“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 75th envelope experiment used as object the employee record stub from Jane’s first check as a substitute high school teacher. Jane had of course seen it several times since receipt on October 28. The object is printed in black on green paper which contains a faint pattern. The green is itself a light tint. The large numeral in the upper right corner is in red. The back is blank. I placed the record between the usual double Bristols, then sealed it in double envelopes.

(Jane has called up the school board and taken her name off the list of teachers on call for substitute duty. Today, October 31.)

(“Connection with an encounter.” Jane said this is definitely a reference to her first day of teaching, October 11,1966. The object is from the paycheck for this day’s work. Jane said that although she liked teaching, the first encounter with a class is one to be remembered. She has had odd jobs teaching in the past, but never in a school system, in a formal classroom, etc.

(“The number 6. 6 PM, 6 as a date, we shall see.” Jane said this refers to the fact that in order to keep the job as a substitute teacher she must begin taking 6 credits a year at Elmira College, after she has taught a total of 40 school days. This is a New York State law.

(“Playground.” This is good personal data as far as Jane is concerned, since from early childhood she has had a strong association between playgrounds and schools. This has cropped up before in these experiments also. [Jane’s note: Donna Taylor had shown me the playground for her 1st graders, during my 2nd teaching job.]

(“A date. Perhaps 1963, and a scroll of sorts.” We believe this data goes together, although there is a date, October 27,1966, on the object. The scroll we think of as symbolic of education or school. In 1963, Jane talked to a class conducted by Mr. Clauss, at Elmira College, subject poetry. The college connection arose recently, because Jane also applied for a teaching job there, as well as in the Elmira school system.

(“A city. Very distant connection with something like Cincinnati, Ohio.” A possible distant connection: At the end of her second day of teaching Jane was given a ride home by a next-door neighbor who is also a teacher. The neighbor is from Ohio, but not Cincinnati, which could account for Seth’s reference to “something like” Cincinnati. In addition, the neighbor had just returned to Elmira from a trip to Ohio, so the Ohio thought was mentioned in the conversation more than once. City is also mentioned on the object itself—City School District, etc.

(“Six again, I do believe referring to time.” Another reference to the fact that Jane must begin taking 6 credits a year at Elmira College, after she has taught in the public school system 40 days. Thus there is a time connection.

(“A C and a J.” Jane said this is valid data, if not as good as we would like. The J refers to herself. The C can refer to either Gene Cesari, an assistant dean at Elmira College, or to Bill Cieri, of the public school night-course system. Jane also cited the similarity in sound between Gene and Jane.

(“And an abstract design.” Jane said this is a valid reference to Bert Ryerson, superintendent of art in the Elmira school system. Bert first got Jane interested in teaching; he is also an artist, and paints abstracts.

(“A small rectangular object, perhaps of metal, with numbers upon it. Such as, for example, a small license plate, that would carry numbers and notations, and be metallic and connected with travel. And the color orange and black, and an automobile perhaps.” All of this refers to Jane’s taking a taxi to the various schools in town, whenever she was called. I was not available to take her, having already left for work except on the first occasion. The taxi she used was orange and black.

(“A schedule of events, and an accounting.” Good data. Seth gets back on the track in the next sentence. The object is an accounting of Jane’s earnings, and a schedule of when she earned the money, etc., since it is an employee’s pay record from the Elmira school system.

(Jane said the teacher’s face was very red with anger, and that it was obvious he had a strong temper. Later that day she overheard two of her students talking, and they discussed the teacher’s bad temper, it being a well-known fact in the school. Jane discussed the incident with me the day it happened. It had made quite an impression on her, and of course took her by surprise.