It was probably extra cursed!!It does all seem a bit suspicious must be said!
I remember the chain store BEATIES still selling them, only one aisle away from the Star Wars toys, in the children's toys department in the late 70's, around The Empire Strikes Back time so more like 1980? ..They were sold like this up to the early '70s at least. my family had them then.
We have several threads on then as you'll know.
I recall the following article and maybe of interest?
How Ouija boards work. (Hint: It's not ghosts.)
By Aja Romano on September 6, 2018
It’s that time of year again — the season when paranormal entities come out to play. But if you’re thinking about grabbing a Ouija board for your next conversation with the other side, you might want to think again.
Despite their long history as hoax spiritualist devices turned hit toys turned tools of the devil, Ouija boards won’t actually put you in contact with demons or spirits. Any scary firsthand reports you might hear or read of real-life Ouija board horror stories are exaggerations, false claims, or a misunderstanding of how Ouija boards actually work.
That might be disappointing news if you’re hosting a Halloween sleepover, but it might also leave you asking, “How do Ouija boards work?” The answer is surprisingly simple.
[...]
In fact, there’s a simple scientific explanation: The mysterious mechanism that powers the Ouija board is called the ideomotor effect (pronounced “idio-mo-tor” or “id-ee-aah-meh-ter”), and it’s basically a way for your body to talk to itself.
The ideomotor effect is an example of unconscious, involuntary physical movement — that is, we move when we’re not trying to move. If you’ve ever experienced the sudden feeling of jerking awake from sleep (known as the hypnic jerk), you’ve experienced a more abrupt version of the ideomotor effect: your brain signaling your body to move without your conscious awareness. The obvious difference is that the ideomotor effect happens when you’re awake, so the reflexive movements you make are much smaller.
In the case of a Ouija board, your brain may unconsciously create images and memories when you ask the board questions. Your body responds to your brain without you consciously “telling” it to do so, causing the muscles in your hands and arms to move the pointer to the answers that you — again, unconsciously — may want to receive.
There are multiple scientific studies that have shown various instances of the ideomotor effect in action. In one well-known and oft-repeated variant of the Ouija board test, blindfolded participants spell much more incoherent messages. (You can try this one at home.)
These experiments easily demonstrate that the Ouija board only works when the participants are able to manipulate the pointer themselves. If a ghost or spirit were really in the room, it would be able to direct the planchette to spell out coherent messages without any assistance. But there is no ghost, and when the Ouija board users are deprived of their ability to spell out words they can see, the game rapidly devolves into gibberish.
[...]
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2016/10/29/13301590/how-ouija-boards-work-debunked-ideomotor-effect
I saw one in a smart gift shop display in Vienna in 2004. Looked a little out of place.I remember the chain store BEATIES still selling them, only one aisle away from the Star Wars toys, in the children's toys department in the late 70's, around The Empire Strikes Back time so more like 1980? ..
I recall an experiment where the participants were blindfolded allowing the “Spirits” to utilise their bodies/energy to manipulate the planchette without the participants seeing where it was going.If a ghost or spirit were really in the room, it would be able to direct the planchette to spell out coherent messages without any assistance.
What if, though, a spirit was dependent on the person being able to see?As expected it went to rat shit!
What if, though, a spirit was dependent on the person being able to see?
Is there an argument for this?
It doesn't seem contrary to the whole idea, at any rate. I mean, the idea of spirits influencing the human-induced movement of the planchette always seemed less a question of supernaturally-induced movement and more a matter of mediumship on the part of the humans. So seeing through the human's eyes would be no different than making use of the human's language skills or writing ability in other medium-type things.
And the post-effect of not closing the session?
Still no different from whatever you think that might be. At least if that's how it works, that's how it's been working? Like I said, it doesn't conflict.And the post-effect of not closing the session?
A Beaties?I saw one in a smart gift shop display in Vienna in 2004. Looked a little out of place.
Can the dead die a second time? What if there's an afterlife after the afterlife?
Plus - as has been pointed out more than once - Derek Acorah has been very quiet since he died.
Plus - as has been pointed out more than once - Derek Acorah has been very quiet since he died.
I was going to say, there are a lot less spirits with manc accents around now tooThere's a small Hindu boy speaking with a Bootle accent out there somewhere.
I was going to say, there are a lot less spirits with manc accents around now too
Plus - as has been pointed out more than once - Derek Acorah has been very quiet since he died.
Small matter of his fee, apparently.Derek Acorah has been very quiet since he died.
I'd imagine that as soon as he 'crossed over' he was brought before some sort of spectral court, on charges of crimes against the spectral world, and is currently serving a very long sentance in ghost prison, unable to communicate with the outside worldPlus - as has been pointed out more than once - Derek Acorah has been very quiet since he died.
There's a man in this corner and he's very ANGRY!Small matter of his fee, apparently.
That idea should not please me as much as it does!!I'd imagine that as soon as he 'crossed over' he was brought before some sort of spectral court, on charges of crimes against the spectral world, and is currently serving a very long sentance in ghost prison, unable to communicate with the outside world
Nowadays it would be possible for an AI to determine whether these 'works' are by Twain or just someone simulating him.From the Public Domain Review:
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/jap-herron-a-novel-written-from-the-ouija-board-1917
"Jap Herron: a novel written from the ouija board, with an introduction, The coming of Jap Herron; 1917. . . .Jap Herron was a novel written, supposedly, by a deceased Mark Twain from beyond the grave, dictated via the medium of a Ouija board. The scribe (faithfully taking down notes, or perhaps a little more than just that, depending on your view) was Emily Grant Hutchings, a woman who had actually corresponded with Twain 15 years earlier. [A] New York Times article of the time remarks, Jap Herron was 'the third novel in the last few months that has claimed the authorship of some dead and gone being who, unwilling to give up human activities, has appeared to find in the ouija board a material means of expression'."
Probably anyone who has read a lot of Twain's work could tell if it was a written by him or not. I can't imagine how tedious it would be to write a book dictated through a ouija board. One letter at a time.Nowadays it would be possible for an AI to determine whether these 'works' are by Twain or just someone simulating him.
The New York Times reviewer didn't need any high tech AI to reach a conclusion ...Nowadays it would be possible for an AI to determine whether these 'works' are by Twain or just someone simulating him.
If this is the best that "Mark Twain" can do by reaching across the barrier, the army of admirers that his works have won for him will all hope that he will hereafter respect that boundary.