“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(I then became aware, at 11:00 PM, that Jane had fallen silent. She sat on the divan, her legs drawn up beneath her, across the coffee table from me. Her expression was smiling but fixed. She stared at me. I saw that her eyes had grown very dark beneath the lower lids, a rather peculiar manifestation that cleared up shortly after she began dictation. Jane held a cigarette but seemed to be unaware of it. She had taken her glasses off.

(I had an impulse to try to get back to my studio to get some paper and a pen; this was followed by another impulse—to forget about notes for a change, even though Jane was obviously about ready to give a session. I followed the latter course, since she seemed unconcerned about whether notes would be taken. Bill and I waited. Jane began dictation in a rather strong voice that was pitched somewhat lower than normal, and maintained it for the whole of the session. She remained seated throughout. As soon as she began to speak she closed her eyes, and to my continuing surprise she kept her eyes closed throughout the session, except for one brief instant that shall be mentioned later. There followed a rather strange procedure, for when Jane addressed either Bill or myself she kept her eyes closed but faced the pertinent one, and gestured in the correct direction also. After a while one tended to forget that her eyes were closed, since there was no evidence of confusion on her part. In addition, the closed eyes played a part in an interesting little development that will also be mentioned later.

I am not, as you know, particularly in favor of physical effects, but since Ruburt is such a well-known doubter I will go along. We will have to have our physical effects, effects that even he will not be able to deny.

Joseph is committed to these sessions. He believes. Ruburt is a doubter, from way back. He is intellectually intrigued but he is not yet emotionally committed. You, Joseph, make these sessions possible. Without you Ruburt would not let me come through. Without you Ruburt would never have held a single session.

Ruburt has been in search of discipline. He was always in search of the discipline he lacked. His intuitions were always very strong. Well, now he has his discipline, but it has been overdone. It has come to hamper the very strong intuitions, and it must be lessened. Spontaneity, inner spontaneity must be restored. He is now doing better with his psychological time experiments, and he must let this spontaneity expand into other aspects of his life. Ruburt must be fully committed to these sessions for them to accelerate in scope.

If he wants physical effects he shall have his physical effects. But I repeat, three at this time are necessary.

You, Joseph, had the discipline always. You were afraid to trust your intuitions, and the circumstances of your early life encouraged this fear. But you have now learned to trust yourself and have expanded accordingly. You are now free, and you will continue to expand your abilities, in your painting and other aspects of your life.

Mark, you need discipline, but it is discipline that you will acquire in living. And here let me say that Ruburt’s strong feelings are correct. Ruburt knows what he knows. You should move into your gallery as soon as possible. You will be asked to give shows of your paintings by two people whom you should refuse; you will be asked to give shows by other people, whose invitations you should accept. It will be up to you to use your inner knowledge, your intuitions, in determining which persons to refuse and which to accept.

Also, Mark, you should not be afraid of your dreams. They do not mean what you think they mean. They are, briefly, part of your whole self. You have been in contact with other parts of yourself for a long time. You have learned more in the last year than you learned in the last fifteen. If you want to learn more about your dreams and what they really mean, I will discuss them in a regular session. But above all you should move into your own place.

(Telling us about his recent dream and apparition experiences, Bill had mentioned that at times when his eyes were closed he was aware of the feeling of a white light, or glow, that varied in intensity at different times. Jane was interested in this description because it tallied with an effect she attains quite often in psychological time experiments—this feeling of a light within, even though the eyelids are squeezed tightly shut. At times Jane has seen images after the appearance of this inner light, but Bill has seen only the light. I have experienced this type of inner glow on a few isolated occasions, but have seen few images in this manner.)

If it is physical effects you want then I will go along. After all, I must please Ruburt to some extent, since without him I could not speak. The reason that his paintings upset him is that they reflect his inner knowledge, of which he is well aware. It is true that his poetry does also, and over the years he has come to take this for granted. But the paintings, especially the late ones which are so much improved over his earlier efforts, are new to him. And since he is still a doubter of the material, he sees this inner knowledge in a new light, and is upset.

We have all known each other in the past. We have been more closely connected than you can imagine, and have had more experience in different realms than you can now know. I cannot at this time make it all clear to you. But there will be reunions and reminiscences, mark my words.

And there will be physical effects if the three of you want them, but you must meet faithfully, and in a committed way. There will then be effects that even the greatest doubter cannot deny.

As for a party, I don’t see why not. Joseph does not have his house, but I think that I am perfectly capable of producing as good effects here as I promised you at the housewarming.

The physical side of these sessions is accepted by Joseph. He knows what he sees, but perhaps we can aid in our Ruburt’s commitment. He demands proof of the validity of this material, his psychological time experiences notwithstanding. He demands physical effects and then freezes up. He questions everything that happens in the sessions, and sometimes I think he believes none of it.

But I will do my best, and it will be considerable. I will not parade any so-called effects for you tonight, however. I demand discipline and respect at my sessions, no matter what I said about Ruburt and discipline earlier. But we will have our effects, never fear.

(I did not think to note the time the session ended, but certainly it was within half an hour. Jane said Seth knocked her out quickly, and that it was her deepest trance except for the self-induced one of January 10, 1964. See Volume 1, page 83. Yet as usual she could hear herself speaking, although she could not follow the sense of what she was saying, nor did she try to.

(Bill Macdonnel explained that the superimposed eyes he saw upon Jane’s closed lids had no pupils, but resembled instead eyes clouded by cataracts. He also said that whenever Jane spoke to me and gestured in my direction, the eye effect followed, yet I noticed nothing unusual in Jane’s features. For Bill this effect began when Seth first mentioned him in the session.

(Later, resting on bed after work with eyes closed, saw a quick but rather violent vision of a round, very bright daylight-type light. But this light seemed to be clearer than daylight, and to be almost like a mirror that was reflecting another mirror. At the same time it spun around, or else the dark area around it spun around, with a sudden violence that actually made me dizzy. Yet the whole thing was incredibly brief.)