“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(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. I thought this would have an extra emotional content, as did the symbol I used in the first test. [This is to be our second such test.]

(Break at 9:18. Jane was dissociated as usual for a first delivery. She was greatly pleased at the results of the test, and so was I. Neither of us regard these tests as scientific but we do consider them a beginning toward scientific tests.

(Jane said she felt it when I dropped the test envelope into her lap. This did not make her nervous however; she was “already Seth,” she said. 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.

(I took care that Jane did not see me preparing the envelopes this evening, although she was well aware a test might take place. We had discussed the matter earlier in the day but she had not given me an unequivocal yes or no answer, as to whether we should make such tests an everyday procedure during sessions. See Seth’s comments on this in the last session.

[...] In The New York Times test, Rob himself didn’t know what was on the test object. He didn’t always know what the test object was, in any case, and sometimes he didn’t even know that a test would be held! For example, occasionally friends would come unannounced to a session and bring their own test envelope. This was just handed to me in the middle of the session, without my knowing beforehand whether or not a test would be held. [...]

For the next eleven months, the Seth sessions dealt mainly with test data of one kind or another. [...] At 10 P.M. he gave impressions for Dr. Instream, and after that Rob gave me an envelope if there was to be such a test that evening. If we did have one of our own tests, then we’d sit up after the session, trying to evaluate the results. [...]

Although my confidence had risen with the two out-of-body episodes, I felt that I was putting Seth and myself on the line with each test session. 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. [...]

Here’s an instance where Rob was trying to test for clairvoyance rather than telepathy. Like many others, this test had surprising results. Rob’s notes show clearly the procedure he followed in choosing the test item:

(During this break Jane said she had the feeling the pocketbook data, given at the end of Peggy’s test, might not refer to Peggy at all, but to “something or someone else.” As it developed in our envelope test tonight, this could be true. If so it is an example of the “bleeding” of test material from one test to another during the same session. [...] In this specific case also, clairvoyance enters in, since the envelope test had not been held yet. [...]

(The rest of the test data applies to the Christmas package Jane’s mother sent her early this week. [...] Why this information cropped up in a test we do not know. We can see the connection with the Roy Fox data however, since Roy made the block print; his name is also on the test object. We would like to know why Seth chose to use Roy’s name as a springboard, however, instead of sticking to the test object.

(See the notes on page 120, dealing with the data in Peggy Gallagher’s test, concerning a misplaced pocketbook of the shoulder variety. As stated, Jane at the time of the Gallagher test said she believed this information did not refer to Peggy. After the envelope test material was in on tonight’s test, she then realized an incident involving a lost shoulder-variety pocketbook of her own.

(The 21st envelope test was held during the session. The test object sealed in the usual double envelopes was a woodblock print, made by an artist friend of ours, Roy C. Fox, and enclosed with Roy’s Christmas card of last Christmas. [...] Once again the test results were interesting, and somewhat different in nature.

(In the 197th session Seth suggested that I not wait for him to request an envelope test. In a recent session also he said it was not wise for such tests to be given at the end of a session, when Jane is tired. Hence I thought I had picked a good time to give her the test envelope. I did not anticipate that it would not be a good test because of previous information, or that it could interfere with subsequent tests.

(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. A drawing of it is not necessary since the test data did not coincide by a wide margin. [...]

[...] She hadn’t expected a test, and I hadn’t mentioned it to her before the session. Actually I had prepared the test envelope some weeks ago.

Therefore, if the results are poor, this undermines Ruburt’s confidence for the following tests. [...] I have no objection now to the fact that you check the results of the envelope tests immediately afterward; but only when this occurs after the Instream material.

[...] It is true that we can still learn from the envelope test series, which covered a year. In reviewing test results on two items for Jane’s chapter on tests in her new book, we are pleasantly surprised to unearth several more excellent bits of information that we had overlooked earlier, etc...

[...] The envelope object for the test in question was a piece torn from a hidden page of The New York Times. [...] [Hiding it in the studio while my eyes were closed, etc.] Yet when Seth, through Jane, gave the test results, much accurate data was given concerning the full page that lay in the back room, as well as the actual small envelope object in Jane’s hand during the session. [...]

In the tests however we also tried to utilize this characteristic. [...] So we used this in that test to enlarge the picture, and bring in further details that did give you a rather complete picture, respectable data, in a way that was fairly natural to Ruburt. [...]

(We found Seth’s data tonight on Jane’s reaction to tests very interesting. I talked about cases we had read about, where hypnosis was used to get the subject to focus only upon the test item, ignoring any other data even if relevant. [...]

(I wasn’t decided whether to ask Jane to hold an envelope test. On the one hand I didn’t want her to feel I was pressuring her for a test every session; on the other hand I wondered whether she would think I was taking it easy on her if I skipped the test. [...]

