“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Seth answers these questions and many we hadn’t even considered. I thought that the whole subject was fascinating when he began, but I didn’t expect a demonstration in the middle of our living room, which is exactly what happened in the 68th session (July 6, 1964). Seth was describing the intimate connection between expectation and perception—what we see and observe—to Bill Macdonnel, when the incident took place. It was a session none of us would ever forget. Before I give you the high points of that episode, however, here are a few excerpts from immediately previous material:

Session 68 was held on a very warm night. All the windows were open. We were drinking iced coffee, and as the session started, my glass sat on the wooden table. At that time I still paced the room as I spoke for Seth, my eyes open with the pupils dark and dilated. As usual, Seth addressed us by our entity names, referring to me as Ruburt, and Rob as Joseph. Bill Macdonnel he called Mark. (As I mentioned before, these names refer to the whole personalities of which our present selves are only a part.)

Shortly after the session began, I picked up the abandoned glass and held it out to show to Rob and Bill. At the same time Seth’s voice began to grow deeper and stronger, with the masculine tones starting to creep in. Then Seth began to use the glass as a point around which to build his discussion.

Here Seth’s voice really boomed out. Bill was sitting in the rocker in the middle of the room. He moved the chair closer to see better. Rob was taking verbatim notes as usual, and looking up to watch whenever possible.

From my writing table at the right of the entrance to our bathroom, I could easily look at Bill as he sat in our Kennedy rocker, facing the bathroom entrance itself. … As Jane continued her delivery, I noticed that Bill was staring quite consistently into the open bath doorway, yet I didn’t pay any particular attention to this. I just took it for granted that Seth’s remark about using Bill as a guinea pig meant that he was to be a topic of conversation.

As soon as break arrived, Bill announced that he had seen an image in the bathroom doorway. This is what he had been staring at the whole time. He asked for a sheet of paper and immediately set to work on a sketch of what he had seen. He is an artist and schoolteacher.

As soon as Bill told us he had seen an image, Jane and I both looked into the doorway, of course. But we could see nothing; for that matter, Bill said, the image had vanished during break. Now Jane began dictating again in the same strong and very deep voice. Bill continued working on his sketch, saying that he was not satisfied with it and would try another.

Here Jane, as Seth, pointed at Bill as he sat in the rocker, working on his second sketch. Then she pointed at me. In the meantime Bill kept staring into the open doorway. As before, I could see nothing from my position at the table. The open door completely blocked my vision. I did not want to risk moving around, since I had to continue taking notes to make certain that our record was complete.

Here Jane paused beside Bill and picked up the first pen drawing he had made of his sighting of the apparition.

Jane handed the sketch back to Bill, who continued to stare into the doorway.

Now Jane stood in back of Bill, looking over his shoulder as he sketched.

Jane took the second sketch from Bill’s hand and paced about the room, talking as she examined it. I caught a glimpse of the drawing as she waved it briefly in my direction. All the while Bill continued to stare into the doorway.

Seth-Jane ended the monologue with a laugh at Bill. Now I asked Bill exactly what he had seen. He said that the dark open bathroom doorway turned a foggy white. He then saw the form of Seth’s apparition stand out against this lighter background. The form was mainly a silhouette, Bill said, without strong detail, and yet during the first monologue he got a good look at the face. The effect was rather like that of a photographic negative. Bill added that the face of the apparition was about six feet above floor level. A copy of his sketch is included in the notes [see illustrated section].

Rob’s hands were tired from taking notes; we took a break. I was somewhat bewildered. Bill swore up and down that he had seen the apparition for nearly an hour. It was not as solid as an ordinary body, but it was far from transparent. Seth had made numerous comments about it. Yet I had seen nothing. Rob hadn’t been able to leave his chair, so he had seen nothing. The lights had all been lit, but I just couldn’t accept the idea of an apparition.

“Bill, you didn’t see a thing, I bet.” I said. “You just want us to agree that we saw something, and then you’ll break up laughing and tell us you made it up—”

“That’s a great thing to say,” Bill said angrily. I was sorry as soon as I’d made the remark.

“Hon, why don’t you just take Bill’s word for it?” Rob said.

“Oh, all right.” Suddenly I felt silly. I sort of danced around to the doorway, laughed, and said, “Okay, Bill, now exactly where did you see your man in the doorway?” I clowned about, moving around in the open doorway. “Here? Or was it here?”

Suddenly I saw Bill’s and Rob’s expressions change. They’d been standing in the middle of the room, laughing at me. Now Rob whitened. Bill’s mouth dropped down. “What’s wrong?” I said.

“Just don’t move,” Rob said very quietly. I had a tingling sensation, but I saw nothing. I knew something odd was going on from Rob’s and Bill’s reactions, so I just stood still as I was told. And I stopped laughing.

Bill and I noticed at the same time that Jane’s animated features were changing. As she spoke to us, her jaw became more square in outline against her long black hair. Her nose enlarged. Her mouth acquired heavier, thicker, and wider lips as they moved with her speech, and her neck thickened. Neither Bill or I noted any change in her eyes or forehead.

We resumed the session, with all kinds of questions in our minds. Bill told us that he still sensed the first apparition, sometimes quite strongly. He had made two sketches, and was still making corrections. Since the session began at nine and lasted until midnight, I won’t attempt to include it all. The deep masculine voice was to last for the entire session, becoming more and more Seth-like as the evening continued.

When the session resumed, as Seth I picked up Bill’s second sketch and said, “This picture represents an outward transformation as Mark attempted to construct an accurate replica of material that he sensed with the Inner Senses, and as such it is a reconstruction of what I am.

Seth explained that the apparition’s appearance was distorted by Bill’s own ideas, though. The high forehead represented Bill’s interpretation of great intelligence, for example. Bill interpreted the available data in his own way: this was the Seth that Bill saw, regardless of Seth’s own appearance.

Seth then continued, in a rather amusing fashion, giving “advance information” to Bill concerning a vacation trip he was going to take the following week. He described people and events that checked out perfectly on Bill’s return.

I didn’t know what to think. When he was finished with the discussion, Seth began joking with Rob and Bill and showed such high spirits and vitality that Rob had trouble taking notes—he was laughing so hard.