“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(See the copy on page 197. For the test object I used a letter from my brother Loren, who lives in Tunkhannock, PA. It is typewritten in black ink on paper the weight of this page, and white. It was folded once between two pieces of Bristol, then sealed in the usual double envelope. My brother inadvertently dated the letter 1965 instead of 1966.

(A week or so ago I forgot to buy gasoline, and this led to a situation that could have been dangerous. When Jane and I were on our way to the home of the Gallaghers, who live on top of a steep and long hill outside Elmira, the car lost power, then stalled out on the hill. It was after dark, the road was slippery with snow; I had to back down the hill while Jane lighted the way with a flashlight, until I found a driveway. I did not realize I had run low on gas at the time, for the car started as we coasted down hill. We arrived home safely but the car would not start up again.

(Jane smiled again. I did find it interesting, especially when I contemplated trying to explain it to our service manager at the garage, who is a personal friend of ours, but does not know about these sessions.)

It does not matter whether the car is old or new, as long as he has one, and it is for this reason that he fights any of your suggestions that you do without one. The car is also to him a complementary image of his father, who was always on the move, more so than most men, while his mother could not move at all. A lack of a car also makes him fear a return to poverty, since in his neighborhood any car at all was a sign of luxury.

(“I pick up a very distant connection with Wisconsin, which I do not understand”, puzzled Jane, since she had no idea of what this could mean. I thought it might be a reference to the fact that my brother Loren, who wrote the test letter, is a model railroad fan. The magazine Model Railroader was, I thought, published in Wisconsin. There is a strong connection here because Loren has contributed articles and photographs to this magazine for many years. A trip to the newsstand to check verified my idea; Model Railroader has editorial offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jane was especially pleased at this because she knows nothing of the hobby, or the magazine or its address. It took me two days after the session to come up with the connection with Wisconsin myself.