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admin sinfulldude · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:08 pm Post subject: The Ouija Board

A ouija board is a medium through which messages are supposedly communicated by the dead to or through the players of seance. Ouija boards are also known as "witch boards" and "talking boards." The nickname "ouiji" or "weejie" is also used quite a bit. The word "ouija" is actually a combination of two words, the french word "oui" and the German word "ja." Both words mean "yes" in english.

Many Spiritualists and investigators into the occult have held that the board is a means for making direct contact with the dead and that the messages which are spelled out are from the dead.

Others have held that the messages are suggestions from the unconscious mind or the result of muscular tension and unconscious direction of the hand.

The playing pieces consist of a game board (like a Monopoly board) and a pointer, called a planchette. The game board has all the letters of the alphabet written on it. The numbers 0-9 are also usually included, along with yes/no and hello/goodbye spaces. The layout of a typical board looks like this:

The pointer is made of plastic or glass, and either points to the letters with one end or has a clear window embedded in it through which one can view the letters.To play, two or more people lightly touch the pointer and concentrate on a question. Now, first place your fingers (this works best with a friend, by the way) gently on the glass and concentrate. Than after having asked the relevant question, the glass will start to move and point to various letters, which will form words and sentences and provide with the answer to your question .

The pointer may work as the result of tiny involuntary physical movements, and the messages you see are coming from your subconscious or psychic mind.

A few basic guidelines

Use a silver coin as the planchette, or wear an article made of silver. The silver is supposed to protect you from evil spirits.
To improve "reception", use a solid wood board work in male-female pairs.

Drawing a circle around you and the board, or making a circle of candles on which you concentrate on creating a safe, protected place might drive away or keep at distance the evil spirits.

Always say goodbye to the entity you are talking with when you want to end a session. If you don't say goodbye, and the spirit doesn't reply in kind, he may be trying to stick around and harm you in some way. Do not explicitly invite the spirit to enter someplace, since this will make it hard to get rid of him later.

Sometime, a “writer” that will not touch the planchette is necessary to transcribe the session as the pointer starts moving too fast for you to read and process the words it's spelling out. Another way to transcribe is to have someone call out the letters to a tape recorder. Don't take for granted or literally anything the board says. Ouija boards are famous for lying or otherwise giving false information.

Spirit are trying all the time to communicate with us and will take every opportunity to do so through whatever means is available, and this includes Ouija boards, remember not all spirits have good intentions, there are mischievous or negative spirits around.

History

The ancient Egyptians used a device similar to the ouija board. A ring was attached to a strand of thread, held over a circular table with symbols on it, and the ring would strike the table to spell out answers.

The earliest known patent for a talking board in the patent offices in London, England was filed by Adolphus Theodore Wagner, a professor of music and resident of Berlin of the Kingdom of Prussia. Wagner described his device as a “PSYCHOGRAPH, OR APPARATUS FOR INDICATING PERSONS THOUGHTS BY THE AGENT OF NERVOUS ELECTRICITY” on January 23, 1854. This patent goes on to describe the device and identify it as a talking board.

“The apparatus consists of a combination of rods or pieces of wood joined so as to permit of free action in all parts. From one of the legs of the instrument hangs a tracer; on one or more of the other extremities is fixed a disc, upon which the operator is to place his hand, and from this extremity or these extremities depends another tracer. The other parts of the apparatus consist of a glass slab or other non-conductor, and of an alphabet and set of figures or numerals. Upon a person possessing nervous electricity placing his hand upon one of the discs the instrument will immediately work, and the tracer will spell upon the alphabet what is passing in the operator’s mind.”

In 1861 a Frenchman, Allan Kardec, described ouija boards (or talking boards) in his Le Livre des Mediums thusly:1

“In order to render spirit-communications independent of the medium’s mind, various instruments have been devised. One of these is a sort of dial-plate, on which the letters of the alphabet are ranged like those on the dial of the electric telegraph; a moveable needle, set in motion through the medium’s influence, with the aid of a conducting thread and pulley, points out the letters. We cannot help thinking, however, that the independence of the medium’s thought is insured as well by the raps, and that this independence is proved more conclusively by the unexpectedness and pertinence of the answers, than by all the mechanical contrivances yet invented for this purpose. Moreover, the incredulous, always on the lookout for wires and machinery, and are more inclined to suspect deception in connexion with any special mechanical arrangements than with a bare table, devoid of all accessories.

