“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Prior to this evening Jane and I had not mentioned the Seth material to them, although the four of us have tried a few ESP experiments on weekends. See page 231 of the 125th session. Tonight’s experiment began rather spontaneously and ended with Seth making an entrance, although I for one had not particularly planned it that way.

(In the beginning the four of us sat on the floor, grouped around our coffee table and holding hands as suggested by Seth in the 125th session, and as we had done before. Jane spoke for some little time in a repetitious voice, as a way of inducing a relaxed state within us, but no phenomena of any kind appeared. Dim lights were on. We had been using our recorder earlier but were not recording these monotonous inductions, and as will be seen this was a mistake on my part.

(We became cramped physically. Jane’s voice also tired, so to relieve her I began to speak. Now Jane, Judy and Lee were prone upon the floor by the divan. Our idea was that our receptive state might make it possible for one of us to speak for another personality should one be present, or for another level of the self. I did not try to bring Seth into the experiment. I had been speaking for perhaps ten minutes, however, when Jane abruptly began to speak for Seth from her prone position. She lay flat on her back but soon sat up.

(This of course startled our guests, but they listened without interruption. Jane’s voice was quite loud and somewhat deeper than usual. Indeed, she displayed much more animation than she has for any of our regular sessions since she began to deliver the material from a sitting position. Her eyes remained closed now however, but she spoke much more rapidly and gestured often.

(Seth began by stating that he had been with us throughout the evening. He said we had chosen a poor method of experimentation, if we did not want to contact him, since Jane has been conditioned to respond through him when we sought contact with discarnate entities. My idea had been that Jane might speak for another personality, such as in the Sarah Wellington or the Malba Bronson instances. See Volume 1, page 64 for the former, and 103 and 127 for the latter.

(Seth expressed much pleasure at being able to speak in a natural manner, without dealing with the usual philosophical and complicated subjects that make up most of the sessions. My own thought, as soon as he began to speak, was that I had made a mistake in method, since his appearance was a complete surprise to our guests. Seth reinforced this by saying that in the future I should be careful if I did not want it to happen again. Jane and I now like to prepare witnesses beforehand, since the material has become so lengthy and complicated that it is increasingly difficult to explain briefly.

(Seth repeated several times that he felt in fine form, and Jane’s voice and manner so indicated. I asked some questions designed to keep the material on the level of reincarnational data, since our guests had done some reading on the subject. Seth said I had not known Lee Wright before, but that I had been “involved” with Judy in a past life. It was indeed in my Denmark existence, he said, “the life of which you are now so ashamed.” In that life Judy had been a man, and a sailor. This reminded me that Seth had given similar data for our friend Bill Macdonnel; he too had been a sailor in a Denmark contemporary existence, but as I recall I did not ask Seth whether Judy and Bill had known each other in that life. As it happens, Bill had been a guest also earlier tonight, leaving just before the session.

Our material has been excellent, but I have missed the emotional contact. Ruburt, because of the change in our practice, has been somewhat uneasy, and for this reason the more friendly atmosphere that he had enjoyed earlier had deserted us. The state which he has achieved this evening, with your help Joseph, allowed us to achieve that informality to some small degree.

(Here, Seth of course was referring to Lee and Judy.

(Unfortunately, we are unable to distinguish here as to whether Jane pronounced the word forefinger, or the two words, fourth finger. Her diction was not quite clear enough on the tape for us to distinguish between the two. The question arises because after the session Lee Wright said that as a youngster he had injured the forefinger of his left hand. Indeed his finger bears even now a scar near the tip. Seth’s use of the phrase “at one time,” could refer, we suppose, to either a past life of Lee’s, or an earlier period in his present one.

There should be an extra dimension added to the material, and now and then the freedom for some informal discussion. With your recorder we may be able to arrange a more comfortable conversation, although as you realize as far as the material itself is concerned, it is rather weighty material and I must sort of hit you over the head with it. If I did not hit you over the head with it I’m afraid that you would not get it at all.

I do not say this to make you feel inferior, or Ruburt. It is simply that it is difficult to mix the material with a light atmosphere, although I do believe we can retain the emotional closeness which does seem to be beneficial. I now give you all my fond good wishes. My best regards to your two visitors, and we may indeed meet again.

(“Good night, Seth.”

(It will be noted that although Seth evidently wanted her to pace about, she did not do so. She was very active as far as gesturing was concerned, and her delivery was quite animated. But the closest she came to getting to her feet was when she rose to her knees while speaking.)