Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul

«If you believe firmly that your consciousness is locked up somewhere inside your skull and is powerless to escape it, if you feel that your consciousness ends at the boundary of your body, then you sell yourself short, and you will think that I am a delusion. I am no more a delusion than you are.» — Seth, según Roberts, liga el tomarlo por ilusión a creer la consciencia encerrada en el cráneo, y responde igualando su estatuto al del lector; la plana de reclamo reimprime palabra por palabra la apertura del capítulo uno (p. 23), y se ancla en la primera aparición

«I can say this to each of my readers honestly: I am older than you are, at least in terms of age as you think of it.» — Seth, según Roberts, se declara mayor que el lector y acota en la misma frase la escala: la edad tal como el lector la piensa; el pasaje se repite en la p. 23

«I am an energy personality essence, no longer focused in physical matter. As such, I am aware of some truths that many of you seem to have forgotten.» — Seth, según Roberts, se nombra *energy personality essence* ya no enfocada en la materia física, y de ahí deriva la función que se atribuye: recordar lo olvidado, no revelar lo nuevo; el pasaje se repite en la p. 23

«This book was written by a personality called Seth, who speaks of himself as an “energy personality essence” no longer focused in physical form. He has been speaking through me for over seven years now, in twice weekly trance sessions.» — Jane Roberts abre la introducción declarando de quién es el texto y con qué cadencia se produjo: dos sesiones de trance por semana durante más de siete años

«My psychic initiation really began one evening in September, 1963, however, as I sat writing poetry. Suddenly my consciousness left my body, and my mind was barraged by ideas that were astonishing and new to me at the time. On return to my body, I discovered that my hands had produced an automatic script, explaining many of the concepts that I’d been given. The notes were even titled — The Physical Universe as Idea Construction.» — Roberts fecha su propia iniciación en septiembre de 1963 y la describe como salida de la consciencia del cuerpo con escritura automática de vuelta; el guion titulado es el que ella conserva

«Because of that experience, I began doing research into psychic activity, and planned a book on the project. In line with this, my husband, Rob, and I experimented with a Ouija board late in 1963. After the first few sessions, the pointer spelled out messages that claimed to come from a personality called Seth.» — Roberts narra el paso de la investigación al tablero Ouija con su marido a fines de 1963, y que el puntero deletreó mensajes que decían venir de Seth

«Neither Rob or I had any psychic background, and when I began to anticipate the board’s replies, I took it for granted that they were coming from my subconscious. Not long after, however, I felt impelled to say the words aloud, and within a month I was speaking for Seth while in a trance state.» — Roberts consigna su propia hipótesis inicial —que las respuestas venían de su subconsciente— y cómo en un mes pasó a hablar por Seth en trance; la duda está dentro del relato, no fuera

«I do not mean to imply that we have any cornerstone on truth, or give the impression that we wait breathlessly for the undistorted secrets of the ages to gush forth. I do know that each individual has access to intuitional knowledge and can gain glimpses of inner reality. The universe speaks to each of us in this regard.» — Roberts acota su propia pretensión —ni piedra angular de la verdad ni secretos de los siglos— y sostiene a cambio que cada individuo tiene acceso al conocimiento intuitivo

«The book will include a description of the way in which it is being written, and the procedures necessary so that my own ideas can be spoken by Ruburt, or for that matter translated at all, in vocal terms.» — Seth, según Roberts, en el esquema de la sesión 510: el libro incluirá la descripción del modo en que se escribe y de los procedimientos que hacen falta para que sus ideas puedan hablarse por Ruburt

«I do not have a physical body, and yet I will be writing a book. The first chapter will explain how and why.» — Seth, según Roberts, enuncia la paradoja que da título al capítulo uno y la deja como tarea del libro, no como afirmación suelta (sesión 510)

