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Ouija boards, don't channel spirits, plz read this article: How Ouija Boards Work

You are making a misattribution error, unfortunately, like many senior citizens who think that drugs turn you into some sort of slobbering homicidal maniac. For example, a great many schizophrenics self-medicate with heroin, and so some people misattribute heroin as driving people crazy. The drugs are just a symptom. So too when a gullible loon plays with their ouija board and then uses that as an excuse to fully express their inner fruitloop.


Psychiatrists are involved in administering drugs more than other forms of therapy. This is a job for psych studies, and lo and behold, yes, they have investigated ouija boards. Again, please read the article above.


Caution is often a good idea, but please remember that many of our ancestors were basically like this person: LINK

I should point out the I did a fair amount of drugs back in the day, and they didn't turn me in to a slobbering homicidal maniac. But I've also seen the effects of prolonged excessive usage on people who started out with no (diagnosed) mental illness and they are at least as bad as similar behaviour with alcohol. I still do alcohol - the one vice I still have, but I don't do drugs any more.

If something does harm, does it matter exactly why? Do you recommend some sort of test to see if one is a gullible loon (e.g. a typical teenager) before using a Ouija board?
 
I should point out the I did a fair amount of drugs back in the day, and they didn't turn me in to a slobbering homicidal maniac. But I've also seen the effects of prolonged excessive usage on people who started out with no (diagnosed) mental illness and they are at least as bad as similar behaviour with alcohol. I still do alcohol - the one vice I still have, but I don't do drugs any more.

If something does harm, does it matter exactly why? Do you recommend some sort of test to see if one is a gullible loon (e.g. a typical teenager) before using a Ouija board?

I'd avoid a Ouija Board too, Cochise and for similar reasons that I can't quite articulate. You could call it "superstition" but just as easily "phobia".

From what I understand, people who develop long standing psychological issues after using drugs, including booze, may very well already have had underlying issues, whether genetic, or trauma related, or both. Though I don't believe there's a "one size fits all" answer.
 
I may look for the full transcript of that mad play, when I get a moment. It should be in the Public Domain, Shakespeare, Hugo or whatever!

I see we already had a short thread here with some additional stuff in it. Aliens were also involved!

I have not found the complete play online but have an inkling that I once downloaded it. My own archives are, of course, much larger than the Internet and do not have the benefits - or drawbacks - of Google*

I have found out that the table-turning transcripts were published in Vol.IX of the Complete Hugo, dating from 1968. That would, of course, be in French.

*Despite which, I have found this complete English version. For various reasons, I won't post it here. If anyone is interested, PM me. :cooll:

Meanwhile, here is a 2002 channelled message from Victor Hugo!
 
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Oh, geez, it's from Santa Cruz, California. I love Santa Cruz as I remember it, but there have been many "inner fruitloops" that externalized there. (Do you have an innie or an outie?)

Here's an article by a psychologist describing instances of the inner fruitloop, er, previously buried susceptibilities, which playing with Ouija boards has brought to the surface: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...8/can-ouija-boards-trigger-demonic-possession
In this article, people "with a history of anxiety disorders, dissociative or trance states, and who have an absolute certainty in the existence of the supernatural" are warned away from fooling around with Ouija boards. Probably people with really vivid imaginations and an overabundance of empathy should steer clear too!
 
I'd avoid a Ouija Board too, Cochise and for similar reasons that I can't quite articulate. You could call it "superstition" but just as easily "phobia". From what I understand, people who develop long standing psychological issues after using drugs, including booze, may very well already have had underlying issues, whether genetic, or trauma related, or both. Though I don't believe there's a "one size fits all" answer.
Seriously, the ideomotor effect is nothing to be scared of. I totally agree with your "one size fits all" comment btw. I don't think anyone would be surprised to discover that many people with a history of addiction have a related and untreated mental health issue, but not all, as you correctly point out Ogdred.
I should point out the I did a fair amount of drugs back in the day, and they didn't turn me in to a slobbering homicidal maniac. But I've also seen the effects of prolonged excessive usage on people who started out with no (diagnosed) mental illness and they are at least as bad as similar behaviour with alcohol. I still do alcohol - the one vice I still have, but I don't do drugs any more.
There is a difference between a person who uses drugs or alcohol casually in a social setting, and someone who has slid into chemical dependency, and someone who needs to blot out their consciousness periodically in order to cope with their life. In short, there is a spectrum of use and abuse. Alchoholics Anonymous and similar orgs deals with a lot of people who have unresolved mental health issues. I dare say you won't be surprised. I bet you also wouldn't be surprised that most of them have assiduously avoided getting mental health support either because they can't afford it, or because they don't want the stigma associated with getting help.
If something does harm, does it matter exactly why? Do you recommend some sort of test to see if one is a gullible loon (e.g. a typical teenager) before using a Ouija board?
I'd say that the number of times you have been baptized may be a factor. A family history of schizophrenia may also be an issue. I could write more, but let's leave it at that.
Oh, geez, it's from Santa Cruz, California. I love Santa Cruz as I remember it, but there have been many "inner fruitloops" that externalized there. (Do you have an innie or an outie?)
I encourage the externalization of one's inner fruitloop in a friendly environment. Nothing is as bad as an inner fruitloop that doesn't get an occasional airing. You really don't want them going mouldy and repressed.
Here's an article by a psychologist describing instances of the inner fruitloop, er, previously buried susceptibilities, which playing with Ouija boards has brought to the surface: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...8/can-ouija-boards-trigger-demonic-possession In this article, people "with a history of anxiety disorders, dissociative or trance states, and who have an absolute certainty in the existence of the supernatural" are warned away from fooling around with Ouija boards. Probably people with really vivid imaginations and an overabundance of empathy should steer clear too!
Ahh, the power of belief. Isn't it wonderful to read about the bad side of the placebo effect?

