“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The greeting card represented on pages 320-21 figures in the envelope data, and so is shown also. It was not used in the envelope. The card was mailed to Jane and me by my mother from Tunkhannock, PA, on August 11,1966. It is on file along with the envelope, bearing date, ZIP code, etc.

(The exact sequence, 1418, does not appear either on the envelope object or the greeting card. When we located the greeting card we also found its envelope. Tunkhannock’s zip code is 18657. On the back of the envelope my mother wrote my brother-in-law’s return address, which she should have. However she absent-mindedly wrote her own ZIP code, for Sayre, PA, after the address—18840. This is closer to 1418.

(See the tracing of the penciled slip I had attached to the envelope object when I first obtained it, reminding me of the date. The sequence, 8/14/66, is also close to 1418. Jane had never seen this slip, but it had been attached to the object for some time and perhaps was clairvoyantly divined. She had seen the envelope containing the greeting card in a casual way, of course, as had I. I did not discover the discrepancy in ZIP codes on the envelope until examining it after the session—several days after.

(My own note, bearing the time and date, shown at the bottom of page 319, was clipped to the envelope object. I removed it before enclosing the object between two pieces of Bristol, then sealing the sandwich in the usual double envelopes.

(The object for the 72nd envelope experiment was an empty envelope, as shown. I kept the letter that had been enclosed in the envelope for reference, and as expected needed it to decipher some of Seth’s data. The object was a standard white business envelope, printed and typed in black. [...] I sealed it in the usual double envelopes after placing it between two pieces of Bristol board. Jane had seen the envelope in a casual way upon its arrival here last May, but not since then.

(See the tracing of tonight’s envelope object on page 71 and the notes on the next page. The empty envelope used as object was mailed to me last May 26,1966, by an old friend, Wendell Crowley, and contained a letter detailing a reunion of a group of friends, all artists, that Wendell and I worked with in 1941-43. The letter was not in the envelope but was kept separate by me for reference after the session. As I suspected, some of Seth’s data referred to the contents of the letter rather than the envelope object itself.

(At 10:03, her eyes closed, Jane took the double sealed envelope from me for the 72nd envelope experiment. [...]

[...] Whenever possible we prefer to make as many connections between the data and the envelope object as we can on our own. [...] To this end, envelope objects are often deliberately chosen by me with emotional involvement in mind, since Seth has said many times that his abilities have an emotional basis; this primary emotional basis is then disciplined and given shape by the intellect.

(Jane spotted it at break at 10:28 before I did: part of the above data seems to pertain to this evening’s envelope object. [...] I prepared tonight’s envelope sometime after supper, then forgot about it in the press of other business. When the time for the envelope experiment arrived, I then had the idea the envelope contained another object, one I had thought of earlier in the day. So my surprise was considerable, consciously, when Jane opened the envelope and revealed the coaster.)

[...] The envelope object is a paper item. As stated, it originally was quite thick, so I peeled the top layer from it, containing the design printed in red, to insert into the double envelopes. [...] When this thin layer was enclosed between the regular two pieces of Bristol, then sealed in the usual double envelope, it was not possible to judge by feel, or weight, that it was in any way somewhat different from the usual envelope object.

(The envelope object for tonight’s 35th experiment was a beer coaster that I picked up from our table last Saturday evening, at our favorite dining and dancing establishment here in Elmira. [...] It was sealed in the usual double envelope between two pieces of Bristol.

(See the tracing of the envelope object on page 301. As stated, Jane was the first to notice that some of the data given for the Instream object of Monday, February 21, appeared to apply to our own envelope object for this evening, February 23.

(The 43rd envelope experiment was held during the session. The tracing on page 43 is a reproduction of the envelope object, a page of notes from my pad. [...]

(Sometimes Jane has seen envelope objects, and sometimes she has not. [...] Someday perhaps these envelope experiments can be correlated with various factors, sensual and otherwise. [...]

(The approach was a little different this evening, in that Jane had seen the envelope object perhaps two hours before the session. [...] I sealed it up in the usual double envelope, between two pieces of Bristol.

[...] She took the usual sealed double envelope from me without opening her eyes. [...] Jane pressed the envelope to her forehead briefly, then lowered it to her lap—possibly because she knew pictures were to be taken of the experiment. [...]

