“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The regularly scheduled session for last Wednesday, July 27,1966, was not held because Jane was ill for several days. Her pendulum told her the illness was brought on by a case of nerves and panic over the forthcoming publication of her ESP book. Jane hadn’t been working or sleeping well for some days prior to her illness.

(Shortly after this our new cat, Catherine, fell ill with distemper, and received a shot at the veterinarian’s Friday evening, July 29, along with some pills for subsequent days. By tonight it appeared the cat would be all right. Jane wanted me to be sure to ask Seth about the cat in case that personality failed to mention it voluntarily.

(The 65th envelope experiment was held. The object was the bill I received for the purchase of Masonite in Wellsburg, NY, on Friday, July 15,1966. As usual I placed the bill between two pieces of Bristol, then sealed the sandwich in two envelopes. Jane was present at the lumber company in Wellsburg when the bill was made out, but like me at the time she paid no particular attention to it, and hadn’t seen it since then.

(Jane began speaking while sitting down and with her eyes open and dark at the start. She was also smoking. Her pace was average, so was her voice.)

(Jane had been somewhat restless while speaking. Now without pausing in particular she got up from her favorite Kennedy rocker and sat in a chair across the table from me. She does such things extremely seldom, usually confining herself to the rocker.)

(We were interrupted by a knock on the door at 9:08. The neighbor left us within a couple of minutes. Jane was not bothered by the noise or distraction. She resumed while sitting in the rocker again, but almost at once got up and returned to the chair across from me. 9:10.)

Now. Your party, at which I was present occasionally (sitting across from me still, Jane tapped on the table, her eyes very dark and wide) was of great benefit, as you know. But you do not know some important facts.

(The party, Saturday night, with Bill Macdonnel, his friend Tom, and Jane and me, lasted until 4:45 AM Sunday, July 31.)

(Break at 9:32. Jane was well dissociated. Her eyes had opened often, her voice had grown a bit stronger. She had been aware of leaving her rocker to sit opposite me at the table, where she remained until break, and had been surprised at her doing so.

(Jane resumed in the same rather active manner, again sitting at the table with me, at 9:44.)

(Break at 10:06. Jane out as usual, eyes open often. She again sat at the table for the delivery. She resumed, seated in the rocker and with her eyes closed, at 10:15.)

(At 10:22, her eyes closed, Jane took the envelope for our 65th experiment from me and pressed it to her forehead in a more or less vertical position.)

An implied border. Writing or printing in a lower left-hand corner perhaps, very small, holding the object horizontally. (Jane gestured with the envelope, which she now held horizontally.)

Something on the back also. An oval shape, or eye shape—that is, this kind of an eye, you see (her eyes closed, Jane pointed to one of her own) inside of a rectangle or triangle.

(Jane lowered the envelope to her lap, her eyes closed.

(Break at 10:39. Jane had been dissociated as usual, and her eyes had remained closed. She had images and these will be noted as the material unfolds.

(We made our own connections and Seth verified some of them. Once again Jane’s associations seemed to flow in a freer manner, this being the third experiment in which this is apparent. We think more data was obtained on this envelope than in previous ones.

(“Stern. I do not know if this refers to stern as severe, or stern as a ship.” At first this stumped us. Jane said then that the connection referred to Enfield Glen, which we visited three times during our vacation from July 9-17. See the notes on page 294 and the tracing on the previous page. The object was obtained July 15, during our vacation, on Friday. Jane recalled that she had wanted to visit the Glen instead of drive to Wellsburg. The connection would be the Glen, where there is a beautiful pool and stream, leading to stern “as a ship.”

(Jane however had an image of a large capital M, she said, in which case the first interpretation applies above. Seth mentions an initial specifically later but not above. Jane was aware of no color in her image; she saw the M alone.

(Seth continues the above data, and gives another instance of the freer association employed, all stemming from the letter M: “I do not know—massage, mucilage—leave it for now.” Jane said the mucilage connection referred to the word cement on the bill heading, beneath the Schuyler name.

