“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 39th envelope experiment was held during the session; see the tracing of the AAA membership card used as the object on page 1. Some interesting and hilarious results were obtained in the connections made by Seth/Jane.

(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 became absorbed in the task, and had just obtained the answer when Jane called me from the front room at 8:55. I hadn’t mentioned the pain to her, deciding on the spur of the moment to see if Seth could also pinpoint the trouble during the session. Nor did Jane know I was using the pendulum. When I took my seat at our table in the living room just before 9 PM Jane told me she had felt surprisingly nervous at my absence so close to the session; hence her calling to me. She also felt a definite irritation, but did not know its source, or who or what the target was.

(The session was held in our front room. Jane began speaking while sitting down. She was not smoking and her eyes were closed. Once again her pace was quite slow, and broken by some long pauses.)

(Break at 9:30. Jane was dissociated as usual. Her eyes had opened but once, when she sipped some wine. Her pace had been better as the delivery progressed.

(I now told Jane that as the session progressed I had more and more difficulty keeping “awake.” Actually I began to notice a heavy lassitude, although I kept writing without trouble, and I recognized that I seemed to be in a trance state. At the same time, as I looked about the room, everything seemed to be in a sharper focus, and I had a feeling of more light in the room, although it was well lit to begin with. I began to wonder if I was responding to the material Seth was presenting; I had found it very interesting.

(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.

(This time it began in both my feet and moved up my legs to my hips, then manifested itself in the back of my head. It did not interfere with my writing. It was not overwhelming by any means, yet most definite, and lasted in residue until next break. See Volume 1, page 172 for a description of my first experience with this sensation, which was at first frightening to me, and accompanied by visual internal data which was quite vivid. Seth went into the experience in detail in the 24th session, explaining how at times it represented my attempts to perceive him, and at other times my attempts to perceive other data outside the usual sense channels.)

(Break at 9:56. Jane was dissociated as usual. Her eyes had remained closed, her pace had been better, her voice average.

(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.

(Seth told us at the time that the apparition was of him, and that Bill could see it but that Jane and I could not because we were too “fussy” about what we allowed ourselves to see. He said that in the future—time unspecified—we should be able to see his apparition at times, but by no means regularly.

(Bill’s drawings of Seth show an extremely high cranium—according to Seth Bill’s graphic translation of Bill’s feeling of high intelligence on Seth’s part—and a pointed chin. While pointed the chin is not long. Jane said, this evening, that her subjective feeling was one of elongation of the chin, to a point. She also felt her head was down onto her shoulders, and this is another attribute of Bill’s drawings.

(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.

(It was now time for the 46th Dr. Instream experiment. Jane had smoked only at break. Her eyes were now closed, her hands raised to her face, her pace broken by many short pauses and a few long ones. Resume at 10:05.)

The package has to do with the initials M. Minnesota, I do not know except for the initial. The number four is also connected with the package. It was addressed on both sides, and cost 43 cents, I believe, to mail.

The address was in ink, and printed. A W also connected with the sender of the package. Perhaps something like Winnip, but I am only sure of the W. The number 16 after the city in which the sender lives. Perhaps a connection with some kind of cards, and a scoop, using the word as a news scoop.

A connection with the letter M, and with an occasion in which something was not appreciated. A connection with four here also. A rectangular shape, and a rather large X-shape mark.

(I have been trying out different kinds of questions. This was my third opportunity. The first time I had asked Seth for data on a category not mentioned, namely color. The second time I asked him to start over the whole thing. This time I tried something else.

(“How about elaborating on your reference to something that was not appreciated?”)

All I have is the feeling that something was not appreciated, and that an error might have been somehow responsible.

(Break at 10:25. Jane was dissociated as usual. Her eyes had remained closed, her pace had gradually speeded up somewhat.

(Strangely enough, some of tonight’s envelope data is corroborated by earlier session material—something I did not anticipate when using the card as object. The notes in the 81st session for August 28,1964, explain some connections made this evening. I was about to throw the card away this week when I thought of using it for the envelope tonight, and consciously had forgotten many of the 1964 connections.

(“A connection with the letter M”, referred, I thought, to the initials, MCI, which are used to designate the modern new office building here in Elmira, at which I bought my membership in the AAA. Later note by RFB: Signed by Merrill. Note on the object that the address of this new building was added later to the card, beneath the old address which was blocked out. This building was barely in operation at the time I joined AAA, in August 1964; the top floors were not yet finished.

(“and with an occasion in which something was not appreciated.” This at once reminded me of a most definite event, involving Jane and me, that was not appreciated. It took place at the same time I purchased membership in AAA, and the locale of this unappreciated event was a gasoline station directly across the street from the MCI building. Our car was the subject, and this material is well covered in the notes in the 81st session for August 26,1964. See Volume 2.

