“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Peggy Gallagher was due this evening, to photograph Jane while in trance. Peg was also due for the 242nd session but did not appear. In that session Seth told us she did not come because of “A change of plans. Having to do with a disturbance. A connection with 3 o’clock, I believe this afternoon.”

(There was no disturbance at the newspaper through Wednesday of last week, Peggy said, but there was a most definite one, involving the manager and the city editor, on Thursday, March 17. This shook up the whole staff and resulted in a suspension. Since Seth was a day late regarding the change of plan, we wondered if he was a day early regarding the disturbance.

(See the notes on page 269, Volume 5, of the 232nd session, dealing with Jane’s recent poetry book and the request by Jane’s publisher, F. Fell, that she send it to him along with a tape of some of the poems, also by Jane. In the 277th session Seth said this book would be published. F. Fell returned the book a couple of weeks ago, and it is now in the hands of another publisher. Jane did not seriously expect Fell to accept this book, but still wants to hear from Seth about it. Playboy Press has also rejected the poetry book. See the notes on page 312, Volume 5. Seth hasn’t named any specific publishers in his predictions, nor have we asked.

The training involved on Ruburt’s part does result in a utilization of abilities, and for his conscious use. That is, the abilities are not being developed haphazardly, despite his own inclinations, but in answer to his inclinations. The personality therefore is being highly developed.

Consciously Ruburt can learn to note various circumstances that seem to facilitate or inhibit his abilities, and our communications, but the abilities themselves develop in accordance with unconscious principles. I can take advantage of these principles, and to some extent use them, but I cannot ignore them.

Eight, perhaps eight o’clock, but I am not certain here.

(Break at 9:21. Jane was well dissociated for a first break, she said. Her eyes had remained closed. Her pace had been slow at the end of the delivery. She was surprised at the early break, but more so at the impressions given, since she hadn’t expected them.

(We did not know who they referred to particularly, but thought of the Gallaghers, since Peggy had canceled her date for tonight’s session because of “something urgent.” Peggy’s first name is Margaret, incidentally, rather than Marguerite.

(I thought the second of the two long words Seth had been groping toward might be glutamate, after the common food preservative monosodium glutamate. I thought that once I had read the chemical also had a medical use, but could not recall much here.

Now. The physical body often and consistently acts upon subconscious knowledge, but in order to impress consciousness, such information must be carried by some kind of sense impression, whether this be a pseudosense impression, or a more normal one.

Sense data therefore may be the result of perception of outer and inner environment. It is simpler to translate information from the outer environment into sense data. It is more difficult to translate inner data in this manner. There are frequent distortions but there are also frequent distortions in more ordinary sense perceptions. Inner data so translated must be built up from scratch, so to speak. There is in the physical world an illusion of continuity, against which sense data can be checked. There is no like sense of continuity, as a rule, against which to check sense perceptions which are translations of inner data.

(We had asked Seth to comment on some of his material this evening, but this question hadn’t been included. See the 217th session in Volume 5.)

Changes that would involve, on your part, if you see the opportunity, not more time, but payment and recognition of responsibility that you already assume in the main. Some sort of a change involving your boss, I believe. Not one that will take him from the firm, but one which might take him further, in some way, from his immediate department, while he still remains connected with it.

(As far as I know, no such change is contemplated at Artistic Card Co. I have heard no talk or even rumors to this effect. Our department was recently moved but there has been no change in personnel. But as stated there have been many changes lately, and there could be more. My boss has held his present position for about fifteen years. Offhand I cannot think of how he could advance within the firm, unless he moved into the selling end of it. He is presently art director, and a member of the board.

I also have the impression of an object that looks like a toothbrush, but is used for cleaning something else. I do not know to what this refers.

Now for the object. A book, or an object resembling one. It could be a box of book shape. The space between either the covers of the book or the covers of the box being colored, and patterned. (Long pause.) The patterns resembling imperfect circles—shapes—perhaps red, orange or yellow, but more than one color.

(Jane paused once more, and seemed to wait expectantly. This was my first shot at a second question during an experiment. We hadn’t discussed the possibility of more than one question yet, but evidently Seth—or Jane—is getting used to the idea of envelope questions so rapidly that soon questions may be asked at leisure.

(“Something beats like a motor.” Jane said this use of the word beats reminded her of the hum of the motor on our recorder. We didn’t get enough information here, but she believes it a reference to the recorder motor rather than a reference, say, to our car.

(In the 232nd session for February 9,1966 Seth suggested that a portion of a session a month be devoted to our psychic and physical circumstances. He agreed with my suggestion that we try the first session after the first of each month. We haven’t been this faithful but have decided to make stronger efforts here. There will thus be more deletions in the future. None of this evening’s material is cut. I regard it as illuminating and a good example of the way Seth presents such material. On but two or three occasions in the past we have eliminated personal material from these records. This material is on file and available to anyone studying these sessions.

You are now out of the woods, physically speaking. You have passed the period where in the past illness was most probable. The afternoon at your parents’ home could have initiated an illness, but did not because of your more rational reactions.

(Cards given to Jane and me at the time show that we received Type I Sabin oral polio vaccine in October 1962, and Type II in November 1962. The card for Type II contained a notice to the effect that information about Type III would be available in the spring of 1963, but if memory serves correctly Type III never was available for public free distribution in this area. In any event Jane and I never did receive Type III.)

(End at 11:10. Jane, again well dissociated, said Seth “could go on for hours,” but by now we were getting tired. We have often wondered whether food allergies might be influencing us. Seth had some information for us on our diet, in a general way, in the 185th session. See Volume 4.)