«At the same time I will make it clear that there is no past, present, or future, and explain that there is no contradiction even though I may speak in terms of past existences.» — Seth, según Roberts, se adelanta a la objeción que su propio esquema provoca: hablará de existencias pasadas negando a la vez que haya pasado, presente y futuro (sesión 510)

«The next chapter will deal with your physical reality as it appears to me and others like me. This chapter will contain some rather fascinating points, for not only do you form the physical reality that you know, but you are also forming other quite valid environments in other realities by your present thoughts, desires and emotions.» — Seth, según Roberts, anuncia la tesis que el libro desarrollará: el lector no solo forma la realidad física que conoce, sino otros entornos igual de válidos en otras realidades (sesión 510)

«The next chapter will deal with the eternal validity of dreams as gateways into these other realities, and as open areas through which the “inner self” glimpses the many facets of its experience and communicates with other levels of its reality.» — Seth, según Roberts, coloca los sueños como puertas a otras realidades y como el área por donde el *inner self* se asoma a su propia experiencia (sesión 510)

«I hope to show through the entire book that the reader himself is independent of his physical image, and I hope, myself, to give him some methods that will prove my thesis to him.» — Seth, según Roberts, declara el propósito del libro y la prueba que ofrece: no argumento, sino métodos que el lector aplique sobre sí (sesión 510)

«My message to the reader will be: “Basically, you are no more of a physical personality than I am, and in telling you of my reality I tell you of your own.”» — Seth, según Roberts, resume el mensaje del libro en una sola frase, y la simetría que propone es la clave del volumen: hablar de su realidad es hablar de la del lector (sesión 510)

«There will be a chapter on the religions of the world, on the distortions and truths within them; the three Christs; and some data concerning a lost religion, belonging to a people of which you have no information. These people lived on a planet in the same space that your earth now occupies, “before” your planet existed. They destroyed it through their own error, and were reincarnated when your planet was prepared. Their memories became the basis for the birth of religion as you now think of it.» — Seth, según Roberts, anuncia el capítulo sobre las religiones, los tres Cristos y una religión perdida de un pueblo anterior a la Tierra que la habría destruido por su propio error (sesión 510)

«There will be a final chapter in which I will ask the reader to close his eyes and become aware of the reality in which I exist, and of his own inner reality. I will give the methods. In this chapter I will invite the reader to use his “inner senses,” to see me in his own way.» — Seth, según Roberts, anuncia el capítulo final como ejercicio y no como exposición: cerrar los ojos y usar los *inner senses* para percibirlo (sesión 510)

«While my communications will come exclusively through Ruburt at all times, to protect the integrity of the material, I will invite the reader to become aware of me as a personality, so that he may then realize that communication from other realities is possible, and that he himself is therefore open to perception that is not physical.» — Seth, según Roberts, acota su propio canal —exclusivamente Ruburt, para proteger la integridad del material— y a la vez invita al lector a percibirlo por su cuenta (sesión 510)

«Now this is my outline for the book, but it contains merely a sketch of my intentions. I am not giving a fuller outline, for I do not want Ruburt to anticipate me.» — Seth, según Roberts, declara por qué el esquema es un boceto: no quiere que Ruburt se le adelante (sesión 510)

«It will be made clear that so-called paranormal communications come from various levels of reality, and that those communications describe the reality in which they exist. So I will describe mine, and others of which I have knowledge.» — Seth, según Roberts, enuncia el principio que ordena el libro: cada comunicación paranormal describe la realidad desde la que se emite, y él describirá la suya (sesión 510)

«This is the title for our book (smile): Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul.» — Seth, según Roberts, fija el título del libro dentro del propio dictado; la acotación *smile* es de las notas de Butts (sesión 510)

«I am using the term soul, for it will have instant meaning to most readers.» — Seth, según Roberts, declara por qué usa la palabra *soul*: por su significado inmediato para el lector, no por precisión (sesión 510)

«This is not to say that other dimensions do not exist of which I am ignorant. I will dictate the book during our sessions.» — Seth, según Roberts, pone el límite de su propio saber junto al anuncio del método: hay dimensiones que ignora, y el libro se dictará en las sesiones (sesión 510)

