Marby Noffki: We must have gone through ten Ouija boards when we were kids. If my grandmother happened to find it, she would throw it away, calling it all sorts of barely translatable things in Spanish. Occasionally, my aunt would decide that it was no good to have it in the house and get rid of it, only to buy another when my mother, who would stand up to the devil himself and likely win, told her off for it. I can recall many a summer night that my cousins, and later my sister and I would try and contact the spirit world through the Ouija board, only to have the sessions end with accusations of so and so moving the planchette. Occasionally, we would end up brawling over these accusations.

Once in a while, something did come through, and though we were spooked, I don’t remember ever being so spooked that we swore off of playing.

The stories were always floating around, however. A friend of a friend of a friend knew someone that played with the Ouija board and invited the minions of hell into their home, or a spirit that pretended to be someone else in order to wreak havoc. Hollywood has used this concept in horror movies from that classic, The Exorcist to horrible B-movies like Witchboard. Yet, with all the playing we did with it, we managed to avoid possession, evil spirits, and all the horrific things that are attached to the Parker Brothers made parlour game.

Does the Ouija board deserve this sinister reputation? I don’t think so. While a few personal experiences convince me that using it can enable us to contact the spirit world, I cannot think of a single documented case outside of the case The Exorcist was based on to show that evil things happen when one uses the Ouija. Because I question the reality of spirit possession, and because this kid had bigger problems at the outset, even that case does little to convince me. I have heard a few first hand accounts from people over the years of their negative experiences with the Ouija board, but the fact is, most of them came from unreliable sources, and it was obvious that there was no lasting damage.

It is said that one should never just throw a Ouija board away, or it will either come back to you or somehow call angry spirits into your home. The proper way to dispose of one is to burn it. This too, falls into the realm of myth as far as I am concerned because I am sure that my cousins and I would have been grounded for life had we started burning things, and considering all the boards my grandmother and aunt threw away, I would have had Beelzebub himself sitting on my desk dictating this article. And, no, I don’t. I can assure the reader that the only male entities in this house are a husband, a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, and a parakeet. While the puppy sometimes acts like a demon from hell, I promise he isn’t.

There are so many myths and urban legends surrounding this simple tool for communicating with the dead that it would be impossible to fit them into a short article. It would be pointless to include them anyway because they are completely unsubstantiated. Furthermore, if one thinks on the matter logically, there is no reason a toy company would continue to produce and sell these things in toy stores if there were any true and documented cases of a Ouija board being responsible for some sort of harm. The only physical harm I ever suffered was a punch in the gut from my cousin, Mark after yelling at him to stop moving the planchette and being stupid. Quite frankly (love ya, Mark!), most of the board games we played as children ended this way.

Would I recommend using the Ouija board as a tool to communicate with the dead? It is a good bit of fun, and sometimes you do get something extraordinary, but most of the time you just end up sitting around, bored for hours, fingers trembling as they barely touch an unmoving planchette. So, no, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you cannot figure out a better way to spend a rainy Saturday night.

"horrible B-movies like Witchboard"

Hey , I liked that movie!

Wow. The Polish guy on here has WAY better experiences than you do with his board!! Hell he even talks to prehistoric man and people in the HELIX. You must be doing something seriously wrong. He has even been to the restaurant at the end of time!!

You said you had a few cases that seemed interesting Marby...lets hear about one.

- Edit -

Young people 'use' it like its a game ~ and not knowing what they are doing. No Protection. Dangerous!

Quick reply because I am up bright and early and off to France for the weekend, and I should have been in bed an hour ago! The Polish guy on here definitely has better experiences than I have, but you asked that I share, and I will share this one experience because it is probably the one out of a handful that left an impression rather than bruises from my cousins.

Mom, my visiting Auntie, and my sister were up late one night. At this time, I was just out of high school, and my sister was about ten years old. We were all in Mom's room hanging out sort of slumber party style, and we pulled out the Ouija for a laugh. Mom and Auntie tried, and nothing, which is usually not the case because they are creepy identical twins. Auntie and my sister tried, my sister and I tried... nothing. Auntie and I tried and the planchette began moving immediately, writing in Spanish. I speak Spanish fluenty, but I write it like a kindergartner, so for the speed it was moving, it wasn't because I was moving it, or my aunt was directing it. It was too smooth and well "written". We asked who it was, and it said it was our grandfather. At this point, Auntie and Iwere suspicious of one another, so we started to ask questions that only one of us would know the answer to - everything from the name of the pet canary Auntie and Mom had as kids in Cuba, to details out of stories he had told me when I was a kid, and details from weekends I used to spend with my grandparents that no one else would know. All answered correctly. It even wrote in the style of his speaking, if that makes sense. We talked for hours while my sister wrote everything down through her tears. Mind you, he had been dead only a year and a half at this point so it was pretty emotional. When we finally said goodbye, we were exhausted. It was the weirdest thing because we felt him in the room as well, and could smell his colostomy bag, and believe me, they have a distinct odor. We tried it again the next night, but nothing happened. It should be noted, however, that my grandfather is occasionally seen and heard even now, years later. He pops in on the more sensitive of us in the family as if to say hello. I always felt that the Ouija experience was his goodbye, though, because we sat there reminiscing, basically, once we were convinced no one was farting around and all of us were so happy and at peace, if that makes sense, afterward.