“A more simple contrivance, but one open to abuse, as we shall see in the chapter on Frauds, is the one devised by Madame Emile de Girardin, and by which she obtained numerous and interesting communications; for that lady accomplished and clever as she was, had the weakness to believe in spirits and their manifestations. The instrument alluded to consists of a little table with a moveable top, eighteen inches in diameter, turning freely on an axle, like a wheel. On its edge are traced, as upon a dial plate, the letters of the alphabet, the numerals, and the words “yes” and “no.” In the centre is a fixed needle. The medium places his fingers on this table, which turns and stops when the desired letters is brought up under the needle. The letters thus indicated being written down one after the other words and phrases are obtained, often with great rapidity.

“It is to be remarked that the top of the little table does not turn round under the fingers, but that the fingers remain in their place and follow the movement of the table. A powerful medium might probably obtain an independent movement; in which case the experiment would be more conclusive, because less open to the possibility of trickery.”
Ouija came about as kind of a by-product of the whole spiritualist movement that was all the rage in the early 1900's. Table-tipping was being done back then, and a Frenchman, who's last name was "planchette", produced a device that looked like a small table like a ouija pointer, that stood on two small stilts and a pen or pencil at the third point. The operator would sit with his hands as lightly as he could resting on the planchette, this device named after it's inventor, and the thing would move, producing writing.

Ouija replaced the messy planchette (the writing was messy cursive scrawls) when a board was used in place of the sheet of paper, and all three stilts on the planchette were covered with felt enabling it to slide in any direction. This made the communications fast, clear, and easy.

Pearl Curran, a housewife from St. Louis, began using a friend's ouija board in 1913. The ouija board began to spell out communications that were purportedly from a spirit contact by the name of Patience Worth. Pearl and Patience then began collaborating via automatic writing, and their output was prodigious: Patience "dictated" over a million words of poetry, plays and novels to Mrs. Curran. The works were of sufficiently high literary quality to be published and to enjoy some success among readers, and were rich in historical detail.

The Ouija board, the kind we see in toy stores today, came about in 1889 when William Fuld of Baltimore, Maryland, and his brother Isaac, marketed Ouija boards to the American public. They had a small operation and the board was the hottest item they would ever produce. People bought the board not as a game, but as a device with which they would talk to their loved ones killed in battle during the two world wars. Around 1960 Parker Brothers approached the two Fuld brothers since they were having trouble making enough boards to satisfy the demand for them. PB then took over the rights. In the 70s, the Ouija was not popular any more and the Parkers close their operation.

admin sinfulldude · Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:41 pm Post subject: More about Ouija Boards

More about Ouija Boards

Abit More about the History
The use of talking boards has roots in the modern Spiritualism movement that began in The United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Methods of divination at that time used various ways to spell out messages, including swinging a pendulum over a plate that had letters around the edge or using an entire table to indicate letters drawn on the floor. Often used was a small wooden tablet supported on casters. This tablet, called a planchette, was affixed with a pencil that would write out messages in a fashion similar to automatic writing. It should be noted that many of these methods predate modern Spiritualism.

During the late 1800s, planchettes were widely sold as a novelty. In 1890, businessmen Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard had the idea to patent a planchette sold with a board on which the alphabet was printed, and thus had invented the first Ouija board. An employee of Kennard, William Fuld took over the talking board production and in 1901, he started production of his own boards under the name "Ouija" [1].

The Fuld name would become synonymous with the Ouija board, as Fuld reinventing its history claimed that he himself had invented it. Countless talking boards from Fuld's competitors flooded the market and all these boards enjoyed a heyday from the 1920s through the 1960s. Fuld sued many companies over the "Ouija" name and concept right up until his death in 1927. In 1966, Fuld's estate sold the entire business to Parker Brothers, who continues to hold all trademarks and patents. About 10 brands of talking boards are sold today under various names [2]. See also: Ka-Bala

How is it done?
A Ouija board is operated by one or more users. They place the planchette on the board and then rest their fingers on the planchette. The users start moving the planchette around the board and speaking to the entity (or entities) they wish to summon; They then begin asking questions of it. Eventually the planchette will come to rest on one letter after another, spelling out a message. Often an additional participant records the messages on paper. As with automatic writing, the messages are often vague and open to interpretation, or complete gibberish.

Some talking boards have words or phrases written on them to simplify the interpretation of the messages. Tarot, zodiac, and other esoteric symbols are frequently incorporated into talking board's design, along with dramatic and mystical artwork. Some users prefer to improvise their own Ouija board. They may use a sheet of paper with the alphabet written on it or lettered cards placed around a table, together with an object like an overturned glass or coin as the indicator. Hand-made Ouija boards produced by artists are valued by talking board enthusiasts and collectors.

