“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Conducted as usual, with Jane and I sitting at the Ouija board.

(“Can you tell us something about Jane’s father?”)

(“Why did Jane’s parents marry?”)

[...] Jane was restless however, so we began to try various small ESP experiments. [...] After an hour or so of this, Jane decided to call on Seth. [...]

(But this light also bothered Jane, to such an extent that within a few minutes she switched it off. [...] Jane finally began to speak, rather rapidly, and in a voice a little heavier than usual. [...]

[...] I observed no change in or about Jane. [...] Jane then spoke.)

(Jim Adams also suggested that Jane see a medical internist to get at the root of the muscular difficulty, and gave us the names of three local doctors he recommended highly. He also promised to call an ophthalmologist friend of his, to explain Jane’s case to him and hear what this individual—a Dr. Werner—had to say about Jane’s double vision. Thus, tonight in his call Jim told me that Dr. Werner had said that Jane’s double vision was “the end result” of something muscular in nature. Dr. Werner recommended that she be tested to discover the causes, and asked Jim if Jane had ever had any “mini-strokes,” since such unsuspected and even unfelt attacks could have muscular repercussions. Dr. Werner added that he felt Jane should get attention, since help could lengthen her life span through muscular relaxation. Jim Adams is to see us later this week to check on black frames for Jane’s new glasses, and she can question him on Werner’s responses then. [...]

(Jim Adams also called just before supper, and I relayed the substance of his call to Jane. Last week he’d said himself that Jane’s eyes were good, that she had no eye disease, or glaucoma, etc. —worries Jane has fretted over for years. Jim agreed with us—and Seth, incidentally—that Jane’s trouble with double vision was muscular in nature. [...] Instead he measured her for new reading glasses, and these alone evoked an enthusiastic response from Jane, since she could see to read much better with the test lenses. [...]

(I might add that Frank Longwell has suggested that Jane’s extreme slowness of movement currently stems from healing changes taking place in her muscles, and that such movement is protective in nature. [...] We gather that Frank isn’t particularly in favor of contacting the medical establishment, but what is one to do, I asked Jane, if one cannot bring oneself out of his or her difficulties unaided? Jane has been having steadily increasing difficulties in the bathroom ever since the last private session was held—and, of course, even before that. Seth has said often that just because one has physical difficulties does not mean those problems are fated to get endlessly and progressively worse, but this hasn’t been born out in Jane’s case —so far. [...] Jane herself said during Jim Adams’s first visit that “I don’t want to go to any hospital for tests.” [...]

[...] Peggy was going to take flash pictures of Jane while she was in trance; Jane’s publisher had asked to see some material of this kind. We had no idea of the success of this venture—whether Jane would be distracted while delivering the regular material, or during the envelope experiment; if possible we wanted to cover both categories.

(Sometimes Jane has seen envelope objects, and sometimes she has not. [...] Seth does respond to emotional charges; these charges we have learned need not stem from Jane or myself or a friend; they can be related to a total stranger and still be detected. [...]

(The approach was a little different this evening, in that Jane had seen the envelope object perhaps two hours before the session. [...] At this time I had no idea of using it for the experiment; the idea occurred later, some time after Jane had left the studio. [...]

[...] At times during the data I wasn’t sure who was speaking—Jane or Seth. Sometimes when Ruburt was mentioned, I thought it was Jane saying so, rather than Seth. After the session Jane said she had no awareness along these lines, but one of confusion concerning the data. [...]

(“Connection with a fall, or something falling,” Both Jane and I felt at once that this referred to my falling ill with the virus, on March 24,1965. [...] In addition, Jane had a vivid dream in which I fell ill in the same manner, perhaps a week before the event. In reality I fainted in the bathroom; in Jane’s dream I fainted in the kitchen.

(Concerning my place of employment data: Jane said she had received the word “mine” again. In two recent envelope experiments involving my place of employment, this word had cropped up in connection with the death of an older fellow worker; mine referring to grave, or underground, because Jane instinctively disliked the idea of graves. [...] Jane said she received the word again this evening in connection with Ezra; she felt Seth wanted to connect Ezra with the idea of disease—hence the polio data—followed by death, etc.

[...] 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. Jane had some images this evening.

