“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 66th envelope object was a postcard mailed to us by our neighbor across the hall, Leonard Yaudes, from Portland, Maine, on July 23,1966. I sealed it in the usual double envelopes after placing it between two pieces of Bristol.

Vertical objects close together, as a woods. (Jane was now gesturing often with the envelope, though still mainly holding it horizontally.) Five plus one. A small circular object with something on top of it, perhaps like a stem.

The object a card. A design like a flower or stem.

(“Well, you’re correct, the object is a card.”)

I believe a circular object, though perhaps a dress.

(Break at 9:58. Jane was out as usual. Her eyes remained closed. She felt no particular reaction, she said, when I told her she had been correct in calling the object a card. She also said she would recall any images when we went over the data.

(See the tracings of the object on page 309. Pertinent data connected to it will be brought out as we list our connections. We were able to make some, and Seth did not help us out after break.

(“Fur.” I wrote this as fur, rather than fir, when Jane gave it, not knowing which she meant. I saw no connection, but as soon as she saw the scene on the postcard used as object, Jane said fur had been a reference to the white foamy water spray and surf. To her it had a definite resemblance to the white thick fur of our long-haired cat, Willy. As soon as Jane mentioned this resemblance I agreed with her.

(“Eight.” Possibly the numeral 8 in 458 W. Water Street, our address. The only 8 on the object, although there are 28 other numbers on the object, including the denomination on the stamp.

(“A small square.” See the back of the object. Just to the right and above of the circular postmark is a geometrical triangular symbol. This small symbol is topped by a very small square, with a dot in it. The square about 1/16” on a side.

(Jane mentioned the 4¢ postage stamp on the object; strictly speaking the stamp is not quite square, but if the stamp had been perceived clairvoyantly perhaps its shape was interpreted as a square.

(“The color red.” The only thing close to red on the object is the 4¢ postage stamp, current series, bearing Lincoln’s bust. This is a predominant red with a bluish tint. Seth hints at another possible meaning later, but we believe the stamp is the object referred to.

(“414.” There is no 414, numbers in this sequence, on the object. There are several groups of numbers however. Among them are 417, bottom left corner on the back of the card, and 149 as part of the ZIP code number of our address.

(“Three people. The busts rather than full figures, as three heads for example. I only see the tops of these figures.” Our interpretation: Note that Leonard Yaudes addressed the object to Jane and me, after crossing out the name John. [John happens to be a good friend of Leonard’s, though merely an acquaintance of ours; Leonard evidently made an absentminded mistake in addressing the card.] The address line of the card thus contains three names. Above this line is the postage stamp, bearing the head and shoulders of Lincoln.

(There are actually 6 personal names on the back of the object: Leonard, John, Jane and myself, Lincoln, and the photographer who took the pictures used on the front of the postcard, Don Sieburg.

(“Vertical objects close together, as a woods.” In giving the data Jane gestured often with the envelope, her eyes closed; she would then return it to her forehead in mainly a horizontal position. At times she held it briefly in other positions. The wavy lines of the cancellation are close together, and in the abstract could symbolize anything such as trees, etc. Perhaps Jane perceived this while the envelope was in a vertical position, or the data is simply somewhat distorted.

(“Five plus one.” There are two combinations of numbers containing five and one on the back of the object: M-1065 in the upper left corner, and 14905, the ZIP code on the lower right.

(It can also be said that five plus one makes six. There are, thus, 6 sixes on the back of the object. And as stated earlier there are 6 personal names there also.

(“A small circular object with something on top of it, perhaps like a stem.” See the tracings on page 309. The postmark on the back of the object is of course small and circular. The small triangular design mentioned earlier is just above the postmark, to the right, and is of a line, or stemlike, design. The triangular design does not quite touch the postmark, but the two words just beneath it, Natural Color, do run into the postmark, uniting the two designs.

(“Grass.” We don’t know. Grass of course is implied through the object in many ways: Campgrounds for one; also, before leaving for Maine Leonard had his new tent set up on the grass in the backyard of the apartment house for several days, checking it out. He lives in the apartment across the hall from us, on the second floor.

