“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The object for the 70th envelope experiment was the first draft of a letter I wrote tonight, to a local dentist. It concerned the recent sale of a painting to him, made through our friend, Marie Colucci. Details later. Jane had not seen this draft, or even the final copy of the letter, although she knew I was writing it this evening. I sealed it in an envelope when finished; then showed this to Jane and asked her to mail it tomorrow morning. I briefly and roughly described the contents, however.

(Jane began speaking while seated. Her eyes were closed, her pace good. Her voice was distinctly heavier and louder than usual. It easily rose above the considerable traffic noise coming through our open living room window.)

(Break at 9:31. Jane was well dissociated, she said. Her eyes remained closed. Her pace was fast, her voice still heavy and quite a bit deeper.

(Break at 9:55. Jane was again far-out. Again her pace had been fast, her voice strong; the exception now was that her eyes, very dark, began to open at times.

(Her eyes still closed, Jane took the envelope from me for our 70th experiment, and held it up to her forehead with her right hand. It was 10:01. Her pace was good, and grew faster as the experiment progressed.)

Browns. An object in the center that is somehow sharply shaped. For example a star shape, a sharp shape. (Gesture—with her forefinger Jane made angular shapes in the air, her eyes closed.)

(Break at 10:18. Jane was again well dissociated, as she had been all evening, she said. Her voice was not as loud this time but her delivery had been fast, as though she wanted to give the data without thinking about it. She reported no images that she remembered. Her eyes had remained closed.

(See the copy of the first draft of my letter on page 31. A brief history: Last month our friend Marie Colucci let a local dentist, Dr. Lodico, whom Jane and I have not met, borrow an abstract painting of mine to try out in his office. A couple of weeks ago, on August 31, Dr. Lodico sent payment for the painting, with a request to see more abstracts for his office. Tonight’s object is a first draft of my reply to his letter, and is dated September 12.

(Seth helps out with a few connections after break, but in the meantime Jane and I had made our own. We checked up on one we thought correct after the session, and instead of verifying the data ended up confused, as will be explained.

(Disarray can refer to the jumbled appearance of my letter, used as object, with its crossed-out words, etc. Jane thought that disarray could also refer to the fact that abstract paintings are mentioned in the letter; to some people abstracts would be in disarray, as compared to conventional paintings showing things in the usual sense—flowers, houses, trees, etc.

(“Four square, or four squares.” This is a reference to the fact that I have four paintings to show Dr. Lodico, in answer to his letter. As stated, Jane did not see either the first draft of my letter, which was used as object, or the final copy, which I had sealed in an envelope. I did ask her to mail it, though, and described its contents roughly.

(Four specific paintings were discussed between us, and I priced each one with Jane present, so that she could quote prices to the doctor should he call while I was away. This data is reinforced by the next data, and vice versa.

(“Connection with October, and four, or perhaps 64.” Without seeing it to make absolutely sure, Jane and I are reasonably sure that the abstract Dr. Lodico has purchased from me was painted in October, 1964. I am sure I did the painting at least two years ago. I have the habit of dating my paintings, so will be able to check this data when I visit the doctor’s office. If no notice is added to this data at a later date, it can be taken as correct.

(“Some distant connection with an opera, opera house or music.” This baffled us at first. We missed the actual connection, and Seth helps out later. At this time Jane said one of the abstracts being offered to the doctor reminds her of music. She was going to tell me this before the session, but did not.

(“Familiar.” Jane was vexed at herself here, for she realized now that when giving the familiar data, she was going to say something about a familiar location, meaning the location of our apartment as something familiar to us. Our address is on the letter used as object.

(“16. I do not know, perhaps 16 people, or a 16 date.” Jane and I make no positive connections.

(“A disturbance in the afternoon.” Possibly a reference to my invitation to the doctor, on the object, to visit us at any time to see the paintings I offer. I say afternoons or evenings might be best. Technically an afternoon visit on his part would interrupt the working hours of Jane and me, but we would not really call it a disturbance since we want to sell the paintings.

(“Connection with a letter. Perhaps a Florida postmark.” The object is of course a letter. I believe the Florida data should be included with the mention of a letter, although a separate sentence. Once again, the Water Street address on the letter could give rise to the Florida data. On each of the several times Jane and I have lived in Florida, we have lived very close to the water.

