“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.

(This was her last conscious thought. Immediately the same voice effect again manifested itself in no uncertain terms, and Jane then swept through the long poem without pause. Her voice did not bother her; indeed it became very loud and powerful and dramatic, very vibrant. She remained seated. She held the book in her right hand, and used many gestures with her left hand that were unlike her usual mannerisms. Almost at once it became apparent that the psychic phenomenon taking place, whether or not it involved a medium’s contact with Father Trainor, was much superior to the version already on tape.

(During break the conversation turned to Jane’s feelings toward Seth, her ESP book, and related matters. Once again she expressed concern about the public’s reception of the material. I thought her attitude at times somewhat ambiguous. Jane made some statements about her reputation resting upon the validity of the material, etc.

(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.

(Jane’s glasses were off as she looked at me, and she was also smoking. Her voice was very dry and quiet; at the time I thought this was because her cold was finally interfering with her voice, but events will show how wrong I was about this.

(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.

(Through this delivery, as before, I was still markedly aware of a change in her features that I thought probably part physical, part subjective. It was as though the Jane I knew so well had taken a step away from me and allowed another personality to come forward, bringing with it some slight physical change and a much greater psychological change. I was still intrigued that Jane could be in such a deep trance, yet so active and responsive in talking to me. She had no memory of the material.

(Although I was tiring I was ready to go along with Seth’s request to keep going. I thought Jane looked good. She appeared to feel no fatigue particularly, and was greatly interested in questioning me about what I had seen and heard.

(And I thought that if Seth really showed what he could do, cars would probably stop in the street outside; seriously.)

(I thought of recording this evening’s session earlier, as stated, but did not do so in the interests of spontaneity, a quality to which Seth attaches great value. To be ready to record an unscheduled session we would have to have the recorder set up and ready to go at a flick of a switch, constantly. To date our unscheduled sessions haven’t been that frequent by far, and there are actually few unusual effects to be noted.)

(It can also be noted that in the second half of the session Seth made no reference to my watching out for physical changes in Jane, as he had when Peggy and Bill Gallagher had been present. Bill and Peggy had seen changes. I observed my own set of changes later. It is my thought, at least at the moment, that Bill’s observations and my own would not coincide. This may be explained later.)