“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Before this evening’s session I was at work typing up the envelope data for last Monday’s session. I stopped at 8:30 PM to get ready for this session at 9 PM. I began to be aware of a rather stiff pain growing in the back of my neck. By 8:45 it was quite bothersome, so I returned to the studio in the back of the apartment, to use the pendulum for a quick check to see if I could learn the cause. I did not think it physical.

(I then remembered that in the 232nd session Seth had said I was in a light trance myself during sessions, as I made “certain automatic adjustments in order to perceive what little of my presence that you do perceive. And I also have a calming effect on you, which is most beneficial to you.” See Volume 5, page 277. Recalling this, I wondered if I was not making a strong effort to perceive Seth, perhaps in apparition form, this evening; which meant that possibly he was present to a stronger degree than usual.

(Jane said she too has experienced the seemingly contradictory effects of sleepiness or lethargy, and the sharper vision, during trance. Needless to say, I saw nothing unusual in my frequent glances about the room, nor did I notice any change in Jane’s features. The sensation was pronounced by the time break came, yet during break it disappeared. I have been aware of something like it, on a must reduced scale, many times during sessions.

(Shortly after this my familiar old thrilling sensation began to creep over me. I have not been aware of it much recently, although in the early sessions both Jane and I experienced such effects often. It is, briefly, a rich tingling or thrilling that is very pleasant. It can appear in any limb or part of the body, remain localized or sweep the whole organism. Deeper stages of this are what Jane has called ecstasy in her psychological time experiments.

(We wondered if Jane’s feeling was due to suggestion. During the week she had been referring to the 68th session as she did some work on the book on the Seth material; these sessions have to do with the construction of physical matter by each individual. This particular session was witnessed by Bill Macdonnel, and during it he made two pen and ink drawings of an apparition he claimed to see in a doorway of our apartment. The effect lasted for about an hour; during this session Bill and I together saw a distinct change in Jane’s features. This occurred at a break, without warning, and lasted for at least a minute, so that we had time for observation.

(Note above that the apparition and the feature change in Jane are two distinct and separated effects, both occurring in the same session. The one was visible to me, the other was not. Again, this evening I saw no change in Jane’s features.

(Before she resumed I told Jane I hoped Seth would say something about my sensations earlier in the session. They had all but disappeared by now. I felt but a light lingering of the thrilling effect, mainly in the back of my head; the lethargy was gone. Also gone was the neck pain that I had experienced before the session began. Jane did not know about this.