«Precisely because I am acquainted with the effort involved in writing a book, I was cautious when Seth spoke of writing his own. Though I knew perfectly well that he could do it, a nagging part of me questioned. “Granted, the Seth material is really significant, but what does Seth know about writing books? About the organization required? Or about directing himself to the public?” Rob kept telling me not to worry about it. Friends and students seemed astonished that of all people, I should have any doubts, but I thought — of all people, who else should have doubts? Here was a stated intent. Could Seth follow through?» — Roberts consigna su propia desconfianza ante el anuncio, con las preguntas tal cual se las hizo: qué sabe Seth de organizar un libro y de dirigirse al público

«Reading the finished book was a delightful experience. As a whole it was completely new to me, though each word had been spoken through my lips, and I had devoted many evenings in trance to its production. This was particularly strange to me since I am a writer myself, used to organizing my own material, keeping track of it, and hovering over it like a mother hen.» — Roberts describe la extrañeza de leer como ajeno un libro que salió por sus propios labios, y la contrasta con su modo de trabajar lo suyo

«I wanted to discover why I felt that Seth’s book was his, as divorced from mine. If both were coming from the same unconscious, then why the subjective differences in my feelings?» — Roberts formula la pregunta que su introducción persigue y que no cierra: si los dos libros salieran del mismo inconsciente, por qué siente distinto uno y otro

«When I’m caught up in inspiration, writing a poem, then I’m “turned on,” excited, filled with a sense of urgency, and discovery. Just before this happens, however, an idea comes out of nowhere, it seems. It is “given.” It simply appears, and from it new creative connections spring.» — Roberts describe su creación consciente como partida de una idea que aparece dada, para tener con qué comparar el trance

«I was not connected in this way with Seth’s book, and had no awareness of the creative processes involved. I went into trance as I do for our regular sessions. Seth dictated the book through me, speaking through my lips. The creative work was so distant from me, that in this respect I could not call the product my own.» — Roberts fija la diferencia que sostiene todo su argumento: no tuvo conciencia del proceso creativo del libro de Seth y por eso no lo llama suyo

«Anyone can say, of course, that in Seth’s book the hidden processes are so separate from my normal consciousness that the final product only seems to come from another personality.» — Roberts enuncia ella misma la objeción contraria —que el producto solo parezca de otra personalidad— antes de responderla

«Despite this, I’m aware of the fact that I was necessary to the production of Seth’s book. He needs my ability with words; even, I think, my turn of mind.» — Roberts declara su parte en la producción: el libro necesita su destreza con las palabras y hasta su giro mental

«Looked at merely as an example of unconscious production, however, Seth’s book clearly shows that organization, discrimination, and reasoning are certainly not qualities of the conscious mind alone, and demonstrates the range and activity of which the inner self is capable.» — Roberts ofrece la lectura mínima —el libro como producción inconsciente— y dice qué se seguiría incluso de ella: que organizar, discriminar y razonar no son solo de la mente consciente

«I do not believe that I could get the equivalent of Seth’s book on my own. The best I could do would be to hit certain high points, perhaps in isolated poems or essays, and they would lack the overall unity, continuity, and organization that Seth has here provided automatically.» — Roberts acota esa misma lectura: lo más que conseguiría por su cuenta serían puntos altos sueltos, sin la unidad y la continuidad del conjunto

«Often I participate in Seth’s great energy and humor, for example, enjoying a sense of emotional richness and encountering Seth’s personality on a very strange level. I feel his mood and vitality clearly, though they are not directed at me, but to whomever Seth is addressing at the moment. I feel them as they pass through me.» — Roberts describe lo que sí experimenta en sesión: humor y energía que no van dirigidos a ella sino a quien Seth habla, y que ella siente al pasar

