“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

SESSION 190

(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.

(This is the first time she has tried to reconstruct a session from her own viewpoint. As I go along, where necessary I will add my own notes, and these will be in parentheses.)

Our friend John Bradley visited us this evening. We played part of the 170th session, which was recorded and directed by Seth to Dr. Instream. In the middle of a passage Seth suddenly came through, saying: “Why settle for a recording when you can have the real thing?” His voice was quite strong. He seemed in excellent spirits. John had never heard the loud Seth; the previous sessions he witnessed had all been quiet ones. Now Seth began to speak loudly and jovially. Rob made no notes, as Seth told him they were not necessary. These notes are written from memory.

(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.)

(Seth also told John that the data given on Searle Drug, its financial and personal entanglements, plus John’s own promising prospects if he remained with the firm through its present crises, still applied. Some of this information goes back well over a year. It is scattered through the following sessions that John has witnessed: 37, 54, 63, 70, 95, 135, 166, in Volumes 1 through 3.)

John also asked Seth if he knew what the trouble had been when John had had a pain in his throat on June 17,1964; on this date John witnessed the 63rd session. While trying psychological time on June 18,1964, I had a very startling experience in which I was told by a thunderous voice that John’s trouble lay really in a “bad tongue.” See Vol. 2, pages 167-68. Seth now explained that this mysterious voice had been his. He said John had cut his tongue on a bone sliver while eating, but because of the human nerve structure in that part of the anatomy the pain had been felt down in his neck.

(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.)

Seth said the practice involved in such unscheduled sessions was good for me. In the new experiments with Dr. Instream, involving clairvoyance, Seth said enough valid information would come through to keep up Dr. Instream’s interest, even though we would do better later on.

(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.)

(Tracing of the money order used in the 9th envelope test, in Session 191, September 22,1965.)