“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.

(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.

(It was now time for the 27th Dr. Instream test. As usual Jane sat with her eyes closed, her left hand to her face, her head down. Her pace was slow at the start, but picked up rather well as the test proceeded. Resume at 10:05.)

Now do you have a test for me, Joseph?

(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.

(Since the test object was picked by someone other than me, I had thought that some of Seth’s connections might be difficult to trace, and it appears to be the case here. Since the part of the data we can judge is pretty much on the ball, we think it reasonable to assume that the rest of Seth’s data may be equally good. Jane was pleased by the test.

(This is the first envelope test wherein the test object was picked by someone from outside.

(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.

(Jane had no idea as to why Seth referred to a box again. She told us she enjoyed the test involving a more impersonal object, in the sense that I did not choose it. However Jane was as much aware of the emotional charges surrounding this object; she felt that she was quite aware of the emotional disturbances involved in a hospital stay in this particular case.

(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.

I am not going to keep you. I wanted however to mention one small point concerning the box image that was repeated in both tests.

This has to do with two separate principles. First of all there was a retention of image. Second of all, there was quite separately an association because of the size of the card given as test object. In the second case the association was Ruburt’s, for on his own he picked up a file-card image, but he translated this into the image of a box in which such file cards are often kept.

Now while this association was his own, it was caused by the image retention carrying over from the first test. I want it clear that two rather than one causes existed for this second box image or impression.

(Tracings of the sales slips used in the 25th envelope test, in the 220th session, January 5,1966.)