“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 54th envelope experiment was held tonight. The object was a homemade pattern made on light-colored paper, with hand-ground gray brown earth color for pigment and polymer medium for binder. It was folded once as indicated in the making. The effect is like an inkblot, except that the quality and texture of the paint is much superior as far as charm goes; this particular hand-ground pigment, which I make myself by heating a certain Italian earth color, has a texture like fine cement or roughened stone. Since it is a heavy-bodied pigment, it was built up in spots on the object as much as 1/32 of an inch thick. The whole pattern was made up of lines and white spots which do not show very well in my tracing. I placed the object, folded once, between the usual two pieces of Bristol and sealed it in the double envelopes.

(Jane of course had never seen this object, or any others like it, because I have never made them before. I made two of them on May 10,1966; I dated one of them and used the other in the envelope. The pigment color is quite dark, but not black. The stonelike or rough surface and the dark color enter into the experimental results.

You begin to manipulate the dream state, or rather you begin to manipulate yourself within dream reality, which is something different. It is an entirely new environment. In ordinary dreaming, without the awareness of usual waking consciousness, perception of dream reality is limited and instinctive. All in all you get along quite well. You are like a child in objective reality. When you learn to take waking awareness into the dream condition, you are reaching adolescence, so to speak.

When you reach adulthood, following our analogy, then you will learn to be successful in manipulating dream reality as you now manipulate objective reality. For if you create your dreams, you also create your objective environment. The dream reality is as real and actual as physical reality, but it can be changed you see by you, as physical reality can be changed.

You are at the early stages of this development, but it will come. These realities within the dream universe may be created by you, but they are as actual as the piece of cake that you eat, or the poison that you may swallow. As your common sense protects you in the physical universe, so you must use discretion as you progress into the manipulation of dream objects.

Now there are points of difference indeed in fourth-dimensional reality for you, as there are points of reference in objective reality.

We have already explained the ways in which agreement is reached within physical reality, as to the dimensions of objects. In somewhat the same manner agreements are reached in fourth-dimensional reality.

Now, give us a moment please for our Instream material. We will give an object shortly.

Now, the object is some sort of a chain. Widely woven, rather than one with small spaces in it. The object is reminiscent of paper chains made by children, with wide loops, and of many pastel colors.

The object does not belong to Dr. Instream, but was borrowed, and has a strong connection with a woman. Still, it seems to be mechanical, rather than for example a jewelry chain. It has a mechanical use, and perhaps a connection with two boxes, rather small in themselves, which are raised and lowered or moved, by the chain.

There are two round objects connected with it also, perhaps ball bearings, made in Japan. The object may also be connected with the initials B, S, or S, B, though I do not believe these represent a person’s initials.

Also a date, 1937. Other impressions, not connected with the object: A misuse. Dr. Instream believes that something is being misused. A connection here with a framework of associations having to do with psychology. And a misfit.

Dark printed matter. A square object, perhaps a small square shape at the top center of the object, balanced by another shape at the bottom center.

(“Do you think the object is a photograph?”)

No more than I have said. If the object is not a photograph, it is closely connected. I have the impression of a black and white photograph.

Something overturned. The feeling of a fluid dark color, broken by white shapes that appear like blocks. Perhaps some connection with a pond or pool shape. The object marked in the middle of the back, in pen or pencil.

Perhaps J B and a date. I do not get the feeling that the object has to do with the immediate present, in that it was not a part of your experience, directly.

(As soon as she opened the double envelopes, Jane said the object looked like a man to her, with either horizontal edge uppermost, and that she thought this impression had given rise to the photograph data. See the tracing on page 162, and the description of the object on page 163. This marked the end of the session for all practical purposes as far as Seth was concerned. Jane and I made the connections we could and did not ask Seth to elaborate.

(“Dark printed matter.” As stated, the pigment used on the object is quite dark, a burnt gray brown, but it is not black. Jane’s impression of it, I noted, was that it was darker to her than to me. I don’t know whether Seth uses printed here to mean an ink applied to paper or newsprint, or just some other substance applied to a surface as in the case of the object.