Many users feel that the spirit with whom they are communicating is controlling their motions to guide their hands, spelling out messages. They see the board as a tool or medium through which they communicate with the spirit realm. These believers often take offence at the dismissal of the talking board as merely a game. Other users contend that they are in control of their own actions, but that the talking board allows communication with their inner psychic voice or subconscious.

Proponents of Ouija boards do not believe there is any harm in communicating with spiritual entities, provided basic guidelines are followed. These rules often vary from user to user, but usually include things like never playing alone, beginning and ending a séance "properly", and always using the board in "comfortable" environment. Numerous superstitions surround Ouija board use.

Skeptical view
Few people who have investigated Ouija boards from a skeptical viewpoint accept that a piece of cardboard sold as a game can conjure spirits, evil or benevolent. The accepted theory among psychologists and skeptics is that the participants are subconsciously making small, involuntary, physical movements using a well-known, and well-understood, phenomenon called the Ideomotor effect. Experiments consistently suggest that, at best, the messages are received involuntarily from the participants themselves, and, at worst, by a manipulative player, possibly with the connivance of confederates within the group present.

In some instances, users of talking boards have communicated with "ghosts" of people who were not dead, as demonstrated by the British mentalist Derren Brown in his 2004 television special Derren Brown: Séance. 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!.

These failures indicate, as skeptics believe, that people are simply very willing to fool themselves, for example, by the Forer effect. The public (and frequently energetically flaunted) expression of native and genuine fears and subconscious desires, often concerning death or sex, while appearing genuine, can frighten impressionable people, or cause them to loosen their purse strings (or both). It is for this reason alone that many skeptics suggest that the Ouija board is best avoided, particularly when each player may not absolutely trust, or know, every other player.
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witchdoctor · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 31 Location: USA

Ouija board History
U.S. Patent D056,449 . Design patent for toys (D21/813) which was filed May 26, 1920. Issued Oct 26, 1920. Patentee was Clifford H. McGlasson.
U.S. Patent D056,449 . Design patent for toys (D21/813) which was filed May 26, 1920. Issued Oct 26, 1920. Patentee was Clifford H. McGlasson.

According to some sources, the first historical mention of something resembling a Ouija board is found in China around 1200 B.C., a divination method known as Fu Ji .Other sources claim that according to a French historical account of the philosopher Pythagoras, in 540 B.C. his sect would conduct séances at "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 an unseen world. However, other sources call both claims into dispute, claiming that Fu Ji is spirit writing, not the use of a spirit board, and that there is no record of Pythagoras or his students actually having used this method of achieving oracles or divinations. In addition, the claim of ancient Greek use is called into doubt by questions of historical accuracy, as Philolaus was never the pupil of Pythagoras, and indeed was born roughly twenty-five years after Pythagoras's death.

The first undisputed use of the talking boards came with the Modern Spiritualist Movement in The United States in the mid-19th century. Methods of divination at that time used various ways to spell out messages, including swinging a pendulum over a plate that had letters around the edge or using an entire table to indicate letters drawn on the floor. Often used was a small wooden tablet supported on casters. This tablet, called a planchette, was affixed with a pencil that would write out messages in a fashion similar to automatic writing. These methods may predate modern Spiritualism.

During the late 1800s, planchettes were widely sold as a novelty. The businessmen Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard had the idea to patent a planchette sold with a board on which the alphabet was printed. The patentees filed on May 28, 1890 for patent protection and thus had invented the first Ouija board. Issue date on the patent was February 10, 1891. They received U.S. Patent 446,054 . Bond was an attorney and was an inventor of other objects in addition to this device. An employee of Kennard, William Fuld took over the talking board production and in 1901, he started production of his own boards under the name "Ouija". The Fuld name would become synonymous with the Ouija board, as Fuld reinvented its history, claiming that he himself had invented it. Countless talking boards from Fuld's competitors flooded the market and all these boards enjoyed a heyday from the 1920s through the 1960s. Fuld sued many companies over the "Ouija" name and concept right up until his death in 1927. In 1966, Fuld's estate sold the entire business to Parker Brothers, who continues to hold all trademarks and patents. About 10 brands of talking boards are sold today under various names.