(The 79th envelope object was a drawing made by me on Friday, November 25th, at work. [...] This evening I placed it between two pieces of Bristol, then sealed it in the usual double envelopes.

(I asked Jane to handle the envelope carefully as soon as she came out of trance, and to lay it flat on the table while opening both envelopes, etc., in order to see if the small object was in a left-hand corner. [...]

[...] As noted earlier, when the double envelopes were opened the object appeared to have been centered within them. Jane said she’d had an image of a small object in a corner of an envelope, however.

(“An envelope.” The object, being a parody of a postage stamp, calls an envelope to mind.

(After the gesture Jane switched the envelope to a vertical position as she put it back against her forehead. From now on I watched carefully to see that she held the envelope in the same position until the end of the delivery, so that I could mark the top dimension thus, should it be necessary to our interpretation of the data, and the Wilburs verified that the position of the object itself was thus determined by marking in succession both envelopes as they were opened at break, the two pieces of Bristol, and finally the object itself.)

(The 61st envelope object is an announcement Jane and I received in the mail a few days ago. [...] The object was prepared for the experiment in the usual manner, using the two pieces of Bristol and the double envelopes.

[...] (Still holding the envelope in the vertical position and in her right hand, Jane lowered it enough so that she could touch the envelope’s upper left corner with her left hand.)

[...] Seth now went into something new as far as the envelope data is concerned. [...] There is also a general idea connection with what follows and the envelope object.)

[...] Jane, her eyes closed, indicated both ends of the envelope. There was of course but one object, the parking ticket, in the envelopes. [...] The object however is small in comparison to the envelopes. Jane had one of her images here, seeing mentally two small objects in a space resembling the usual envelopes; she saw no detail however.

(The envelope object for the 64th envelope experiment was a parking ticket obtained at Robert Treman State Park, near Ithaca, NY, on July 12,1966, on our recent vacation. [...] I enclosed it between two pieces of Bristol, then inserted this into the usual double envelopes. [...]

(Jane paused at 10:09, then took the sealed envelope for our 64th experiment from me without opening her eyes. She of course knew that envelope experiments were scheduled for Mondays now, and asked out of formality. She pressed the envelope to her forehead in a vertical position.)

(First Question: “Are you saying there are two objects in the envelope?” Answer: “Or represented on a single object.” Only one item comprised the envelope object, but we don’t know how particularly to break down this single item to comprise two objects. [...]

(I folded it once, put it in an envelope, then sealed this envelope in another so there was no chance of seeing through paper. My idea was to hand the envelope to Jane just before she went into trance for the session. [...]

(I was puzzled as to why Seth, or Jane, was so definite about the envelope containing a license or some sort of similar document, when Jane revealed that at last break she had thought the envelopes did contain a license. [...] It will be remembered that Seth/Jane paused before delivering the last line of information concerning the envelopes. [...]

[...] She confirmed this just before the session when she asked me about it, so I gave her the envelope at 8:57. [...] Thus she might not deal with the envelope.

(Seth did not mention two envelopes, although Jane said she knew there were two involved. It is also obvious that touch alone could give information as to whether the envelope contained paper, some kind of cardboard or other heavier material, or perhaps metal.

[...] Jane said this was a reference to the position of the cap-ring against my note, while the two items were sealed between the two Bristol stiffeners and in the double envelopes. [...] It will be remembered that by this time Jane held the envelope in her lap; earlier she had held it against her forehead as she often does. To the right is a rough indication of the position she refers to, and which she was able to verify to some extent as she opened the envelopes at break. Remember the note was actually folded over the cap, like a sandwich; evidently the pressure of the two Bristol stiffeners and the two envelopes held the cap in the same position relative to the note.

[...] Our experiences of the evening involving this game enter into the envelope data, although neither of the envelope objects refer to it directly. This is often the case, the often innocuous envelope object reflecting whatever strong emotional charges surround it at the physical time Jane and Seth are trying to get back to.

(See the previous pages for tracings of the two envelope objects used in the 73rd experiment this evening. [...] I did this deliberately on Friday evening during the gathering, in full view of everyone, for at that moment I decided to use this cap as the envelope object for the session tonight. [...]

(As usual I placed the objects between two pieces of heavy Bristol, to preclude any identification by touch, then sealed this sandwich in two envelopes. Seth has said before that he does not give any envelope data that could have resulted either from Jane’s sense of touch, or sight, and this has never been a problem in these experiments.