I'll be submitting more when I return from my trip. Have a great weekend everyone. I apologize for not responding to the other posts, but if I did that right now, I would be up all night and in no shape to wake up at five thirty tomorrow!

ouija boards are not spiritual portals from which you can contact the dead on the other side,however I do believe in ghosts/spirits whatever.the board is nothing more than a game invented in 1891 by Charles Kennard or at least he is the one who pattened the idea.board game get over it and also tarot cards game nothing but a game.

You said something bad dude SaRuman don't play, behave!

I challenge you to look up the history of ouija boards you will find that they are just a game.there will not be a demon jump out at you if you use it I promise.hollywood and there depiction of ouija boards as being a portal to the other side is just hollywood making movies,nothing more.I would be more afraid of the dangers of playing scrabble.

I have heard enough on these boards to give my opinion!
From Coast to Coast AM with half a dozen people calling in (on the subject matter) that have been seriously disturbed by nightmares and unexplained experiences and phenomenon they cannot turn off (that even George Noory then decided NOT to have a group and him experiment with it) ~ to reading about the material on my own, to the internet - which on the 'very' first page has the following as an example to my point...... ,

~ "The American demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, stated that "Ouija boards are just as dangerous as drugs"

~ "The Ouija Board is one of the most dangerous things to use. ... This observation of mine is based on more than 30 years of experience in Spiritual Warfare ..."

~ "Are Ouija Boards Dangerous? YES. Monday, May 14, 2007 10:29 AM by Ms Claritynow ... to keep myself and my children away from such negative experiences. ..."

Case Closed for me.

OK, another quickie response while I have the morning coffee and get ready to go...

While I respect that many people feel Ouija boards are dangerous, I must dispute this. No offense here, I merely disagree.

Ed and Lorraine Warren, who if we all remember, insisted that the Amityville House (this haunting was shown to be a hoax perpetuated by the money hungry Lutz family)was possessed by demons at one time, are not credible so far as I am concerned. I used to follow their exploits when I was a kid, but over time, they have shown that they are not as credible as they once seemed. There's a lot to get into here on the situation, but the only case that I have yet to find huge holes in might be the Smurl case, and that is only because I have not researched it very well. They find demons wherever they go, which in and of itself, is a bit dodgy. When you are a a carpenter, the whole world is a nail to be hammered in. Likewise, when you bill yourself a demonologist, every unexplained event is caused by a demon. Time is short for me, but I take anything they say or do with a grain of salt.

Please provide a properly documented case where a Ouija board has been the cause of something horrible. Seriously documented. Even the positive experience I related in my last post, though it is mine and I know it to be true, is not a solid, documented case and I would not submit it as such. Why should anyone take my word for it without proof?

Oh, and Moon Demon... LOL! I guess for a B movie it wasn't that horrible.

I too am involved in paranormal research and know the short history of the ouija board{invented by charles kennard in 1891}.Simply put it is a fake and you may want to do some research about this board game before staking your rep on it.I have met lorain warren and she didn't seem to be a sensitive to me.If somehow you are able to get coverage on tv then you are considered to be genuine,that is obserd.Ed and Lorain are both frauds and have always been.They are not credible by no stretch,I never met Ed{he is dead} I will say this Lorain is a genuinely nice person{but psychic no way}no more than hugh laurie is a doctor.There are a lot of people who swear by a board game,geeeez.maybe the parker bros. are anti-Christs.I met her at waverly hills in lou,ky and yes she sensed demons and there are non there.

I liked witch board and if I could find it I would like to have it.Malfador,is a true story he was a very rich man in portugal in the early 1900's ,and was said to have been a serial killer.maybe he got possessed using a ouija board lol.

Ah...It wasn't bad...just some juvienile humor. I didn't think it warranted an edit...but then again I don't make the rules!!! I just like to cut up! Yes I must watch this evil wizard from middle earth!!!

TJ

I think he may be a spirit he is everywhere all the time{evil}lol.He seems cool he had to get after me not to long ago.

First of all, for the record, I'm an American, although both my parents were Polish, but later became Americans, too.

