What is an Ouija Board, Anyway?

It's merely a game - a toy ...................well that's what it's marketed as...........

What is an Ouija Board Anyhow?

Ouija boards are used to have what is commonly known as a seance. Its sole purpose is to contact people who have passed on to the other side. Although there is no conclusive evidence to show that this is what is actually being achieved, this is the object of using an Ouija Board.

The name OUIJA is pronounced as WEE-JA and the current classical board and name is owned and trademarked by Parker Brothers. Ouija is of the most commonly misspelt and mispronounced names in the English language, the more common name used is "Ouija or weejie" which is completely incorrect.

The meaning of the word OUIJA is a combination of the French and German words for "yes". Funnily enough the Parker Bros classical Ouija Boards are produced in Salem, USA.

The more common Ouija board usually consists of the entire alphabet, the words yes, no, goodbye and a pointer known as the "planchette". Other boards sometimes contain more detail including colours, star signs and other information.



The idea of the Ouija board first came about in 1848 when two sisters in the USA believed they could talk to a spirit and started up a simple form of communicating with it by tapping on a table or the wall, each tap or knock represented a letter of the alphabet.

Not too much later on early type of Ouija boards were developed and it was common for people to participate in regular seances and attempts to contact the spirit world. Although many of these earlier seances were often hosted by fraudulent mediums who were after money and would resort to all sorts of trickery to .

Finally a useful and different board design was thought up by 3 Americans, this soon became the Ouija Board. It's was originally thought that one of those 3 men, Charles Kennard, thought up the name Ouija, supposedly after the Egyptian word for Good Luck. A Company who produced the board commercially was founded and the first boards rolled off the production line.

A new owner soon took over - he was the famous William Fuld, pretty soon he was producing Ouija Boards in record numbers. The Fuld family owned the business until 1966 when Parker Brothers took over.

In 1973 a horror movie was released which was to have a profound impact on the Ouija board and it's use which still carries through to this day. The film is "The Exorcist"

The Ouija board then suffered a great decline - people believed the Exorcist was real. The believed that if they touched or played with this board that they would suffer Demonic possession or bring in bad spirits. It was mainly this film that brought about it's reputation for being wicked and evil.

Matters weren't helped when it was widely publicised that The Exorcist was based on a supposedly true story. The media never told the truth behind the real story about a young boy who was more than likely subjected to physical abuse and suffered severe mental torment from it, no demons or evil was ever involved in the case.

Since then the board and it's use has suffered much bad publicity and all sorts of religious dammings. People are scared of the board and quite often feel compelled to go and burn it in the backyard. There should be no need to do this as it's only a cheap piece of wood with some writing on it - there is nothing evil about an Ouija board.

What actually happens with an Ouija board is still very much controversial. It had been widely explored by paranormal experts and to this day there are still experiments being carried out to try to further our knowledge of what these boards actually do.

The greatest and most common theory is that somehow the participants of the seance are creating the planchette or pointer to move with their own minds, albeit unknowingly. Teenagers seem to suffer the greatest reactions, this is thought to be in alignment with current and past cases of known poltergeist activities being attributed to young persons within a household. Teenagers and persons of a younger age seem to get the most violent actions, including table movement, movement of objects around the house, the board being thrown or moved, the planchette (pointer) being thrown or moved, strange feelings of cold and other various incidents.

However, the fact is that nobody can prove what really does happen during a seance, so I advise caution and extreme care if you plan on using a Ouija board and/or conduction a seance.

Important Things about Ouija Boards:

YOU MAY GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR...........

It is not evil - it's merely a board with some black letters and a planchette

If you go purposely looking for evil or demons you might possibly get something unwanted such as that, even if its just negative energy from your own mind or your friends around you, we don't know how the movement of the planchette is created - but please take care.

Nothing will come from a board if you leave it lying around - you do not need to burn it or throw it away if you have a bad experience - it cannot work without people making it work

ALWAYS include positive afirmations amongst the circle of people involved in the seance to both OPEN and close the circle. It is a good idea to make sure you protect yourself before the seance is begun. Most people use prayer, but whatever works for you then I suggest you use it. It will put those around the board and participating in a positive frame of mind and hopfully give you more confidence to have a succesfull and positive session.

Never let anyone be involved in a seance who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol

Tiredness will stop the board from working properly - make sure all members of the seance are fully awake and not overly tired.

Non believers and overly skeptical people can also sometimes ruin a seance, it's a good idea to approach a board with an open mind.

Don't all start arguing about who's moving the planchette, trust me.....everyone does it!. It upsets the mood and some people get very angry and ruin the entire thing. If you feel that someone is pushing the planchette ask them to remove their hands for a short time.

YOU ARE NOT BRINGING SPIRITS INTO THIS WORLD BY MERELY TALKING TO THEM THROUGH A BOARD - as has been previously stated, we don't know 100% what exactly is creating the planchette to move, so please remain open minded to the whole experience and don't belive other information that is commonly told of bringing spirits into the world, opening doorways you cannot close.

Getting Started - How Do I Work A Ouija Board?

2 or more people are recommended for using the Ouija board - more than three can be a bit two crowded - the general feeling is that three is just about the right amount for a seance.

Form a circle around the board with all participating members

Link hands left on top of right

Say any prayers that you wish - we recommend the "Point of Light" and Psalm 23

Place 2 fingers of each person upon the planchette

Have someone standing by with a pen and paper to write everything down

Ask questions such as "Would anyone like to come forth and talk"?

Make sure only one person asks questions at a time which avoids confusion

Never EVER ask for anything you do not wish to deal with - do not do the typical stupid teenage thing of asking for a "sign" that the spirit is really there

If the board does not work try swapping participants around and taking some participants hands off the planchette

The planchette should start off by spinning circles - some say that this is the spirit trying to gain energy to communicate - some say it is the spirit finding it's way around the board.

If you do not understand what the spirit is trying to communicate to you ask it to either repeat it or ask questions that will clearly define what you would like to know.

If a spirit appears to be having trouble communicating ask what you can do to improve the communication

If a spirit points to "good bye" let it go

If you want to finish the seance place the planchette on "Good Bye" and say that you are now leaving. Everyone should then remove their hands from the board and the table. The board will be closed.

Make Your Own Ouija Board

The home made board is an easy one and usually done at parties. I've seen this done many many times and I've done it myself and it works. Simple and easy to do it's a great way to get your own board happening.

You need 1 large table
I guess the overall message is to be aware of what is going on, be cautious, be open minded and most of all don't be frightened of the mystical Ouija board. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

" If Christianity is so opposed to Pagans, Why Did They Steal Their Stuff From Us?"

Just some good advice- I think divination should be left to those who know what they are doing....but if you are going to work the board-you should be informed.

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