(I handed Jane the double test envelope at 10:15. I had decided to pass up the test for this session, and certainly had no thought that Seth would ask me for one.

(This is the 14th envelope test. [...] She used pauses while delivering the test data, yet spoke confidently.

[...] She said that when she heard Seth ask me for the envelope test, she became nervous, for as Jane she had no intention of asking for a test. [...]

(The material on a dog reminded me that the Bristol stiffeners I enclosed tonight’s test paper in were the same two in which I had enclosed the test photo for the 11th envelope test, in the 194th session. [...]

I will no longer ask you if you have a test. You will simply at your leisure hand me a test when you have one for me, at any time in the session. [...] Do not tell Ruburt the results of the test immediately.

(It will be recalled that Seth himself [or Jane?] initiated the idea of asking me if I had an envelope test at each session. The first such test was held in the 179th session, and Jane knew about it before the session began. In that session however Seth also said it would be better if Jane did not know whether I planned a test before any particular session.

(For the test this evening I chose a page from my notepad. [...] It’s our 13th envelope test.

(See the tracing of the test object on page 101. All in all the envelope test results were much superior to the previous two tests, and Jane was pleased. [...]

(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. [...]

(Usually now we do not ask Seth to explain every reference made in a test if we do not see any connection. We list what we see as connections, and have noted that if we are really puzzled about any test data, Seth will say something about the problem after break.

I wanted to have a test, and what I said regarding tests in the last session still holds.

(As Seth explains on page 134 of this session, some of the test data tonight represents preliminary connections with the test object, just as in the last envelope test with the drawing made by Roy Fox. Thus Jane’s personal associations are now often connected with the test object, and she is working with Seth and not against him.

(The 22nd envelope test was held this evening. The test object was a ball-point pen drawing of a dog; my four-year-old nephew made it while my brother Bill’s family and Jane and I visited my parents last Sunday. [...] I intended to file it for the future, but today decided it would make a good test subject. [...]

Our tests must be considered in the light of action, for this is what they are. [...] The associations, personal associations on Ruburt’s part, when they are directly connected to test objects in our envelope tests, represent to some degree a step forward on his part.

[...] Not only is the month of the test the twelfth month, but there were twelve people present in Sayre the day the test object was drawn. And again, the test object was drawn on December 12th, and so dated by me.

(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. [...]

(See the tracing on page 169 for the test object for this evening’s envelope test. [...]

(Lorraine handed me her envelope while Jane was out of the room; thus Jane did not see it before the test. [...] I did not mention to either Jane or Lorraine whether I had planned a test for tonight. [...]

[...] As it developed, she will be copying Part One of this session to send to Dr. Instream also, for even though the session was unscheduled an envelope test developed. Once again parts of the test results were unexpected. The whole test was very interesting; and all the more so because it was Jane’s first before witnesses.

(In the first test, given in the 179th session, I had found myself mystified over part of the data. Now, the four of us found ourselves puzzling over the first part of tonight’s test data. As will be seen however most of it is connected with the test object. [...]

[...] as there was in our first test when we were alone... But tonight we succeeded in getting Ruburt painlessly across that first-test-before-witnesses barrier... [...] Such tests are very good training for him... [...]

(Tonight’s unscheduled session is arbitrarily divided into two parts in order to present the envelope test data first. I have verbatim notes on this; I asked Seth to speak slowly enough for notes on the test and he agreed. [...]

(The 18th envelope test was held during the session. The test object is simply a drawing in black ink of the same symbol used in the first envelope test, of August 18,1965, in the 179th session. [...] I made the drawing for this evening’s test on white paper; the paper was thin and the heavy black ink struck through the paper rather clearly. [...]

(As stated on page 95, the black ink drawing struck through the thin test paper so that it was visible on both sides of the paper. [...] The test object is paper, and is connected with me since my name is on it, and I made the drawing. [...]

[...] I had prepared this test envelope for last Wednesday’s session but did not use it then; the session was witnessed by the Gallaghers and the test was shoved aside by other developments, notably the impromptu discussion between Seth, Bill and Peg. [...]

I am going to let you find your own answers, but any such tests and examinations will be welcomed by me, as long as they are conducted in such a way so that our sessions are not disturbed. [...]

[...] It will be remembered that Jane’s second envelope test was held on the night of August 23, in the 180th session, and that the test photo featured Jane on the waterfront at York Beach. [...]

(The double test envelope for the 8th test contained a page from an old novel of Jane’s entitled The Adult Time. [...]

The man and woman referred to in the test experiment of August two- three, were the Instreams. We had some difficulty here; and yet also, considering the fact that these tests were new, some success.