[...] There was a chance that Peggy Gallagher would be present with a press camera, to take some pictures of Jane while she was in trance. Jane’s publisher has written requesting some photos, drawings, etc., in connection with the book Jane is now writing on the Seth material. [...]

[...] Jane offered a connection perhaps twice removed from the object. [...] It is a weak one, in that the girl in question is not the girl who was present in the apartment on November 20,1965, when Jane and I were given the object. Jane didn’t know whether her interpretation was correct.

(Caroline Keck sent Jane the items to give to her in appreciation for a pen and ink drawing of a pigeon I gave to Caroline Keck. In July 1964 Jane worked at the Arnot Art Gallery, and Caroline Keck and her husband Sheldon spent some time there then, putting the gallery’s collection in shape. Jane liked Caroline Keck, and the two got along well. [...] I never met the Kecks, but told Jane to give the drawing to them.

[...] The object is a card, blank on the reverse side, written to Jane by Caroline Keck, conservator of the Brooklyn Museum; it was mailed to Jane in early August, along with a copy of the book, Is Your Contemporary Painting More Temporary Than You Think? [...]

[...] Jane said this data is correct, in that it referred to the Brooklyn Museum and Caroline Keck by name on the object, in the upper left corner. To Jane, this reading matter does project toward the center of the object.

(Peggy and I had a couple of hurried conversations this afternoon, concerning Jane’s condition, and before leaving Peggy had her say to Jane as we sat at the card table. I can tell that she’s appalled at my wife’s condition, and said outright that she’s not doing Jane any good at all any more. She wants me to call Dr. Kardon to come to the house to examine Jane, saying we owe it to Dr. K., who couldn’t know the extent of Jane’s symptoms these days. [...] The only thing that’s stopping me at the moment is Seth’s latest comments on the bedsores clearing themselves up automatically as Jane releases inner motion. [...]

[...] At about 7 PM, we were eating supper and watching Buck Rogers on TV, when Jane had another panic attack. [...] Right after she’d finished eating, Jane began to ramble, talking about making impossible verbal rituals that she had to carry out before she could eat her ice cream for dessert. [...] At one time Jane thought she was on the commode in the bedroom, and began to pull up her blouse. [...]

[...] If, as Seth has repeatedly said lately, Jane was clearing her psyche, then I feared that she’d begun her task too late, mentally and physically. As Peggy J had said today, Jane needed nursing care that neither she nor I could provide now. That leaves but one alternative, and my thought and fear is that if Jane goes into the hospital again, the sessions are over—for good. [...]

Of my three class counterparts other than Jane, then, it developed that Norma Pryor and Jack Pierce soon embarked upon their own paths, which hardly ever cross mine even though we don’t live that far apart. [...] On Jane’s part, one of her counterparts, Zelda, has traveled far away, although maintaining a tenuous, infrequent contact by mail. Jane has met Alan Koch but twice physically, yet feels allied with him. [...] And Jane has seen her fourth counterpart, “the young man from Pennsylvania …” but once since class stopped meeting.

3. Following Seth’s material in these paragraphs, then, there are of course a number of other Janes and Robs busily living out their lives in a cluster of associated probable realities — and all of those Janes and Robs are just as real to Seth as we are. [...] It’s a somewhat chastening one, I said to Jane, joking, since it means that from Seth’s viewpoint we could be just two more individuals.

[...] Now Seth took off into some areas involving Jane that were more personal; at the same time he gave material on the third and then the first of the questions I’d listed during break for the last session. [...] I think the information on Jane is quite relevant to both her work and her life in general.)

(Jane ate another excellent lunch. [...] I told Jane I wanted to go over some of the past sessions with her this afternoon. [...]

[...] Jane began a series of motions again, her left leg going sideways, her head in rhythm also. [...] “See, this other leg’s trying to do it too,” Jane said. [...]

[...] “It feels like the right knee wants to move more than it has,” Jane said. [...] Jane said the lower opening below her right knee had started draining a bit this morning, and staff had put a small bandage there. [...]