The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear:
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

― Frank Herbert, Dune
 
Apologies if this has been done before - mods please feel free to move or delete.

I‘m pretty new to this forum, so forgive me if I have missed previous threads on this subject.

I am sceptical about ouija boards (or table-tipping, automatic writing etc) so I was wondering if any of you have had an experience that has utterly convinced you that you were communicating with something.
Did you get a ‘message’ that was in your opinion absolute proof (to you) that these boards are a way of speaking to entities.

Thank you in advance!
 
Apologies if this has been done before - mods please feel free to move or delete.

I‘m pretty new to this forum, so forgive me if I have missed previous threads on this subject.

I am sceptical about ouija boards (or table-tipping, automatic writing etc) so I was wondering if any of you have had an experience that has utterly convinced you that you were communicating with something.
Did you get a ‘message’ that was in your opinion absolute proof (to you) that these boards are a way of speaking to entities.

Thank you in advance!

We have abundant threads and posts on this subject. Have a browse! Treat scare yourself!
 
A few years ago i reported on here my experience of attending one of those ghost hunt/vigil events in an old police bridewell, now a bar. Part of the evening involved the attendees using the ouija board. Here's a copy and paste of what I recounted about that part...

After a brief break we returned to do a ouija session in the cell. I was one of those with my finger on the pointer and had no doubt at all that the girl opposite me was directing its movements, whether deliberately or not, as her lower knuckle was bent in with pressure and her arm was moving from the shoulder. The tale told when she had her finger on the dial was both dramatic and comical. It was a child naturally, an 8 year oldRobert Quinn hanged in the cell by a policeman, after being in jail himself for the murder of his 23 year old brother, on account of the latter committing rape (possibly of their mother) Some of the women were sighing with the great sadness and tragedy of this awful tale. I was biting my lip. The noose/nose account began this tale, but she (our alleged planchette pusher) also had a confused sense of history, giving the date of our events as 1..6...2... Confused by how the ghost could possibly have been incarcerated hundreds of years before the place existed a solution presented itself to the others to stop it needing to complete the date..1862! they called out. Phew. When the participants were swapped around the planchette interestingly still moved but spelled out nothing but gibberish, letters which bore no connection to each other.

(The noose/nose account referred to went like this... Asked "how were you murdered?" the planchette spelled out "N..O...S.." and the girl referenced above declared "noose!". I pointed out it was the begining of nose, not noose...)

This doesn't tell you about the validity of anyone else's experiences of course..youtube is full of videos of people recounting their trauma after using the board. I don't think everyone is lying or imagining it. But I saw nothing to scare me when i had a go.
 
...and had no doubt at all that the girl opposite me was directing its movements, whether deliberately or not, as her lower knuckle was bent in with pressure and her arm was moving from the shoulder. The tale told when she had her finger on the dial was both dramatic and comical. It was a child naturally, an 8 year oldRobert Quinn hanged in the cell by a policeman, after being in jail himself for the murder of his 23 year old brother, on account of the latter committing rape (possibly of their mother) Some of the women were sighing with the great sadness and tragedy of this awful tale. I was biting my lip. The noose/nose account began this tale, but she (our alleged planchette pusher) also had a confused sense of history, giving the date of our events as 1..6...2... Confused by how the ghost could possibly have been incarcerated hundreds of years before the place existed a solution presented itself to the others to stop it needing to complete the date..1862! they called out. Phew. When the participants were swapped around the planchette interestingly still moved but spelled out nothing but gibberish, letters which bore no connection to each other.

(The noose/nose account referred to went like this... Asked "how were you murdered?" the planchette spelled out "N..O...S.." and the girl referenced above declared "noose!". I pointed out it was the begining of nose, not noose...).

