“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Notes on the first session in which Jane tried deliberately to contact a survival personality for someone else. Present at our apartment were Jane and me and Jerry Kramerick, of Elmira.

(Jerry had recently sent some of her elderly father’s clothes to be cleaned. This afternoon when the clothes were returned Jerry found a note stapled to a garment, found in a pocket by the cleaners. This puzzled Jerry, since she had thoroughly searched the garments before sending them out. She wondered if Jane could pick up any impressions from the note.

(The note was from Billie, Jerry’s stepmother, who had died in 1965. Neither Jerry nor her father had seen the note before, and it had a strong emotional effect on both of them. A further puzzle was due to the fact that for some time before her death Billie could not write, so Jerry was curious as to just when the note had been written.

(Billie was the third wife of Jerry’s father, and she herself had been married once before. Jerry added many italic notes after I’d typed the session.

(On the spur of the moment Jane agreed to see what she could get on her own, without Seth. She cautioned Jerry that the effort would be strictly experimental on her part, and that results could be good, bad or indifferent. Jane sat at the living room table with Jerry opposite; I sat nearby taking notes. What follows is not verbatim, since Jane spoke quite rapidly at times, but is close to it, and the correct meaning of what Jane said is always given. Many parts of the record are exact, however.

I get a short name, ends with A. A city—Ithaca? (Hilda? Sister took care of her at sickness.) I don’t think so. A connection with Schenectady. A 1932. (Jerry didn’t know. Consciously checked it with aunt.) Perhaps wedding. (Married 1st time.)

Now. Some connection with a porch here (I don’t know if Jerry has one); ground floor—some room off a porch, or off the driveway she thinks he should sleep in (tore front porch off this house—enclosed as sun porch. Tore off—made a plain porch. No room. [Living room TV room off this.])

I feel that Billie is pretty close about. There is something about a… I seem to sense Billie at this time wearing dark-colored dress, not black, that Jerry might remember, of violet or purple color. Some kind of velvet material… A kind of soft material to the touch. It looks like velvet. At one time it had a white collar that could be detached. (Pause. Jerry doesn’t remember. She was dressy. Very.

She says she knew, you see, when she wrote this, but it was no coincidence that it was found now. Also she seems to have a quick… at least now she seems to have a quick, sputtering voice. (Yes. Exact voice description.) She says, and this is my impression: that’s no lie, as if that was an expression of hers. And that she and Jerry have guts and gumption. Like “that’s no lie” are parts of her own speech patterns. (All phrases of hers—and swearing.)

It could be “tip-up time”. Having to do with a drink, and with Jerry’s father. (Pause.

There seems to be a Tony with her now. (Pause. ? Unless lost child was named Tony. Jerry and aunt have heard of a Tony.) Jerry tried too hard, consciously, making any contact difficult.

(3:25. Jane’s voice trailed off and she came slowly out of trance. Jerry and I had said nothing while Jane had been speaking. Now Jerry said that most of the material had meaning for her. As soon as she said this, Jane asked her not to say any more at this time, and I agreed.

I just picked up something about Jerry don’t do something, connected with snow. This is my interpretation: Don’t shovel snow? I’m just guessing. It takes me a while to get back in this. (Jerry broke leg, falling in snow. Billie disturbed.)

The name Polly? (A long pause, eyes closed.) She tried to come through in a vision sort of thing to Jerry one night—this isn’t Jerry’s dream—two months ago. (Yes. Jerry felt she was there, right behind her.)

There seems to be another Jerry. (Yes, Jerry’s aunt. Real mother’s sister.)

(Now Jane suddenly pounded her left fist on the table so hard that the cups and saucers and other objects jumped violently. The gesture was so rapid and violent that I too jumped. I was instantly concerned lest Jane physically injure her hand, so hard were the blows, several now in succession. It is here that Jane was someone else, at least briefly; Jerry later said she had the same feeling, and that Jane’s gestures and voice and manner, including head shaking and language, were those of Billie.

(He did play around, Jerry just found out a short time ago—she did discover it; they did have fights.)

(True, Jerry said. Jane was shaking her head here again; she seemed to be trying to explain Billie’s attitude. The pace was so fast I didn’t get it down verbatim.

(The effect of the data here was that Billie seemed most concerned that we understand her true attitude toward Jerry’s father.)

Something about Linda (Jerry’s daughter—Lorinda. 5 now), that Linda is a wild one (yes, she is wild). I don’t want answers: is Linda 6? The furniture bill. Something about it coming due. Seems to be important… A bill… Either due on Jerry’s house, or for Billie’s in the past that Jerry’s father didn’t meet, or something that wasn’t paid for. I think on Jerry’s house, but I’m not sure. (He has bills and just took out another loan—Jerry unhappy here.)

She wants him to be his old self. (Pause, head down.) I seem to see a distant connection with Wisconsin (? Will ask aunt), on Billie’s part, I think… A wedding anniversary and a string of beads. (She wore beads a lot.) She was trying to get through Jerry to get to the father because she wanted him to know that she was with him as much as ever, and then she sort of laughs and says more so, probably more so.

(3:50. This proved to be the end of the session. Jerry now said that most of the data was correct, except that since she herself was born in 1937 she wasn’t sure about the 1936 and 1932 dates, but would try to check. Jerry agreed to go over a copy of this material and to write in wherever she thought Jane’s data applied.

(Jerry said that the data echoed Billie’s fiery, hot-tempered disposition very well, and that the phrases Jane cited like “guts and gumption”, etc., were the exact ones used by Billie. Billie swore often and talked very fast, as noted in the data. Billie was dominant over her father, Jerry said; she was very insistent and wouldn’t back down in an argument.

(Jerry said that emotionally Jane acted much like Billie, that there was good contact here, and that in the fight scene she thought that Jane was Billie. Billie died at age 47. Jane rubbed her right hip as she talked, and Jerry said that Billie had a bad hip in the same area, and rubbed it also as Jane had done.

(Jerry said she didn’t see how Billie could have written the note when Jane said she did, in November 1964, since Billie died in 1965 [just two months into the year] and had been unable to write for some time before her death. As we talked however now, Jane said Billie was “still there” and that she now insisted this was the correct time re the note-writing.

(Billie was the third wife of Jerry’s father, and she had been married once before herself. She caught the father “running around,” Jerry said, and raised hell. Jerry remembered that in connection with the Tony data, the name of Billie’s first husband was Anthony. Jerry said that as far as she knew Anthony wasn’t dead, but that she would check; perhaps death had occurred.

(All the while we talked, Jane said Billie was still with us, and that she could have resumed at any time. Jerry verified other data I did not make notes on, including the Vermont and Wisconsin names. Supper time was approaching, and so the experimental session ended.

(Jane said that previous experience was a great help in guiding her over the rough emotional involvements like the fight scene—that she “got through” these quite well and wasn’t alarmed. She went over the session with Jerry on 1/16.)