We could have presented Dreams as is, or at least have avoided mentioning certain less-than-advantageous circumstances surrounding its production by Jane and by Seth, the “energy personality essence” she speaks for while in a trance or dissociated state. The facts are, though, that Jane’s already impaired physical condition grew steadily worse while she was working on the book. [...] Since we’ve always wanted to make sure that our “psychic work” is given within the context of our daily living, I’ve undertaken to present in these essays intensely personal material relevant to the creation of Dreams. (The mechanics of Jane’s still-fascinating trance phenomenon have been described in some detail in the six previous Seth books she’s produced—with my help—and they’ll also be referred to, if briefly, in Dreams.)

[...] This weaving things together to make them “fit” is only natural for one of my temperament, but I didn’t alter any of my original copy—that I’d have refused to do—and I kept intact those first spontaneous descriptions of the events attendant to Jane’s physical difficulties, as well as our deep-seated, sometimes wrenching feelings connected to them. I did not look at Seth-Jane’s Dreams itself while writing the essays, in order to avoid having them overly influenced by work in the book. [...]

Seth, then, has finished his work on Dreams. I wrote the original version of the notes for each book session as he delivered it through Jane, and also began collecting other notes and reference material that might be used. [...] Jane will help as much as she can. [...]

[...] Again, it is the top half of the first page of chapter five of the book Jane is writing on dreams. It is the first draft, and was thrown away by Jane and saved by me, unknown to her. [...] It was typed on yellow paper, corrected by Jane with a dark pen. [...]

[...] My own idea is that this refers to the recent death of a priest Jane knew in her teens. [...] There is a connection between the priest, Father Ryan, and Jane’s playground dreams, and the playground itself in Saratoga Springs. The playground is directly across the street from the Catholic school Jane attended. [...]

(A note here: On page 148, see our interpretation of Seth’s impression, “Anemia,” and Jane’s connecting this with our friend Helga Anderson. [...] Note that Seth merely said that anemia reminded Jane of Helga Anderson; Helga is not given as Seth’s impression. [...] However, we think Jane’s Helga impressions and the interpretations leading to the envelope object and the dream book in general, to be legitimate.

(Harris Hill Inn was closed on Monday, February 1,1965, and Jane and I met the proprietor there Monday evening and hung the paintings. When we left Jane left her favorite pocketbook behind; she did not realize this until sometime later. The next day the proprietor of the Inn brought Jane’s pocketbook to her. [...] It appeared in the Gallagher material before the envelope test was held, and of course Jane could not know what the envelope test object was beforehand, by ordinary means. [...]

[...] The idea being that if it became part of the regular session routine Jane would forget about it, thus allowing any possible effects to come through without worrying about them. At first I was joking about the idea, but when Jane said it was all right to go ahead with the idea, I took her up on it. When we were set up for the session, I placed a lighted candle on the shelf beside me, behind some books so that Jane could not see it. [...]

[...] To sum up first, we saw that Seth had used the name of the artist who had executed the block print, Roy Fox, as a starting point for data involving Jane and Roy and me, but for some reason had not dealt with the test object itself. [...] Jane’s mother and a Christmas present also entered the test data, for reasons we do understand; here Seth tells us that Ruburt thinks of the package that his mother sent him.

[...] No sooner had we stopped the session than Joan came in to give Jane eye drops. [...] I did think to ask Joan about what she’d told us a couple of weeks ago when Jane’s Synthroid dosage had been cut down by Fred Kardon. [...] It’s a start, I told Jane. [...]

(Lorrie knocked, then came in to take Jane’s blood pressure and pulse. Jane broke off her delivery without effort to say hello, and Lorrie didn’t notice anything. [...]

(At 4:48 I turned Jane on her side. [...] Jane ate a good supper, and I left at 7:05 after checking the TV list for her and reading the prayer with her. [...]

Ever since she began studying Jane’s work fourteen years ago, my companion, Laurel Lee Davies, has been very conscious of the conflict between the rationalistic dominance so common in our culture, and the potential for greater development that she sensed within herself. As she researched Jane’s published and unpublished notes, journals, and books for The Magical Approach, Laurel learned that my wife had originally intended to call this book The Magical Approach: A Jane/Seth Book, and wrote of it as being “a psychic-naturalistic journal.” If Jane had planned to add to Seth’s original sessions, what might she have included? [...] Laurel pointed out a number of forceful passages Jane wrote on cultural acceptance in The God of Jane in 1980 — the same year in which she dictated The Magical Approach for Seth. (Prentice-Hall published The God of Jane in 1981.)

