“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 21st envelope test was held during the session. The test object sealed in the usual double envelopes was a woodblock print, made by an artist friend of ours, Roy C. Fox, and enclosed with Roy’s Christmas card of last Christmas. It is a black and white print on very thin, almost transparent paper. Once again the test results were interesting, and somewhat different in nature.

(Seth dwelt on the taxicab symbol, and as he did so I found myself hoping that Peggy would notice it. We have wondered before about Seth making statements concerning something that might be in the presence of the subject for the test, only to have the subject fail to notice it. This happened in a test about a year ago, involving Bill Macdonnel on vacation in Cape Cod. Seth described a certain rowboat with initials and a symbol on its bow; but since Bill failed to notice rowboats in general, we were at a loss as to the accuracy of Seth’s information. Seth did insist that this particular boat had been in Bill’s close vicinity.

(During this break Jane said she had the feeling the pocketbook data, given at the end of Peggy’s test, might not refer to Peggy at all, but to “something or someone else.” As it developed in our envelope test tonight, this could be true. If so it is an example of the “bleeding” of test material from one test to another during the same session. Seth has told us this is a possibility. In this specific case also, clairvoyance enters in, since the envelope test had not been held yet. Telepathy and precognition could also be factors.

(It was now time for the 24th Dr. Instream test. As before, Jane sat quietly with her eyes closed, her right hand raised to her face. The candle flame remained at its original 3/4-inch level. Resume at 10:01.)

Now, do you have a test for me?

(Jane reached out to take the usual double envelope from me. She did not open her eyes. She sat quietly holding the envelope in one hand, with the other raised to her face. Her pauses were brief. This is our 21st envelope test.)

Our own test, then. These are impressions.

(At first the envelope test data left us at a loss, until memory began to work. To sum up first, we saw that Seth had used the name of the artist who had executed the block print, Roy Fox, as a starting point for data involving Jane and Roy and me, but for some reason had not dealt with the test object itself. We do not know why this happened, since Seth did not discuss the results this evening. Jane’s mother and a Christmas present also entered the test data, for reasons we do understand; here Seth tells us that Ruburt thinks of the package that his mother sent him.

(This brings us to the first item in the test data, “Two people at a table with straight chairs.” On February 7 Jane and I spent several hours at the Inn, seated on straight backed chairs at a dining table, ready to answer questions from all and sundry.

(The rest of the test data applies to the Christmas package Jane’s mother sent her early this week. The package was wrapped with twine, contained a blue knitted sweater, etc. Why this information cropped up in a test we do not know. We can see the connection with the Roy Fox data however, since Roy made the block print; his name is also on the test object. We would like to know why Seth chose to use Roy’s name as a springboard, however, instead of sticking to the test object.

(See the notes on page 120, dealing with the data in Peggy Gallagher’s test, concerning a misplaced pocketbook of the shoulder variety. As stated, Jane at the time of the Gallagher test said she believed this information did not refer to Peggy. After the envelope test material was in on tonight’s test, she then realized an incident involving a lost shoulder-variety pocketbook of her own.

(Harris Hill Inn was closed on Monday, February 1,1965, and Jane and I met the proprietor there Monday evening and hung the paintings. When we left Jane left her favorite pocketbook behind; she did not realize this until sometime later. The next day the proprietor of the Inn brought Jane’s pocketbook to her. If this information was misplaced in the earlier Gallagher material, then what accounts for it? It appeared in the Gallagher material before the envelope test was held, and of course Jane could not know what the envelope test object was beforehand, by ordinary means. Seth has stated that such terms as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, etc., are of but relative usefulness; perhaps this instance is but an example of the ability of part of the mind to dissolve the time barrier.

(It is actually Friday, December 11 as I type this. We have now obtained a written detailed report on Peggy Gallagher’s trip to Washington, as compared to Seth’s material on Peggy in the last two sessions. Seth scored many hits—Jane’s best effort in these tests by far. The material will be incorporated in a very early session, along with the material on the Gallagher’s Puerto Rico vacation of last October. I am leading up to the statement that Peggy detected a very clear example of bleeding through of data in the 214th session. She states that the material at the beginning of the Dr. Instream test data, on page 113, applies to a cocktail party she attended in Washington on Monday, December 6. Peggy states Seth’s description here of the cocktail party is quite correct, even to the fact that a woman was the main hostess, and that a man, her husband, was present with her. The smallish crowded room data applies also here. More details will be given later. See Session 214.

(And as Seth has mentioned before, such a bleeding through of data from one test to another is a possibility. Nor does the above example mean that Dr. Instream did not attend a cocktail party.

(Jane would like me to add here that she believes the envelope test data of this evening developed the way it did because of the emotional content of events involving Jane, Roy and myself. Whereas Roy’s blockprint, while appealing to us both, was comparatively lacking in such emotional content, intrinsically.

I am not going to discuss our test this evening.

However, we will shortly hold a session where we discuss our tests in general, as this will be of benefit to you. It will help you to interpret our data. Also, I have not forgotten your dreams, and next week we shall have time for them.

(“Do you want to say something about the candle-flame test?”

(“Do you think this kind of test is a good idea?”)