“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.)

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.

“Now, Mark, you cannot see Joseph’s glass, nor can he see yours,” Seth said. “This can be proven mathematically, and scientists are already working with the problem, though they do not understand the principles behind it. Now there is an infinitesimal point where Mark’s perspective and Ruburt’s overlap. Again, theoretically, if you could perceive that point, you could actually each see the other two physical glasses.

“Physical objects cannot exist unless they exist in a definite perspective and space continuum. But each individual creates his own space continuum … I want to tie this in with the differences you seem to see in one particular object. Each individual actually creates an entirely different object, which his own physical senses then perceive. Since we have here this evening such an elegant and welcome guest,” Seth smiled, “Let us then perceive him in terms of a slight discussion of matter, in which he will be our guinea pig.”

At the time, no one thought anything in particular about Seth’s last sentence. For one thing, Rob was so busy taking notes that he didn’t really pay much attention to what was being said, beyond making sure he took Seth’s words down accurately. As far as I remember, I wasn’t even aware of speaking them.

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.

“You, Joseph, perceive Mark sitting in the chair,” Seth continued. “He sits in his own chair which he has constructed in his own space continuum and personal perspective.

“You and Ruburt perceive Mark, and yet neither of you sees Mark’s Mark. As he sits in his chair, he is constantly creating his own physical image, using his own psychic energy, and using particular atoms and molecules for the construction of his body. So far we have here, then, one Mark, constructed by himself, and before the evening is out you will be amazed at how many Marks we end up with.

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.

For one who felt poorly at the start of the session, Jane now said she felt fine. Seth had “knocked her out quickly,” she said. Our cat, Willie, now became active. He began to stalk through the apartment, crying out. He behaved in quite a scary fashion, looking all about him, though there were no bugs about, or unusual sounds to upset him.

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.

From my studio at the back of the apartment came Willie’s cry. He was still stalking about.

“Your friend Mark, to digress, is an excellent witness in one way because he is sensitive to constructions that appear within the physical realm from other planes. His span of attention is short. I did indeed stand momentarily in the doorway, though if I do say so …”

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

“This is the first time that I have attempted to approach in this manner during a session. I am pleased that I have been perceived, and I have been watching you from my own vantage point. The image in the doorway is indeed my own, though there is bound to be a distortion in Mark’s perception of me. It is through the Inner Senses that he perceives me, and this data he then attempts to transform into information that can be physically perceived.”

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

“It is true that in some ways I am no beauty in your terms, yet you must attest that I am not altogether ugly. I will let you take your break. And I wish to thank Mark. When I said that he would join me in a demonstration, I meant that he would join me in a demonstration.”

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.

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 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.