Ah yes, the infamous Ouija Board. Many of us have heard of these communicative devices used to speak to the dead thanks to the hugely named board game companies that have popularized it as a favorite past-time for those who want to interact with the beyond.
This preternatural board is flat with the alphabet of A – Z displayed in two semi-circles above the numbers 0 – 9, two words “yes” and “no” in the top two corners and the words “good-bye” printed at the bottom center. Accompanied by a communicating tool called a planchette, which is usually a tear-drop shaped device used to maneuver about the board. It can be used by a single individual or several at any given time. There are typically no rules. All anyone has to do is simply place the fingertips upon the planchette and begin asking questions. It’s that easy… or is it??
The Spirit Board, more commonly known as the Ouija Board, actually is based from the American 19th century obsession with spiritualism which is the belief that the deceased can communicate with the living and vice versa. On a scary note, many people believe that by using a Ouija Board, one can open doors leading into the gates of Hell, allowing demonic beings into our own world. After people use the board, several report hearing strange noises, seeing dark shadows, witnessing objects move mysteriously without reason and some extreme cases even claim experiencing possession from what they believe they brought through the “portal” or “opening” of the Ouija Board.
From a skeptical point a view, scientists speculate that the cause of the movement with the planchette on the spirit board is veritably the result of the ideometer effect. The ideometer effect is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes movement or motions unconsciously. For example, when the body produces tears in response to powerful emotions without the person consciously deciding to cry.
People of all walks of life have played with the Ouija Board at different ages. Some are the younger generations who make their interactions with innocence and others may in fact, use the Ouija for sinister purposes. While some people may be well aware of the movement created by their own hands in attempt to spawn the “wow” factor to scare their friends. Whether or not this communicative board really does work or if it’s the result of scientific reasoning is solely based on individualistic experience.
Who are we to judge the authenticity of one’s belief?
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~ Sheila Renee Parker on Twitter @sheilarparker.
SHEILA RENEE PARKER 
At age 16 two friends and I “played” with a Ouija board. Initially we played with it without any thought to it being anything more than a game. However, that game began to change quickly with answers being given to questions we never asked. Those answers had a “dark” and macabre bent. I was grateful we “played” with the board at my friends house. Eventually I refused to participate and my friend continued. His family experienced many unexplained knockings, tapping’s and eventually his mother swore she was seeing a dark figure at there home. Did we open a portal? I will never know. Don’t care, don’t want to know. Just will never touch one again!
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I’ve written on this myself. I’m on the fence about them. On the one hand, I think it’s far too easy to manipulate the planchette and make it say what you want it to say. On the other hand, I have one experience with the board that I can’t explain, and that alone keeps me from putting off the Ouija completely.
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Scary stuff. I reckon I’ll stay well from it – just in case 😉
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I don’t buy it myself but assuming you believed in it, why would you want to basically open yourself up to whatever random entities that happened by?:I know both of my witch friends avoid those things like the plague.
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Just ask any psychic or parapsychologist about the results of occult dabbling. !! Opening portals is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. I have had to deal with several problems caused by these boards.. don´t play with them . its dangerous !
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Any invitation for contact by whatever means opens up the door to demonic forces who will lie, cheat, and do anything to infiltrate and ultimately destroy the personality if they can.. It is very dangerous to all concerned and must be avoided at all costs. There are very few practising demonologists . It is something to be avoided if possible, and is a battle between good and evil. I suggest anyone interested should read ” The Demonologist ” by Gerald Daniel Brittle.. Frightening !
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I played around with one in college and got hold of an entity that did nothing but spell out “I kill, I kill, I kill.” Never again.
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Yikes, how terrifying!
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I was at a sleepover when I was about 15 with five friends and we tried this.The friend’s house we were at had no previous paranormal activity, but when we used the ouija board it seemed like something got a hold of the planchette. We started asking pretty simple questions regarding boyfriends, etc… But it didn’t move. Not until we asked to talk to the spirit of a fellow classmate who had committed suicide a few months previously. Then it just started circling wildly around the board, never stopping on anything until it flew off and slammed against the wall. The planchette actually had a small crack in it when we picked it up. Needless to say we never played again and my friend wound up tossing the “game” in the trash. I’m still not sure what happened that night. It’s entirely possible that one of us manipulated the planchette. It seems as though the rest of us would have felt that though. I honestly don’t know.
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Anything is possible, but Ouija is definitely something that I’m staying away from as well.
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I’m kind of a believer in not tempting fate.
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Being the type of energy worker I am I am a walking oujia board… I don’t need help finding spirits or EDs and they don’t need help finding me. I will never touch one… My paranormal organization has had many encounters with shapeshifters and what your definition of demons would be… All eventually end up packing their bags… I will never use one and if you do use one… How do you know your talking to a positive or negative spirit.
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Exactly, spirits can be very manipulative. A person has to be very careful. I don’t work with Ouijas either.
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I like the way you think… Be safe.
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From my experience there are no positive spirits to be found in one. All surrounding and energizing one are negative. They may and usually do seem positive in the beginning BUT they are not. Deception, lies and evil lie within them. Look long enough into the Abyss and the Abyss will look into you and take hold. Be aware, there are very good reasons why most with wisdom will not use touch or be present with them.
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So true.
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I do believe strongly and have experienced or had all these things you described happen to someone I loved. I blogged a little about it but still have a story in me too write. But something stops me, the feelings stirred up are all too real and I feel it to my core even today.
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My best friend and I sure had a memorable and quite frightening experience with one when we were in 5th grade..I will never forget it..She hasn’t forgotten either. I have always wondered about these boards..and I find all I have read by you very intriguing..Caro have a blessed day
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I have played with one on a number of occasions, and who’s what really
moves it, and yes, it could be unconscious…like a mind over matter kind
of thing. I will say that one night I was playing with one by myself and at
the time was very angry at my grandma whom I lived with at the time.
Well, about two weeks later, my grandma got sick twice and one of those
times almost had to be put in the hospital. Then a friend and I were playing
with it and she was like taunting “it” and when she got home that evening
something like a shadow person scared her to the point where she ran and
shut herself in her room. I am open minded about things coming through that
aren’t so “good”…..but who really knows…..
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