Etymology

There are several theories about the origin of the term "Ouija". According to one of these, the word is derived from the French "oui" (for "yes") and the German/Norwegian "ja" (also for "yes"). An alternative story suggests that 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 that the word was inspired by the name of the Moroccan city Oujda. Despite its common usage, "Ouija" is a registered trademark (but the term "Ouija Board" has been abandoned as a registered trademark).

Scientific explanation

The motion of the planchette is explained by the ideomotor effect. A typical session with the board has two or more people touching the planchette with at least one hand each, so that no single person need apply much force in order for the group as a whole to cause it to move. Each person experiences the illusion that the planchette moves under its own power.

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 cable 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.

Spiritualist explanation

Spiritualists 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 (see ad hoc hypothesis). (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 believers of this notion 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.

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.

Sylvia Plath's poem Ouija was influenced by the experiments she and Ted Hughes made with a board. Her Dialogue over a Ouija Board, written in 1957, incorporates the text of one of the sessions.

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).

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.[13] 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.

Crowley and modern occultism

Little is published regarding Aleister Crowley's advocacy of the ouija board. Yet, he had great admiration for the use of one and the Ouija board played a passing role in his magical workings.

Jane Wolfe, who lived with Crowley at his infamous Abbey of Thelema, also used the Ouija board. She credits some of her greatest spiritual communications to use of this implement. Crowley also discussed the Ouija board with another of his students, and the most ardent of them, Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones): it is frequently mentioned in their unpublished letters.

Throughout 1917 Achad experimented with the board as a means of summoning Angels, as opposed to Elementals. In one letter Crowley told Jones: "Your Ouija board experiment is rather fun. You see how very satisfactory it is, but I believe things improve greatly with practice. I think you should keep to one angel, and make the magical preparations more elaborate."

Over the years, both became so fascinated by the board that they discussed marketing their own design. Their discourse culminated in a letter, dated February 21, 1919, in which Crowley tells Jones, "Re: Ouija Board. I offer you the basis of ten percent of my net profit. You are, if you accept this, responsible for the legal protection of the ideas, and the marketing of the copyright designs. I trust that this may be satisfactory to you. I hope to let you have the material in the course of a week." In March, Crowley wrote to Achad to inform him, "I'll think up another name for Ouija." But their business venture never came to fruition and Crowley's new design, along with his name for the board, has not survived.

Crowley has stated, of the Ouija Board, that, "There is, however, a good way of using this instrument to get what you want, and that is to perform the whole operation in a consecrated circle, so that undesirable aliens cannot interfere with it. You should then employ the proper magical invocation in order to get into your circle just the one spirit you want. It is comparatively easy to do this. A few simple instructions are all that is necessary, and I shall be pleased to give these, free of charge, to any one who cares to apply."

Other 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.

* 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 to not use Ouija boards.

* Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi claimed under oath that, in a séance held in 1978 with other professors at the University of Bologna, the "ghost" of Giorgio La Pira spelled the name of the street where Aldo Moro was being held by the Red Brigades in a Ouija. According to Peter Popham of The Independent: "Everybody here has long believed that Prodi's ouija board tale was no more than an ill-advised and bizarre way to conceal the identity of his true source, probably a person from Bologna's seething far-left underground whom he was pledged to protect."

* 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 AA was deeply affected by his involvement with the Ouija board. Wilson claimed that he received the twelve step method directly from a spirit without the board and wrote it down.

* During sleepovers with her friends, Amy Carter would use a Ouija board to get into contact with Abraham Lincoln, whose spirit is believed to haunt the Lincoln Bedroom.

* The Fiery Furnaces said that they used a Ouija board to write lyrics for their forthcoming album Widow City

* '70s powerpop band Cheap Trick got its name from a Ouija board. They asked it what was for dinner, and by collectively moving the planchette, they spelled out "Cheap trick."

* On the July 25, 2007 edition of the paranormal radio show Coast to Coast AM, host George Noory attempted to carry out a live Ouija board experiment on national radio despite the strong objections of one of his guests, Jordan Maxwell, and with the encouragement of his other guests, Dr. Bruce Goldberg, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Jerry Edward Cornelius.[citation needed] In the days and hours leading up to the show, unfortunate events kept occurring to Noory's friends and family as well as some of his guests, but these events would likely be considered coincidences by skeptics. After recounting a near-death experience in 2000 and noting bizarre events taking place, Noory canceled the experiment.

* Morrissey was a prominent believer. He has a song titled Ouija Board, Ouija Board.

* Matthew Bellamy, lead singer of rock band Muse, has said that his mother was a medium. When he was a young boy, he and his family played with Ouija boards.

