“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Bill and Peggy Gallagher were due to witness the session. Peggy was going to take flash pictures of Jane while she was in trance; Jane’s publisher had asked to see some material of this kind. We had no idea of the success of this venture—whether Jane would be distracted while delivering the regular material, or during the envelope experiment; if possible we wanted to cover both categories.

(The Gallaghers arrived just before 9 PM, when we were about to begin the session. Peggy had her press camera. We took a few minutes to make our witnesses comfortable. Peggy was to prowl around, seeking out compositions, etc., and to take pictures whenever she chose. Jane and I were to go on as usual.

(Peggy now took her first picture. The flash startled me more than it did Jane, for she continued on, unperturbed.)

(Peggy took her next picture, and once again Jane did not pause. Her eyes remained closed as before.)

(Break at 9:22. Jane had been dissociated as usual for a first delivery. Her pace had been good, her voice a bit stronger than usual, her eyes had remained closed. Jane said she had noticed the flash but had not been bothered by it when Peggy took the pictures.

(Peggy was having trouble composing a picture, she said, so for the next delivery she had Jane and me seat ourselves in another part of the room. We also moved about later in the session, but Jane kept using her favorite session chair, our Kennedy rocker.

Pretend, all of you for a moment, that you are looking at this situation from the other side. Pretend that while you are in the dream state, you are concerned with the problem of consciousness and existence. From that viewpoint the picture is entirely different, for you are indeed conscious while you sleep.

(Jane was most emphatic in giving this material, speaking in a good voice and with many gestures. Her pace was also good. Once in a while her eyes opened briefly. Peggy had been taking pictures, and as far as I could tell Jane was not bothered.)

(Break at 9:52. Jane was dissociated as usual, she said. Her eyes had been closed for the most part, her manner and gestures very emphatic. Peggy’s flashgun hadn’t bothered her. A total of seven pictures had been taken by now.

(Jane paused at 10:15. She took the usual sealed double envelope from me without opening her eyes. This was our 43rd experiment. Peggy was ready for more pictures. Jane pressed the envelope to her forehead briefly, then lowered it to her lap—possibly because she knew pictures were to be taken of the experiment. I wondered about the results this evening in the face of possible distractions.)

(Peggy took a picture. Jane did not appear to be bothered.)

(Peggy took another picture, and again Jane continued unperturbed; her eyes remained closed.)