(The 40th envelope experiment was held during the session. [...] The envelope object was a dried holly leaf. [...] It was sealed in the usual double envelope, between two pieces of Bristol. [...]

(See the tracing of the envelope object, the holly leaf, on page 13. [...] I thought another group of them tried to get at the origin of the envelope object—namely my place of employment—hence the reason I chose the question I asked. I also thought the hole and grave data referred to an earlier envelope experiment dealing with my place of employment.

[...] In that session Ezra is dealt with in the envelope data with the same type of data; Seth gave Jane the grave data, signifying Ezra’s death, but at that time Jane, who did not like the idea of graves, did not use the word. [...] We believe the grave data was to refer to Ezra, who worked at Artistic before he died, and that this in turn was to lead Jane to identify Artistic as the source of the envelope object.

(See page 7 of the 240th session for the envelope data on the AAA card used as the object. [...]

[...] I placed the test envelope in Jane’s lap while she gave voice to the above sentence. She gave no sign that she was aware of my action, other than a slight movement of her legs, but she picked up the envelope almost at once. [...] She held the envelope in her right hand, making no effort to determine its contents by feeling, twisting, etc.)

(The 17th envelope test was held during this session. The test object, sealed in the usual double envelopes, was the insurance slip for the manuscript of Jane’s ESP book, dated August 30,1965. [...]

(Jane said she was somewhat startled to feel the envelope touch her lap. [...] Actually I had prepared the test envelope some weeks ago.

First of all, I do not want any envelope tests given before the Instream material is delivered. [...] I neglected to mention this in an outright manner, but in the past I never requested the envelope until after the Instream material.

(She had seen the envelope from which the flap was torn however, in a casual way. The envelope enclosed a letter from Doug’s recently married sister Linda, who now lives in Brooklyn, NY. [...] The N and Norcross indicated in pencil on the tracing signifies a blind embossed trademark on the envelope flap, but Seth said nothing about this either.

(The 45th envelope experiment was held during the session. [...] I did not intend to use this object for the envelope experiment, but decided to on the spur of the moment after it was made. [...]

[...] Don left a sealed envelope, prepared to my instructions, with me, but I did not plan to use it for this evening’s experiment. Jane knows of the envelope but did not see it. [...]

[...] She did not know about Doug and me writing on the envelope flap, although she had seen the envelope and flap attached earlier in the day in a casual way.

(See the copy of the envelope object on page 142 of the 257th session. [...] I folded it once putting it into the double envelope.

(The 53rd envelope experiment was held this session. [...]

(This is the first time during the envelope experiments that the same object was used twice in succession. [...]

(Once before, in the first and 18th envelope experiments, an object was used that was similar but not identical by any means. [...]

[...] I shook a small amount of it into an envelope, sealed it, then placed this between the usual two pieces of Bristol board and sealed the sandwich in another envelope. [...] Jane said that as she held the envelope to her head she did not hear anything move within; nor did she shake the envelope, etc.

(The 82nd envelope experiment had as object common black pepper, poured into the inner of the two regular sealed envelopes we use. [...]

[...] When Jane opened the double sealed envelopes, she found the pepper had settled in a loose line at the bottom of the inside envelope; thus it formed a fine patterned edge, which also consisted of black and lighter colored grains even though the pepper is called black, in actuality less than half of it seemed to be black, literally.

Now, do you have an envelope for me?

(Jane said it is possible that the “larger white object” referred to the inside envelope used as a matter of course in our experiments. This envelope is perhaps half again as large as the largest dimension of tonight’s object, and is almost square. I put the object in this envelope, place it between two pieces of heavy Bristol board which are cut to just fit inside the second, or outside, envelope. [...]

[...] The envelope object is rectangular rather than square. We wondered whether the square reference was to the “larger white object,” mentioned at the end of the envelope data. [...] The inside envelope used in these experiments is almost square.)

(See the tracing of the envelope object on page 20. [...] On page 24 Seth stated that when Jane receives images, the psychological framework between Seth and Jane is operating; in these instances Seth is not giving Jane envelope data by way of concepts, directly and telepathically. [...]

(The 41st envelope experiment was held during the session. [...]

