not, he wouldn’t let me open my mouth.

Mark, Mark. Mark will of course go to the seaside. There is a man, perhaps fifty years old, with whom he will become acquainted, or with whom he may become acquainted, with prickly hair.

And the recorder should be on. I will tell you when. And now, I will leave, out of compassion for two tired, misused, persecuted gentlemen. Ruburt I am not concerned with in that fashion, since he and I have managed quite well this evening. Cheerio.

(End at 11:59. Jane was dissociated as usual. She felt much better, she said, than she had before the session began. Seth was full of hell, Jane said; he really enjoyed himself giving the session; and the concept of his enjoyment as she sensed it within was, in turn, enjoyable and “funny” to her.

(This reproduction, combining the two drawings Bill MacDonnel made of the apparition he saw in the 68th Session, was published in 1970 by Prentice-Hall, Inc., in Jane’s The Seth Material. Bill’s first drawing is the smaller of the two.)