“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

An experimental séance was the next on the list of experiments for my book. We had only the foggiest idea of what a séance was, never having attended one. We did think that more than two people should be involved, though, so we decided to ask Bill Macdonell to join us, since he was the only one who knew of our experiments. Bill dropped by on the evening of January 2, 1964, and on the spur of the moment I suggested that the three of us give it a try.

The results were so surprising that rather than paraphrase Rob’s notes, I’m going to include them exactly as he wrote them. For one thing, he was a more objective observer than I was. The very way his notes are written also shows his state of mind, his careful attitude and critical manner. Bill Macdonell read the notes and agrees with them.

“I asked Jane to lay her wedding ring on the table. The three of us joined hands around it. Sitting quietly in the dim light, staring at the ring, I realized that the unwary observer might not have too much trouble seeing whatever he wanted to see.

“Then suddenly Jane announced in a firm clear voice, ‘Watch the hand.’ It was a command, and I knew that Seth was with us. Jane felt her hand grow cold. With considerable relish Seth, through Jane’s voice, described in detail each effect that followed—so that, he said, there would be no doubt as to what happened.

“He began by telling us to watch Jane’s thumb. The tip of it began to glow. It seemed to be an internal suffusing of the flesh with a cold white light. There was no radiant effect, merely the changing color of the flesh itself. Since the hand was in shadow, there was no mistaking the change.

“ ‘Now the hand changes again,’ Seth said. ‘It becomes a stubby fat one. Frank Withers had a hand like that, just like that. Frank Withers was a fathead,’ he said, with great satisfaction, even though Frank was, according to Seth, a personality fragment of his own entity.

When Seth took over, his confidence knocked all other ideas or doubts from my mind. Yet my eyes were open all the while. I could examine the differences between my hands, for example, and see the other set of fingers, and the white glow that ran up to the edge of my rolled-up sweater. I seemed to “click out” when Seth spoke, yet a tremendous sense of energy rushed through me as he did so. Except for the mirror image at the end, nothing bothered me.

For the first time Seth really “came through” as a definite other personality, laughing and joking. Rob just couldn’t believe that he was speaking to me, in any ordinary terms. But more than this, Seth’s long monologue on the nature of reality captivated and intrigued us. We had no idea that it was actually a highly simplified explanation, cleverly geared to our own level of understanding at the time. It made a tremendous impression on us nonetheless.

It was in this session that Seth suggested we hold sessions twice a week, saying that a schedule was far better than spasmodic activity. He went on: “At one time or another, all of us on my plane give such lessons, but psychic bonds between teacher and pupils are necessary, which means that we must wait until personalities on your plane have progressed sufficiently for lessons to begin. Lessons then are conducted with those psychically bound to us.

When the material given above was finished, Seth stayed around, as if to emphasize an informal social period. He invited questions, gestured frequently, paused in front of Rob, looking right at him through my open (but un-Jane-like) eyes.

“There is nothing wrong and perhaps much to be gained,” he said, “in trying whatever experiments you want on your own. Call it homework if you like. Perhaps I’ll even give you a Gold Star, although if I know you, you will probably insist that the teacher give the proverbial apple to the pupils instead of the other way around. …”

Then, with strong humorous accents he spoke about the Ouija board which we still used to open and close sessions. “It is a matter of formality in that it renews contact in a familiar manner, and also, I have always been partial to formality to some extent. The board gives us a breathing spell and is a method of saying good day or good evening, or tipping one’s hat. I’m also of the opinion that small ritual tends to emphasize data in the mind, and set it off to advantage, in the same way that good cuisine is set off by fine dishes. … At the end of a session it would be most cordial to touch your hands briefly to the board. You’re lucky that I don’t request you to wear full-dress clothing.”

Rob laughed at this, and so did I when he read me the notes. We were fascinated by the monologue on the fifth dimension—which ran much longer, incidentally, than the excerpts given here. Seth’s personality impressed Rob to such an extent that he, at least, was convinced that Seth was a completely independent personality. He knows me so well, of course, in almost every mood, that he’s in an excellent position to judge the differences and similarities between my personality and Seth’s.

After having Rob describe the session, and after reading the notes, my attitude was one of simple astonishment. Rob and I are very informal; our friends are informal. The men don’t wear hats and suits, for example, but jeans and shirts or sweaters. I found Seth delightful, whoever or whatever he was. Who else did we know, so “old school” who’d even speak of tipping one’s hat, or refer to food as “good cuisine?” Anyway he certainly didn’t sound frightening, and the fifth-dimensional monologue was really provocative.

I was already beginning to study my own psychological behavior, though, and the question of Seth’s independent reality came more and more into my mind. Since I “become” Seth in some fashion, I’m never able to see myself as Seth in the way that Rob can, or that my students can in a class session, but I do know that he makes a definite impression on others. Who or what was he? I questioned Rob constantly. How did I look? How did he know someone else was speaking? What was there about Seth that so convinced him that Seth was more than a dissociated part of my own subconscious?

Far from looking for Seth in every corner, I guarded my mental integrity with all the determination of my nature. Then I felt silly, because Seth made absolutely no attempt to “invade” my normal working day. Worse, I felt that he was amused but understanding, and felt that my efforts, if basically unnecessary, were still important for my peace of mind.