{"id":1769,"date":"2021-10-02T04:18:04","date_gmt":"2021-10-02T04:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkingtheshadowlands.com\/?p=1769"},"modified":"2024-11-16T17:52:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T04:52:53","slug":"episode-52-the-ouija-board-is-it-really-just-a-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkingtheshadowlands.com\/?p=1769","title":{"rendered":"Episode 52: The Ouija Board: Is It Really Just A Game?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Episode 52: The Ouija Board: Is It Really Just A Game?<\/strong><\/p><\/h3><\/div>

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What is the very first thing that most people think of when they hear the words Ouija board? Most (but obviously not all), people think of horror movies like the Ouija board scene in “The Exorcist”, or any one of another countless horror movie genre, that has used the Ouija board as basis for its story-line. Or they automatically think of horror stories<\/a> they may have heard from people who have used the board – or they may believe whatever religious teachings they have learned about the use of such devices. Then again some simply consider them nothing more than a toy or a parlour game.<\/p>\n

But, are Ouija boards a toy? Really, are they? The subject of Ouija boards (otherwise known as ‘talking boards’, ‘spirit boards’, ‘communication boards’, ‘clear channel board’, ‘charmed spirit boards’, and ‘Walpurgisnacht witchboards’, amongst others), has come up again and again. So I seriously thought about doing this episode for some weeks now. So, are you ready to walk with me into this part of the shadowlands and see what awaits us there? Let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\n

The Ouija Board: Is It Really Just A Game?
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Firstly, though I feel it is important to give at least a very condensed history on what they are and how they came about. Likely there are few who have not heard of an Ouija board, or who do not know what they are, thanks in large part to all the TV movies notably ‘The Exorcist’<\/a> mentioned before, amongst others. \u00a0But for those who perhaps have not, here is a description of an Ouija board.<\/p>\n

Physically an Ouija board is a flat board with the letters of the alphabet arrayed in two semi-circles above the numbers 0 through 9; the words \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d in the uppermost corners, \u201cgoodbye\u201d at the bottom; accompanied by a \u201cplanchette<\/a>,\u201d which is, generally these days, \u00a0a teardrop-shaped device. \u00a0It usually has a small window in the body. The planchette is used to manoeuver about the board. The idea was that two or more people would sit around the board, place their finger tips on the planchette, pose a question, and watch, as the planchette moved from letter to letter, supposedly moved by a spirit, spelling out the answers.<\/p>\n

The boards and planchettes used to be made out of solid wood. Now they are cardboard and plastic, for the most part. However, when I was a young and stupid kid, we created talking glasses, which were simply letters of the alphabet and numbers 0 -10 written on pieces of paper and placed in a circle on a flat surface, generally a table top. A simple kitchen glass was used as the planchette. Other than that, it functioned in exactly the same way as the Ouija board did.<\/p>\n

How did Ouija boards come into popular use?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Table Tipping<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, in 1848, two sisters Kate and Margaret Fox <\/a>\u00a0\u00a0who lived in upstate New York, claimed to have receive messages from spirits who knocked on their walls in answer to questions. This eventually reached the media who spread it throughout the country and spiritualism was born. Millions across America and the World turned to spiritualism as the answer for connecting with loved ones that had passed.<\/p>\n

We have to realise, that this was an era when very few people lived past the age of 50 years old due to the living conditions and standards, health care etc. in that era. \u00a0The average lifespan<\/a> in that era was less than 50 years old. Women died giving birth, children died from diseases, men died in wars. During the American Civil War, spiritualism gained millions of people who were desperate to connect with their loved ones that had gone to war and never returned. It was a time when people seemed to be ready and wanting the comfort of belief in a continued existence. Spiritualist communities and groups were established world wide and mediums (a very large percentage of them who were fake and merely capitalising on the current trend), began holding s\u00e9ances.<\/p>\n

Table tipping and other means of communication with the dead were at the best cumbersome and noisy and in order to be able to communicate with loved ones who had passed, people had to rely on s\u00e9ances lead by these dubious people. Mostly fake mediums, who were simply out to fleece money out of desperate people. People who were grieving for their loved ones and simply wanted to know that they still existed and were ok. So what forms of communication did they use initially?<\/p>\n

Forms of communication<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Table tipping and rapping<\/a> \u2013 was a form of a s\u00e9ance where people sat around a table. They would place their hands on it and wait for it to tip, tilt or otherwise move in response to questions to spirit. There is a \u00a0very old picture on this episodes page on the podcast website, www.walkingtheshadowlands.com<\/a>, of a table tipping session.<\/p>\n

Other forms of attempting communication were tried. One of these was spirit writing, or psychography. Today, it would be called automatic writing<\/a> . This was done, initially anyway, by holding a pencil in an upside down basket or planchette<\/a>. And, the idea was that the spirit took control of you hand and wrote things automatically.<\/p>\n

After a while someone invented the talking board, it\u2019s original origins are shrouded in mystery – however in 1891 a person by the name of Elijah J Bond<\/a> submitted a patent <\/a>for the first official \u201ctalking board\u201d calling it a toy or a game. A copy of that patent can also be seen on the website. The term \u201ctalking board\u201d that Elijah gave to his patent, is generally used these days as more of a generic term for any message board that has numbers, letters and a moveable message indicator. Whether that is a planchette or an upside down glass (in this case as previously mentioned is called \u201cAsk the glass\u201d), this movable object is lightly touched by one or more persons, and will slide or pivot along the surface of the board to spell out words or messages.<\/p>\n

The Ouija board got its name from the sister-in-law of the board\u2019s inventor Helen Peters<\/a>. Helen was supposedly a very strong medium and she asked the board what it wished to be named. It spelled out Ouija in result. When they asked what that meant, supposedly the board responded with the words \u201cgood luck\u201d<\/p>\n

Some would argue that an Ouija board is just another divination device, like divining rods, table tipping, automatic writing, etc. Also, there are other boards that use pendulums, fixed spinners or rolling boards – these latter are not technically regarded as \u201ctalking boards\u201d, although the effect is definitely the same. And these days, you could also add to that list ghost boxes<\/p>\n

There is great debate about whether the messages given on these boards indeed come from supernatural entities or they are solely a psychological \/ physiological phenomenon, one that is created by the users of the board. According to some scientific sources, there are two factors that come into play when using an Ouija board<\/p>\n