«As Rob’s notes show, I often have other kinds of experiences, also, while speaking for Seth. Sometimes, for instance, I see inner visions. These may illustrate what Seth is saying, so that I am receiving information in two ways, or they may be completely separate from the script. I’ve had several “out-of-body” experiences also during sessions, when I saw events actually happening some thousands of miles away.» — Roberts remite a las notas de su marido como registro de sus visiones internas y de sus experiencias fuera del cuerpo durante las sesiones

«This book is Seth’s way of demonstrating that human personality is multidimensional, that we exist in many realities at once, that the soul or inner self is not something apart from us, but the very medium in which we exist.» — Roberts enuncia la tesis del volumen en una frase: el alma o *inner self* no está aparte de nosotros sino que es el medio mismo en que existimos

«He emphasizes that “truth” is not found by going from teacher to teacher, church to church, or discipline to discipline, but by looking within the self.» — Roberts consigna dónde coloca Seth la verdad, y la fórmula es una negativa a la cadena de maestros, iglesias y disciplinas

«The intimate knowledge of consciousness, the “secrets of the universe,” are not esoteric truths to be hidden from the people, then. Such information is as natural to man as air, and as available to those who honestly seek it by looking to the source within.» — Roberts niega el carácter esotérico de ese saber: lo declara tan natural al hombre como el aire y disponible para quien lo busque honestamente

«Seth intimates as much in Chapter Four, when he says, “Now the information in this book is being directed to some extent through the inner senses of the woman who is in trance as I write it.» — Roberts cita el capítulo cuatro para apoyar su propia parte en la producción: Seth, según ella, dirige la información por los *inner senses* de la mujer en trance. El tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la p. 15

«of highly organized inner precision, and of training. [She] could not receive the information from me — it could not be translated nor interpreted — while she was focused intensely in the physical environment.”» — continuación del pasaje anterior en la plana siguiente: el dictado se atribuye a precisión interna organizada y a entrenamiento, y niega que pudiera recibirse con la atención puesta en el entorno físico. El corchete de *[She]* lo pone Roberts al citar

«The whole creative venture may be the initiation of a personality, Seth, who then writes books. Seth may be as much of a creation as his book is.» — Roberts formula la hipótesis que la deja sin arbitrar: que el propio Seth sea una creación tanto como el libro

«“The Seth books present an alternate map of reality with a new diagram of the psyche … useful to all explorers of consciousness.”» — el blurb de Deepak Chopra en la solapa editorial; los puntos suspensivos son de la cita tal como la imprime el editor

«“Seth was one of my first metaphysical teachers. He remains a constant source of knowledge and inspiration in my life.”» — el blurb de Marianne Williamson en la misma plana de solapa

«“I would like to see the Seth books as required reading for anyone on their spiritual pathway. The amazing in-depth information in the Seth books is as relevant today as it was in the early ’70s when Jane Roberts first channeled this material.”» — el blurb de Louise Hay, que es donde la solapa usa el verbo *channeled* para lo que hace Roberts

«“Seth’s teachings had an important influence on my life and work, and provided one of the initial inspirations for writing Creative Visualization.”» — el blurb de Shakti Gawain

«“The Seth books were of great benefit to me on my spiritual journey and helped me to see another way of looking at the world.”» — el blurb de Gerald G. Jampolsky

«“To my great surprise — and slight annoyance — I found that Seth eloquently and lucidly articulated a view of reality that I had arrived at only after great effort and an extensive study of both paranormal phenomena and quantum physics….”» — el blurb de Michael Talbot

«“As you read Seth’s words, you will gain more than just new ideas. Seth’s energy comes through every page — energy that expands your consciousness and changes your thoughts about the nature of reality.”» — el blurb de Sanaya Roman

«BOOKS BY JANE ROBERTS The Rebellers (1963) The Coming of Seth (How to Develop Your ESP Power) (1966) The Seth Material (1970) Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul, A Seth Book (1972)» — el catálogo del editor abre la lista de la autora y fecha este título en 1972; es aparato editorial, no cuerpo, y los años entre paréntesis son los del propio catálogo

