“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(I repaired the broken legs with nails and glue, to insure a strong job; before, the legs had been merely dowel-fastened. This Wednesday evening the table performed as follows: Irish jigs upon request, vaulting up into the air while in Carl’s grip, chasing around our backs as Carl held it while we tried to keep up with it, skittering across the rug, knocking back and forth, and building up a very strong pressure indeed, when we tried to force the leg up in the air back down to the floor, or rug.

(There were of course all manner of in-between motions given by the table also, hard to describe in words. The pressure manifested, of course, held our intense attention, since this is so diametrically opposed to our usual unthinking acceptance of the gravitational force. Jane requested A A to manifest pressure often, and usually A A, or the table, obligingly did so. Everything seemed to work together in perfect order—table, our moods, etc. If one chose to call a full levitation 100%, then our evening could be called 90% successful.

(Several times during the evening Carl and I had to use considerable pressure to get the raised third leg of the table back down to the floor. The effect appeared so often that all four of us had ample time to feel it—as noted before, to me this force reminds me strongly of two magnets repelling each other—something invisible yet most palpable, and when things are going well, easily demonstrable.

(Carl had a brainstorm; we placed our bathroom scale on the tabletop finally when the pressure was “going good,” and requested A A to continue building up the pressure so that Carl, who was on the side of the table manifesting the pressure at that time, could measure the force he used to get the table back on the floor solidly. A A obligingly built up the pressure again; pressing down, Carl saw that he used a hand pressure of 70 pounds, as measured by the scale, to get all three legs of the table back on the floor, whereas usually gravity would effortlessly draw the legs back to the floor when our fingertips were removed.

(Needless to say, when Carl or whoever was measuring pressure on the scale, the other three took pains to see that they were not subconsciously exerting a heavy pressure on the other side of the table,thus forcing a stronger response across the tabletop to get the legs back on the floor. Such checking was easy to do; nevertheless conscious deliberate checks were constantly being made to make certain opposing pressures were not unwittingly being exerted. Most of the time our hands touched the table so lightly that it could move quite freely beneath them, seemingly of its own volition. This steady checking has the added advantage that it serves as a protection against any possible hallucination [although this would have to be a mass effect, and highly unlikely]; the checking in a deliberate manner was a good method to keep one’s feet on the floor, so to speak, even if the table was acting contrary to gravity.

(After hanging upside down for a short but measurable length of time the table again descended. Later, Carl tried to consciously make the table describe the same upside-down movement, and discovered that he could not exert enough force while using the same grip on the table top edge. The best he could do was to get the table up to shoulder height at the most, and I believe this to be a somewhat generous estimate. Also Carl’s arm tired quickly, whereas before it had not. Was he dissociated to any degree when the table vaulted up?

(It is of course possible to balance any object, large or small, and this has led Jane and me to experiment a bit with the table in question. It was soon discovered that by balancing it at a certain angle with the fingertips, then exerting a downward pressure, one can have an illusion of a force from beneath holding the table up with one leg off the floor. However, as far as we can tell this is not the force we have experienced when a leg will refuse to return to the floor.

(One must exert the downward pressure in a manner directed away from the body while experimenting, in order to maintain the balance and center of gravity, and at least when experimenting this necessity to push down and away from oneself is quite noticeable. When the table is performing well it seems that a direct downward pressure, applied to the edge of the tabletop, is required to overcome the force. The direction of this downward push is quite different, we believe at this stage, from the experimental down-and-away thrust. But more study is required here, and with this knowledge in mind, we will try to more accurately assess the table’s performance at future sessions.

(I stood back in a corner by the bookcase; the table had worked its way toward the bathroom door, which was closed. At the table were Bill Gallagher, with beside him Pat Norelli. Others were also at the table, but Bill and Pat were on the side showing the strong pressure. The pressure finally reached the point where Bill Gallagher could not force the third table leg back to the floor. As I recall, he was using a direct downward pressure, not the down-and-away pressure discussed earlier.

(Jane and I do not know the exact sequence of events. Most likely Bill and Pat exerted so much downward thrust that the table was at last overwhelmed. The force with which the third leg hit the floor shattered it; at the same time, did the top split in two? We cannot be sure. No pictures were taken of course, or notes made at the moment. This account is written several days later, after several conversations by Jane and me with some of the people present. A variation in accounts of course resulted, and we will not try to give these here.

(The two obvious points are that the table broke, and that a great force was needed to do this. I personally witnessed Bill Gallagher pushing heavily down upon the resisting table a few seconds before it broke. My estimate is that the third, resisting leg, was perhaps an inch or two off the floor. I recall at the time being especially intrigued that such a small space between table leg and floor was leading, for whatever reason, to so much human effort being expended.

(Jane and I cannot say exactly who was at the table when it broke, although we know that neither of us was, nor was Curt Kent, who sat to one side drinking beer. We believe that five people were at least touching the tabletop, and perhaps more. The breaking of the table left us delighted and appalled—me especially; and it took me several hours on two succeeding days to repair the table. So much force was used to shatter the table leg that a nail two and a quarter inches long, that I had used in my previous repair bout, was bent at an exact right angle. This nail remained embedded in the detached leg. Other smaller nails in the same leg were pulled through the detached leg and remained in the central pedestal.

(The twice-repaired table has been used in subsequent sessions, but very gingerly for it is now much weakened. Pressure has indicated itself to a small degree, but we have used little force to subdue it. We have tried a few pressure experiments, previously described, with it, very cautiously. We mourn the table’s withdrawal for obvious reasons. It is a good responder, and its spirit, A A, seemed quite pleased to communicate with us, in a most forceful manner. We want to keep the table to maintain this contact, even if casually, and for further study on pressure angles, etc. Also to use this table as a springboard for work with heavier, four-legged tables, etc.

(The session, as soon as it began, struck me as being very forceful indeed—perhaps too much so. Seth was deadly serious. Peg, fortunately, took notes. I personally did not think we were unappreciative of what had taken place this evening, but Seth proceeded to drive the point home rather unmercifully, I thought at the time. Later the Gallaghers said they did not think the session had been unduly severe, but I do not think I agree.