As her psychic abilities began to rapidly grow, following her initiation of the Seth material late in 1963, Jane couldn’t help but become more and more concerned about consciously enlarging her “scope of identity.” [...] Very understandable, then, that Jane, both for herself and for Seth, would write so eloquently about the disparity between her psychic abilities and “the currently scientifically-oriented blend of rationalism,” as Seth describes that quality earlier in this Session Six for The Magical Approach.

For example, in Chapter 12 of her own book, Jane began an impassioned four-page discussion of the subject by quoting her own notes:

(Dawn came in to take Jane’s temperature—97.5—to start the daily round of vitals, at 3:30. At 4:00 Jane told me to get out my pad in case Seth came through. [...] Jane’s head began to lift repeatedly off the pillow. [...]

(I found Jane very blue—even to the point of a few tears—when I got to 330 this afternoon. [...]

[...] Jane did very well reading yesterday’s session aloud. [...]

(See the notes on page 269, Volume 5, of the 232nd session, dealing with Jane’s recent poetry book and the request by Jane’s publisher, F. Fell, that she send it to him along with a tape of some of the poems, also by Jane. [...] Jane did not seriously expect Fell to accept this book, but still wants to hear from Seth about it. [...]

[...] Jane was well dissociated, she said. [...] I left the well-paying field of comics just about at the time I met Jane, in the spring of 1954. Jane now resumed in the same manner at 11:06.)

(As Jane sat resting during break, staring absently at the floor, she received the word “mine.” [...] In two recent envelope experiments Jane has used the word mine, or the underground image thus conjured up, to refer to a grave, meaning death.

[...] I found Jane quite upset as she lay nude on her left side. Dr. Gibson and the head nurse, Mary, had been in to 330 to look at Jane’s knee. [...] “No,” Jane replied, “it hasn’t.” Dr. G looked at it, remarked that she had a large ulcer on the knee, and quickly left with Mary before Jane was quick enough to ask him what he was talking to the nurse about. Jane immediately feared the worst: that Dr. G was going to want to operate upon, or lance, the knee, or something like that.

(Jane had had Darvoset early this morning. [...] When Judy, the RN, brought the lunch tray this noon, and replaced a couple of dressings, we asked her to contact Mary and find out exactly what Mary and Dr. G had talked about, re Jane’s treatment. [...]

(After lunch—Jane ate very well—I told her about my vivid little dream of last night. [...] “For all I know,” I told Jane, “the other guy could have been me.” [...]

(Once again, Jane ate a good supper after her massage, and I had napped. [...] Steve and Tracy had called during supper, and Jane had said she’d see them. [...] The two staff people obviously wanted to be through with Jane before company came.

[...] Jane ate a good lunch. [...] Georgia had braided Jane’s hair this morning on both sides, since my wife didn’t go to hydro.

[...] Jane began reading yesterday’s session while I got out the mail. [...] Jane finished the session at 3:02, after having done well with it.

(At our request Jane remained standing where she was; she said that she “tingled” as she stood in the proper spot. [...] The effect lasted for perhaps a minute or two, the room was sufficiently well lighted [although not blazing with light; during her deliveries Jane usually has one 60W light on, but at break we turn more lights on; and if this bothers Jane while talking she automatically snaps them off as she paces about.] and Bill and I had plenty of chance to make sure of what we were looking at.

(I then asked Jane to move a few inches forward. [...] For me, the change in feature appeared to take place on a plane an inch or so in front of Jane’s actual physical features. This new set of features might have been suspended on a clear screen of some kind; and as I watched them, at the same time I saw or sensed behind them or through them Jane’s real features as I knew them. [...]

(According to Seth then, Jane and I used our combined psychic strength or force to pull the bolt back. [...] This was accounted for to our satisfaction at the time of our second visit; trying to shoot the bolt from inside the porch, Jane and I found we had to exert considerable pressure against the door in order to line the bolt up with the door frame; and once shut the door was exceedingly sturdy. If Jane and I used psychic strength to open this door, it can be safely stated that the force required and exerted was considerable.)