“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(See the tracing on page 169 for the test object for this evening’s envelope test. It was furnished by Lorraine Shafer, who witnessed this session. Details will be presented in the body of the session, as they developed. The last session witnessed by Lorraine was the 195th, of October 4,1965. See Volume 4.

(Marleno is Lorraine Shafer’s entity name. Jane has obtained three of Dunne’s book through the state library at Albany, and we are in the midst of reading them.)

(During break Lorraine asked if we still conducted envelope tests. When we said yes, she told us she had brought a test envelope with her. Moreover, it was one I had given her myself when she witnessed the 172nd session of July 26,1965. Handing her the two envelopes and the two pieces of Bristol, I had asked her to pick a test object, seal it up, and give it to me the next time we saw her, without telling me what the test object was. She had picked the test object last August, then mislaid the envelope and forgotten it; in addition I hadn’t asked her for it.

(Lorraine handed me her envelope while Jane was out of the room; thus Jane did not see it before the test. It was tightly sealed. I did not mention to either Jane or Lorraine whether I had planned a test for tonight. Lorraine did not tell me the contents of her envelope. Jane didn’t comment on it and I let the matter rest.

(At break Jane mentioned something that had been on her mind. She was aware of course that Lorraine had brought a test envelope. Jane now wondered whether I would try to be tricky, and perhaps keep Lorraine’s envelope for a later test, while giving her the usual envelope that I had prepared. Jane took it for granted that I had a test envelope ready also. I didn’t commit myself in any way.

(I handed Jane Lorraine’s sealed envelope. Jane reached out for it without opening her eyes at 10:16. As she has done a few times recently, she held the envelope flat against her forehead while speaking a few words, then lowered it to her lap. Her pace was again broken by pauses, none of them very long with one exception. This is the 24th envelope test.)

(See the tracing on page 169. The test object is a visitor’s pass, produced by the Arnot-Ogden Hospital, where Lorraine is a secretary. This particular pass had been discarded; Lorraine picked it out of a wastebasket on the spur of the moment last August.

(As stated before Jane was somewhat nervous this evening, resuming sessions and tests after the vacation. As soon as she gave the initial M, in the beginning of the data, she thought of Lorraine’s entity name, Marleno. Jane caught herself at once, she now said, in order to prevent possible distortions growing out of this thought. She said “To hell with it,” to herself, relaxed, and kept on speaking for Seth. She completely cut off her own associations; this ability to discriminate, Seth has told us, is very important, and will grow steadily on Jane’s part.

(It seems reasonable to describe a stay in the hospital as “a turbulent event, or unpleasantness,” and as “A disturbance again, and a storm; whether or not this storm is physical I do not know.” We of course realize there might be other connections in the private life of the patient, Miss Margaret M. Bunn. Lorraine does not know Miss Bunn. It is possible the hospital records contain more on Miss Bunn that would be revealing here, but I did not ask Lorraine to try to check.

(“A miscellany of objects, designs that appear like numbers,” is we think a reference to the words and numbers on the pass. “A connection with a family record; as a page, for example, from a book,” is a hit. The visitor’s pass contains a number code referring to Miss Bunn’s hospital record, Lorraine tells us; and the pass is like a page from a book, in that such passes are kept in spiral books at the hospital.

(I would like to add a curious note. Note that Miss Bunn lives on Wellsboro St. in Mansfield, PA. Mansfield is a college town about seventy miles distant. I was born there. In addition, my father was born in Wellsboro PA., a small town perhaps twenty miles beyond Mansfield. As far as I know Lorraine Shafer doesn’t know of my family connections with Mansfield and Wellsboro. She also told us she merely picked the test object out of a group, without paying particular attention to it.

(Here Seth refers to Lorraine Shafer, who had to leave at last break. He also did well with Lorraine during the last session she witnessed, the 195th of October 4,1965, delivering quite a bit of information on Lorraine’s past; she verified much of it. See Volume 4.)