“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane had no idea of what Seth would talk about during the session, although both of us hoped he would discuss the events of last Friday evening, September 23, at home. Present were Bill and Peggy Gallagher, Barbara Ingold, Jane and myself. Jane has written up an account of her experience, and Peggy took partial notes. Copies of both accounts will be attached to this session. I will also add notes as the session unfolds.

(Seth desired to come through Friday evening, since we had obviously set the stage through our conversation. Jane and Barbara had also helped because of their talk before the arrival of the Gallaghers. Jane denied Seth permission to speak, and he agreed. Later Jane began to give impressions on her own, in trance. All of the data concerned Barbara, who verified several striking points.

(“Good evening, Seth.”)

(Seth gave us a little help after break, and although this was brief it filled in a good deal on some of the data we had been unsure of. For convenience’s sake it is better to include Seth’s later data along with our own interpretations, made during break, since emotional charges explain much concerning the material. For more detailed information on how the emotional charges influence Seth’s envelope data, see the 286th session.

(After break Seth said our own interpretations were correct. But we couldn’t be as specific as desired, and felt there were valid things left unsaid.

(“The impression of something swirling about, as leaves in a wind.” Our interpretation here was that the swirling and leaves data referred to the mention of a garden in the poem used as object. See page 51. This may be correct. Also according to Seth after break however, the swirling was to have led Jane to frosting. The birthday cake we gave Bill Gallagher on July 1st was frosted. The poem used as object was written for this occasion.

(“A missionary connection.” We think this very good data. Bill Gallagher’s facetious term for the local newspaper office, where he also works, is the Garden of Gethsemane—hence such religious connections in the poem used as object. Also, Seth’s longstanding term of affection for Bill is “The Jesuit,” and he so calls Bill in the session tonight. See page 54.

(“Small wavering blue lines. Something written by an old hand perhaps, with thin wavering lines.” Jane’s corrections on the object were made with a blue pen, which appears quite dark on the yellow paper upon which the poem was typed. Her corrections are small, but not wavering. The old and wavering data puzzled us, and we missed out here because we did not interpret the emotional charges involved, as Seth did.

(Actually this data is quite legitimate, and becomes understandable when we learned after break that, according to Seth, Bill Gallagher felt very old on his 41st birthday, last July 1. Once again, see the 286th session.

(“A note.” We think this a close-enough description of the object, in that the briefness of the poem could resemble a note to Seth’s method of perception.

(“A small square, and perhaps a larger one.” Our interpretation here, without in any way being positive, was that this concerned the square cardboard cake box described earlier—which was square as we recall it—and the smaller birthday card. However we are not sure now whether the card was enclosed in a square envelope or a rectangular one. Taking literally Seth’s blanket notice after break that our interpretations were correct, this would include the above. We wouldn’t claim it on our own however.

(“I have a stable or horse connection.” This is another instance where Seth verifies our own interpretation. Jane very nearly did not mention her idea here, thinking at first it was too “far-out.” She finally told me that when she first looked at the envelope object during break, she read my penciled word “Man-a-me,” to the right of the poem used as object, as “Man-O-War,” which is the name of a very famous race horse. It is incidentally the only horse’s name that Jane knows, she said.

(This of course implies that Jane translated the same impression on a subconscious basis for Seth, misreading and all. Possible?

(“A letter written by an older person.” This ties in with the earlier old and wavering data, interpreted at the top of page 57. As Seth tells us after break, the old reference concerns Bill Gallagher’s subjective feelings on his birthday last July 1. The letter reference here stems from the resemblance of the typed poem used as object to a letter, and echoes the note data, also discussed on page 57.

(“A connection with woods.” Our own interpretation here is that woods refers to the literal Biblical Garden of Gethsemane, which is spoofed in the poem used as object. Jane says the actual garden was not a formal garden, a cultivated type, but rather contained olive trees, etc., and much growth of this kind. Seth’s blanket endorsement after break implies, again, that this is the correct interpretation.

(“Connection with a leaf or autumn.” See the data on page 55. As then, we think the leaf data here refers to the garden mentioned in the poem used as object. But also we think the autumn data here grows out of the swirling data on page 55, and Seth’s attempt to get Jane to give voice to frosting. The autumn data here could have grown out of the interpretation on Jane’s part of Seth’s frosting impression.

(First Question: Is this old hand male or female? “I am not sure, though I suspect male. The hand is not a typically male hand however, but more delicate perhaps.” Seth is correct, in that the old reference here does concern Bill Gallagher and his subjective feelings [the male], on the evening of his birthday party, for which the envelope object was written. Jane and I do not especially see any connection with the delicate hand reference however.

(“Good night, Seth.”

(End at 10:49. Jane was out as usual, her voice quiet. She commented that she wished the envelope data had been more specific, although it did contain some good points, and there seemed to be no doubt that Seth had tuned in on the correct situation, object, etc.