“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The 48th envelope experiment was held during the session. [...]

[...] The actual copy used in the envelope is as usual on file in our object notebook. [...]

Did you have an envelope for me, Joseph?

(The envelope object was a bill I had received this afternoon for art supplies, and which Jane had never seen. [...] I placed the object, folded once, as indicated, between the usual two pieces of Bristol, then sealed it in double envelopes.

(See the copy of the envelope object on page 115 and the notes on the next page. [...] See the notes on page 116 for an explanation here, since these facts enter into the envelope data, we believe.

Do you have an envelope for me?

[...] We have the plant here in the apartment from which the slip came however, and its history will be given in the envelope data. I placed the object between the usual double Bristol and sealed it all up in the usual double envelopes.

(The 60th envelope experiment used as object a quick black line drawing, on porous white paper, that I made of a giant begonia plant at the office. [...]

Do you have an envelope for me?

[...] I never knew whether or not we would have an envelope test. Often I was afraid of having a session for fear we’d have an envelope test and the results just would not apply. (This never happened, incidentally, though the impressions given were not always as specific as we would have liked.) Actually I didn’t care what was in the envelopes—I just wanted to know if Seth could tell us, and I wanted him to be absolutely right each time. [...]

[...] How had Seth picked up the information about the entire page, when only a small section of it was in the test envelope? [...] Seth hadn’t first given impressions of the envelope object itself, then neatly moved on to deal with the entire page; he had shifted back and forth between the two, as if viewing both at once. And why had he not confined his data just to the envelope object?

We tried all sorts of things with the envelopes. [...] For example, occasionally friends would come unannounced to a session and bring their own test envelope. [...] Sometimes Rob would use such an envelope at once; at other times he would save it for a future session.

(Still holding the envelope horizontally with one hand, Jane indicated each end of the envelope with her other hand.)

[...] (Now holding the envelope vertically, Jane ran a finger along the bottom edge of the envelope.) Perhaps on two sides of the object.

(The envelope object for the 62nd experiment was a piece of cream-colored burlap; it shows up dark on page 250 because of the method of reproducing it. [...]

(The 32nd envelope experiment was held during the session. [...] The older individual in the left background of the photo, Ezra Havens, figures in the envelope data, also. [...]

(I placed the photo between the usual two pieces of Bristol and then sealed it in the usual double envelope. [...]

(Last Friday Jane received a letter from Fate Magazine, to the effect that they would like to see, on speculation, an article dealing with Seth and the envelope experiments.

(A note: The 71st envelope experiment was to be held this evening. Strange as it seems, I had forgotten the envelope object’s identity; I had prepared this envelope for the session due Monday, September 19; that session was not held and I saved the envelope. [...] At least on a conscious level, this made it seem as though a stranger had prepared the envelope.

(The object for the 71st envelope experiment was the first draft of a poem Jane and I wrote for Bill Gallagher’s birthday, which fell on Friday, July 1st. [...] This first draft was typed on yellow paper; I folded it as shown to insert it in the usual double envelope, after sandwiching it between two pieces of Bristol. [...]

(See the copy of the envelope object on page 51, and the notes on the page 55. As stated there, I had forgotten the contents of the test envelopes. [...]

(The 51st envelope experiment was held during the session. The object was placed as usual between two pieces of Bristol and sealed in double envelopes. [...] The photo of Mrs. Bessie Berry was not included in the test envelopes. [...]

[...] As stated the photo of Mrs. Berry was not used in the experimental envelope. [...] At the time I prepared the envelopes I thought of including the photo with Peggy’s article, but decided against it at the last minute.

[...] The data can fit either the envelope object itself, or the picture of the dead priest referred to above under “cross shape,” etc. [...] The envelope object was folded three times so that it measured about 4 3/4” x 3”. [...]

[...] Jane said this is a reference to the fold in the object, made when I inserted it in the double envelopes. [...] Note that Jane held the envelope to her forehead in a horizontal position, as she almost always does; this means the fold in the object would be vertical in relation to the long dimension of both the object and the envelopes. The long dimension of the folded object paralleled that of the envelopes.

(The 75th envelope experiment used as object the employee record stub from Jane’s first check as a substitute high school teacher. [...] I placed the record between the usual double Bristols, then sealed it in double envelopes.

Now, do you have an envelope for me?

(See the tracing of the envelope object on page 289. I had used this for the object on the spur of the moment, more or less, without being concerned with whether Jane might know, or have on file, the letter the envelope had contained. [...] When Jane began to go through her file of correspondence with her publisher, F. Fell, we began to see what complications could evolve from what seemed to be a simple envelope object.

(It should be noted here that Jane spent most of the day working on the article for Fate Magazine, dealing with Seth and the envelope experiments. [...] Jane spent much time going over past envelope experiment results. It was tiring work in its own way, and Seth gives this activity as one of the reasons the envelope experiment results were not better. [...]

(The 34th envelope experiment was held during the session. [...] I folded it once, put it between two pieces of board and sealed it in the usual double envelope. [...]

(During break Lorraine asked if we still conducted envelope tests. When we said yes, she told us she had brought a test envelope with her. [...] Handing her the two envelopes and the two pieces of Bristol, I had asked her to pick a test object, seal it up, and give it to me the next time we saw her, without telling me what the test object was. She had picked the test object last August, then mislaid the envelope and forgotten it; in addition I hadn’t asked her for it.