Second, my stories are not "better" than Mr. Noffki's -- just different. In my opinion, Marby is a terrific writer, with a keen eye, straightforward style, and in his writing style you can see he has great empathy for his readers, knows how to writer for his audience. I've read all his columns and look forward to the next.

Third, Ouija boards were not invented in 1891. There is evidence that this type of divination tool has been around not just for centuries, but millenna. It is well known the Pythagoras of ancient Greece used an Ouija board. A kind of Ouija board was also used in China as far back as 1,200 B.C.

Sure, they can be used and considered a toy -- or not -- but just about anything can be used as a toy. There is a form of industrial synthetic rubber being sold as a toy -- Silly Puddy. Just because something can double as a toy does not mean it does not also have a more serious application. An Ant Farm is a "toy" but does that mean that real ants, then, can also be dismissed as "toys."

Fourth, Marby is correct about there being no danger in using the board, and no danger whatsoever, in my opinion, and based on my 40 years of use of the Ouija board with not a single ill effect.

I am a history buff guy ,and I am aware of the history of the board otherwise I would not have commented on it so I don't know your source?But I am certain that my source is a good one Class of 1995 Cornell University .

Look, I have no doubt you have a good source -- and, no doubt, the modern Ouija board we use today, most examplified by the Parker's Bros. model -- was certainly developed when you say it was.

But to say that the Ouija board was invented in 1891 is simply not the case. For example, in China during the Tang Dynasty -- which was roughly from the year 600 A.D. to around 900 A.D. they had something they called Fufi -- which is extremely similar to the way a modern Ouija board is used.

Planchette writing 1 is also called fuluan 2 or jiangbi 3. Its operation requires one or two persons to hold a rack and reveal words or pictures on a prepared sand plate, and then give explanations. It is practised in the composition of Daoist scriptures and in discussing with Immortals. Common people use it for divination and relieving themselves of worries, and to help solve their problems. Planchette writing is very popular nationwide, and is commonly practised in Daoist temples in Taiwan, Hong Kong and at some folk shrines and altars in mainland China.

http://www.eng.taoism.org.hk/religious-act...ms/pg4-8-13.asp


This above just one example. I can find dozens, or even hundreds of sources which mention divination systems that are basically Ouija -- they may not all look exactly like a Parkers Bros. board -- but we're talking about the same thing in essence.

So, what's his name in 1891 was just taking a very ancient idea and putting a new marketing spin on it -- it's a great novelty item, a great toy, yet many have used this device over the centuries for what they considered serious purposes.

First off, I appreciate IG's link-backed quote to actually give some credence to all these ideas that Ouijas have been used everywhere forever - I will admit that the Chinese one does sound at least plausible.

I would like to say, however, that the tired old saw about Pythagoras' Ouija is NOT "well known" (though it is well-regurgitated), and from my studies, only a couple of references to that period of history at all and anything remotely approaching a Ouija board. Saying it is a likely precursor or something is understandable, but it is a disservice to readers to repeat a misrepresentation. I would like to provide a relevant sourced quote myself, regarding the quote:




For the record, I too would like to state that I believe talking boards to pose no danger, that is not already present in the mind and personality of a user.

Thanks, IronGhost. You're right. Some people do get a better response from a Ouija, and they don't have to be the Parker Bros. version. We used a homemade one once that actually worked out much better in both ease of use and results. It's how you use it that makes the difference, really.

For the record, I am a Mrs.

Okay, I read Mr. Horowitz's article -- it's an abomination of narrow-minded thinking.

In his article, he states:

Still other writers – when they are not repeating claims like the one above – tend to misread ancient historical accounts and mistake other divinatory tools, such as pendulum dishes, for Ouija boards. Oracles were rich and varied from culture to culture – from Germanic runes to Greek Delphic rites – but the prevailing literature on oracular traditions supports no suggestion that talking boards, as we know them, were in use before the Spiritualist era.

You might as well make the case that Pythagoras did not develop the Pythagoran Theorem -- because there is not a shred of solid evidence that he did that either.

The only one mistaking the historical record here is Mitch Horowitz -- or I should say, he is badly misunderstanding it.

I mean -- just because there was not a device that looked exactly like a Parker Bros. Ouija board leads him to conclude that this form of divination was not used by Pythagoras and others?

That's patently and completely ridiculous.

The fact is, everyone in the time of Pythagoras were in constant use of a variety of oracular devices -- including something called divination bowls. What did they look like? Wow! They were round and had letters circling the outer rim, and they a dangling pendulum to point to the letters. The pendulum was directed by the human hand.

