Further Reading for Ouija Boards
Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game by Stoker Hunt
Ouija Gone Wild: Shocking True Stories by Rosemary Ellen Guilley & Rick Fisher
Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board by J. Edward Cornelius
Info
The Ouija Board, also known as a talking board or a spirit board that has been sold around the world as a popular party toy since it’s introduction in July of 1890 by Elijah Bond. The board is commonly produced with the words yes and no, a row of numbers 0 through 9 and the full English alphabet as well as the words goodbye, a tool used to close the connection to the spirit and end the communication session. Users place their fingers on a triangular piece of wood, called a planchette, usually with a hole cut in it and watch as an unseen force answers their questions by guiding the planchette around the board to answer either yes or no questions or elaborate using the letters and numbers.
The Ouija Board was seen as a party trick until the rise of the American and European Spiritualist movements following World War 1. Even our good buddy, Aleister Crowley liked the old Ouija Board.
Christian leaders and communities have been warning people against the use of the board for almost as long as it has existed. Belief in these communities claim that the board is an invitation to evil spirits to enter our world and at their worst, take possession of the users of the board. Skeptics claim that no such communication is taking place and that, barring users deliberately moving the planchette, the piece is moved by the users’ subconscious mind without their knowledge.
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