“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.

(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.

(“A Friday.” See the tracing of the note I enclosed with the beer can cap in the double envelopes, on page 86. The first line of my copy reads “Used Friday, Oct. 7/66.” This little note was written on Friday, October 7 also, after company left. [This session was held on Monday, October 10.]

(“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.

(“And a connection with time mentioned.” We are not sure. We mentioned time many times during the evening, of course. A prominent written source of time last Friday evening lay in the Fate article on table tipping, which we all read in turn: twenty seconds; after midnight; twelve years; a month later; four months later; three minutes; since 1960, etc. My envelope note on page 86 says Friday.

(“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.

(Red also appears on the Draft Beer can, one of which furnished the cap, in the words “by Iroquois,” and in the design of the Indian head at the bottom of the can. See page 88.

(“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.

(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.

(4th Question: What’s that about a skirmish? “Having to do with an argument.” Again see page 96. There were several skirmishes during the evening over whether the three men were faking the table tipping. There was also one between Jane and me after company left. This was not an argument, but Jane forcefully presented her idea to the effect that she and I were obligated not to clown around with effects in the psychic field. I agreed.

(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.

(“Also 1861 or 1961.” See page 88. In small numerals there is the date 1842, within the circle enclosing the Indian head. Jane was fairly sure Seth was trying to get at this data; and she now felt that the 46 or 1946 data on page 96, and the 36 and 46 data on page 94, all reflected Seth’s attempts in this direction. Seth agrees after break.

(“Something old-fashioned, as a horse and buggy.” Again, note the Indian head, plus the name Iroquois, on the beer can shown on page 88. Jane said the old-fashioned data is her attempt to get at this. Her personal associations run to horses-and-wagons-and-Indians-and-fighting-in-westerns, in the movies and on TV. Although subjective, she regards this as good data.

(Just before Seth resumed Jane said she also thought she knew what the big A data, listed on page 93, meant, and that it had an old-fashioned connection also.

(See the note starting at the bottom of page 97.)