«Copyright © 1972 Jane Roberts Copyright © 1994 Robert F. Butts Copyright © 2012 Laurel Davies-Butts» — la página de derechos imprime tres copyrights sucesivos, y es de donde salen las fechas del encabezado; el año de esta edición no se imprime

«Published by Amber-Allen Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 6657 San Rafael, CA 94903 Cover Art: Robert F. Butts Cover Design: Beth Hansen Editorial: Janet Mills» — el pie editorial de la misma plana: sello, domicilio y los tres créditos de producción del ejemplar

«All rights reserved. This e-book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. E-Book: ISBN 978-1-934408-35-3 Printed Book: ISBN 978-1-878424-07-5» — la nota de reserva de derechos y los dos ISBN, el del libro electrónico y el del impreso

«Since then, Seth has delivered a continuing manuscript that now totals over six thousand typewritten pages. We call it the Seth material, and it deals with such topics as the nature of physical matter, time, and reality, the god concept, probable universes, health, and reincarnation.» — Roberts mide el material acumulado en más de seis mil páginas mecanografiadas y enumera sus asuntos: materia física, tiempo, realidad, el concepto de dios, universos probables, salud y reencarnación

«In The Seth Material, published in 1970, I explained these events and gave Seth’s views on a variety of subjects with excerpts from the sessions. I also described our encounters with psychologists and parapsychologists, as we tried to understand our experiences and place them within the context of normal life.» — Roberts remite a su libro anterior de 1970 y a los encuentros con psicólogos y parapsicólogos que ahí describió

«Two weeks after it was finished, however, Seth dictated the outline for this present manuscript, in which he would be free to state his ideas in his own way, in book form.» — Roberts declara el origen de este volumen: dos semanas después de terminado el anterior, Seth dictó el esquema de un libro propio

«Here is a copy of that outline, which was given to us in Session 510, January 19, 1970. As you’ll see here, Seth calls me Ruburt, and Rob, Joseph. These names represent our entire personalities as distinguished from our present physically oriented selves.» — Roberts sitúa el esquema en la sesión 510 del 19 de enero de 1970 y explica los dos nombres que el dictado usa: Ruburt por ella y Joseph por su marido, dichos como personalidades enteras y no como los yoes físicos

«(By now [Rob wrote in his notes] Jane’s pace had slowed considerably, and her eyes were often closed. She took many pauses, some of them long.)» — la nota que Robert Butts tomó durante la sesión, reproducida entre paréntesis por Roberts: mide la entrega de Jane por el ritmo, los ojos y las pausas. El corchete con su nombre lo pone Roberts al citarlo

«In my opinion, Seth has written a book that is a classic of its kind. After referring to him cautiously as “a personality,” I feel bound to add that Seth is an astute philosopher and psychologist, deeply knowledgeable in the ways of human personality, and well aware of the triumph and plight of human consciousness.» — Roberts marca su propia valoración como opinión y llama a Seth filósofo y psicólogo agudo, después de haberlo llamado cautelosamente *a personality*

«Regardless of my ideas about Seth or the nature of reality, however, this manuscript must stand on its own as a book. It bears the mark of Seth’s personality, as any book carries indelibly within it the stamp of its author, no more and no less.» — Roberts separa la cuestión del origen de la del valor: el manuscrito ha de sostenerse como libro, con la marca de su autor ni más ni menos que cualquiera

«When our sessions first began, I thought of publishing the material as my own, so that it could be accepted for its value, without introducing questions about its source. This did not seem just, however, because the way the Seth material is produced is part of the message and reinforces it.» — Roberts declara que consideró publicar el material como propio para evitar la cuestión del origen, y por qué desistió: el modo de producción es parte del mensaje