* In 2008, progressive rock band The Mars Volta released an album entitled The Bedlam in Goliath in an attempt to reverse the bad luck from a Ouija board that guitaritst/producer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez bought while visiting Jerusalem and later buried after a disastrous tour. The vinyl release will come with its own Ouija board built into the gatefold.

Other types of boards

Other iterations of the board exist in Asia. These are all home-made, with words written on paper in local languages. The planchette is replaced by other items, most commonly a pen, a dish (Chinese condiment saucer) or a coin. It is often played by inquisitive teenagers.

Various horror movies have been made about the consequences of playing with these incarnations of the board, most notably by the Hong Kong and South Korea movie industry. One of the more well-known movies to date is the 2004 South Korean film Bunshinsaba.

Other types of boards, how they work

Talking - Ouija - boards are a form of channeling. Like all other forms of channeling - until you understand how to freely communicate with spirit - you must develop some basic skills.

The Ouija Board has been around since the time of the Roman Emperor Valens in the fourth century. It is also thought to have been used by the Greeks since before the time of Christ. It is a form of divination.

The modern Ouija Board began as a combination of two tools used for scrying. The first was a wheel made up of the letters of the alphabet. The second was a glass, usually a wine glass which is inverted and placed in the middle.

The letters are usually written on small pieces of paper which are placed in a circle around the table.

It was in 1891 that a patent was granted to Elijah J Bond on the first modern Ouija Board. The following year the rights were purchased by William Fuld. In 1966 the Parker Brothers purchased the rights to the Ouija Board and shifted its manufacturing facilities to Salem, Massachusetts. The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were shipped.

The layout of the Ouija Board seems to vary from country to country and production companies - as other developed an looked to improve their boards to brining clear - more detailed - messages.

The original and best layout appears to be to place the Yes at the top of the circle and the No at the bottom.

On the basic board - the letters are placed in a circle starting with the letter A next to the word yes and continuing around until the final letter Z ends up on the other side of the word yes. The nine numbers from one to nine should be placed at the bottom next to the no.

Many people feel that Ouija Boards are dangerous to use. It depends on who uses them and the entities they attract. Dysfunctional people will attract dysfunctional entities and should never use a ouija board or channel in any way.

Making a Ouija Board

Boards can be made out of anything.

Most boards will work - even homemade ones.

Many readers have written telling me about the creative ways they have made their own boards.

The ouija board can be used with an indicator made of plastic - wood - or a clear drinking glass.

If you are making a board from a drawing - or design you have created - please try to remember to include:

- The Alphabet
- Words that seem relevant
- Numbers - good for dates, ages, other numerical facts.
- Astrological Signs

Cover the board with clear heavy sheet of plastic or place it under a glass surface. It must have a smooth - almost slippery top.

The indicator may be purchased from Parker Brothers - or you can buy a ouija board game in a toy store and use the indicator from that game with the board you created.

Create you image and letters in black and white or in color.

Use any type of paper - or place your design directly onto a hard surface board.

If your image is made of paper place the paper on a masonite board - piece of wood - or even a table top.

Be sure to leave lots of room around the edges of the board you have designed - so the indicator has room to move around without falling off the side of the board.

Cover the design with clear plastic or some sort of clear coating. Be sure it is the exact same size as the board. Secure the plastic covering - around the edges with clear tape - (clear wide width tape).

The top of the board should be slippery.

Place your planchette - indicator on the board.

"Warm it up' by making several slow sweeping circles over the board. You can place positive energy - white light - over the board as you initiate it!!

You are now ready to begin.

Good luck!

Using a Ouija Board

It is often helpful to write down the questions you wish to ask before you begin. Prepare paper and pencil or a tape recorder to record messages. You can use a camcorder if one is available. Using an infrared camcorder in a dimly lit room is a great way to see the energies of spirit.

Some people ouija best alone - others like to ouija with another person.

Make your surroundings are comfortable and seemingly free of negative energies. Some people like to say a prayer over the board - or do some other ritual. In this case envision a protective white light of energy surround yourself, the board, those you are working with, and even the room. Ask your spirit guide - we all have guides - to protect you and bring your spirits to channel who are on higher frequency.

Be sure your board is clean and free of dust. Wipe gently with a clean soft cloth before you begin.

You do not have to use 'spooky lighting' or candles.

It is best not to play music as you will also be focusing on your thoughts as you channel.

As spirits love flowers - you might want to place some in a vase of water near the area in which you are using.