(“J B.” Jane [and Rob] Butts—J B—appears in the address line on the back of the object.

(Although this interpretation seems obvious, Jane said that J B also reminded her of our friend John Bradley, who had witnessed some sessions. Note that the name John, although crossed out, appears on the object. Jane thinks she could have also thought of John Bradley as well as Jane Butts, and not wanting to commit herself spoke aloud the initials instead of one or the other full name.

(“Four.” The numeral 4 appears four times on the object’s back. Was the April data a method of leading up to the four data? Also—there are four handwritten names on the back of the object. There are a total of six personal names on the object, the other two, Don Sieburg and Lincoln, being printed.

(“Connection with a letter or note,” See the tracings on page 309. The object, a postcard, bears a note to Jane and me.

(“and a male.” The obvious connection being that a male, Leonard Yaudes, wrote the note on the object, and signed it. Once again, there are six personal names on the object, and five of them are male.)

(“The object a card.” The object is a card. I did not push Jane to be more specific as to what kind of card, etc.

(“A design like a flower or stem.” Again, the small triangular design on the back of the object, just above and to the right of the circular postmark. We believe the stem data, mentioned by Seth earlier, led Jane to the flower mention here.

(“Your initials.” Jane gestured at me, her eyes closed, as she gave this data. My name on the back of the object, Rob Butts, contains my initials.

(Question: “Are they male or female, for instance?” “Impression of light-colored hair on two, and a similarity. These I believe males. Perhaps a family resemblance, but a definite similarity in any case.” This was of little help to us, and since we didn’t ask Seth to explain after break we cannot decipher the data. We are not related to Leonard, of course. The other male on the address line of the object, John, crossed out by Leonard, is a close friend of Leonard’s but not a relative. None of us—Jane, Leonard, John or myself—are blond or light-haired.

(Leonard does have a brother, Ken, who also lives here in Elmira, but as far as we know Ken was not involved in the Maine trip, which inspired the envelope object. Leonard’s girl, who went to Maine with him, is also dark-haired. Leonard and Ken look much alike; there is little resemblance between Leonard and John, and I do not look like either one of them.

(I then said: “Well, you’re correct, the object is a card.” I wanted to note Jane’s reaction, while in trance, to being told she had named the envelope object at least in a general way. There was none, and she told me later she felt no particular reaction. At the time she said, as Seth: “A grouping”. I took this to mean she was still concerned with the three people data already cited, even though I had waited until she paused in a definite manner before making the comment.

(Question: “What’s that about a geometrical figure?” “No. An equality. A balance. A balanced arrangement.” This data came after I had to repeat the question because of traffic noise. See the interpretation of the geometrical data page 313. All of the geometrical figures on the back of the object are balanced—the circular postmark, the small triangle and square just above and to the right of the postmark, and the rectangle of the postage stamp.

(Question: “What’s the color red connected to?” “I believe a circular object, though perhaps a dress.” As far as the object is concerned, it could be said the circular postmark is connected to the reddish postage stamp via the typical wavy lines of the cancellation.

(The mention of a dress is interesting, implying a female—and a female did accompany Leonard to Maine, from where he mailed us the object. We do not know whether Leonard’s girl had a red dress with her on the trip.

(Jane, or Seth, now added two pieces of information that I hadn’t asked for: “The color purple I believe also.” We think this applies to the 4¢ Lincoln US postage stamp on the object. As stated earlier the stamp is printed in red ink with blue added. The resultant color can be called a purple, a violet, etc.

(“And small dark lettering, perhaps I N C.” Very good indeed. See the tracings of the object on page 309. At bottom center on the back of the object, in small capital lettering, is the logo and address of: DP—Dexter Press, Inc., West Nyack, New York. Printed in a dark blue.

(Reduced tracing of the note, at top, used as the object in the 67th envelope experiment, in the 279th session for August 15,1966.)

(Reduced tracing of the outside of the greeting card which also figures in the 67th envelope data. It was mailed to Jane and me on August 11,1966 by my mother, but was not used as envelope object.)

(Tracing of the inside of the greeting card which also figures in the 67th envelope data. It was mailed to Jane and me on August 11,1966 by my mother, but was not used as envelope object.)