“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Our regularly scheduled session for last Wednesday, May 26, was not held because Jane had developed a heavy cold. The pendulum told her this came about because of her concern over the contract and money matters involving her ESP book. Since then Jane has received her signed contract from the publisher, with money due, and now feels better.

(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.

Nevertheless these relationships have a cause, basically, in past relationships having to do with other lives in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and fourteenth centuries, when this family was unfortunately involved in other relationships which are even now only working themselves out.

May I here add for our friend Ruburt’s satisfaction that the performance of which he was so skeptical, was indeed, despite all his protests, quite legitimate. Now he can stew over that.

Without carrying us into a long and lengthy session, it would be impossible for me to go into the complicated relationships involved in the psychic history of the personality whom I will here call Manuk, which is the male as he now sits before me. The solution of the problem is in his hands, and recognition on the part of the ego, which has not assimilated past knowledge, will do much to settle his condition.

I must here express my gratitude indeed that Ruburt deign to allow this unscheduled session, particularly since we missed our own last scheduled one. But I shall not badger him, as I believe indeed he badgers himself enough. I will now take my leave and give you a short break.

I should warn you that I am indeed feeling rather humorous myself this evening, and we have been so besieged with weighty matters that I have not had the opportunity to express myself in the more sociable fashion that I would like. So I take this opportunity to give my greetings to you both, and I will now as promised let you take your break.

Now, involving the performance on Ruburt’s part this evening, we have here once more another example of the nature in which action is changed by itself. For indeed, as it was possible for Ruburt to some slight degree to allow her friend to speak, nevertheless the action involved in the whole situation nevertheless changed not only Ruburt, but also necessarily changed her Father Trainor, in that any action of its own nature can never remain the same.

(Jane now took one of the few brief pauses of the session.)

I will now, because I am such a good host, not bore you with an extended monologue where you find yourselves in the position of not daring to utter a word, so I will give you a break, or I will if you prefer continue.

(Break at 11:48. Jane was again well dissociated—“far-out”, as she puts it. She had no memory of the material. Bill said his ulcer was, now, not bothering him.

(Now, as if by way of punctuation, Seth/Jane’s voice really shouted out:)

Not only that, it is simply a fact that your scientists will indeed discover, and no misty, magical superstition, that consciousness, of itself and because of its nature, forms physical matter. Because I once inhabited physical matter, as you all do now, does not mean that I am now some esoteric, occult creature of dim spiritualistic rather doubtful origins, who manages to invade gullible and neurotic consciousness.

(Now Seth’s voice really boomed out, even louder than before.)

—of a gullible, pseudomystical type of temperament. Nevertheless I cannot help but grow annoyed when I am literally besieged with the protests meant to insist upon his sanity, the point being that if he is sane, then I must be some nefarious seven-eyed monster. He does indeed give acquiescence for these sessions, and I am indeed fond of you both. I have been aware that you do not care, particularly, for the opinion of your fellow men. But our Ruburt, who has never cared for the opinion of his fellow men, now rises up in great worry. What is he afraid of?

I will now suggest your break, and I will discuss to some greater degree data concerning your guests. And if I took time out for this discussion, it is indeed because for once I have grown impatient. For much of this on Ruburt’s part is indeed pretense—not conscious pretense, but pretense. He knows full well not only the importance of the sessions, personally, but he knows the far-reaching consequences of these sessions, and he is indeed quite able to deal with the consequences.

(End at 12:47 AM. Jane was again fully dissociated. It now took her a few seconds to open her eyes and keep them opened; they flickered several times first. Seth had been by far the most active yet since Jane had begun to speak while sitting down and with her eyes closed.

(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.

(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.

He has realized for a while that it would be possible for me now to speak while we—that is, he and I so cooperated that his eyes were open, and yet his trance was deep, much deeper than in our early sessions, where the exterior circumstances might appear the same.

(As she continued speaking, Jane now got up to pick up a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, then returned to her chair as she lit it.)

The physical changes in his features were fairly obvious, and I am indeed sorry that you did not perceive their nature. I do not know if you can perceive the difference in the emotional proximity this evening between us now. And if I do badger Ruburt as I did this evening, it is because I too have an emotional reaction in all of this.

(Break at 1:39 AM. Jane was well dissociated and did not remember any of the material. Her voice was practically a whisper now. When she stopped dictating her eyes closed, then blinked several times. When she looked at me again she was out of her trance.

(Jane made a humorous gesture toward herself. She was smoking, and now took a sip of wine.)

And your ideas this evening have been most legitimate. We need still now and then a touch of spontaneity in our sessions, now that the routine is assured, and I hope that we will achieve it.

(I was already wincing, thinking of our neighbors on the floor above us, and below too. Earlier in the evening we hadn’t minded voice displays, but now I immediately became conscious of the power of Jane’s voice. I began to feel embarrassed.)

(Jane laughed as she finished the sentence. She stared intently at me as though daring me to ask her to be quieter. Her voice now surpassed by a good deal the Father Trainor experiment. It was not a deeper voice particularly.)

(“You’re doing pretty well right now.”

(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.

(Now, also, the voice had dropped somewhat in register. Jane grinned and leaned toward me.)

(Now Jane gave a great shout.)

Ruburt presently feels no discomfort. He may be slightly tired tomorrow, but that is all. The emotional rapport built up between us will reinforce our sessions in general, and you know how important this can be. I must still work within the realm of his energies, and I do not even now believe that you realize how much more effectively he is using those energies, nor what strains our sessions have put upon his ego, which he has managed to triumph over.

We will now close, or begin to close our session.

I can indeed feel you quail at the volume of my voice (louder again), considering the ungodly hour (louder yet, really loud, blasting out with a smile, to soon quiet again), and so I will lower it. But I would like it understood that now, if I so chose, there would be no doubt (louder, very loud) as to my identity (and now also deeper) or my abilities.

You may now as your prefer, and of course irregardless of my feelings, end the session or take a break.

(Jane’s voice had been quiet for some time now, and it remained so as she resumed at 2:46, again with her eyes open.)

I will indeed close, but you will find that the benefits of this session are more long-lasting than either of you can now suppose.

(And even now, at the end of the session, I had been still strongly aware of something different about her, of a strong emotional involvement and immediacy. Her voice, her mannerisms in speaking, the steady way she stared at me, all contributed to this feeling.