(“A name with seven letters.” Lodico has six letters. Colucci has seven letters however, and Jane was subjectively sure this is the name referred to, especially when taken along with the next data.

(Jane was sure Andy Colucci was the name referred to here, and Seth confirms this after break.

(“A small building or house with a flattish roof. A lightish color in sunlight. An orange color, and perhaps with scrolls, or scroll shapes, and a banner.” This turned out to be confusing data, and at the same time quite interesting. I thought it all of a piece when Seth delivered it, and still do. It may also involve direct telepathy, Jane reading my thoughts here.

(Jane had no idea as to this building’s location in relation to Dr. Lodico, although of course she has seen it often. After the session, although it was late, I suggested we walk the few blocks to check out the above data. Arriving there, we saw that Dr. Lodico had no office in the building in question. Instead we discovered his office—and that of his father—to be in a conventional two-story building across the street from the building with a flattish roof.

(Jane and I considered two possibilities. Since I had the medical building with the flat roof strongly in mind during the evening, Seth could have picked this up telepathically from me and used it for data. Or the proximity of this building to Dr. Lodico’s actual office could have resulted in confused impressions which Jane gave voice to. The two buildings are no more than fifty feet apart in physical space, being directly across the street from each other.

(As an aside, Jane personally likes abstract painting, so we don’t know whether this would influence such related data or not. Also, checking out the building data described on the last page, we saw that flowers were used as decoration for both the Lodico office, and the medical office building with the flat roof, across the street. Both displays of flowers were orderly however.

(2nd Question: Can you say something more about geometric? “The shapes perhaps cubes. Gold colored, and partially in shadow. This reminds Ruburt of Jungle Gyms at a playground.” See the sketch of the abstract on page 39. As stated, this is one of the group of paintings written about in the letter used as object. This particular painting has strong cubist leanings. Some of the shapes in it are based on cubes. It is painted in browns, ochres, and golden tones. Shadows play a prominent role in it also. And Jane said the design of the painting, with its interlocking angular shapes and lines, reminds her of a Jungle Gym at a playground.

(3rd Question: Can you be more specific about the two men and the woman? “A photograph, connected with Ruburt. Having to do with the past rather than the immediate present.” This is associative data, Jane said, and came about because of the geometric data above. The geometric data recalled Jungle Gyms to her mind; these in turn reminded her of a photograph of herself, which she still has, that was taken of her at a playground in Saratoga Springs, NY, with a Jungle Gym in back of her.

(The photo idea however is quite legitimate, since a photo can be related to a painting in many ways. The areas on all of the abstracts are of course filled in, and also the abstract foundation of the paintings relates them to the idea of buildings. In fact a friend interpreted one of them as being a painting of buildings recently. Jane said Seth might not be able to very easily distinguish between the emotional charges connected to a photo and a painting; they might appear much alike to his perceptions. This is even more apparent in the next data, which I break into two parts.

(7th Question: Do you want to name the object? “I am not sure. There is a strong connection with a photograph, but I do not know whether the object itself is a photograph. Dark colors and light colors and shadows.” Thus the visual idea of a painting and a photo are closely related, to Seth. Some distinction is made, either by Seth or Jane, in that a photo is not definitely named as the object. “Dark colors and light colors and shadows” can refer to either a photo or a painting; the description is quite apt for the painting roughly indicated on page 39.

(“Also a column, or columns.” Jane said she thought this data, tacked on at the close, referred to the fact that she has an idea to sell a weekly column on ESP to the local paper, and has been working up samples lately.

(Jane resumed in a quieter manner at 10:55.)

(See pages 39 and 40, explaining our confusion over this data. Seth’s answer, above, contributed to the confusion, and is in error. The next session has by now been held. It concerns a discussion by Seth of the envelope experiments. He discusses this particular building data and the inaccurate answer in a most interesting manner. He also confirms our idea that Jane picked up the building data from me telepathically.)

(After the session Jane said she should have caught this connection, since she was brought up a Catholic and is quite familiar with the chant, mass, etc. This music is among her favorites. Remember that I mentioned Mount Savior specifically in the letter used as object. The lace data might also fall into this category.)

(End at 11:11. Jane was well dissociated again.)