“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 50th envelope experiment was held during the session. The object was a black and white photo of Jane’s father and his deceased second wife, Maxine, taken sometime prior to 1954. Jane hadn’t seen the photo in recent months. I placed it between the usual two pieces of Bristol and sealed it in the double envelopes.

(Briefly, the object is a black-and-white photo of Jane’s father Del, and his deceased second wife Maxine. Del was about 48 when the picture was taken in the backyard of their home in Santa Monica, California, and Maxine was 38 or 39. Within six months Maxine was dead from cancer. Her death took place in California just at the time I met Jane in Saratoga Springs, NY, in 1954 in January. Jane hadn’t seen Maxine for a couple of years and I had never met her.

(“Suitable. A connection with something suitable for an occasion.” In the photo Maxine is dressed up, including white hat and gloves, and wears a large corsage on the left lapel of her dark-colored suit. The corsage could be something suitable for an occasion. There could also be a play on words here, in that Maxine is wearing one of the old-fashioned square-shouldered two-piece suits in style then: Suitable, suit. Seth elaborates a little in answer to a question.

(“A grillwork.” In plain view in the photo are picket fences to the right and left of Maxine and Del, plus two large curving trellises bare of flowers or greenery. One of the trellises is in back of the couple. See the tracing on page 124.

(“A circular object that is segmented, and perhaps turns.” One of the trellises in the photo is plainly seen on the couples’ right. Its construction is segmented, its outside shape made up of curves. In addition the curve of this trellis flows into the curve or arch of the trellis behind Del and Maxine. We think Seth’s perception of these curving lines led to the mention of “perhaps turns.”

(“Stone steps.” Although it does not show in the photo itself, just beyond the photo would be the back steps of the couples’ house in Santa Monica. These are either stone or concrete; Jane and I cannot be sure, not having been there for perhaps eight or nine years. At the time the picture was taken there was a small guest house, California style, in back of the main house; here Jane recalls a flagstone walk. This little house was torn down before my first visit to Santa Monica. A flight of four or five steps, stone or concrete, led up to the back porch of the main house.

(“The color green.” In the photo Del and Maxine stand surrounded by trees and bushes of various kinds and size, flowers, etc.

(“An image, not clearly seen.” To the left of Del and Maxine in the photo can be seen the window of a building a lot or two distant. Only part of a window and a wall can be glimpsed through nearby trees. I have indicated the window heavily on the tracing on page 124. The outlines of the building, etc., are hidden.

(“Also the impression of a string or series. A miscellany of shapes in one corner.” Apparently the picket fence, seen in two places on the photo—to their right and in back of Del and Maxine, and their left foreground. In the photo the tree branches in their left background form an interesting pattern also, with the building mentioned at the top of this page seen behind them; usually when Jane uses the word miscellany to denote irregular shapes the data is too general.

(“An implied border.” The photo has a white border. It is clearly denoted on the sides and bottom through the contrasting darks of the foliage. It is invisible at the photo’s top, the sky merging into the white paper. I have ruled in the border on the tracing on page 124; actually it cannot be seen.

(“Rectangular.” In answer to my next question, concerning the shape of the object. The photo is rectangular.