Ouija board

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"Talking boards" came into existance during the late 1800's, when séances were at the height of their popularity. The Ouija board (pronounced 'wee-ja'), while not the original talking board, was the first talking board to receive a patent and the first to be commercially marketed. Though "Ouija" is a trademark name, the term is often used generically to describe any talking board. Users of Ouija boards generally believe that the spirits of the dead exist in a "spirit world", and can be contacted through the Ouija board. The board consists mainly of numbers and letters, and participants place their fingers on a planchette, or small, heart shaped piece of wood, which then moves around the board to spell out messages from the spirit world.

Precursors to the Ouija

Ancient Ouija Boards?

It is often claimed that the Ouija has roots in ancient divination methods and oracles. According to Stoker Hunt's 'Ouija the Most Dangerous Game' (1985), one of the first use of "Ouija-like instruments" is found in China, centuries before the birth of Confucius (circa 550 B.C.E.). In reality, Fu Chi (also called Fuji, Fuluan, or Jiangbi), a well-known form of Chinese spirit writing, is simply automatic writing, with no board, letters, or message indicator. Aside from its purpose of contacting the spirits of the dead, there is nothing particularly Ouija-like about Fu Chi.

Another often quoted statement taken from Lewis Spence's 'Encyclopedia of Occultism' (1920) states that the Ouija board "...is very old. It was in use in the days of Pythagoras, about 540 B.C.E. According to a French historical account of the philosopher's life, his sect held frequent séances or circles at which 'a mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations supposedly from the unseen world." Critics of this claim point out that there is no record of any such French historical account, that this description is the first and only account of such a talking board in historic record, and that Spence also made the dubious claim that the planchette was invented by a french spiritualist named "M. Planchette", a fact that would be highly coincidental given that "planchette" means "little board", not to mention the fact that there is no record of any such person. Additionally, the claim of ancient Greek use is called into question through historical accuracy, as Philolaus was born roughly twenty-five years after Pythagoras's death. While the ancient world certainly possessed various oracles and techniques for divination, the Ouija board was not developed until the nineteenth century.

The Development of the Ouija Board

Before talking boards came into use, spiritualist mediums would use various methods to contact the spirit world. Raps on tables, table tilting, and spirit or automatic writing were all commonly used by mediums. In the early phases of automatic writing, a pencil was attached to a small basket, which would theoretically be controlled by a spirit to write a message. Later, the basket was replaced by the heart-shaped planchette; a small wooden board with two casters and a pencil attached. However, all of these methods were somewhat frustrating; raps and table tilting were tedious and time consuming for even the shortest message, and automatic writing was often difficult to read. Some mediums gave up on the planchette and simply held the pencil in their hand, writing messages while in a trance state. Others devised complicated apparatuses involving moving needles and letter wheels, called "dial plate instruments" or "psychographs". The talking board first came into being in 1886, where reports of "do it yourself" boards circulated through the midwestern United States.

The first patent for such a "talking board" was granted on February 10, 1891, listing businessman Elijah Bond as inventor of the new "Ouija board", and Charles Kennard and William Maupin as assignees. As the legend goes, Bond named the board "Ouija" during a session where the board told him that "ouija" was the Egyptian word for "good luck" (which it is not). It is also possible that Bond adapted the name of the fabled Moroccan city "Ouijda", particularly in light of the psychic popularity of the Middle East at the time.

The Ouija Board Gains Popularity

The Kennard Novelty Company employed a young William Fuld as shop manager; a man who would erroneously come to be known as the inventor of the Ouija board. Kennard's financial backers withdrew their support and placed Fuld in charge of the company. Fuld, a natural salesman, was responsible for record numbers of Ouija board sales. Fuld reinvented the board's history; claiming himself as inventor, and saying that he took "Ouija" from the French and German words for yes ("oui" and "ja".) Reporters were told that the Ouija board gave Fuld all his most successful ideas. Due to Fuld's excellent marketing skills, Ouija boards outsold all competitors' talking boards. In 1927, Fuld died from a fall off his factory roof. While it is most likely that the fall was accidental; Fuld leant on an unstable railing while supervising the installation of a flagpole, darker versions of the story involve demons, a tormented Fuld, and a tragic suicidal leap from the factory roof. The rumors surrounding his death only served to boost Ouija sales.

