“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane said later that listening to the tape did not “bother” her very much, although she felt some emotional and psychic reaction. On the tape she manifested many voice changes, while reading G. K. Chesterton’s narrative poem Lepanto, that were quite reminiscent of the way the deceased Father Trainor had read it. Afterward Jane endeavored to answer a question of Bill’s by reading a few lines from the poem aloud. Because of her cold and her still impaired voice, she thought she could get through a few lines at best.

(Since we had been taken by surprise by this development, we had made no plans to record the reading. I hesitated to interrupt, remembering Seth’s comments about the value of spontaneity. Jane’s eyes were open, but much darker and more luminous than usual. At times the almost deafening power of her voice, and its emotional content, were indeed thrilling. At the end of the reading Jane closed her eyes; when she opened them again she was out of the trance. She said she was subjectively aware of the gestures she executed with her left hand, yet she felt the hand was not really hers at the time. She felt that it was a fatter hand, belonging to a much heavier arm. Father Trainor, in the photograph we have of him, was a very heavyset man. Bill Gallagher felt that while she was reading Jane spoke with a brogue. Father Trainor was Irish.

(After this our conversation turned to what Seth might say about the origins of Bill Gallagher’s ulcer. The ulcer had bothered him all day while Peg and he attended a family gathering. Jane announced that she felt the rapport in our group was favorable, that Seth could hold a session now if we requested it. Not long after this she asked me to get my notebook. The session then began with Jane sitting in the same chair, facing us.

(Her eyes remained closed this time, but she was very active in her delivery, using many voice effects and gestures—the most active, I think, since she began to deliver material while sitting down and with her eyes closed. Jane said later that the presence of Bill and Peg seemed to give her extra psychic energy somehow; that she felt a greet freedom while giving the session that was most enjoyable. Seth has remarked in the past about the special value and character of unscheduled sessions.

(Jane, smiling, leaned forward in her chair, eyes still closed, to question me solicitously. Actually, I was just about managing to keep up with her speed of dictation, but disliked interrupting to ask her to slow down since Seth was obviously in a rare mood—as witness his hopping, almost excitedly, from one topic to another. This manner was far different than our usual quiet, almost sedate sessions. Certainly Seth, or Jane, felt a keen enjoyment.

(Bill Gallagher’s ulcer was not bothering him. He said he felt fine, and that it was a most welcome situation. I had not observed any change in Jane’s features, the few times I had managed to take a look. Bill however remarked that he thought he had detected a change; he thought Jane’s lower jaw line had become more rounded, losing a little of its angularity. As it happened Bill could see Jane full-face from his position on the couch. I sat beside him and saw more of the left side of Jane’s face, and Peggy from her position was looking at the right side of Jane’s face. Peggy also thought she noticed some change.

(We have always thought of the 33rd session as furnishing the most dramatic display of voice changes on Jane’s part, both in volume and a lower register. I would say that tonight’s session saw Jane surpass those voice effects as far as sheer power and staying ability went by some little margin; but I do not think her voice dropped as low. Nevertheless it was very vibrant and strong, and Jane now told us she felt no aftereffects, her cold notwithstanding. She said that before the Father Trainor demonstration she had been concerned about her voice being able to give a session tomorrow night, Monday, let alone tonight.

(Bill’s ulcer was still not bothering him, and he was still free of symptoms at 1:20 AM when Peggy and he left for home. Bill again mentioned that he thought he saw a change in Jane’s features while she was speaking, especially in the jawline and the shape of the face in general. I had noticed nothing. My writing hand felt only a mild fatigue.

(This time I sat at our living room table in my old accustomed place. Jane began to speak from the rocker but had uttered only a few words when she got up and took a chair at the table with me. I saw that her eyes were now open, and very dark and luminous. She was staring right at me. It will be remembered that in the 157th session Jane had mentioned that she felt Seth might try to have her speak with her eyes open soon, and while in a deep trance. In that session also, Jane had felt very restless, perhaps presaging such a change.

(I felt an immediate intimate involvement now that was quite new to me in the sessions. I would say this subjective feeling was enhanced because Jane was not actively pacing about as she used to with her eyes open, but sitting comfortably at table with me. I also knew that she was in a deeper trance. The direct stare of her eyes, very large, very dark, was at times disconcerting. This effect of course was heightened, now, because I began to feel that I noticed a change in her features.

(In trying to be objective, I can say that perhaps the change I became aware of was partly observed, partly subjective. Jane’s features were quite animated. Whereas I had not observed any changes in the first half of the session, I now thought her features lost some of their feminine characteristics and became more angular and drawn, as though a masculine presence was making itself seen deliberately. I believe her facial planes appeared to be somewhat older to me. I felt that possibly I was being observed by a masculine personality through the eyes, deliberately. The sense of involvement with a personality other than Jane’s usual one, which I know so well, was quite strong. I was, actually, more concerned with trying to decipher what change I was observing, than wondering if there was a change to be seen.

I never want to take too much of his energy, and you are indeed a watchdog in this respect, as is right. Nevertheless, I felt that it was legitimate to take this extra time to speak with you, since there are few occasions when Ruburt’s psychic abilities and energies are sufficiently attuned so that we can work together in this manner.

(In spite of her whispering voice Jane said she felt all right. My writing hand was beginning to feel tired. The feeling of change in her features and personality had persisted through her delivery. It once again manifested itself when she resumed, still in a quiet voice and with her eyes open again, at 1:49 AM.)

(Actually I was getting tired. It was one of those situations in which it was easier to keep going, however, than to stop and then start again. My writing hand felt a kind of numb fatigue, and my eyes burned from cigarette smoke; but Seth/Jane, staring at me and smiling from so close by, seemed set and able to go on forever.)

(The strange thing here was that by now even I realized that Seth could do just what he said he could, that he still had not hit the top of his, or Jane’s, ability to produce a really stunning effect. I have no real way of measuring the magnitude of what I was hearing, beyond stating that it enveloped me completely. I not only felt that everyone in the apartment house could hear the voice, but that it was audible on the street. I am still surprised that no one banged on our door and asked for quiet.