“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Today we had made an initial payment towards acquiring the Birch house, dealt with so extensively in the 65th session. We were both pleased and excited over this. Before the session was due Jane said she felt exhausted and nervous; she reported Seth had been with her at times during the afternoon, “buzzing around,” as she put it, while she thought about the house.

(Bill Macdonnel arrived at 8:30 to be a witness. Our cat Willy was quiet for a change as session time approached. Jane also felt nervous. She began dictating on time, in a voice a little deeper and stronger than usual. Her pacing was average, her eyes darkened as usual.)

(By now Jane’s voice was even lower and stronger than it had been a minute ago. Already the change was more drastic than it had been for many sessions. Her voice did not boom out, and was still recognizable as her own;yet the change was great, and I wondered if it might be even more dramatic. The presence of witnesses usually calls forth a little extra on Seth-Jane’s part as far as voice phenomenon is concerned. The 63rd session, when John Bradley had last been a witness, had also seen some voice changes; but they had been mild compared to this.)

(By referring to the floor plan of our living room at the end of this session, the placement of the three of us can be quickly determined. Seth, making the above statement, gave no suggestions as to what might transpire. Jane’s delivery was unbroken as she paced about the room at a rather fast rate. Her voice was also quite strong and deep, much deeper than usual, yet she spoke without apparent effort or surprise.

(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.)

(Break at 9:26. Jane was dissociated as usual.

(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.

(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.)

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

(Break at 9:56. Jane was dissociated as usual. She ended the dialogue with a laugh at Bill.

(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.

(It was while we were discussing dimensions that the second part of Seth’s demonstration took place; and again it was without suggestion upon his part, or indeed warning of any kind.

(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.

(At our request Jane remained standing where she was; she said that she “tingled” as she stood in the proper spot. She was not frightened, although uneasy when Bill and I first told her of what we saw. There was no doubt of what we did see. The effect lasted for perhaps a minute or two, the room was sufficiently well lighted [although not blazing with light; during her deliveries Jane usually has one 60W light on, but at break we turn more lights on; and if this bothers Jane while talking she automatically snaps them off as she paces about.] and Bill and I had plenty of chance to make sure of what we were looking at.

(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.

(Jane gestured toward Bill. She was pacing very fast and her deep voice was booming out.)

There is no more truth, and no more falsehood, in saying that my appearance in the doorway was caused by suggestion, than to say that this room and everything within it is caused by suggestion.

(Bill Macdonnel was again staring into the doorway to the bath, making additions to his second drawing of Seth’s apparition.)

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.

(I had heard a door slam next door, since it was a nice night and our living room windows were open. In the summer Jane likes the windows open, sessions or no, although I find traffic noises bothersome at times.

(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.

As far as your house is concerned, you have my blessing as you know. The affair will be successful. I have mentioned that it is no coincidence that you came across the house. Nor is it a coincidence that the door was open when you arrived there.

(This was a surprise. Jane and I finally got around to going on a drive to look at the house, about which we had known for several weeks without bothering to investigate. Going up a very steep dirt road just outside Elmira, by luck we took the correct fork in the road and pulled into the front yard of the right house. We liked it at first sight.

(We found the front door locked and bolted, then spent a few minutes looking around the front half of the place, and admiring the view. It then occurred to me to walk around back to see if the back door was also locked. Jane had the same idea, though we thought little of it at the time. And we did find the back porch door open. It had no outside lock, but was locked from the inside by a bolt arrangement.

(According to Seth then, Jane and I used our combined psychic strength or force to pull the bolt back. I remember finding the door, which was very heavy and thick, slightly ajar. This was accounted for to our satisfaction at the time of our second visit; trying to shoot the bolt from inside the porch, Jane and I found we had to exert considerable pressure against the door in order to line the bolt up with the door frame; and once shut the door was exceedingly sturdy. If Jane and I used psychic strength to open this door, it can be safely stated that the force required and exerted was considerable.)

All of your friends sensed that this house was good for you both. I am no banker. Nevertheless, I can tell you that you will have no financial difficulties; nor should Ruburt feel any fear concerning his own job at the gallery, in terms of the house and finances.

(I was wondering whether perhaps we had opened the door while on the way to the house, maybe as we climbed the dirt road.)

(True. Jane was still booming along in her deep strong voice with unflagging energy; she revealed no symptoms of any kind of discomfort.)

(Break at 10:55. Jane was dissociated as usual. As soon as break arrived she announced that her hands felt fat. The sensation began to quickly diminish.

(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.

(My writing hand by now was somewhat tired, since it had been a long fast session. Jane resumed dictation in the same deep voice, using many gestures as she paced about the room. Resume at 11:01.)

(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.

(Jane was sitting across from me at the table. As soon as I had my say she abruptly began to dictate again. Her voice was as deep as ever. She got up, walked over to the divan, and in a most masculine gesture proceeded to squat on one arm of the divan, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. I had never seen her use this gesture before. But there she sat through all of the following material. Her eyes were very dark.)

That was my allusion to the many Marks, earlier in the session. I had intended to show you the way in which these Marks would be multiplied, and the manner in which physical worlds multiply indefinitely, and seemingly without end.

I only want to add a few simple explanations here. There definitely was a change in Ruburt’s features. I will go into the reasons behind this in another session.

The demonstration was indeed a valid one. I will not keep you longer. I did want to set the record straight, concerning the definite change in Ruburt’s features; and as you may have supposed, I was indeed listening in at your little discussion. Such tests as you have in mind during Mark’s journey should prove most advantageous, if carried through in the correct manner and under good circumstances.

(I had to admit my hand was pretty tired and cramped by now, but inertia helped. As long as I kept going I could keep going.

(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.

(My writing hand was tired, even with Seth’s help. I asked Bill to make a drawing of any materialization Seth might perform for him on his trip.

(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.)