In 1966, the rights to the Ouija board were sold to Parker Brothers, who, during the following year, sold over two million boards. The Ouija board outsold Monopoly, Parker Brothers' previously bestselling game, and, though its popularity has declined, is still sold today.

Etymology

The term "Ouija" is derived from the French "oui" (for "yes") and the German/Dutch "ja" (also for "yes"). An alternative story suggests the name was revealed to inventor Charles Kennard during a Ouija séance and was claimed to be an Ancient Egyptian word meaning "good luck." It has also been suggested the word was inspired by the name of the Moroccan city Oujda.

Despite its common usage, "Ouija" is a registered trademark.

Usage

Skeptic and magician James Randi, in his book An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, points out that when blindfolded, Ouija board operators are unable to produce intelligible messages. Magicians Penn & Teller performed a similar demonstration in an episode of their television show Bullshit! in which the operators moved the planchette into what they thought was the positions of "yes" and "no" without knowing that the board was turned upside-down, which caused them to move the planchette into blank spaces on the board.

Those who believe Ouija boards can be used to make actual contact with the spirit world feel that the act of hindering a medium’s ability to use his or her own eyes while the board is in use effectively places too great of a handicap on the whole exercise. (This argument stems from the belief that contacted spirits actually utilize the eyes of the medium during a Ouija session in order to point to the letters and words needed to form a message. Most supporters of this theory believe that the board has no intrinsic power in and of itself, but rather, is used simply as a tool to aid a medium while in communication with the spirit world.)

Criticism of Ouija boards

Although Ouija boards are viewed by some to be a simple toy, there are people who believe they can be harmful, including Edgar Cayce, who called them "dangerous." Critics warn that "evil demons" pretend to be cooperative ghosts in order to trick players into becoming spiritually possessed.

Some practitioners claim to have had bad experiences related to the use of talking boards by being haunted by "demons," seeing apparitions of spirits, and hearing voices after using them. A few paranormal researchers, such as John Zaffis, claim that the majority of the worst cases of so-called demon harassment and possession are caused by the use of Ouija boards. The American demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, stated that "Ouija boards are just as dangerous as drugs." They further state that "séances and Ouija boards and other occult paraphernalia are dangerous because 'evil spirits' often disguise themselves as your loved ones-and take over your life."

In 1944, occultist Manly P. Hall, the founder of the Philosophical Research Society and an early authority on the occult in the 20th century, stated in Horizon magazine that, "during the last 20-25 years I have had considerable personal experience with persons who have complicated their lives through dabbling with the Ouija board. Out of every hundred such cases, at least 95 are worse off for the experience." He went on to say that, "I know of broken homes, estranged families, and even suicides that can be traced directly to this source."

Many Christians hold the belief that using a Ouija board allows communication with demons, which they say is Biblically forbidden as a form of divination. Some people who claim to have been oppressed by evil spirits after using a board say that they could only get rid of these problems after Christian deliverance. Many Christians believe that no dead person's soul can be summoned, and that the only summoned spirits are demons who are trying to harm humans.

As early as 1924, Harry Houdini wrote that five people from Carrito, California were driven insane by using a board. That same year, Dr. Carl Wickland in his book stated that "the serious problem of alienation and mental derangement attending ignorant psychic experiments was first brought to my attention by cases of several persons whose seemingly harmless experiences with automatic writing and the Ouija board resulted in such wild insanity that commitment to asylums was necessitated."

The former medical director of the State Insane Asylum of New Jersey, Dr. Curry, stated that the Ouija board was a "dangerous factor" in unbalancing the mind and believed that if their popularity persisted insane asylums would be filled with people who used them.