Listen to me: This, in effect, IS THE VERY, TOTAL AND COMPLETELY SAME DEVICE AS THE MODERN OUIJA BOARD!!!

It does not take a rocket scientist to see this!

Maybe we should say that Pythagoras never performed simple math because he did not use a modern No. 2 Pencil with graphite filling surrounded by wood!

It is not a disservice to readers to say that Pythagoras probably used an Ouija board (bowl) -- it would be astounding if he had not -- he would not have been a man of his culture and time if he hadn't.

I could go much further -- such as discuss the art of dowsning -- which works on the very same principle as that of the Ouija board -- and the first evidence of dowing goes back at least the copper age, and most likely to neolithic times. The fact is, Ouija type devices can be found in all manner of cultures, times and eras.

To blandly state that the "modern talking board" was developed in the 1890s as Horowitz claims and as others here have claimed, is absoltuely ludicrous, and amazingly so.

EDIT: Hey, Marby, sorry to mistake your gender. Did not mean to give you a cyber "refurbishing." I stand corrected. (Well, actually, I'm sitting right now -- but some would claim that because I am sitting rather than standing -- no connection can be made to the fact that I am corrected).

No worries, IronGhost. I have a weird name. It's an easy thing to make that mistake.

Well I guess it depends on how much stock a person puts into accounts that cannot be corroborated; the fact that divination bowls (their use is closer to typical pendulums) existed at the time of Pythagoras seems reasonable and I concede he probably at least experimented with one at one time - but there is no specific record of such - just because an item existed at the same time a person lived, is not enough to state as fact, that the person used that item. Then the scribe's account not even being in the same century, etc.


I agree however that the contemporary Ouija came about before 1890, but not much before - the earliest known patent for a demonstrably similar device, called a Psychograph was 1854 in the UK, according to William Fuld's official site. Scattered references indicate that such a device was already in existence as part of the Spiritualist movement, which essentially started in the late 1840s.


At the base of it though, I guess it doesn't really matter when the Ouija board came about, in any great way; for newcomers to talking boards, I'd probably put all these different ideas as to their history in one section, much as is done with who invented it, and what "Ouija" means, telling readers that these are the various claims and assertions, none sufficiently authoritative for 100% certainty.


The fact is, past the typical "messing around" that most people do, some people get some pretty profound results, some interesting but not particularly practical, and some have plainly awful experiences - I think probably this would be the most important aspect of talking boards - finding out why and how such varied experiences occur and how to ensure more useful results.

Well Said!!!

Well you can put a time table on everything. Everything is new at some point...does the age of it decrease/increase an objects power?

I only used a Ouija board once. I was sleeping over a friend's house with several other friends. I was about 14 yrs old. (I'm 46 now). Not much happened at the time. A few days later some strange things started happening at my house. I was in the bathroom and something started banging really loudly on the door. It sounded like it was coming from up high near the ceiling. I thought it was my brother or father but I opened the door immediately and found I was still home alone. I thought it strange but soon forgot about it. Soon after my mother was home alone and a mirror flew off the wall and ended up in the master bedroom, down a long hallway. This shook us up quite a bit. I'm not sure what was done about it but the incidents stopped. I became terrified of the paranormal with that incident. I finally over came my fear when my father passed away in 2005. I wanted to learn more about the afterlife and wondered where he was and how he was doing. I started doing research. At first, I was terrified but I soon became more interested than fearful. I've had a few minor paranormal experiences but none like my Ouija board experience. I'm not telling people to use Ouija boards or not to use them. I just wanted to relate my little experience. The only harm I came to from my experience was becoming terrified of the paranormal. I have finally begun to learn a lot more about it. The irrational fear has left me but it took a while to get over it.

When I first began using the Oujia Board I was enthralled to find out how exciting and real it really was. The "Yes-Yes" Board is not just a game...it is used to communicate with the dead. Not just merely talking to the dead but it is used as summoning device that doesn't have any spiritual wards to block against incoming traffic. That's what makes it so dangerous. There's no spiritual filter if you will and because the spiritual world is an unseen force you cannot distinguish between a good entity and an evil one - especially if the evil entity is very powerful (it will be able to deceive you much more easily). Although the Ouija Board can be used to contact loved ones that have passed over and thus be able to bring the querent much needed closure in this life....it is at such great risk to themselves that they do so. I know from personal experience. The risks are as follows: demon possession, demonic obsession, ill health, and the least harmful but still annoying effect - constant fatique and feelings of being drained of your energy...not to mention addiction. To be completely honest, since you are adults and you can make your own decisions (and have the right to do so) by all means if you think this is something you want to do, then do it at your own risk. Don't say I didnt warn you....but God Bless in your efforts. And may you have every protection under heaven to guide and protect you. You're going to need it.