(“A square object, perhaps a small square shape at the top center of the object, balanced by another shape at the bottom center.” Throughout the data Seth keeps attempting to refine this shape or block image, with some success. Although none of the shapes on the original object are square, they do give the impression of being balanced one upon another. Any object produced like the envelope object will give a feeling of balance, no matter what the design, as long as both halves are printed or impressed in full. On the original many small white interstices show that are not visible on the quick tracing. It seems Seth had a correct impression.

(“A film connection, black and white.” As stated Jane at once thought of a man when she saw the object, and this she thinks led to the film connection. It comes up again, as does the black and white data. To Jane the color of the pigment on the object is quite dark.

(“A decoration,” The object is a decoration.

(“The square shapes again, now, as in small patterns.” Seth’s refinement here is to the point. The original object contains a multitude of fine patterns made by the rough paint when I pressed the folder paper together. It is very charming; the patterns are almost like the veins in a leaf. Flecks of white scattered throughout also.

(“Connection with an image of Ruburt. Black and white again rather than color. A connection with the early 1960s.” Again, Jane thinks the dark pigment on the object gave rise to this data, with the date perhaps referring to the year a picture of herself was taken.

(“A forthright statement, numbers, perhaps a room number. This leads Ruburt to think of Oswego and your stay there. A connection with a federation of some sort.” Again, this data puzzles us. The object has no connection with Oswego, NY. Jane hasused federation, and words like before re large buildings such as post offices, etc., so it seems that here federation refers to the college at Oswego, where Dr. Instream teaches.

(“A connection with a man, not yourself, perhaps with your landlord.” The paint blot on the object reminded Jane of a man, which could give rise to the man data here. However I am connected with the object since I made it.

(“The question is not a good one.” Just for kicks, I asked Seth if he thought the object was a photograph. This because of the numerous photo and man references in the data. At this time, of course, before Jane had seen the object, I had no idea that it would remind her strongly of a man, and hence possibly give rise to the photo data.

(“No more than I have said. If the object is not a photograph, it is closely connected. I have the impression of a black and white photograph.” Presumably because of the reasons cited above. My second question asked for elaboration on the decoration data, and resulted in some more information.

(“Give us a moment, please… With a block or blocks, as rocks or steps of stone.” This block or rock or stone data could be connected to the data in the paragraph just above this one; although Seth took a long pause in between. At any rate it seems that the texture, the rough stonelike feel and appearance of the pigment on the object, could have given rise to the rock or stone impressions which in turn could conjure up the step data and so lead to the idea of a photo.

(“Something overturned.” The irregular shape of the pigment on the object; a similarity here between it and some liquid spilled.

(“The feeling of a fluid dark color, broken by white shapes that appear like blocks.” The wet pigment used to make the object was a fluid dark color, of course. Seth now uses the block data to refer to the whites scattered through the object on the original. Some of the whites are of a block shape, roughly, but more often simply irregular just as the pigment is.

(“Perhaps some connection with a pond or pool shape.” Again, this applies to the irregular shape of the pigment on the object, and is close, and in the same vein as the “something overturned,” and “the feeling of a fluid dark color” data. We regard these three impressions as good.

(I neglected to deal with Seth’s next impression, “The object marked in the middle of the back, in pen or pencil.”

(“Perhaps J B and a date.” Jane, or Seth, getting at the idea of photograph again. As stated earlier, I made two similar objects with the same pigment on May 10,1966. I dated and initialed the one not used in the envelope experiment; this gives an RB and a date, but I doubt if this is what Seth is getting at here.

(“I do not get the feeling that the object has to do with the immediate present, in that it was not a part of your experience, directly.” Just the opposite. The object was part of my experience, in the immediate past. Jane had never seen the object or any like it, since I had never made any before; perhaps this data came out because she herself was thus not involved with the object in any way.

(Tracings of the matchbook cover used as the object in the 55th envelope experiment, in the 260th session for May 18,1966.)