Spirits also love water - as they are part of the collective unconscious which is the flow of water.

Decide if you want to place the board on a table, upon the knees of two persons, or where it is most comfortable for those who will use it.

You can ouija alone or with another person. If you ouija with others be sure they are not negative in their thinking.

Determine who wants to use the board - and who wants to just observe.

Decide which person will ask the first question - and if there is to be an order to follow for asking questions.

If everyone wants a turn at the board - it is best to go clockwise around the board with each person taking their turn.

The time for each turn will vary with the spirit you answering.

People may be contacted by more than one spirit. Sometimes the spirits argue over who is to come through at a given time. Ask for one spirit at a time and always get a name before you begin.

Though spiritual energy enters through the left side of your body - most people will use their dominate hand to work the board - which in most cases is the right hand.

If you have telekinetic abilities and feel you can move the indicator with your mind, then it is best not to use the board as you are guiding the answers.

You may also discover - as you work with the board - that you can subconsciously control the movement of the indicator - the same as using a pendulum. If you are not sure - close your eyes and allow the indicator to move alone.

Some spirits move across the board quickly - while others go very slow. An excited spirit will move the planchette faster.

One of the first questions you might want to ask when you begin to work with your ouija board is the names of your spirit guides. They are the ones who are here to protect and guide you. Everyone has at least one spirit guide.

You can start by asking for a message from spirit - or by asking spirit simple Yes or No questions to which you know the answer.

You should know the name of the spirit you are talking to. It should be your Spirit Guide. Another entity should come in when you get more comfortable with the ouija board.

Always start with general questions. Save the personal questions for later when you are comfortable with the board.

Stick to subjects with positive energy when you begin to channel through ouija.

Don't ask personal questions until you are comfortable with the spirit you are talking to.

Once an answer is given you can ask for more information or clarification of the answer. But - - You can only ask a question ONCE! Do not continue to ask the question over and over to seek the answer you want. Ask the question once and accept the answers given.

Ask simple questions that can be verified in the next few days.

Questions can be about you personally - or universal or about any topic you think the spirit would like to converse about.

You may get thought forms and mental images as you talk to the spirit.

Can things manifest in the room? Yes!

Can things move in the room? Yes

This all depends on the spirit.

If you are a teenager - it may just be the telekinetic abilities of someone in the room.

Yu can ask the spirit to stop and not to do spooky things.

When a new entity comes through - always get its name - who they came to talk to - and what they want to discuss.

A word may come through with all of the letters but in the wrong order. That is why it is best to have someone not using the board - writing the letters as they come through. A name may come through as ICMAHEL - meaning MICHAEL. Remember that not all spirits speak in your language. Some spirits have trouble spelling words or creating sentences.

You might get a 'trapped spirit' that seeks help going 'to the light. If this a matter of you releasing this spirit because you have an emotional link to it - you must 'set the spirit free' and forgive whatever it wish you to forgive it from the time you knew it in the third dimension. Many spirits are trapped here and will 'guide' you to a ouija board to tell you to release them. To do this - calm the spirit down - call you spirit guide - and ask them to guide the spirit to the next level of their experience. If they want you to help them with something so they can cross over - tell them that you are not skilled enough to do this - then send it away. If it will not leave - stop the board for that day and wait a few days to try again.

If spirits ask you to do weird things - again stop using the board. Anything negative being written on the board means you must put the board away for that session whether you want to or not. The entity should leave by your next session.

Do not ask spirits to bring you things you want but would not otherwise have. All spirit have their boundaries. You must find out the limitations of the spirit you are talking to.

Never ask spirits to do harm to others.

Never use the board to control others - or have power over them.

Do not let others use your board when you are not using it.

Keep the board in a special place.

Do not get addicted to the board.

Using a ouija board is not a channeling 'medium' for everyone. Some people get it immediately - while others never get the hang of it. This seems to have no bearing on whether one is psychic or not. Many psychics can't work a Ouija Board.

With experience you can learn to channel your deceased loved ones and entities from other realms.

Some days the board may work for you. Others days you may get no response.

Be patient - and always feel comfortable with the spirit - or do not ouija anymore.

CRYSTALCINDY · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 17

Hello everyone you seem to have got a lot of information on this subject. However, I must impress up on you all never ever burn these at all. They are dangerous and can let out all sorts of negative energies and ghosts, etc. I know this through some one close to me. So please never ever burn these or dabble with things of the undead or unknown with the Ouija boards.
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LOVE FROM CRYSTALCINDY