«He certainly knows the difference between spoken and written language. His class sessions are less formal, with a good amount of give and take. This book, though, is much more like our own private sessions in which the body of the material is delivered. The emphasis is more definitely on content, the stress on the written rather than the spoken word.» — Roberts distingue los registros del corpus Seth: las sesiones de clase con toma y daca, y este libro más cercano a las sesiones privadas, con el acento en la palabra escrita

«Seth’s sentences are often long, particularly for verbal delivery, yet he never gets lost or loses touch with syntax or meaning. Whenever a difficulty seemed to exist in this respect, we checked the original session and saw that somewhere along the line an error in copying had been made.» — Roberts consigna el criterio con que resolvieron las dificultades de sintaxis: volver a la sesión original, donde la falla resultaba ser de copia

«Proofreading involved work on Rob’s notes mainly, as he made them more presentable. In some cases, material not a part of the book was included if it seemed relevant, cast sidelights on the method of presentation, or gave insights into Seth himself.» — el aparato dice qué se añadió en la corrección: material ajeno al libro cuando arrojaba luz sobre el método de presentación o sobre el propio Seth

«Here is another note of interest along these lines. I write three drafts of my own work, and sometimes still wind up dissatisfied. This book was dictated in its final draft.» — Roberts contrasta sus tres borradores con el dictado de este libro, que declara entregado en versión final

«From here on, Seth speaks for himself. Jane Roberts Elmira, New York September 27, 1971» — la firma con que Roberts cierra su introducción y entrega el volumen a la otra voz; fecha y lugar están en la firma

«Seth’s sentence structure has not been changed either, except in occasional instances. (A few times I made two sentences out of one long one, for example.) Much of the punctuation was indicated by Seth. In such cases, we just inserted the hyphens, semicolons, and parentheses as he suggested, and» — el aparato declara hasta dónde llega la intervención editorial: alguna frase larga partida en dos y la puntuación dictada por Seth e insertada por ellos. El tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la p. 19

«deleted the directions themselves to avoid distracting the reader. Where Seth asked for quotes, we have used double quotes; otherwise, where the meaning seems to call for them, single quotation marks are used. Seth also instructed us to underline certain words.» — continuación en la plana siguiente: se borraron las indicaciones de puntuación para no distraer, y las comillas dobles o simples se usan según lo pedido

«In beginning these notes, let me mention that there are certain definite changes in Jane when she is in trance and speaking for Seth.» — la primera nota de Robert Butts en el cuerpo del libro, y la que fija la convención tipográfica: lo que va entre paréntesis es su registro de la sesión (511, 21 de enero de 1970)

«Usually Jane goes in and out of trance with remarkable speed. Her eyes aren’t closed during sessions, except for relatively brief periods — but they can be barely open, say, or half open, or wide open and much darker than usual. She sits for sessions in her Kennedy rocker, but on occasion she gets up and moves about. She smokes in trance and sips a little wine, beer, or coffee. Sometimes, when her trance has been very deep, it takes her a few minutes “to really come out of it,” as she puts it. Almost always she joins me in a snack after the session, no matter how late it is.» — Butts describe el trance por fuera y en detalle doméstico: la rapidez, los ojos abiertos, la mecedora, el cigarro, el vino y el refrigerio posterior

«Jane’s voice in trance can be almost conversational in tone, volume, and pace, but is subject to a wide range of these qualities. Usually it’s somewhat deeper and stronger than her “own” voice. Once in a while her “Seth voice” is very loud indeed, much more powerful, with definite masculine overtones and with an obvious, tremendous energy behind it. Most of our sessions however are fairly quiet.» — Butts mide la voz de trance contra la habitual: casi siempre más grave y fuerte, a veces muy potente y con matices masculinos, y la mayoría de las sesiones tranquilas

