“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 60th envelope experiment used as object a quick black line drawing, on porous white paper, that I made of a giant begonia plant at the office. The plant sits on a taboret beside my drawing table. It has grown beautifully from a tiny slip that I took to the office approximately last March. Jane has not seen the plant, hardly ever visiting the office.

(“Oval and brown.” The little sketch used as object shows but the top few leaves of the giant begonia. These show as oval. The interesting thing here is that the larger leaves of the plant at the office are now beginning to show definite brownish tones. As stated Jane has never seen the plant at the office in its fine growth—merely a slip from a parent plant here in the apartment. Since this house plant also is developing a brown cast, Jane could know this easily enough once she, or Seth, picked up the idea that the envelope object represented a begonia.

(“A connection with March, perhaps 4 or 24.” Jane and I have thought back, and conclude that it is very possible I took the slip to the office during March. The plant is perhaps a foot tall now. We are sure I didn’t take it any earlier than March, so feel Seth is quite possibly correct here, without being able to demonstrate it. Neither of us have any idea of what day, 4, 24, etc., I took the begonia slip to the office.

(“Lineage.” We think this a good reference to the fact that my begonia at the office, which modeled for the object, is a descendant of the plant here at home. This parent plant, given to Jane by our neighbor on the same floor of our apartment house, Miss Callahan, also has other descendants growing very well.

(“Connection with a fabric.” This puzzled us for a moment at break. Jane then remembered that the parent begonia here at the house had its pot, until recently, wrapped in an orange-colored burlap type of fabric. As a matter of fact, she had cleaned the last shreds of this fabric from the pot holding the parent plant today; these shreds had been stuck, unnoticed, on the bottom of the pot.

(We do not know if the pot holding the office begonia had ever, also, been wrapped in fabric. It is a possibility, since the pot as well as the plant came from the apartment, and one of Jane’s pet activities is decorating the plant containers with various materials and in various ways.

(“A salary or payment connection.” As I sit at my drawing board at the office, perhaps a foot or eighteen inches from the begonia plant which served as a model for the envelope object, I am given my paycheck each Friday afternoon.

(“The impression of splendid, something splendid.” It is no stretching of the truth to say that the office begonia plant is quite a splendid one.

(“A distant connection with monolithic.” Our dictionary says monolith, while referring to one of a kind, also can mean one of large size. The object is a drawing of what is called a giant tubular begonia.

(“A group of men.” We believe this to be a valid interpretation: My drawing board at the office, with the begonia beside it, happens to be the first in line of several. Just beyond my board is a very large table that is used to spread out very large printed sheets before they are cut up into individual cards, etc. This table is perhaps three feet away. Around it are clustered groups of men every day, going over the current job on the press. Foremen, printers, directors, artists, etc.

(“Connection with another woman. That is, beside Ruburt.” As stated, the office begonia plant grew from a slip taken from a plant here in the apartment. This parent plant was given to Jane by our neighbor on the same floor, Miss Callahan, a retired school teacher in her late 70’s.

(The second question asked for colors on the object: “Brown and oval.” This is a repeat of the data given on page 230, which can refer to the office begonia. Jane now continued before I could ask another question:

(“The four areas could be different in color, and fairly bright—perhaps also a pale blue. I do not know if this is a symbolic impression or not.” The object itself is in black and white only. We offer a pale blue connection however that we have been aware of for several years. Miss Callahan, who gave Jane the parent begonia which led to the making of the envelope object, is inordinately fond of blue. We do not know if Seth would call this a symbolic connection. Miss Callahan’s apartment is largely blue. Her living room has pale blue painted walls, including a floor to ceiling painted blue bookcase. Her divan is covered with solid blue, as is a matching overstuffed chair. The other chair is of a blue printed pattern. The rug is a darkish violet and gray, close to a blue, etc.

(“I believe an older woman.” The third question sought to find out who the other woman was beside Jane. See the woman data on page 230. We think this answer reinforces our interpretations of the woman data, and the symbolic blue data just noted. Miss Callahan of course being considerably older than Jane—about 78, we believe. Again, Miss Callahan gave Jane the parent begonia which furnished eventually the office begonia; a drawing of the office begonia was used as the envelope object for tonight.

(The next question was: “How about that five in a circle?” “The impression is visual. The circle outlined in yellow, I believe, and I see visually a red five inside.” This puzzled us, and we think it contains some sort of distortion as far as the red five is concerned. Part of this data may be valid. As a joke one of my coworkers at the office hung a homemade chain from the top of the wooden stick which supports the begonia. The stick is visible in the drawing used as object. I did not of course show the chain in the drawing.

(“A connection with a framework of some kind. Perhaps wooden”, can refer to the wooden stick which shows in the drawing used as object. The stick supports the begonia plant, and is a framework in this sense.