“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(“This is Jane Butts, speaking in my usual voice. My husband, Robert Butts, and I live at 458 West Water St., Elmira, NY. The date is July 19,1965, the time is about 8:30 PM. The following Seth session, number 170, is being recorded at the home of Bill and Peggy Gallagher, Pine City, NY, with them as witnesses.

(“Breaks during the session will be indicated by my husband announcing the time. The next time you hear my voice it will be 9 PM, and I will be speaking as Seth.”

(Jane actually began speaking at 8:57. Her voice was stronger than usual from the beginning, her manner active. The recording was begun with the footage set at 000 prior to Jane’s introduction, on Monaural One, Side One.)

(Break at 9:12. Jane had been dissociated as usual. Her eyes had been closed and she had remained seated for the entire delivery. Her voice had been stronger than usual, and she had spoken at such a rapid pace that I had not been able to keep up with her in my notes. The bulk of the above delivery is thus taken from the tape. The delivery ended with the footage registering 333 on the recorder, Mono One, Side One.

(Break at 9:35. Jane was well dissociated as usual. Her eyes had remained closed, she had remained seated. Her voice had been strong and expressive, if somewhat on the same keel throughout the session so far. The voice effects began to show themselves after this break. Footage at break was 552, Mono One, Side One.

(Jane resumed at a good pace and in a good voice, still seated and with her eyes closed, at 9:46.)

(With the above paragraph Jane rose to her feet and her voice grew stronger. She did not move from her position before her chair, and thus the distance from her face to the microphone did not vary a great deal. I believe it increased a little. I know the angle changed somewhat, since we had set the mike on the table so it directly faced her when she was sitting down. Now she spoke from above it, but we believe the stronger voice more than made up for the increased distance, and was still able to show the variation in the volume of Jane’s voice as the session progressed. She took to her feet at about 9:50.)

Therefore what proofs can you require? And in all honesty’s sake, what proofs do you think that they will require? What good will it do if through Ruburt I literally shout from the rooftops, and raise my voice, and shout that I am indeed who and what I say I am. What will this prove?

(During this paragraph Jane’s voice really grew in strength and volume, although it was to become stronger later on. She began to approach the volume of the voice used in the 158th session. When these effects came on, Jane usually stood upright, with her head back to some degree; this made me think of a trumpet. Strangely enough however her mouth did not open more than an inch. And of course during these effects she displayed no evidence of strain. This voice is not a shouting voice, but simply an innately stronger voice.

(The massive voice effects continued from now on in greater or lesser degree; they will not all be listed. One will have to listen to the tape of this session to really achieve any idea of the voice range Jane displayed.)

You are not so gullible, nor am I, to suppose that those who do not want to accept evidence will ever accept the strongest evidence imaginable. Those who will not see, will not see. And those who will not listen, they will not listen. You wanted a voice display, and so indeed shall you have it. And what indeed will such a display show? That Ruburt has lungs?

(Jane’s voice had been very strong, very loud. Now it began to diminish.)

You see now, I forget. I become involved with the very personal relationship between us both, but I have been asked to give voice effects, and so indeed I shall comply (louder, briefly) out of the goodness of my heart, and because of the amusement which it affords me. However I take this encounter with utmost seriousness, and I may presume that your attitude is the same.

(Break at 10:06. Jane was dissociated as usual. She remained standing until break, with her eyes closed. Her voice was strong, quite loud at times, somewhat slower, and at times had humorous overtones. Footage 762, Mono One, Side One.

(I now had to resume the session on Mono One, Side Two. I made a brief announcement of this on the tape. I also announced the times of breaks on the tape. Jane resumed while sitting down and with her eyes closed, and in a good voice, at 10:18.)

I myself have indeed long awaited some circumstances which we now can take advantage of for our own benefits. However, I am not mainly concerned with proving for you the fact of my own existence. (Strong voice.) Let us now be honest. Are you concerned with proving your existence to me? Hardly. You take it for granted that I am aware of your existence, and I assure you so I am. But neither am I concerned with proving my existence to you. I am however very interested in education. If I have to pull a few tricks out of the bag to get my ideas across, then so I shall.

Indeed, I should not be harsh, and I do not mean to be. This voice which I adopt forces a certain meaning upon me, through inflection, which sometimes is not intended. Ruburt, who cooperates with me so well, still is not certain that I am I. So indeed, how shall I blame others? I am hampered indeed, for whenever I speak in tones of ordinary conversation, then indeed I cause these poor people hours of notetaking. You may not know it, but you will help us out in these matters in the future.

(Jane’s voice again climbed the scale in volume. It became very loud and strong, rising and falling. During some passages, up until break time, the volume of sound she produced made my ears ring. I would say that in these passages she exceeded the effects produced in the last part of the 158th session. It will be remembered that the Gallaghers were witnesses to the first part of that session.

(As before, Jane, on her feet again, stood just before her chair, threw her head back, and let the sound pour out. Much of the time the great voice was humorous. She smiled often while speaking, gesturing freely. She was obviously enjoying herself.)

And may I also say that if voice effects are necessary in order that you read my material, then my dear doctor voice effects galore shall you receive. (Very loud.) For I am above all things, once again, an educator, and as such like all educators I am sly, and you shall receive whatever effects you require in my good time. And you will therefore be intrigued enough to read the material which I have presented, and I will get my point across.

