Yesyes? Nono, methinks. (Ouija)

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Ouija
Date:	26/01/01 (526 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It can be good fun winding people up

Disadvantages: Can have surprisingly nasty results

I think anyone who’s cynical should try this out for themselves, but be warned, you might not like what happens very much. Having used Ouija boards a lot I think I’ve got something worth sharing to say about them. You might think I’m cuckoo by the end of it, but what the heck, it’ll earn me 10p :-)

A Ouija board usually consists of a flat piece of wood or card with the letters of the alphabet printed on it, along with numbers 0-9 and the words Yes, No and Goodbye. There will be a pointer or planchette that the users place a finger on, and that’s basically it.

The idea is that the users empty their minds and try to encourage spirits to communicate with them by moving the pointer to spell out messages. Three people using the board seems to be the best number, otherwise it gets too crowded. I definitely wouldn’t try this alone unless you think you’re the next Aleister Crowley.

Ouija boards have been around for a long time, which would indicate that they aren’t all hype. For at least a hundred years they’ve been used as channelling devices by mediums, to attract spirits. The name is taken from the French and German words for yes, Oui and Ja. The original patent was held a guy by the name of Mr Fuld, who was knocking out 400 hand made boards a week and still couldn’t keep up with demand. Parker bought the patent from him and ironically produces the boards in the infamous town of Salem, Maine.

I used Ouija boards regularly over a period of three years, from the age of 13. If you read any medium or channelling literature you’ll see that this is roughly the age when people are supposed to be psychically most receptive. We got some interesting results from the board, but most of the time I’m 99% certain it was someone cheating by pushing the pointer. I do have a couple of anecdotes in which I’m 99% sure no one was cheating, but first I’ll briefly expl
ain why you should consider taking me seriously.

I’m not a religious person, nor do I believe in ghosts or similar. My position in life could best be described as that of a philosophical sceptic. This was a phrase coined by the 16th century Scots philosopher David Hume, recently voted most influential Scot of the last millennium if anyone’s interested. I do not believe anything at all. I consider nothing provable, as for all I know I’m part of someone else’s game of Populous. To avoid going insane I accept my perception of reality as being probably real, but I’m intensely cynical about anything I perceive as hearsay. Unfortunately this has led to a large disregard of anything I consider silly (Including a lot of laws) and an overwhelming sense of curiosity to satiate, often leading me into trouble. It also means I’ve had a lot of fun so far.

My Mam told the first tale to me before I started boarding (sounds trendy, eh). At the time I half believed her and half thought it was a cautionary Mam tale. In the 60s, when the boards were very popular, she went to visit her cousins who lived several hundred miles away. While there they did a Ouija board but Mam didn’t participate as she thought it was daft. Once they made contact with a spirit the cousins asked Mam to think of questions to ask the spirit so they couldn’t be accused of pushing. My Mam asked what was the middle name of an old lady who lived across the road from her, who’d recently died. When the board spelt it out Mam was shocked, as there’s no way the cousins could have known.

Ok, that was a pretty benign tale and its second hand. Mam has stuck to the story though, and she’s very down to earth so I believe her. What made this happen – who knows? The next tale is not at all benign though, and I saw it happen.

Before heading to the local disco, myself and couple of friends were using a board whilst g
etting stuck into some pints of snakebite. My friends’ auntie had bought her this board as a present from America. On reflection an odd thing to give to a child . There were a number of others in the room but they weren’t watching, just chatting away and having a laugh. The board was moving and as per usual I thought someone was cheating, I always joined in though because it was amusingly like playing consequences.

Then the board spelt “Get Rachel out”. We looked at each other puzzled. Rachel was on the other side of the room chatting away. About two seconds later she was screaming frantically, and her nose was gushing with blood.

This was the last time I ever touched a Ouija Board. It’s very difficult to dismiss something like this when you’ve experienced it first hand, and I’ve only been able to come up with 2 explanations. The first is that it was an amazing coincidence, the second is that there are forces at work that we do not have much comprehension of. The fact that I haven’t touched a board for 16 years would indicate I now lean towards the latter.

So that’s my cautionary tale. I wouldn't blame you for thinking I'm just telling porkies, that'd probably be my reaction if you were writing this. If you do half trust me, don’t let it put you off, I never say never and don’t expect others to. What I do regret is that the fallout landed on someone else, I try to go through life having fun but not at other people s expense. To this end I’d say make sure anyone who’s around when you’re using one is fully aware of the risks.

Having said all that I still think that genuinely inexplicable occurrences with a board are rare and it’s more of a toy. Strange toy to give to kids though.

Summary: