“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 48th envelope experiment was held during the session. See the copy of the object on page 104. We had saved the article because it dealt with our friend Bill Macdonnel, who has witnessed several sessions. When Bill visited us early this evening I thought of using the clipping as object.

(I found other copies of the article after the session. The actual copy used in the envelope is as usual on file in our object notebook. On the partial copy attached to page 104 I penned in the row of numbers representing the date after the session. The session was a comparatively short one and Seth did not go into each point in the data. Some of the data is self-explanatory when checked against the article.

Did you have an envelope for me, Joseph?

(Jane paused at 9:40, then took the envelope for our 48th experiment from me without opening her eyes. She pressed it against her forehead with both hands.)

(Jane paused again. She still sat with the envelope held to her forehead, her eyes closed. I waited a few moments to see if the end of the session was near.)

(Break at 9:52. Jane was dissociated as usual. Her eyes had remained closed. Jane said Seth had surprised her by asking for the envelope. This was definitely Seth’s doing, she said, and he asked out of politeness.

(The results of the experiment were good, and note here that they were obtained after a short vacation. When the experiments began any sort of interruption as far as the envelopes were concerned resulted in a letdown in the next few experiments.

(This did mark the end of the session as far as Seth was concerned. Jane and I made the connections that were clear to us. We would have liked Seth’s help on a few, but did not ask him to resume. See the copy of the envelope object on page 104.

(“A connection with something ripped or torn out.” Originally I tore the article out of the paper. Note that signs of this are still visible on the left hand edge. The bottom of the clipping was also rough, and I clipped it evenly with scissors before filing it; this was before I thought of using it as object; Jane of course knew I saved the article because it pertained to Bill Macdonnel. As it happened my clipping the article along the bottom made it fit just right between the usual two pieces of Bristol, and into the double envelopes.

(“With something revolving, and with an oval shape that is not a perfect circle.” In the third column of the envelope object there is a reference to “ceramics and metal sculpture” also in the window with the nude painting that is the subject of the object. Directly in back of the painting is a large circular ceramic sculpture, perhaps a foot in diameter, that is more egg-shaped than a perfect circle. This has a textured, matte surface. Just to the right of this sculpture is another egg-shaped sculpture; this one is of polished silvery metal and is perhaps ten inches across. It stands on a wooden pedestal; the polished reflections in it seem to move as one’s viewpoint changes. We believe this is the oval shape Seth refers to, in light of his answer to my second question.

(“A connection with something distant,” In the sixth column of the envelope object there is a reference to Corning—Painted Post School District, which employs Bill as an art teacher. This is perhaps twenty-five miles away. Bill lives here in Elmira and commutes to work daily. The time he can spend at his gallery in Elmira is thus quite limited—another reason for the schedule of hours posted in one of the windows, as mentioned on page 109.

(“with three people in particular.” When the police asked Bill to remove the painting from his gallery window, he asked advice from three people in particular. Two of the people are named in the sixth column of the envelope object. These two supported Bill’s decision to leave the painting in the window. The third man, Ernfred Anderson, who has a national reputation as a sculptor and teacher at Elmira College, and is a close friend of Bill, Jane and mine, advised Bill to remove the painting. Bill told Jane and me this on his visit earlier this evening, although we had heard this from other friends several days ago.

(“An announcement, as in an announcement of intention.” The first paragraph of the envelope object contains Bill Macdonnel’s intention not to remove the painting from the gallery window even though requested to do so by the police. Bill reiterated his decision on his visit earlier tonight.

(“An impression again of an unscheduled event also, or an event not kept.” Jane is sure this refers to Peggy Gallagher, who wrote the news story used as envelope object. On Friday April 15 Jane and I and the Gallaghers heard about Bill’s difficulties. Peggy planned to call Bill Saturday but did not do so. We saw the Gallaghers on Sunday evening and learned that she still hadn’t seen Bill Macdonnel. Her story however was printed on Monday, April 18, which means she had to see Bill sometime Monday morning. This was possible because Bill Macdonnel, as a teacher, was still on Easter vacation. See also the “something not kept” reference and interpretation on page 109.

(“The number impression again…initials.” As Seth said this block of data pertained to an address Jane and I were given last evening, and is not related to the envelope object. The address also contained a series of numbers.

(“I mentioned several colors. The color bronze here.” This was in response to my third and last question, for more data on color connected with the object. Jane subjectively feels the bronze reference above deals with the overall color of Bill’s painting, discussed in the envelope object. In the first column Peggy Gallagher calls the painting done “In washed out shades of gray and orange.” Jane associates the gray and orange with bronze. I neglected to ask Seth about “The number 5.”