“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.

(Jane’s eyes were closed when she began speaking but they opened almost at once. For most of the session they remained open, usually quite wide, always darker than usual. Most of the time she stared directly at me, using many gestures, speaking with many smiles and in a voice often somewhat heavier than usual because of our open windows.

(As soon as Jane dispensed with the Ouija board when these sessions got under way three years ago, she took to pacing the floor endlessly while giving a session. Her eyes of course were open constantly; this state of affairs lasted for well over a year. When Jane began speaking for Seth while sitting down her eyes closed; she evidently is just now ending this phase, or at least modifying it.)

The bird episode, you see, bothered him deeply. He made an effort not to call on you, but emotionally you see he felt that the whole world should stop to help his bird. (One of our cats nearly killed a young robin today, and Jane is trying to nurse it back to health.) The episode however was one of a series of interruptions of your private hours, and I do seriously recommend that you be allowed your work period without disturbance.

The idea shape itself is not one unitary thing, for example. The idea shape of this chair is not an absolute unitary, disembodied, or unspirited concept. (Very energetic delivery, eyes wide. Jane pounded on the arm of her rocker.) The idea shape of this chair is a composite, a gestalt, formed on the part of each atom and molecule that composes it.

(Break at 9:26. Jane was dissociated as usual, she said. She also said that since her eyes were still open at the end of the delivery, she closed them in order to come out of the trance.

(Jane resumed in the same active manner at 9:42, and spoke until 10:04. This material is omitted here. This brings us to the 71st Dr. Instream data. Jane now resumed once again at a somewhat slower pace, sitting with a hand raised to her closed eyes. Resume at 10:20.)

Now, a moment for our Instream material. (Pause.) These are impressions. (Jane’s voice became somewhat stronger.) A scramble. He has been rushed, in a period of high activity.

(Jane paused at 10:29, and took the envelope for our 60th experiment from me without opening her eyes. She pressed it to her forehead with one hand.)

Do you have questions? (Jane changed hands on the envelope, but continued to hold it to her forehead.)

Brown and oval. Now, I have the impression that the object is roughly divided into four areas, in this manner, you see, with fairly dark lines. (Her eyes closed, Jane made a vigorous and large crossing motion with an arm, thus:

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. (I would like to add that while making the above cross sign, Jane held the envelope with its long dimension also horizontal. This has a bearing on the data, we believe.

The impression is visual. The circle outlined in yellow, I believe, and I see visually a red five inside. (Jane gestured.

(Break at 10:40. Jane said she was well dissociated during both experiments. Her eyes had remained closed throughout. She recalled having one image, and this was associated with the cross sign she had made.

(“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.

(“Six three.” Jane pronounced this data as six, three, not 63. We don’t know what it means however. Six shows twice on the object, and we speculate that March is the third month of the year.

(“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.

(In addition, Jane has asked me at various times to bring home a slip from this office plant, so that she can start another pot; she has been quite impressed with my descriptions of how well the office plant has been doing.

(“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.

(“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.

(“and a grand view.” We are not sure. We offer this: Miss Callahan has a nice view from her apartment windows. She spends much of her day sitting at a window admiring the view, and never fails to mention it when Jane visits her. However she doesn’t use the phrase “a grand view.” Jane says Miss Callahan favors the adjective “lovely” instead.

(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:

(“Now, I have the impression that the object is roughly divided into four areas, in this manner, you see, with fairly dark lines.” See the notes with this data on page 230. Jane, while holding the envelope, and the object inside it, horizontally, made a vigorous crossing and vertical motion with an arm. See the tracing on page 226. The drawing shows that the leaves of the plant are climbing up a wooden stick. With the object held horizontally, the stick is also horizontal and divides the drawing in half easily enough; the horizontal attribute of her gesture was stressed by Jane. The fairly dark lines on the object are obvious.

(There is a less clear vertical division to be seen on the object while in the horizontal position, although the brush marks in the upper left corner help to mark off a portion. This would give perhaps three quarters on the object definite enough, and possibly this gave rise to Seth’s statement about rough division into four areas. Jane continues:

(“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.

(My fourth question asked for the initials of this older woman. The question made Jane hesitate: “You had better wait on this. The older woman data leads Ruburt to make personal associations which could be distortive.” (Pause.) “We will try here with the initial A, or G.” Jane said the question brought her mother to her mind; Seth however did not want to give her mother’s name, which is Marie Roberts, or those initials; and Jane did not do so. But A or G as far as we know do not apply to Miss Callahan either, whose first name is Florence.

(We do not know whether the chain interpretation is correct. It would be very interesting, if so, since Jane has never seen the chain, nor as stated even the plant itself since I took it to the office. Nor did she know the paper chain existed; she is quite sure I did not tell her of this, and I have no memory of doing so.

(“I have come as close as I can this evening.” This when I asked Seth to name the object. Jane then added:

(Jane resumed at 11:07.)

(“He still does.” See the drawing of the envelope object used in the last session, on page 217. Today Jane told me the eagle still looked like a moose to her.)

(End at 11:15. Jane’s eyes opened often. She was out as usual.)