“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(After Monday’s short session Jane visited Miss Callahan, but was unable to learn from her of anything unusual or significant that might have happened to or with her during the time mentioned by Seth in the 63rd session. Miss Callahan, though frail, appeared to be in good spirits.

(Jane’s cold was not much better, and as session time drew near she said that unless Seth helped her considerably there would be no session, for she was having difficulty talking.

(Jane was not nervous before the session. She began dictating in a quiet voice; she had been coughing a lot, but as soon as the session began the coughing stopped, except for a very few isolated single coughs she gave at widely separated intervals. Her voice sounded dry, however, but not hoarse. Her pacing was slow, her eyes dark as usual.)

(Here Seth surprised us by referring to one of our little efforts of last Monday evening, after the session. In this experiment, we sat at a bare table in the dimly-lit room. On the table lay Jane’s ring, an inch from an ashtray. Our objective was to focus our psychic energies together and move the ring until it struck or touched the ashtray. From various information Seth has given us, I believe such things are possible at times, and Jane agrees. This time however, Jane quickly became impatient for some reason, and literally commanded the ring, mentally, to move. Of course it did not.)

(It took place on Friday afternoon. We were due to leave on vacation Saturday morning. As a precaution I took the car to our regular gas station and left it for an oil change. This was at 1 PM; I was due to pick it up at five, then meet Jane at the gallery to drive her home.

(Walking down to the garage at the appointed time, I saw the car still up on the lift. The assistant mechanic told me there was something wrong with the filter cap and that it could not be tightened sufficiently to prevent an oil leak. His boss was busy and asked me to stop back later, after he’d had a chance to look at the car. Of course I realized how Jane would feel if we could not leave on vacation in the morning should the car not be ready. Watching the assistant, as he struggled to tighten the cap, I had the distinct feeling he didn’t know too well what he was doing, and that the amount of force he was using could strip the threads and really delay the trip if a new part had to be found, then replaced. It meant dismantling part of the steering mechanism.

(Making my feelings plain, I thought, without saying much actually, I left the garage and walked down to tell Jane, who by now had left the gallery and was waiting for me outside. I had time during the walk to give some thought to using positive expectation, but had not calmed down enough to try it effectively. Jane immediately announced that the car would be ready when we went back for it, and asked me not to think about it while we went out for supper.

(We ate quietly and slowly, then walked back up to the garage. While two blocks away, I thought I could see a blue and white car parked outside it. Jane said it was our car, though I was sure she could not see it, actually, well enough to know for sure. But it was our car, ready for us. Jane told me then that all through the meal, she had concentrated as hard as she could on the fact that the car would be fixed and waiting for us. She was, she said, determined to go on vacation Saturday morning.)

(Break at 9:31. Jane was dissociated as usual. She ended the monologue with a laugh. Her voice bothered her not at all during delivery; and since I kept actual count, I can report that while presenting the above material she gave but four single coughs throughout it.

(Seth’s confirmation that I had at least some success with my car experiment prompted me to suggest to Jane that when we drove to Rochester to visit my brother William Richard Butts, that we should both concentrate on keeping the car’s consumption of oil to a minimum. The distance, perhaps 120 miles each way, would be long enough for an accurate measurement to be made, coming and going.

(Jane resumed in the same quiet voice, without coughing, at 9:40.)

(Here, Jane’s voice abruptly boomed out, very loud, so loud it startled me. She herself gave no sign of surprise or strain. For a few sentences she continued in this deeper and stronger voice; then, as though she had been merely practicing, her voice began to soften.)

(Jane’s voice had quieted again, but still she spoke with much animation and at a faster rate.)

(Break at 10:00. Jane was dissociated as usual. She coughed at break, but had not coughed during the above delivery. When she resumed her voice was quieter, at 10:04.)

(Here Willy, who had been quiet all evening, now began to chase after Jane as she paced back and forth. Without breaking delivery Jane tried to shoo him away; but the cat persisted, so Jane finally stopped talking and pointed to the cat. I deposited him in another room and shut the door.)

(With the last two words of the above sentence Jane’s voice suddenly broke out loud and strong again. For a few moments it remained so, then began to quiet again.)

(Jane smiled.)

(Break at 10:30. Jane reported that she was fully dissociated—far out, as she puts it. She recalled parts of the material she had delivered, but was unaware of her surroundings, whether she smoked or not, etc. She had smoked, but coughed only a few times. She resumed in a normal voice at 10:32.)

(End at 10:55. Jane was again fully dissociated. She did not recall the material. She had done no coughing. My writing hand was somewhat fatigued. Jane said also that her throat actually felt better than before the session began.)