… mark the Mark: Mark has arrived . This is a little instance in which Ruburt did not block me . Let your friend in and request that he be seated.
(Jane broke off dictation. It was 9:20. Her sudden change in direction had distracted me. While I sat staring at her she said:)
Please take a brief break if you want discussion among yourselves, though I shall of course listen in avidly.
(Jane now motioned toward the door. Recovering my wits by now and realizing that the name Mark referred to Bill’s entity name , given to us by Seth at our seance, I went to the door and opened it. No one was there. Nor had I heard anyone coming up the stairs.
(By now I was completely puzzled; and Jane, evidently not wanting to speak on her own yet, looked at me and shrugged. We had heard the sound of a car, I remembered, and people going into the apartment downstairs; perhaps that had caused our confusion. I had a peculiar feeling of dismay, as though we had lost control somehow.
(I went back to my desk. It was 9:21. Jane resumed pacing and dictating.)
If you are ready I will explain the situation, if Ruburt will kindly allow me. It is regrettable, and yet I can give you a checking method that should be used in the future, to check any material in which you find distortions of any kind.
First of all, such distortions will almost always occur either in the beginning of a session or toward the end, and distortions in the material itself will not as a rule occur in the middle of sessions .
A mistake for example in notes would not apply here. However, my dear distortive and naughty Ruburt here not only put words into my mouth, unconsciously of course, but then said sweetly that they were not distortions .
The reason is rather simple and in fact quite understandable; and the point here is that Ruburt cannot use conscious caution in these matters in any manner. I am even, and this is quite unusual for me, hesitant at bringing him to discipline here, since he is usually so concerned about subconscious distortion that I do not want to imprint the suggestion in his mind.
Nevertheless the fact remains that he boo-booed, that such errors, while unavoidable at times at this stage, are most regrettable and apt to cast a slur upon the material as a whole.
I have mentioned a test and I will go into this in a moment, also to me the rather obvious cause of the glaring distortion. However, and I have emphasized this at times, because of our materials and methods of communication such distortions will almost of necessity occur now and then .
We can only hope for their gradual disappearance, but we cannot force their disappearance . That is, you cannot. Outside of putting Ruburt in a deep trance , there is nothing that I can do along this line. And there you have it.
For personality reasons neither of you would be happy, I’m afraid, were Ruburt to go into deep trances at my instigation during sessions. And you, Joseph, would be much less enthusiastic even than Ruburt. So we must
simply work as we are and make the best of it for now.
Generally the distortions will cease almost entirely. However, while we are working with word patterns in this manner there will unfortunately always be some, though lesser, distortions. And in the main body of the material there are very few distortions , as I have explained. Of course, at this point you cannot prove the main thesis of the important material which is not distorted .
You must however remember that this whole experience is new for Ruburt, and that necessary purity of perception and communication needs to develop. Now as for the cause of the glaring distortion. It is ridiculously simple. Indeed you must already know what it is.
Your Ruburt saw a car, was expecting your friend, had imagined my comment, and leaped to the lightning fast conclusion, along with a rather flattering desire to prove me supposedly right in an instance that could be checked. Dear Ruburt, sometimes you are like a dumbskull if not a numbskull, and I will give my own proof in my own good time, and without such flattering but ineffectual help as this.
Help like this is no help indeed.
As for the test I mentioned. If there is any doubt in the future, for one thing check the portion of the material in which the doubtful statement is made. If this occurs in the very beginning of a session or at the very end, then do not panic. I truly have never seen such panic in such an instance as I saw on your face, dear Joseph.
We are lucky, and I really mean lucky, that our distortions have been so few and so obvious. At least the obvious distortions are easily discovered.
And in the main and in the long run this is much better for the material as a whole.
Just don’t be anxious, Ruburt. Also on checking wait for a few minutes, Joseph, and then ask the doubtful question again, or rephrase the statement into a question. Wait a good five minutes, but no more than fifteen
minutes.
You should not, and I repeat this, grow panicky at the thought of distortions occurring, simply because to expect no distortions is just as unrealistic , and would send you flying headlong against an eventual wall of disillusion. We are not dealing with rigidities. Ruburt will improve. I do not want to set up a fear that is an exaggerated fear of distortions, since this might well make him so rigid that he would block perfectly valid material, fearing he was adding distortion .
The validity of this whole material will show clearly through whatever distortions ever arise , and the material itself will provide more and more proof for its statements as we continue. At a much later date the very type of communication will evolve into something much clearer, more vivid; and while words will always play some part, other elements will be added in the future that will actually be evidence for the material. That is, the means will also be an end.
This will not happen today or tomorrow. I do not want the fear of distortion to undermine Ruburt’s confidence or your own, for it is the very basis of our communication. Much better to let some distortive material through than to let no material through at all.
I realize that the distortions bother you more than they bother me.
However, to be truthful I anticipated more distortions than we have been getting, and my cronies have been amazed, particularly since Ruburt is not in a deep trance . It was unfortunate that your friend did not arrive on time. It was this extra element of anticipation that kept Ruburt from the usual excellent state of dissociation in the beginning of the session.
Had the visitor arrived on time Ruburt would have been able to handle the situation. It was the extra conscious and subconscious element of anticipation that got him into trouble .