«Seth speaks with an accent that’s hard to pinpoint. It’s been called Russian, Irish, German, Dutch, Italian, and even French. Seth once humorously commented that his way of speaking was actually due to his own “cosmopolitan background,” acquired through many lifetimes. Jane and I think it is simply individual, and that it invokes various responses in people according to their own ethnic and emotional backgrounds.» — el desacuerdo se consigna sin armonizar: Seth atribuye su manera de hablar a un *cosmopolitan background* de muchas vidas, y Butts y Roberts la leen como algo individual que despierta respuestas distintas según el oyente

«There are two more effects that Jane always manifests while she is in trance. One is a more angular quality in her mannerisms. The other is a rearrangement of her facial muscles; a tautness resulting, I believe, from an infusion of energy — or of consciousness. At times this effect is quite pronounced, and I can easily sense the immediacy of Seth’s presence.» — Butts añade dos efectos físicos —la angulosidad de los gestos y la tensión de los músculos faciales— y marca su propia inferencia con *I believe*

«I think these changes in Jane during sessions are caused by her creative reception of a portion of an entity, an essence, that we call Seth, and by her own ideas of what this certain segment is like as she casts it in the masculine gender.» — Butts da su propia explicación y la marca como suya: recepción creativa de una porción de una entidad, más las ideas de Jane sobre ese segmento, que ella vierte en género masculino

«Before the session, Jane said she felt rather nervous; she thought Seth would start his own book this evening. Her feeling of nervousness is quite unusual in these sessions. I offered reassurances, telling her to forget the whole thing and let the book come out in its own way.)» — Butts registra el nerviosismo de Jane antes de la sesión inaugural y lo declara inusual; el consejo que le da queda dentro de la nota

«10:18. Jane left trance rather easily, although it had been a good one. She was quite surprised that so much time had passed. She was also much relieved that Seth had started the book, while keeping her well under. “Oh, he’s smart,” she laughed. “Somebody’s pretty tricky.”» — la nota de Butts en el descanso: Jane sale del trance y comenta con humor que Seth la mantuvo bien dormida mientras arrancaba el libro

«She said she had the impression that the material from Seth was highly condensed and directed, aimed at the reader, that he was trying to get the ideas across as clearly and concisely as possible.» — la nota de Butts recoge la impresión de Jane al salir del trance: el material le pareció condensado y dirigido al lector

«While delivering this paragraph Jane walked into the kitchen, still in trance, to rummage for a book of matches; she wanted to light a cigarette.» — la nota de Butts contrapone lo dictado y lo que ocurría en la sala: Jane se levantó a buscar cerillos sin salir del trance

«She said she knew each word as she delivered it during the session, but forgot it almost at once. By 11:05, though, she realized she hadn’t really “completely come out of it” at break after all.» — la nota de Butts registra dos cosas que el volumen no armoniza: Jane conocía cada palabra al decirla y la olvidaba en seguida, y creyó haber salido del trance sin haber salido

«This session was witnessed by Carl and Sue Watkins and their infant son Sean. Carl and Sue are members of Jane’s ESP class.» — la nota de Butts nombra a los testigos de la sesión 514: los Watkins, de la clase de ESP de Jane, con su bebé

«Seth’s parting remark was in answer to a question Sue had raised earlier in the evening, about how much revision his book would require. Jane’s opinion, so far, was that the book wouldn’t need any work except for the rearranging of an occasional awkward phrase, etc.» — la nota de Butts explica a qué respondía la frase final de Seth y añade la opinión de Jane sobre la corrección que el libro necesitaría

«Jane has been taking something of a rest for the last month or so. She’s had but two regular sessions — one for friends, and a personal one for us — and only one for her weekly ESP class. [Class sessions aren’t numbered.] Occasionally Jane has wondered what effect, if any, the break would have on Seth’s book. However, after giving me some very astute data about my painting, Seth resumed book dictation very smoothly at 9:33 — just as though there hadn’t been any time lapse from February 11 to March 18.» — la nota de Butts registra el mes de pausa entre sesiones y que el dictado se reanudó sin desfase; el corchete sobre las sesiones de clase sin numerar es suyo