[...] She was aware of course that Lorraine had brought a test envelope. Jane now wondered whether I would try to be tricky, and perhaps keep Lorraine’s envelope for a later test, while giving her the usual envelope that I had prepared. Jane took it for granted that I had a test envelope ready also. [...]

(I handed Jane Lorraine’s sealed envelope. [...] As she has done a few times recently, she held the envelope flat against her forehead while speaking a few words, then lowered it to her lap. [...] This is the 24th envelope test.)

[...] Without opening her eyes she took the envelope for the 42nd experiment from me. She pressed the envelope to her forehead briefly, then lowered it to her lap.)

[...] No matter which side of the envelope object was facing up, there would be copy in the center of the bottom side. Jane changed the position of the envelope frequently, as she held it while giving the data.

(The next paragraph of envelope data does not apply to the envelope object. [...]

(The 66th envelope object was a postcard mailed to us by our neighbor across the hall, Leonard Yaudes, from Portland, Maine, on July 23,1966. I sealed it in the usual double envelopes after placing it between two pieces of Bristol.

[...] In giving the data Jane gestured often with the envelope, her eyes closed; she would then return it to her forehead in mainly a horizontal position. [...] Perhaps Jane perceived this while the envelope was in a vertical position, or the data is simply somewhat distorted.

(Reduced tracing of the outside of the greeting card which also figures in the 67th envelope data. It was mailed to Jane and me on August 11,1966 by my mother, but was not used as envelope object.)

(Strangely enough, some of tonight’s envelope data is corroborated by earlier session material—something I did not anticipate when using the card as object. [...] I was about to throw the card away this week when I thought of using it for the envelope tonight, and consciously had forgotten many of the 1964 connections.

(The 39th envelope experiment was held during the session; see the tracing of the AAA membership card used as the object on page 1. Some interesting and hilarious results were obtained in the connections made by Seth/Jane.

(Before this evening’s session I was at work typing up the envelope data for last Monday’s session. [...]

(I did not know the contents of the envelope, nor of course did Jane. She had seen Don hand me the envelope on April 4, but since none of us had ever mentioned it since then I was hoping she had forgotten about it. After the session tonight Jane confirmed she had forgotten that I had the envelope. [...]

(The 58th envelope experiment was held this evening. [...] Don left the sealed envelope he had prepared for the session with me, however; I kept it until the Wilburs were able to witness a session. [...]

(By coincidence Don had sealed the object in an envelope of the same size as those I use for the experiments. He did not use double envelopes, but had achieved the same effect by first wrapping the object in opaque white paper rather loosely; this also obliterated any hard edges that might have given sensory clues. [...]

(Without opening her eyes Jane took the envelope from me for our 49th experiment. Her position, with a hand to her eyes, did not change; she held the envelope in her lap.)

(The 49th envelope experiment was held during the session. [...]

[...] Tonight I placed it between the usual two pieces of Bristol and then sealed it in double envelopes. [...]

(The 78th envelope object was a shopping list I had written out earlier today for Jane, but which Jane did not see. On a sheet of white paper torn from a pad, same color ink as the tracing on page 189, folded as indicated, placed between two pieces of Bristol and then sealed in double envelopes. [...]

[...] The envelope object was a shopping list I made out with the intention of giving it to Jane earlier today, but did not do so. [...] It was written in a dark pen on white paper torn from a pad the same size, and was folded once before insertion into the double envelopes. [...]

You may take a break or give me your envelope, as you prefer.

[...] She also wanted to have the envelope experiment. John Bradley, our salesman friend from Williamsport, PA, was a witness, and I believe this contributed to the envelope results, in some way I cannot define. Previously Jane has done well with envelopes before witnesses.

(As usual Jane took the double envelope from me without opening her eyes. On impulse I almost told Seth there was to be no envelope, but decided to go ahead in the presence of a witness. [...] She held the envelope against her forehead.)

(The 38th envelope experiment was held during the session. The object, sealed in the usual double envelope, was the insurance slip for the two manuscripts Jane mailed to her publisher on February 10,1966. [...]

[...] Reaching over, I dropped the test envelope in Jane’s lap as she spoke. [...] Actually she gave no sign that she was aware of the envelope. I chose this method of introducing the envelope into Jane’s awareness to see if it would halt or interfere with the material of the moment, and was pleased to see that it did not. I had taken care to see that Jane had not seen the test envelope during breaks, or before the session.)

(Once again I planned an envelope test for the session, should the opportunity arise. I prepared the usual double envelope while Jane was working at the front of the apartment. [...]

[...] Now she paused again, then picked up the test envelope. [...] As during her previous four tests she held the double envelope lightly in both hands. [...]

(This was a perfect opportunity for me to slip the test envelope out of its hiding place on the bookshelf, reach across my small writing table and drop the envelope into Jane’s lap. [...] Her eyes remained closed and she did not touch the envelope.

(As I had for the 179th session, I prepared a test envelope in case we had a chance to use it during the session. This time the double envelopes contained a black and white photo I took of Jane at York Beach, ME, a little over a year ago this month. [...]

(Jane said she felt it when I dropped the test envelope into her lap. [...] In the first test she had the envelope in her possession before the session began, and could not but help know that a test was in the offing.