I may not know what is right for it, but I certainly know what is wrong. What is wrong is your limited perception. What is wrong are the arbitrary limitations which you have set upon reality; and these limitations, while set by you, nevertheless operate as if they were absolute. I say again, if any small and simple treats of voice (louder again) will serve to make supposedly sane men stand up and listen (louder, strong, very strong; Jane’s head was thrown back as though to let the great voice out unimpeded) then so I will speak out in loud and hearty tones. (If possible, even stronger here. Then the voice began to soften. Jane displayed no strain or fatigue.)

(Break at 10:40. Jane was dissociated as usual, she said. She had remained standing until break, with her eyes closed. She felt no fatigue from the voice effects. Her pace of dictation had been somewhat slower and I had been able to keep up with her. Footage at 412, Mono One, Side Two.

(Jane resumed while sitting down, with her eyes closed and in a good voice, at 10:56.)

(Jane stood up once more before her chair. Her eyes were closed. She was smiling and gesturing. Now as she spoke she leaned forward some of the time, as though getting restless at merely standing upright in one spot. And again her voice began to display pyrotechnics, first loud, then soft; partially indicated in the following paragraphs.)

(Break at 11:18. Jane was dissociated as usual, and was not displaying any undue fatigue from the long session. She remained standing until break, her eyes closed all the while. Her voice had been good, yet quieter than the really strong display of the earlier delivery, and I had been able to keep up in my notetaking. Peggy had no trouble either. Footage at 686, Mono One, Side Two.

(I did not know exactly how many feet of tape were left on our recorder, due to inexperience, yet saw that the session would have to end before too long or we would run out of tape first. Although Seth/Jane started out in a relatively quiet manner on this last delivery, another voice display, perhaps even better, began to develop. Jane resumed the session while sitting down and with her eyes closed. Her pace was faster, and after a few sentences she rose to her feet once more. Resume at 11:29.)

(Jane’s voice had been slowly growing in volume since last break. Seth now pulled out more stops than ever before, I believe. The voice display now became deafening. My ears rang, off and on, for the next few paragraphs. I saw Peggy and Bill blinking. Jane merely stood in front of her chair, head thrown back. As stated before she exhibited no strain in producing these stunning effects. The electric eye on the recorder closed, meaning that it was recording, as far as I know, at maximum volume.)

Now. Because I have been called upon to give a voice display, so shall you see that I can do so. (Very loud and strong.) You will also find at the end of this session that Ruburt’s vocal chords are in no way fatigued; and I can so speak here for hours, nor would this bother Ruburt in the slightest degree. If such a display serves to convince you of my validity then so shall it be. I find it difficult to imagine that you need such childish play to convince you of that which you already know. (Loud and strong.)

(End at 11:45. Jane had been dissociated as usual. She remained standing in her accustomed spot until the end of the session. Her eyes had remained closed, her voice had been good all the way, with some very strong and vibrant passages. In my opinion these exceeded the loud passages in the 158th session. Jane had cleared her throat a few times toward the end of the session, but now displayed no strain, or unusual fatigue.

(This point was abundantly made, for although we did not know it at the time, the session was due to resume at midnight. At the moment the footage scale on the recorder read 860, Mono One, Side Two. We had a little tape left, so I decided to use it to demonstrate for others the fact of Jane’s immunity to voice fatigue. The following is taken from the tape verbatim, and includes a statement from Bill Gallagher, who witnessed the session with his wife Peggy. It was made immediately after the end of the session; perhaps a few minutes were lost here when I made a false start on the recorder, due to inexperience, and had to start the exchange between Jane and myself over.

([Jane:] “All right already.” [Voice light and chipper.]

([RB:] “How was your voice?”

([RB:] “This is Robert Butts again, speaking two days later on July 21st. I would like to add that the 170th session, which you have just heard, and which formally ended at 11:45 PM last Monday, July 19, resumed that night at midnight. It involved an informal exchange between Jane, Seth, Bill and Peggy Gallagher and myself, and lasted until about 1:30 AM. Our tape was almost exhausted and so it was not recorded. Seth also stated he did not care particularly to have it on tape, or have notes taken. During this exchange Seth was in an excellent good humor. I joked with him about the voice display, and he responded with another which was both stronger and longer-lasting than the one on tape here. Our ears rang, really, before it was over. And when it was over at last, and we were all weary, Seth, or Jane, was as capable as ever. Jane had no voice strain or fatigue that we could detect. Seth said he could continue until dawn, and I believe it quite possible. Jane just threw her head back and let the sound come out.”

(I joked with Seth about the great voice effects, and Seth agreed that he had not yet reached the peak in voice effects, at least as far as volume went. Whereupon Jane rose to her feet again and treated us to a voice display that in my opinion exceeded to some small degree the voice effects we had taped this evening. This was a prolonged display that lasted more or less for the balance of the session, and seemingly could have continued until dawn without effort on Jane’s part, just as Seth said. The volume of sound hurt my ears at times.

(During most of the above dialogue, Seth spoke in a very loud and strong voice; Peggy estimated it could be heard for a city block.