Hello, and thank you for your story.
This is exactly what I mean when talking about ouija. I was once at an investigation and a guy (who claimed to be a Satanist) and just myself were using a board. He was most definitely pushing the glass despite his numerous protestations and the ‘spirit’ just reiterated a well-known legend in of the man supposed to be haunting the location. Funnily enough, the ‘spirit’ told the exact story as seen on the internet but not the real story (the man drowned and was not hanged from the tree in the garden).
When I asked for someone else to take Mr Satanist’s place, a timid woman did the honours and of course, the glass was completely still. Not a peep from the ‘spirit’. It was declared that the spirit didn’t want to communicate with her so Mr Satanist-glass-pusher enthusiastically jumped back into the hot seat and once again the glass mysteriously began to move around again.
I was not fooled....

☺️
 
True story... Circa 1970 and 15 years old, two cousins - similar age - and myself were messing about with a Ouji board. At one point there was a, 'message', 'JOHN LENNON WILL BE SHOT'. I remember we were so alarmed, we wondered if we should tell an adult. That genuinely happened.
 
Were there really many sinister tales about Ouija boards in the 20th century until the novel and movie""The Exorcist" came out? My cousins, who grew up in the 30's and 40's (and were fairly devout Catholics) happily had one and passed it along to my family. I always thought the graphics were spooky, but not the object itself. When I played with it either nothing moved the planchette or I was convinced that a person I was playing with had moved it and was fibbing about not moving it to make the game more believable/fun. Many children my age (born 1957) had these boards. So, back to my opening question, I can see ComfyNumb's experience was pre-"The Exorcist," but it seems like such things were rarely worried about, then after the book/film, there was a deluge of warnings, from regular people and especially from fundies. Or is it just me, in my time and place?
Here's a pic of my period beauty, mine's worse for wear from a few years of bad storage. When I FB posted it as hanging in my kitchen as pretty decor, only one of my peeps, almost all boomer aged, commented to not do that.
Hasko Mystic Board-Haskelite MTB-FTB-25 .jpg
.
 
Were there really many sinister tales about Ouija boards in the 20th century until the novel and movie""The Exorcist" came out? My cousins, who grew up in the 30's and 40's (and were fairly devout Catholics) happily had one and passed it along to my family. I always thought the graphics were spooky, but not the object itself. When I played with it either nothing moved the planchette or I was convinced that a person I was playing with had moved it and was fibbing about not moving it to make the game more believable/fun. Many children my age (born 1957) had these boards. So, back to my opening question, I can see ComfyNumb's experience was pre-"The Exorcist," but it seems like such things were rarely worried about, then after the book/film, there was a deluge of warnings, from regular people and especially from fundies. Or is it just me, in my time and place?
Here's a pic of my period beauty, mine's worse for wear from a few years of bad storage. When I FB posted it as hanging in my kitchen as pretty decor, only one of my peeps, almost all boomer aged, commented to not do that.View attachment 20765.

My family had ouija boards in the mid/late 60s, long before The Exorcist. It wasn't seen as a game in any way and was believed to be a way to contact the dead, at least among people I knew. Lord knows why us kids were allowed to play with it.
 
My family had ouija boards in the mid/late 60s, long before The Exorcist. It wasn't seen as a game in any way and was believed to be a way to contact the dead, at least among people I knew. Lord knows why us kids were allowed to play with it.
Thinking back to where I was living when my story occured, we would only have been around 13 years old - hence wondering if we should tell a grown-up. My Ouija board was a birthday present! For sure, it was never in my recollection seen as a game, more a curious form of entertainment. It was also still kinda, 'The Age of Aquarius' and occult books were a cool thing you could bring to school. Your last point... would I give a 13 year old child a Ouija board to play with... what indeed were our parents thinking!
 
We did the Ouija board a lot at University. Most of the time it was gibberish but a few interesting things came out in the sessions. One time, we got "HOTHERE". Of course, spelt out, it made no sense - "H Other E?" until someone pointed out it said "Hot here."
We treated the session with some levity and the board spelt out "mock me not" and then "gone" - we got nothing after that.
Another time, we got in touch with Quentin (there was a lad in the group with this name, so he was a bit perturbed). The spectral "Quentin" claimed to be a little yellow toy box!
Another time, we asked the "phantom" how he died and it went to "H". stupidly, I blurted "heart attack". It then went on "E...A..." and we asked if it was a "heart attack", the glass going to "yes". I wish I'd said haemorrhoids

We did a few tests, with people on the board closing their eyes and a scribe making notes to ensure that the sitters weren't influenced by what they saw. In all cases we got junk responses.
We did all this once a week and even though I don't know what to make of it, I think our success rate was 50-50.
 
In the UK, Ouija-panics certainly predated The Exorcist. Along with naked witches and the desecration of churches or graves, the dangers of the board were a mainstay of the more sensationalist Sunday papers, usually in league with publicity-hungry clergy.