Decades later, in 1965, parapsychologist Martin Ebon in his book Satan Trap: Dangers of the Occult, states that "it all may start harmlessly enough, perhaps with a Ouija board," which will, "bring startling information... establishing credibility or identifying itself as someone who is dead. It is common that people... as having been 'chosen' for a special task." He continues, "Quite often the Ouija turns vulgar, abusive or threatening. It grows demanding and hostile, and sitters may find themselves using the board compulsively, as if 'possessed' by a spirit, or hearing voices that control or command them."

In her 1971 autobiography, the psychic Susy Smith said, "Warn people away from Ouija and automatic writing. I experienced many of the worst problems of such involvement. Had I been forewarned by reading that such efforts might cause one to run the risk of being mentally disturbed, I might have been more wary."

Additionally, the late Roman Catholic priest Malachi Martin believed talking boards are dangerous and claimed that by using these devices a person opens themselves to demonic oppression or possession, topics upon which Martin spoke and wrote extensively for many years.

Literature

Talking boards have become an iconic part of culture, demonstrated by their appearances in many books and movies. Their roles in such vary from being a benign object to an evil entity. A more peculiar role of talking boards in literature stems from authors using the board to channel complete written works from the deceased.

In the early 1900s, St. Louis housewife Pearl Curran used her Ouija board communications with the ubiquitous spirit Patience Worth to publish a number of poems and prose. Pearl claimed that all of the writings came to her through séances, which she allowed the public to attend. In 1917 writer Emily G. Hutchings believed she had communicated with and written a book dictated by Mark Twain from her Ouija board. Twain's living descendants went to court to halt publication of the book that was later determined to be so poorly written that it could not have been written by Twain dead or alive.

Since the 1970s, author Jane Roberts has transcribed text channeled from what she described as an "energy personality essence" named Seth. Topics attributed to Seth discuss the nature of physical reality, the origins of the universe, the theory of evolution, the many-worlds interpretation, the Christ story, and the purpose of life among other subjects and form a collection of more than 10 books and a number of videos and audio recordings.

Author John Fuller used a Ouija board in his research for his 1976 book The Ghost of Flight 401. As he was skeptical of its effectiveness, he worked with a medium and claimed they both contacted Don Repo, the flight engineer on the flight which crashed into the Everglades en route to Miami. According to Fuller, the information divined described facts that neither he nor the medium previously knew.

More recently, Pulitzer Prize winning poet James Merrill used a Ouija board and recorded what he claimed were messages from a number of deceased persons. He combined these messages with his own poetry in The Changing Light at Sandover (1982).