(I gave Jane the test envelope at 10:21. [...] She held the test envelope in her left hand.)

Yet Seth managed to use the tests to demonstrate his own clairvoyant ability, further my education, and instruct us on the processes involved. He varied the depth of my trances during tests so I could get the feel of various stages of consciousness, and also showed me how to let him use my own personal associations in order to get certain data. He used the tests to demonstrate ESP; but more, he gave me constant practice in changing my subjective focus, explaining the whole thing as he went along.

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

We held seventy-five Instream tests and eighty-three envelope tests between August 1965 and September 1966. [...]

[...] I never knew when we would have such a test, and I never saw the envelope before 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. [...]

[...] In the test she was unable to tell when she got off on the track of personal associations; somehow the fine discrimination was lacking. Jane said that by the time she approached break she knew the test had been a poor one. But she also knew the test was poor, something she wouldn’t have been able to distinguish not too long ago. [...]

[...] We didn’t want to give rise to a feeling of pressure on Jane during sessions, and wondered whether it was wise to try three regular tests. [...] For this reason we had let the candle-flame tests go for the moment, even though they appear promising.

(See the tracing of the test object on page 190. As can be seen practically none of the data applies to the test object, with the exception of the white coat; the connection here is tenuous, and will be explained. [...]

[...] Now the test object contains a poem referring to shivering pigeons and snow—hence the connection. I thought the November reference might be legitimate, since the originator of the test object, Ann Diebler, could have visited our apartment during that month. [...]

[...] She had used many pauses in giving the test data, although she hadn’t appeared to be nervous. During the whole passage, she sat almost without moving, holding the test envelope almost motionless in her right hand. [...]

(Jane regarded the test results as very poor, at first glance. [...] Some of the information applied at first glance; other parts of it, I thought, were impressions attached to the test objects themselves, as in the 185th session.

(I had prepared the usual double test envelope earlier in the day, but doubted it would be used if Jane was not in a good mood for the session. [...]

Do you have any tests for me this evening?

(In the last session Seth had commented favorably on trying some tests with Jane and me. [...] [This was to be our first “envelope test”.]

Ruburt has been somewhat uneasy at the thought of a test. [...] However, the very fact that he permitted the test to be conducted shows that his attitude is improving.

You will get better results either if Ruburt does not know in advance that a test of any kind will be given, or if such tests become so commonplace that they no longer concern him.

[...] She left the studio when I asked her to, but I now thought she had been alerted to something unusual, and might be anticipating a test of some sort. [...]

(For the 10th envelope test I used a label from a bottle of Ballantine Ale. [...] I absent-mindedly peeled the label from a bottle as we sat talking in the darkened room, then decided on the spur of the moment to use it for a test. [...] I took care to slip the wet label in a coat pocket when neither Jane or the Gallaghers were looking, and as it developed Jane had no idea of the test object for the session.

[...] She was not nervous in giving the data on Dr. Instream, or on our own test object. Suffice it to note here that this was Jane’s third test before witnesses. An analysis of the test follows the end of the session.

[...] I was of course involved with the test object, and my initials are R.B., but this can apply to any test object. [...]

(It will be remembered that our 2nd envelope test, held during the 180th session, was held on August 23, and that it featured a photograph of Jane at York Beach. [...]

[...] She realized she was tired as she heard herself asking me if I had a test for her. When I asked if it was possible for her to change her mind and postpone a test under such circumstances, she said she did not know. Jane regarded tonight’s envelope test as pretty much of a failure.

Now in regard to our own test this evening: Ruburt, at this stage, should not work on our own test results as he has been doing. He has been concentrating too much on grading our tests.

(See the tracing of the test photo on page 295. Jane felt the test data contained but few correct impressions. [...]

[...] He should dismiss the tests entirely from his mind. The tests in the sessions have not bothered him at all to any important degree, except for a natural initial nervousness, and all in all we have been coming along well enough. [...]

(I had prepared a test envelope to give to Jane during the 181st session, of August 25, but did not do so because of the short session. [...] I came across the calendar beneath a stack of books and on the spur of the moment decided to use it for the test, wondering whether this type of cut and dried subject matter would have as much emotional pull for Seth/Jane as the subject matter of the first two tests. [...]

[...] Nor had I given her the test envelope. [...] I thought it might introduce an alien note, and also that it might interfere with the results of the test itself.

[...] Her request caught me by surprise, and it took me a few moments to fish the test envelope out of its hiding place and lay it on the bed before her. It was 10:58; I thought it much too late for a test.)

(When she opened the test envelope to see a clipping of a section of a calendar page, containing numbers and a few spots of red and yellow, Jane was quite disappointed. Her reaction was similar to my own as I listened to her recitation of the test data. [...]