“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(I made no notes during this session or immediately after. What follows is Jane’s own reconstruction of the session, made two days later; for this reason I think it interesting, aside from its intrinsic content, in that it reveals that Jane was able to recall quite an amount of what she said while in the trance state.

(We had been hunting through the taped session for particularly strong voice effects so that John could get an idea of the power of the Seth personality. Jane was on her knees before the recorder; we had found a strong passage. Her eyes closed and she switched the recorder off as she began speaking as Seth. The transition was so smooth that it was a moment before John and I realized we were no longer listening to the tape. Jane’s voice was strong from the beginning.)

(During this part of the impromptu session Jane’s voice became very loud and strong at times; it did not match the effects of the recorded 170th session, but came close once or twice. It was far too loud for the house, in my opinion, with others living so close. Jane’s eyes were open for the most part by now, and she, or Seth, often looked deliberately at me, knowing my embarrassment. But this did not prevent another strong blast. At times Jane got to her feet and tipped her head back, as she had done in the 170th session. At these points Seth would remark about using such a position to attain more power, and would talk about how impossible such an effect was for Jane to attain normally.)

(I would estimate the session ended at 11:20 PM, with the knock on the door. The Taylors are a nice young couple, newly arrived in Elmira, and do not know of the sessions. When I saw who was at the door I had visions of long complicated explanations, but the self-hypnosis explanation appeared to satisfy them. If they were still curious they did not reveal it. Very few people in town know about the sessions, although this state will be drastically altered next spring with the publication of Jane’s ESP book.

(As often happens when witnesses are present, Seth was in a fine and frisky mood; there is no doubt that a witness or two will produce what appears to be abundant extra energy on Seth/Jane’s part. More often than not strong voice effects are manifested. Jane appears to be swept up, fully involved in the role, and thoroughly enjoying it. Nor does this involvement produce any apparent fatigue of any kind. On top of this, Seth promised an excellent session at our regularly scheduled time tomorrow night.)