Ouija in popular culture

• In the movie Awakenings, encephalitis patient Leonard Lowe communicates a message to Dr. Malcolm Sayer through the use of a Ouija board.
• In the movie The Exorcist, a young girl uses a Ouija board to contact a spirit called Captain Howdy (actually an ancient demon named Pazuzu who soon possesses her).
• In the movie Long Time Dead, a group of friends accidentally unleash a demon by playing with a Ouija board. [1] [2] [3]
• In the 1994 movie Only You, Faith learns the name of "her soulmate" while playing on a Ouija board with her brother.
• In the film What Lies Beneath, a character played by Michelle Pfeiffer uses a Ouija Board, believing it will help her to communicate with spirits that are haunting her home.
• In the movie Witchboard, a woman is harassed by an evil spirit after she ignores warnings not to use a Ouija board while alone.
• In the TV series Charmed, a Ouija board is often used to communicate with spirits. In the first episode, the sisters discover they are witches after using a Ouija board found in the attic of their home.
• In an episode of Futurama, upon hearing that Leela believed she could contact the dead, Professor Farnsworth told her that her head might be "acting as a five-pound Ouija board".
• In an episode of Supernatural, Sam uses a Ouija board to contact Dean's spirit.
• In an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Shake commits suicide in order to enter Meatwad's Video Ouija game so that he can terrorize him.
• In an issue of Simpsons Comics, Bart goes to a camp and raises spirits with a Ouija board.
• Morrissey sings a song called "Ouija board, Ouija board."
• In the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, the "Destiny Board" cards feature a Ouija board. In the anime, Bakura used these cards in his duel against Yugi in the Battle City Finals.
• In an episode of Kyle XY, Kyle uses a Ouija board to figure out his birthday.
• The use of a Ouija board is a key plot point in the Egyptian horror movie Ouija.
• In Steve Berman's young adult novel Vintage: A Ghost Story, the narrator uses a Ouija board to contact several dead boys.
• The hip-hop/rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony have several references to "Mr. Ouija" in their songs.
• In Stephen King's novel The Stand, the character Nadine Cross uses a Ouija board to receive instructions from Randall Flagg.
• In an episode of House, a patient gets sick after a Ouija board tells him he will die.
• Calvin and Hobbes use a Ouija board to ask whether Calvin may become President. The Ouija board answers, "God forbid". They also ask how the board knows so much. The board "answered" "3", prompting Calvin to say "You know, I didn't ask for this for Christmas. I asked for a computer."
• In an episode of The A-Team, Murdock uses a Ouija board to communicate with the spirit world for advice.
• In the movie Stormbreaker, Alan Blunt claims the British Government would sooner trust a Ouija board than British Intelligence.
• In an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, police officers try to use a Ouija board to solve crimes. The board returns the message "U-P Y-O-U-R-S", to which one officer responds, "What a rude Ouija board!"
• In an episode of "The Drew Carey Show", Drew and his friends use a Ouija board as way to retrieve some alchohol.
• In the first segment, "The Prophecy", of the third episode of the first season of "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction", the three protagonists use a Ouija to conjure an evil spirit.
• Kirk Hammett, the lead guitarist of Metallica has a guitar which has an Ouijaboard design on the body.

Notable users

GK Chesterton used a Ouija board. Around 1893 he had gone through a crisis of skepticism and depression, and during this period Chesterton experimented with the Ouija board and grew fascinated with the occult. [4]

Alice Cooper claims that an Ouija Board suggested that he was the reincarnation of a 17th century witch with the name Alice Cooper, and thus the band's name "Alice Cooper".

Aleister Crowley advocated the use of Ouija boards, and they played a major role in many of his magickal workings.

Poet James Merrill used a Ouija board for years, and even encouraged entrance of spirits into his body. He wrote the poem The Changing Light at Sandover with the help of a Ouija board. Before he died, he recommended people not to use Ouija boards.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi held a séance in 1978 with other professors at the University of Bologna in which a Ouija board spelled the word Gradoli. This turned out to be the name of a street in Rome where a Red Brigades safe house was located.

Bill Wilson the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous used the Ouija Board to contact spirits. His wife said that he would get messages directly without even using the board.For a while, his participation in A.A was deeply affected by his involvment with the Ouija board. Wilson claimed that he received the twelve step method directly from a spirit without the board and wrote it down.

The investigators of Most Haunted have been known to use Ouija Boards.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Books

• Cornelious, J. Edward Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board. 2005 ISBN 1-932595-10-4 [5]
• Gruss, Edmond C. The Ouija Board: A Doorway to the Occult 1994 ISBN 0-87552-247-5
• Hunt, Stoker. Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game. 1992 ISBN 0-06-092350-4

External links

External links of sites with information on talking boards

• Paralumun
• Museum Of Talking Boards
• Related Names for Talking Board
• Witchboard World
• Paranormality A-Z Paranormal Phenomena

External links skeptical of talking boards

• The Skeptics' Dictionary: Ouija
• An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
• How does a Ouija board work? from The Straight Dope

External links critical of talking boards

• Evangelical Outreach "Dangers of Ouija Boards"
• Ouija Boards Are Evil - religious site
• New York City Cop Points Out Dangers Of Ouija Board
• Ouija Board Website

Other External links

• Ouija board stories
• 'Ouija board' appeal dismissed
• BBC video on Ouija Board *[6]

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