In the late sixties, early seventies, the familiar sun & moon design was manufactured by Waddingtons, the board-game makers. They were sold in the toy departments of stores, such as Boot's and W. H. Smith.

Psychologists were soon on the case, claiming that vulnerable youngsters were opening themselves to negative mental forces by dabbling with the supposed spirits. In the face of a lot of bad publicity, the shops and manufacturer withdrew ouija boards from toy departments.

I will look up the dates and detail later but I think the subject has been raised before on the board. This board, I mean! :omg:

I see a lot of this was explored in our first year, on The Ouija Board thread, link provided by Enola above!
 
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I am still impressed by an idiot's ability to spell out a complex tale letter by letter . . . if it were me, I'd lose track of where I was.
In reference to my own account, it wasn't a case of the board narrating a tale, but a tale formed from the answers to questions. "What's Your name?" "how did you die?" etc, which generally recieved one or two word answers.
 
Another copy and paste of something i posted in 2011. An intriguing tale which gathered no reaction but is pertinent to this discussion...


Watching the italian movie Romanzo Criminale, partly set against the backdrop of the political terror campaigns in italy in the late 70s, including the kidnap and murder of the former prime minister Aldo Moro, I decided to refresh my memory on the full story online. In a footnote I came across a remarkable aside. The full story of which is in the Independent article below, but here's the gist....

During the 55 days he was held in captivity everyone in italy wanted to know where they could possibly be keeping Aldo Moro. At one point something extraordinary happened. Romano Prodi, himself later prime minister and also president of the European Commission, went to the police with a remarkable tip off. He reported how he and a group of university academic friends had spent a Sunday afternoon attempting a seance with a ouija board. They appeared to get responses from what was idenitified as the ghost of another, recently deceased, senior Christian Democrat called Giorgio La Pira. Having established this they asked what everyone wanted to know "where are they holding Aldo Moro?"

The ouija spelled out in turn 3 place names.. Bolsena..Viterbo..Gradoli... The first two were instantly identified as known places, but Gradoli meant nothing to anyone. Until that is they located a village of that name in an Atlas, to their own apparently great surprise. This fact - that a place that existed but no one had heard of had turned up in response to their question pushed Prodi to risk ridicule and inform the police. The village of Gradoli was duly raided and searched and...nothing. Case seemingly closed.

Except...
After Moro was murdered and his body disposed of it was determined that he had been kept during most of his captivity in an apartment in a street in Rome called.... Via Gradoli.

Cue twilight zone music.

The gist of the Independent article is that Prodi's political opponents, sceptics and the public at large take it virtually as read that he "obviously" made the whole seance "nonsense" up to cover up for someone..ie to pass on a tip about Moro's whereabouts without giving his informant away. But nowhere can I find any suggestion of evidence that this is the case ...its an assumption based primarily on the idea that such things are self-evidently impossible so must be untrue.

Prodi has never changed his story.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 17786.html
 
I dunno if I posted this before or not, but I used to have an Axolotl that could use a Ouija Board. It was propped up against the back of his tank and the spirits would talk to him by making him float up to a letter, and he would bump it with his nose. We would ask the relevant spooky questions and write down each bumped letter. The spirits always said things like...."sopikxkg" and "rrqof3." ......... Perhaps the Axolotl knew what they meant to convey, but I didn`t.
 
In the UK, In the late sixties, early seventies, the familiar sun & moon design was manufactured by Waddingtons, the board-game makers. They were sold in the toy departments of stores, such as Boot's and W. H. Smith.
That's the very fellow! You could purchase Monopoly - a game for all the family - or, alongside, a Ouija board - a game where you can try and contact all your dead family...
 
I wish I'd said haemorrhoids
But it was already misspelling that—it would have been quite mean of you to suggest "haemorrhoids", even if it could just say "yes" in response, since the word is so hard to spell. Maybe it would have spelled h-e-a-m-e-r-o-i-d-s and looked like an unschooled idiot. :cskull:
 
I really need to slow down and read things more carefully . . .
 
This 2013 online article from the Smithsonian provides another summary history of the Ouija board.
The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board

Tool of the devil, harmless family game—or fascinating glimpse into the non-conscious mind? ...


In February, 1891, the first few advertisements started appearing in papers: “Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board,” boomed a Pittsburgh toy and novelty shop, describing a magical device that answered questions “about the past, present and future with marvelous accuracy” and promised “never-failing amusement and recreation for all the classes,” a link “between the known and unknown, the material and immaterial.” Another advertisement in a New York newspaper declared it “interesting and mysterious” and testified, “as sProven at Patent Office before it was allowed. Price, $1.50.” ...
FULL STORY: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/hist...ysterious-history-of-the-ouija-board-5860627/
 
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