“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane had a strong experience this morning; when I came home at noon she was still going through phases of it. She has full notes on it, so it will be briefly summarized here.

(The dream book, which is now at Ace for consideration, was involved. Jane wrote during the morning several pages of notes, ideas and impressions. The gist of these seemed to be that the dream book, its struggles in creation, etc., was involved, and that it was to be accepted, finally, by Ace. This would be a triumph. More than this seemed to be involved however—there were feelings of health improvement tied in also.

(A nap after lunch seemed to restore Jane to a “workable state,” as she put it. Naturally we wondered what, if anything, Seth might say about the experience. I also read to Jane just before the session two questions I had written out recently for Seth’s consideration.)

(“Why is it that in cases of specific information, such as names, dates, places, etc., you [or Jane or Ruburt] will often delay giving the answer. That is, the answer will be put off until the next session. I have often noticed in such cases that if I don’t insist in the following sessions, the subject in question will not be voluntarily referred to again by you [or Jane or Ruburt.]”

(This gave rise to another question, which I did not ask but will note here: Seth has said on occasion that Jane was too close, too emotionally involved with data to answer clearly, and that it is then best to wait. This would leave only the recourse of going back to the data later, if we want more information, when it is “cold.”)

(9:42. Jane was easily out of trance. Once, she said, she felt that she was growing “smaller” as she sat in her rocker while Seth spoke. She felt that she was an old man, little, tiny... at the same time as Jane she knew she wasn’t shrinking but that it was a subjective experience. Seth kept on talking, and the feeling passed.

(Sometimes when I make notes I don’t have enough time to consider the material being received. Now is a case in point. I somewhat misinterpreted what Seth had said concerning projections. I commented aloud to Jane about how I thought that I had been using my psychic abilities in my paintings, quite consciously and deliberately as a most welcome aid.

(Seth was still around during break. As I spoke, Jane said later, she could feel him responding to my conversation. Jane, who was in the kitchen, hurried back to her chair just as Seth resumed at 9:44.)

(Jane has a long list of dreams, psy-time experiences, messages from Seth and herself, to the effect that the dream book will be published.)

(10:15. Jane popped right out of trance. It was a funny situation. She knew what she had said about the book, under consideration at Ace Books, where Don Wollheim is editor-in-chief, and was at once concerned about distorting material, etc. “I wish I hadn’t said it,” she commented wryly, after I remarked that we hadn’t pushed for any answers from Seth; or even asked any questions about the dream book specifically, before the session.

(The next day, January 28, after some debate, Jane called Ace in an effort to learn the status of the dream book. Don Wollheim hadn’t seen it yet. The editor in charge of psychic books was not available; her assistant told Jane a report on the book hadn’t been delivered yet. If Jane’s experience this morning does include the sale of the dream book, the event can be called precognitive to some degree.

(Don was delighted to learn about the sale of the Seth material to Prentice-Hall, and urged Jane to stress this sale to the dream book editor, Evelyn Grippo, in the letter he suggested Jane write.

(Speculation: Did Jane’s phone call today tinker with the experience yesterday? Did the experience lead to the phone call, and will informing Ace of the sale of the Seth material result in the sale of the dream book? On the other hand, can the sale to P-H have an adverse effect upon the hoped-for sale of the dream book to Ace?)