(I bought the membership in AAA on Friday, August 14,1964, at about 1 PM. We were both on vacation beginning that day, and were due to leave for York Beach, Maine, the next day, Saturday, August 15. Jane and I drove downtown Friday. Jane had a couple of hours work to finish at the art gallery where she then worked. I dropped her off there, then left the car at the station in question for an oil filter change and a general checkup. I went across the street to the MCI building, joined AAA, then walked home. I was due to return to the station for the car at 5 PM that same day. I would pick up Jane and we would be free.

(When I walked back downtown to the station at 5 PM to pick up the car, I was dismayed to be told that the mechanic there was having much trouble replacing the oil filter cap, that it persisted in leaking no matter how much force he used trying to tighten it. I was afraid the threads on the cap would be stripped; if the part in question had to be replaced, it meant dismantling the steering gear on our particular make of car, and thus a delay starting our vacation until next week.

(Watching the mechanic struggle with the car, I felt sure he was not familiar enough with the work to know what he was doing. I made my feelings known, then left for the gallery to tell Jane. This was at a time when Seth was beginning to fill us in on the power of expectation; Jane insisted that the car would be ready when we went back for it. We ate in a diner, and Jane concentrated on the car being ready. When we went back for it an hour later it was indeed ready. The station mechanic told us he was surprised that he had been able to fix it. The incident had upset me considerably, in a way that would not bother me now.

(“A rectangular shape”, The membership card is rectangular in shape, whether opened up as shown on page 1, or folded as indicated. It was folded in the usual double sealed envelope this evening.

(Jane said that when giving this bit of data she plainly had the feeling that the visual X-shape was to show her that something was canceled. The card expired in 1965. Jane also saw the large X on a rectangular card shape, within, but saw no detail on this card shape that would have enabled her to identify the envelope object specifically.

(“Connection with an error.” An error is prominent here. When I filled out my application for the insurance policy that went with the AAA membership, I inadvertently made a mistake in my license number. I did not discover this until I returned home, so when I went back downtown to pick up the car at the station, I dropped in at the MCI building to the AAA office. I was told the mistake did not matter.

(“Connection with music”, reminds me that I heard music while in the AAA office; the music was piped throughout the new building by a public address system. Jane and I are well aware of this because a friend of ours worked in another office in the MCI building, and remarked often on this piped music, which she disliked but was forced to listen to all day on the job. In addition, the AAA office was below ground level and without windows, and my personal opinion was that the music was some kind of compensation for not being able to see daylight.

(The yellow or sun references may come from the design of the letters A, but perhaps also from the shiny surface foil texture of the seal itself. It can be seen that if the object was held upside down while sealed in the double envelope, it would appear to the percipient to be in the upper right hand corner.

(“The number 12, and perhaps 3 with this. December, I do not know.” My membership in AAA was good for twelve months, which could have led Seth to the December, or twelfth month, data, but we are not sure here. Nor do we come up with anything for the number 3.

(“All I have is the feeling that something was not appreciated”, followed my request for Seth’s elaboration on this data. See the original interpretation on page 7.

(“A Saturday here.” It can now be seen that my question for elaboration on Seth’s part did lead to a little more data. Saturday is involved with the envelope object, through our car. I obtained the actual object on Friday, August 14,1964; while doing this the car was left at the station for servicing, and the events developing at the station very nearly prevented our leaving on vacation the following day, Saturday, August 15.

(“and something to do with grace”, Jane burst out laughing when she made a connection here. At first we thought her idea did not apply, but then she felt it did, and Seth agrees. Note that on the AAA membership card the old address was blocked out. This was done with thin ink and we could read the old address, 382 W. Church Street. Jane at once made the connection between church and grace.

(“and an appointment.” As noted in the car data on pages 8 and 9, I had an appointment to pick up the car at the service station at 5 PM Friday, August 14,1964, the same day I bought membership in AAA. The station was located across the street from the AAA office, and the car was at the station while I was in the AAA office.

(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.

This was correct. He is learning to interpret the inner images which become available to him.

(End at 11:00 PM. Jane was dissociated as usual. Her eyes had remained closed.

(Jane was pleased to learn Seth’s answer about my neck pain agreed with the answer I had obtained through the pendulum. See the notes on page 2.

(Seth got to the point quicker than I did with the pendulum, although I was somewhat handicapped through lack of time. I did not begin using it until fifteen minutes before the session, and then began by eliminating categories in Monday’s session until I found the one I was reacting to physically. This proved to be Monday’s envelope experiments, and my fear, or concern, that perhaps I was pushing Jane on such matters.

(The pendulum told me Jane did not feel this way, and after the session she agreed. Nevertheless the pendulum told me I felt some anger at myself on this score, hence the stiff neck. I had not reached any such neat conception as “a pain in the neck” before Jane called me. Jane now said the irritation she felt quite strongly just before the session, was her sensing of my own irritation at myself. As stated on page 2, she was aware of the irritation before the session, but puzzled as to its source. She did not know of my pain in the neck, or that I was using the pendulum.)