“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

SESSION 102

(Here, I would like to call attention to my dream of September 18, 1964. See page 47. Seth has discussed this dream in considerable detail, without saying much about the opening sequence of the dream. In this opening sequence, Jane, Bill, the members of the Potter family, and myself, were gathered in a living room. I was pulling out some of Jane’s drawings and paintings and showing them to Bill, and Jane, Bill and I were animatedly discussed them. Particularly did we express surprise over their high quality. It then struck me this evening that the discussion between Jane, Bill and I, over Jane’s new work, bore some rather remarkable parallels to that opening dream sequence, and I wondered whether that portion of the dream could have been clairvoyant. Seth may comment on this in the next scheduled session. The main difference between the dream and “reality”, of course, is that the Potter family was not present this evening.

(Since it was getting late, any ESP experimentation this evening seemed improbable. We did discuss the feasibility of trying a “seance” of some kind, without doing anything about it. We were by now rather tired. We discussed the apparition Bill had seen in the bath doorway, described in the 68th session. This in turn led to Bill’s telling of some very vivid and upsetting dreams he had been having in recent days; in these dreams his bedroom had seemed to be peopled by apparitions or strangers, he said, entirely unfamiliar to him. From the recent material we had received on the dream world, I said it sounded as though Bill was in contact with other parts of his inner or whole self.

(Now as the discussion progressed the three of us sat in the living room around our coffee table, staring into the open bath door and exchanging half-joking remarks about apparitions. Bill then announced that he sensed the “feeling of a form” within the doorway, in the same manner detailed in the 68th session, except not to that degree. Jane and I could see nothing, as before.

(I would like to say here that recently Jane had remarked, several times, that she would feel better if she herself could see some physical evidence of psychic phenomena. She had not seen the apparition, nor of course had I, and she had not been able to see the change in her features, again described in the 68th session. Even though I reminded her that she was the prime mover in the sessions, she still expressed the wish to “see something” that would “prove” to her that the material was legitimate. We both remembered of course that long ago Seth had said in no uncertain terms that he was not in favor of demonstrations for demonstrations’ sake, and that he would not perform on call.

(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.

(As soon as the session was over I began notes on it, and covered the range of material given. Since what follows is reconstructed from memory it is to some extent out of chronological order. I found that I could write out rather easily an abridged version of the material Seth covered, and did not miss any of the major points. Undoubtedly I missed some minor asides, and changed phrasing and punctuation. Yet I feel that what follows is a good account.)

What will be necessary is that, at least in the beginning, the three of you will be necessary for this to be possible. I hereby suggest that the three of you attend a session at least once every two weeks. In the beginning three will be necessary. Later two may be sufficient. And with the three of you we will need dedication and discipline.

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.

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.

Nor is it any accident that those certain people come to the sessions, the ones who did come, just as it is no accident that Philip's mother is also a bed-ridden arthritic, just as Ruburt’s mother is.

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.

(Philip, of course, is the entity name for John Bradley, of Williamsport, PA, who has witnessed several sessions.

(Seth mentioned the physical effects often throughout the session, hence my repetition of this. He did not say anything, however, about what kind of effects he would produce. Jane spoke at a somewhat faster rate than usual, although had I been taking notes I believe I could have kept up for the most part.)

(Bill’s first sketch of the effect he saw on Jane’s closed eyes during the session.)

(After the session Bill finished for Jane and me the “press-release” kind of account about his gallery that he’d worked on while we talked before the session. This can be used for radio and newspaper publicity. He signs his paintings by his middle name, Cameron. Bill wrote:

(November 1, Sunday, 12:30 AM: Upon retiring after the unscheduled session, I saw a whole host of football players in activities connected with the game. [Had watched football on TV that afternoon.] This lasted for several minutes. I also saw full-face heads, usually in sections, as half a face, etc., coming closer to me, usually with the lips moving soundlessly. As I saw the first head my sensation swept over me quite strongly, and continued for some little while.