“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The envelope object for the 62nd experiment was a piece of cream-colored burlap; it shows up dark on page 250 because of the method of reproducing it. Jane was with me last Saturday, June 18, when I bought the burlap to use for some experimental canvases for painting.

(The envelope results contained a few valid points. The results were well below par however. Jane was very tired before the session, although she said she felt fine when I questioned her. Had I realized how tired she was the session would not have been held; both of us have been extremely busy lately and cramped for time. Jane said she did not let me know she was tired, because under such circumstances sometimes excellent material has come through.

Do you have an envelope for me?

Yes. (Without opening her eyes Jane took the double envelope for the 62nd experiment from me, and held it to her forehead in a horizontal position.)

(Still holding the envelope horizontally with one hand, Jane indicated each end of the envelope with her other hand.)

A florid complexion. Six. A cluster of shapes, rounded. Holding the object this way, lettering of some sort in here. (Now holding the envelope vertically, Jane ran a finger along the bottom edge of the envelope.) Perhaps on two sides of the object.

(We will interpret the data we feel applies. Jane, incidentally, said she never used the word smidgeon that she knew of. See the rubbing of the envelope object on page 250, and the notes on the next page.

(From the first data, page 255: “Pointed flower or star shapes. Again, a connection with a disturbance, with a knife. This is the pointed impression. I do not know if the knife is literal. Sharp, something sharp… Ruburt thinks of a newspaper article, about a murder.” Seth also mentioned a connection with turbulence at the start of the data. There can be a direct connection with the envelope object, and a newspaper connection; it seems that both are somewhat distorted, and that one perhaps influenced the other.

(As always when doing such work, I spread newspapers on my drawing table. Jane saw me doing this, and knew I was experimenting gluing the burlap to panels to make painting surfaces. I made this particular panel from which the envelope object came on Saturday afternoon, June 18.

(The newspaper connection also developed because on the front page of today’s paper for June 20th, was the story of a local woman being murdered with a knife. So although I used newspapers while developing the envelope object, I couldn’t have used the particular newspaper which carried the murder story, since this news developed two days later. Jane and I had talked about the stabbing at supper this evening however, and evidently the knife connection here and with the object caused the distortions.

(At the end of Seth’s second try at the envelope data, he once again came up with the newspaper connection: “Still, there seems to be a newspaper connection. Printing or black ink, I do not know.” The black ink connection is interesting to me. As I worked with the materials on the newspapers, I wondered whether it was such a good idea, fearing that perhaps the acrylic glue I was using might dissolve the black printing ink enough to cause it to dirty the white burlap I was handling. There was no real trouble although I did get a few faint smudges on the burlap; I removed them without trouble. I do not know if Seth referred to this, or merely black ink being connected with newspapers.