(“Soothing music perhaps.” Jane said this is a distortion of the massage data above, massage and music both being soothing.

(“Four square, or four and four squares.” This I regard as excellent data pertaining to the object, whereas Jane said it had no particular meaning for her because she didn’t know the specifics concerning the way I usually buy Masonite.

(“A word with M again, perhaps this time a name or initial.” Ruburt thinks of Marie or Mary. It is a large M, and belongs with a name. This seems very vivid in itself, but it could simply stand for Miss So-and-So, you see, or Mrs. A woman connection.” Seth here evidently refers to a different name this time than that shown on the bill, Glenn M. Schuyler. Jane is subjectively sure Seth was getting at the name of Mrs. Marilyn Wilbur, who lives with her husband Don in Wellsburg; the Wilburs are good friends of ours. The Marie or Mary is very suggestive of Marilyn.

(“A tournament, perhaps symbolic. A crossing, as of swords.” Jane was sure this referred to the story told us by the worker at the lumberyard, who procured the Masonite for me, concerning his war service, his portrait, etc., done while he was in the service. The worker made out the bill which served as object.

(“And perhaps with water.” This could stem from the wells in Wellsburg, as explained earlier, or from the fact that Jane would have preferred going to Enfield Glen to swim, instead of buying Masonite. Also, we planned to go swimming locally after getting the Masonite, but became so busy we did not do so.

(“Writing or printing in a lower left-hand corner perhaps, very small, holding the object horizontally.” Jane at this time held the envelope horizontally. We did not mark the envelopes or the object to verify this data. However if she held the object so that its head, or top, pointed to the right as she faced it, then there would be printing along the left-hand side of the bill. This being the fine print at the bottom of the front of the bill.

(If Jane held the object with its head pointing to the left as she faced it, then the price and date would be at the left edge of the bill. This copy is larger however.

(“An oval shape, or eye shape—that is, this kind of an eye, you see, inside of a rectangle or triangle.” Jane pointed to her own eye while giving this data. It is very good. As stated earlier the worker at the lumberyard who procured the Masonite for me, then made out the bill used as object, had a bad eye. It will be recalled that the worker described a portrait drawn of him while he was in the service; and that the artist making the portrait drew him with a symmetrical face, whereas his face is decidedly not symmetrical.

(“The feeling of something hanging over, threatening or overhanging, on the upper half of the object, and dark.” This is most interesting, and is an example of the new method in which Seth gives Jane some of her data now. Jane said it was difficult to describe, but she had the very definite impression, or feeling or image, within, of a large dark overhanging mass above her, as a roof might be, for instance. This impression was strong, and she believes the overhanging feeling led her to attach the threatening data to it.

(Jane had an image of a photo of the two of us, taken at Enfield Glen. Remember that she wanted to go to the Glen on July 15, rather than to the lumberyard in Wellsburg to buy Masonite. No photos of us have been taken at the Glen in recent years. Also, the Glen idea links up with the proprietor of the lumberyard, Glenn M. Schuyler.

(“Two people. You and Ruburt, I believe.” Jane and I of course made the trip to Wellsburg for the Masonite, etc.; although contacting others on this mission in the usual routine fashion.

(First Question: “Can you say something about the March date?” “March, progress, march along. An event in March, that led to similar events while the original one was not repeated. I believe the letter G is somehow connected with this event.” We still could make no connections for this data, and I did not ask Seth to explain. Jane had a mental image of a single G, nothing else. There is Glenn on the bill used as object, but this wouldn’t refer back to March; our July visit was our first ever to this particular lumberyard.

(Question: “Can you say something more about four squares?” “I believe not.” See the four square data on page 301, referring to the Masonite I bought and had cut to size. I wanted to see if Jane could be more specific here, since she had already given excellent data, but she could not. As stated, the four squares data meant nothing to her, but quite a lot to me. Perhaps her lack of conscious interest prevented more information here.

(Jane resumed with her eyes closed and her glasses on at 11:27.)

(End at 11:30. Jane was pretty far-out. She had a strong awareness of Seth’s benevolent emotional feeling.)