[...] This gave me enough time to once again see that she held the envelope in the same position relative to the floor. I called her attention to this, then marked the outer envelope “top”. Next I marked the inside envelope the same way, then the two pieces of Bristol the same way as Jane watched. [...]

(The objects for the 57th envelope experiment were two leaves taken from our poinsettia plant. [...] I taped the leaves to one of the two pieces of Bristol used in these experiments, sandwiched it against the other piece, then sealed the two in the usual double envelopes. [...]

(At 10:13 Jane took the envelope for our 57th experiment from me without opening her eyes. [...] Jane remembers holding the envelope in this fashion, and I watched her do so.)

[...] (Jane gestured with the envelope which she now held so that the short dimensions were horizontal to the floor. I noted this position and watched her closely to see if she changed the envelope’s position as the experiment continued.)

(The 19th envelope test was held this evening. The test object was the front of an envelope mailed to us by Jane’s father last July. [...] The envelope front was folded once and placed between two sheets of Bristol, then sealed in the usual double envelopes.

[...] This is the 19th envelope test. As usual I handed Jane the sealed double envelope. She held the envelope quietly, her eyes still closed. [...]

(“One, two, three, or three of a kind,” can be the July 3 postmark date on the envelope. The envelope is addressed to Jane and me, “yourself and Ruburt,” but we do not particularly see where “afternoon” comes in. [...]

[...] All in all the envelope test results were much superior to the previous two tests, and Jane was pleased. [...]

(The 36th envelope experiment was held tonight. [...] The drawing on 313 is the actual envelope object. The drawing on 314 is executed by myself, after my boss’s drawing and instructions, and enters into the envelope data in the manner in which the four letters became involved with the envelope object in the 234th session. [...]

[...] As stated on page 321, Jane held the rectangular double envelope up with its long edge parallel to the floor, and moved it back and forth to indicate most definitely her insistence upon the horizontal attribute. This is most interesting, for the envelope object itself contains neither vertical or horizontal lines or masses. Once again her actions and data seem to be an attempt to get at my tracing-paper drawing, which bears a close connection to the envelope object.

(Jane said that out of all the connections we made, practically all of them referred to my tracing-paper drawing rather than to the actual envelope object itself. My boss made the envelope object. [...] Perhaps this diverted Seth/Jane’s focus from the envelope object to a closely related object. [...]

(Without opening her eyes, Jane held the envelope before her in a horizontal position, and moved it from side to side to show horizontal movement. She then restedher elbow on the arm of her rocker and kept holding the envelope up as she continued.)

(See the tracing of the envelope object on page 327. Jane and I made most of the connections between the envelope object and the data easily enough, and did not ask Seth to clear up any points. The connections tonight were predominantly related with the envelope object itself, and not displaced onto another as they had been in the last session, and in the 234th, which involved the episode of the four letters.

(“The darks horizontal,” Note the fold marks on the copy of the envelope object on page 327. When the object was folded and then held in a roughly horizontal position in the rectangular double envelope, the dark patterns of the fingers would be horizontal within the envelopes.

(The 37th envelope experiment was held during the session. See the tracing of the envelope object on page 327. [...]

[...] I handed her the envelope for our 37th experiment, and as usual she took it from me without opening her eyes. [...] She gave the material on the envelope with many short pauses.)

The items were enclosed in one sealed envelope between two layers of lightproof bristol cardboard, and then the whole thing was placed in another envelope, which was also sealed. I never knew when we would have such a test, and I never saw the envelope before a session. Rob would hand an envelope to me in the middle of a session. [...] (In any case, the test item was enclosed within the two pieces of cardboard and two envelopes, and was quite opaque.) Sometimes I held the envelope to my forehead while delivering impressions. [...]

We held seventy-five Instream tests and eighty-three envelope tests between August 1965 and September 1966. [...] If Seth was what he said he was, then he should be able to look into time and space and closed envelopes as easily as you and I can see the objects in a room. [...]

Sometimes Rob prepared the envelopes just before a session, and sometimes way ahead of time. [...] He might use a letter, for example, that had come the day before, and which I had read, or a bill from several years back, or an item he picked up that I had never seen, or an envelope prepared by a friend—in which case the contents were unknown even to Rob. [...]

We started the Instream tests and our own envelope tests in August of 1965. [...]