“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The object for the 72nd envelope experiment was an empty envelope, as shown. I kept the letter that had been enclosed in the envelope for reference, and as expected needed it to decipher some of Seth’s data. The object was a standard white business envelope, printed and typed in black. The back was blank. I sealed it in the usual double envelopes after placing it between two pieces of Bristol board. Jane had seen the envelope in a casual way upon its arrival here last May, but not since then.

Two again, like a double exposure. It seems a definite connection with your studio. A bottom or middle drawer, next to something financial. And a small round object.

(Wendell’s letter of May 26 is two typewritten pages long, and at the moment we do not plan to include a copy of it with these notes. If necessary we will do so; in the meantime the letter remains on file with other envelope-related material. Other background material may be necessary to fill in the relationship between Wendell, myself and our friends discussed in the letter, and this will be included in our interpretations of the envelope experiment data. Some geography is involved also.

(The negative mention in the data is interesting, and has several connections, both here and in the rest of Seth’s data. Jane and I did not think of negative in connection with the word no, for instance, but in relation to pictures or visual images. On page two of his letter Wendell tells about a friend who works for the Neilson TV survey people—having to do with pictures. But also, negative, meaning pictures, is called to mind because Wendell’s letter deals with a group of artists who worked together in a studio, drawing comic strips, in 1941-3. In addition I personally have a studio here in the apartment, and the envelope used as object was kept in this studio. These references about studios, pictures, and the object crop up again later in the data also.

(There is another possible travel connection here, depending upon interpretation. The envelope object is postmarked Ridgewood, NJ, which lies on the outer rim of the commuter towns attendant to New York City. The letter the object contained, however, was written by Wendell at his home in Edgewater, NJ, which is just across the Hudson from New York City. The two towns are at least 25 miles apart—a trip Wendell makes daily.

(“A building, more like an office building than a residence. Something like the Star-Gazette building.” Was the restaurant in which the reunion was held located on the ground floor of a building like the Star-Gazette building here in Elmira? A large brick two-story building typical of many we remember in the metropolitan New Jersey-New York City area. This is only speculation on our part. Later note RFB: Newspaper comics.

(“The photograph connection is strong [pause] but I do not believe the item is this precisely.” [Pause.] Seth tried to help Jane discriminate here, as he often does. Tonight’s object of course is not a picture or photo, but an envelope that contained a letter about people who make pictures. Also, I was taking pictures of Jane last week, as explained. Thus it can be seen how all such related data, even though separated by much time, comes together in these session experiments. This particular chain of association was not anticipated by me when I picked the Crowley envelope as object for tonight. The two studio settings—the studio I worked in with Wendell Crowley in 1941-3, and my present studio, are separated by as much as 23 years.

(Jane spells out: M-i-s-s-i-n-c or e-n-c. At break Jane said this data was actually two impressions, Miss and Inc or Enc. But we still couldn’t make connections. According to the object, for instance, the Crowley-Taylor Lumber Company is not incorporated.

(“Two again, like a double exposure.” See the “twice” and “negative” data on page 77, and the listing of Wendell’s use of the numeral 2 on the second page of his letter. Double exposure, above, also has picture and artist connotations.

(“And a small round object.” On top of the stack of papers that had accumulated on the desk shelf, and which contained Wendell Crowley’s envelope and letter, I had placed a plastic tape dispenser as a makeshift paperweight. This dispenser is composed of round and curving lines, has a circular hole through it perhaps an inch and a half in diameter, a larger round design in red printed about this hole, and of course contains a round roll of Scotch tape perhaps two inches in diameter.

The studio connection was legitimate, but Ruburt associated it with you primarily when two studios were involved. These are the main points.

(Two studios, meaning the studio of 1941-3, and my present one.

(“Do the two studios account for the twin data?” See page 78.)