“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(See the previous pages for tracings of the two envelope objects used in the 73rd experiment this evening. The beer can cap was enclosed within my folded note; the note was written on white paper in the same color ink used to make the tracings. Both items came from a gathering of friends at our apartment last Friday evening, October 7. The dark color on the end of the tab is carbon black from a candle flame. I did this deliberately on Friday evening during the gathering, in full view of everyone, for at that moment I decided to use this cap as the envelope object for the session tonight. Other details later.

(As usual I placed the objects between two pieces of heavy Bristol, to preclude any identification by touch, then sealed this sandwich in two envelopes. Seth has said before that he does not give any envelope data that could have resulted either from Jane’s sense of touch, or sight, and this has never been a problem in these experiments.

(Jane had some images and these will be mentioned in place. This is a case where Jane had seen one of the two items making up the envelope objects very recently—the beer can cap, on Friday, October 7, three days ago. She had never seen my penned note bearing the date and identifying the brand of beer, Draft Beer. See pages 86-88 for tracings of the two envelope objects, and the beer can. I might add that Jane saw the beer can cap only in a casual way. There were quite a few lying about our living room Friday evening. Our candle was not lit until late that evening. When I picked up a cap to blacken in the flame I thought this would focus Jane’s conscious attention on this particular one, but she told me at break tonight that she hadn’t noticed my heating the cap, or else had forgotten it.

(Jane read aloud to the gathering an article in the November 1966 Fate Magazine titled Table Up! or How To Tilt a Table, by Georgia Mae Fields. This is an old children’s game, and we decided to try it with a card table. Our experiences of the evening involving this game enter into the envelope data, although neither of the envelope objects refer to it directly. This is often the case, the often innocuous envelope object reflecting whatever strong emotional charges surround it at the physical time Jane and Seth are trying to get back to.

(“A vertical format.” Seth didn’t help us out here and I neglected to ask him to after break, but in view of later data Jane and I believe this applies to the design on the Draft Beer can, furnishing the cap used as one of the envelope objects. See page 88. Due to its nature a beer can would bear a vertical format. The card table we used had a plain brown top; but perhaps Seth referred to something else.

(“Connection with a large city. This Minneapolis connection, I do not know to what it refers. Again, a capital letter impression, a large M. Minneapolis, Mississippi—that length of word, with a place description connected.” Jane said she was sure these long names beginning with an M reflected her attempts to come through with Milwaukee, rather than Minneapolis. She tied up the Milwaukee name to our having beer to drink at the gathering Friday evening: and of course a beer can furnished the metal object used in the experimental envelope. See page 88.

(In regard to the Minneapolis-Milwaukee data above, it should be added that the Iroquois Draft Beer can that furnished the cap used as object in tonight’s experiment, did not come from Milwaukee or anywhere in the Midwest. See the sketch on page 88. The can and contents originated in Buffalo, NY, as indicated.

(“Printed matter and a design.” Again, see the tracings of the two envelope objects on page 86. The note enclosed with the beer can cap bears my handwriting. This is not printing, although Seth has often intermixed the terms printing, writing, lettering, typing, etc. We think this good data. And that “design” can refer to the metallic, cleanly-designed beer can. Seth goes on from here.

(“Something small and round, like a ring, or small circular shape.” The beer can cap used as object is small and round, like a ring. Jane pointed out also that the word “Ring” appears twice in blind emboss on top of Draft Beer cans, one of which furnished the cap. See page 88.

(“The color red.” We cannot be sure. There could be many sources of red that Friday evening; for instance, the candle I used to deposit a coat of carbon black on the cap used as object, was a brilliant red; this was a large fat candle, and one we have used in previous experiments. We used it toward the close of the evening last Friday as an object upon which the six of us focused our attention. Half humorously, we attempted to increase the height of the candle flame by concentration, with no success. This was after we had finished the table tipping.

(“Two men, yourself and another connected here.” I am of course connected to the envelope objects, having authored the note. See page 86. This data called for a good amount of vexation on Jane’s part as soon as she opened the envelopes and saw the initials RFB on the note. Her confusion is also apparent in the series of questions I asked, as I usually do following the delivery of the data.

(“A calendar, or series of numbers.” I wrote a series of three numbers on the note used as one of the envelope objects, indicating the date. See page 86. There are also numbers on the beer can shown on page 88. There could be many other references to numbers.

(“Blue. Perhaps the color of a garment.” Jane wore her favorite blue sweater Friday evening, October 7,1966, the evening which furnished the two objects used in tonight’s envelope experiment.

(1st Question: What’s that about a Friday? “A Friday connected with the item. Perhaps a 7, or 17, day of the month. Or 7 PM.” Seth is quite correct. See the copy of the note on page 86. Friday, October 7,1966 is specifically mentioned on the note which was one of the two envelope objects. 7 PM doesn’t enter in however. Later note by RFB: Very good.

(3rd Question: Who is the other man mentioned besides myself? “We will try on this in a moment.” See the interpretation of the “two men” data at the top of page 96. As stated, Jane had an image of my initials on the note used as test object; but since my father’s initials are the same she feared she would distort the data by voicing the initials. Yet she knew that I was also connected with the envelope data.

(“Also with a past war connection.” This is not as definite, but we think it applies to Bill Gallagher more than Don and me. All three of us have had military service, Bill and me in World War Two on active duty. Bill is quite a historian on the subject of war, and often discusses it. We believe the subject is almost always mentioned when we are together. The connection with the envelope objects being that Bill was of course present last Friday, October 7,1966.

(“Oval also. Something oval.” Jane said that while giving this data she knew a small object was referred to, but did not say so. She thinks Seth was trying to get across the idea of the elongated egg shape of the ring and cap, thus:

(6th Question: How about its color? “We gave you colors.” See the gray, black and white data at the top of page 97. In asking this question I wondered whether Seth might give other colors, in the event he referred to some other oval object than the tab.